Avoid a UTI and Save Those Limbs

January 23, 2009     Posted in Body

23_mvg_cult_miss1.jpgI’ll never forget the time that I was traveling with a bunch of dudes and found myself faced with a UTI. Having had the nasty infections before, I knew without going to a doctor what, precisely, was going on down there.


By CC Staff

And I needed to pee. (But of course I couldn’t).

Being with a bunch of guys, no one understood just what I was going through. In fact, they thought it was really hilarious. And wouldn’t let me get near the bathroom. But while they laughed, my body ached. So I slapped the guy nearest to the bathroom and shoved my way in. Yes, I hit him…and I do not regret it.

Urinary Tract Infections are one of the most painful things that you can experience. They burn. They ache. They make your pee smell foul. They make you feel like you have to urinate constantly, but when you try to go-you can’t!

And if all that isn’t bad enough, they could lead to septicemia, which is a nice way of saying you could lose your limbs. For real. Just ask Brazilian bombshell (and Miss World contestant) Mariana Bridi da Costa. She recently had her hands and feet amputated and it all stemmed from a terrible UTI.

So, yeah, they’re absolutely awful.

Luckily, my years of getting the infection have taught me how to avoid it. If you’re in the market to avoid UTIs (and, trust me you should be), take my advice and follow these tips:

-Have good hygiene. It may sound gross, but wipe yourself from front to back when you use the bathroom; wash the skin between the vagina and anus daily; and always pee and wash up after sexual intercourse. The bacteria from the anus is definitely a huge cause of UTIs, so making sure that stuff doesn’t get near your vajay will help out a great deal.

-Drink your fluids! Drinking lots of fluids, particularly water, will flush your system regularly and decrease your risk of UTI.

-Take your vitamins. Getting essential vitamins needs to happen if you’re going to avoid things like UTIs. Vitamin C, for instance, helps out a great deal.

Something you should know:

If you get a UTI, you need to take antibiotics to get rid of it. When I had a particularly severe UTI (which I mentioned above), I made the mistake of trying to take care of it myself. The infection ended up spreading to my kidney and almost to my blood within a week. I was carried into the E.R. due to pain so severe that I could not walk. The doctors told me I could have died from it had it spread to my blood.

Don’t take the risk. Make sure you take care of it the right way…with a doctor and not a few bottles of cranberry juice..

(Photo from: uab.edu)

22 Comments on "Avoid a UTI and Save Those Limbs"

  1. amanda says:
    Fri, 23rd Jan 200911:00 am 

    this is the story of my life. i got a UTI once from spending too much time with someone…to put it mildly, and it spread to my kidneys and the same thing happened to me. i couldn't move for days straight and had to go to the hospital. it's nice to know other people get them as well. hah.

    i thought that model though had a blood infection? or did that stem from the UTI?

  2. beeks says:
    Fri, 23rd Jan 20091:03 pm 

    Yikes! I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience with a uti that it landed you in the hospital! I do think it's worth mentioning though, to anyone who hasn't had a uti before and might be freaking out reading about lost limbs and fatal blood infections, that there are much scarier things in the world to be worried about. I'm not saying don't go to the doctor, just not to panic. I'm prone to uti's myself; I've learned how to recognize when they're first starting and what to do to help head them off when I start to feel the symptoms. I've only needed to take antibiotics once, myself (luckily!). Your prevention tips are great, but if I may add a couple… from personal experience, daily cranberry tablets seem to help (might be the placebo effect but hey, whatever works!); also, don't hold it in when you have to pee!

  3. melissa says:
    Fri, 23rd Jan 20094:00 pm 

    Once I got it at school, and I didn't know what to do because I was living away 2 hours from my mom/doctor.

    I know there's a nurse or whatever on campus, but I just drank lots of cranberry juice (100% kind…NOT cranberry juice cocktail) and it went away.

  4. Jacks says:
    Fri, 23rd Jan 20094:28 pm 

    Yeah…Melissa is lucky. Don't go that. Go see your campus nurse, they will give you antibiotics along with meds to numb your uterine area. And turn your pee orange.

  5. vi says:
    Fri, 23rd Jan 20095:06 pm 

    OMG yes.. the orange pee from the meds. As awkward as that was, having my privates burn EVERY.SINGLE.TIME I peed was one of the worst feelings ever. When you have a UTI, you have to pee constantly (even after you've just gone) but when you try to like one tiny little painful drop comes out. I've contracted at least a dozen in the past three years- terrible stuff.

  6. Amy says:
    Fri, 23rd Jan 20097:37 pm 

    My first and only UTI went from a little UTI to a major Kidney infection in less than 24 hours… worst pain I've EVER been in.

  7. Carol says:
    Sat, 24th Jan 20094:51 am 

    I've never had such a severe UTI, but I know my sisters have. BTW, the model died this morning of a heart attack during surgery. So sad!

  8. Lauren, University o says:
    Sat, 24th Jan 20095:07 am 

    Yeah I know some girls who tried to fix their UTI on their own with cranberry sauce and ended up with Kidney infection. It was terrible. If you feel the pain, get to the doc asap. I waited 2 days once and ended up doubled over in pain and unable to eat or drink or sleep.

  9. Nikki says:
    Sat, 24th Jan 20095:55 am 

    I too have wound up in the ER with a UTI that had spread to my kidneys. I knew I had the infection, however I didn't have health insurance at the time and didn't want to spend the money to go to the walk-in place. I tried over the counter AZO and the likes and downed gallons of water….but still ended up being rushed to the ER via an ambulance after I collapsed one night….so much for not spending the $150 at the clinic….whole thing ended up costing well over $3K when it was all said and done.

    Now I keep a bottle of antibiodics in my house at all times and I will never again ignore it in hopes it will just go away on it's own.

  10. Kelly says:
    Sat, 24th Jan 20098:53 am 

    I just had my first UTI a few months ago. When the pain first started I had no idea what it was and actually thought I was pregnant! I called my mom and she told me that I wasn't, its just a UTI and to go to the doctor. And now I pee right after I have sex and wash down there religiously, those things suckkkk! My boyfriend thought the orange pee was awesome though.

  11. Bridget says:
    Sat, 24th Jan 20096:11 pm 

    Yeah, I've had 2 in my college career. I know what to look for now thank god. I know that the urine smell is different too, that is the first sign before the pain feeling of having to pee and nothing coming out. I definitely recommend going to see the campus doctor.

  12. Maria says:
    Sat, 24th Jan 20096:52 pm 

    I once had a UTI and I didn't even know it. It went into the doctor for a standard physical, and they did a pee test just because. I got a call from them about an hour later saying that I had a UTI.

  13. Lydia says:
    Sun, 25th Jan 20092:03 am 

    update: this model unfortunately died recently after getting her arms and legs amputated.. it was in the news…exactly what carol said..

  14. d says:
    Sun, 25th Jan 20095:58 am 

    same thing happened to me… the doctors told me i was about an hour away from being sent to the ER. i had to get a bunch of shots in my butt of hardcore antibiotics and then all the medecine made me puke for 24 hours… i was like trying to fill the prescription at cvs but was throwing up in the parkinglot the entire time. fun! haha… these are great tips tho!

  15. Kaneesha says:
    Sun, 25th Jan 20096:01 am 

    fortunately, i only experienced some pain (though excrutiating, i couldn't make it between my bed and the bathroom) got to the hospital in time so one was TRYING to start. Yogurt is also a good way to maintain the good bacteria balances down there. Live well :D

  16. Aly says:
    Sun, 25th Jan 200910:32 am 

    Also, you should try to limit your caffeine intake…After being prone to them I noticed some things that help prevent them – including washing and using the bathroom right after sex. Cranberry tablets and lots of water every day!

  17. kristina says:
    Sun, 25th Jan 200910:57 am 

    To answer Amanda's question, the blood infection was septicemia, which can be caused by an infection that gets severe and spreads to the blood. It's really, really serious and can lead to septicemic shock, which can affect your organs (like the heart attack that someone said she died from). So, so sad.

    Also…when you're on antibiotics for something make sure you take ALL of them, even if you're feeling better!

  18. Dana says:
    Sun, 25th Jan 200912:30 pm 

    I found out I had one once when I went to the hospital for unrelated stomach problems. I had no symptoms.

    So now I always wonder if I have one. Sigh. How will I know? My pee has never ever burned. Maybe the ER misdiagnosed me?

  19. Angela says:
    Tue, 27th Jan 20094:09 pm 

    I just had a UTI a few weeks ago. I was busy at the time, so I made the unwise move of drinking a ton of cranberry juice instead of going to the doctor right away. After about a week I started noticing a bit of blood in my pee (and no, it wasn't that time of the month), which freaked me out sufficiently to get me to go seek treatment. It was quick and easy; I just had to give a urine sample, which they analyzed in a few minutes and reached the conclusion that I did in fact have a UTI, and then gave me a prescription for an antibiotic that I'd have to take twice a day for three days. The antibiotic cleared it right up. If you have a university health plan that's similar to mine, the antibiotic will probably wind up costing you around $10. Seriously, don't wait- just go get treated already!

  20. Elise says:
    Wed, 11th Feb 20091:10 pm 

    Crucial things for prevention and self-treatment of UTIs:

    -As stated above, DO NOT make it a habit to hold your pee as long as possible. Not only will it not expand your bladder, it can cause scarring in your kidneys that will saddle you with UTIs for life.

    -….Cranberry sauce? WTF. Never, ever, EVER EVER EVER put ANYTHING near your lady-bits that has sugar in it. Nothing. Period. Guaranteed yeasty beasty, possible bacterial vaginitis, probable UTI. And if you have an infection, cut as much sugar from your diet as possible– your kidneys need the break.

    -If you're using cranberries to treat a urinary issue, DO NOT drink cranberry cocktail– it better be 100% juice or it will only make things worse. In fact, skip the juice altogether and take it in concentrated pill form to make sure you get enough to make a difference.

    -Plain yogurt, slathered on like crazy, can actually defeat a lot of your girlie-parts' enemies. Just don't use any flavored or, God forbid, sweetened yogurt. If you're prone to various infections, you might want to use this method once or twice a month for three to six months.

    -All that said, you're always better off going to a professional for help. If a UTI or other down-there infection continues for two days, or if there is an increase in pain, or if you have blood in your urine, YOU MUST SEE A DOCTOR. I don't care if you have to sell your firstborn child into slavery– you are at immediate risk of death.

    Cranberry extract works for up to 12 hours after the infection begins, and only at massive concentrations; the microorganisms that yogurt introduces to your vagina can only penetrate the urethra to a depth of two inches, max. Once the infection is entrenched, you have absolutely no chance of fighting it off by yourself.

  21. JR says:
    Mon, 28th Dec 20091:37 pm 

    OMG, worst effing thing ever because the second time I got a UTI (after having suffered a kidney infection from the first) I was on the pill. And antibiotics basically render the pill null and void and I had had unprotected sex the day before… so I basically had to hold the UTI at bay until I felt like I was safe (they say sperm can live in you for up to 7 days!)

    I wouldn't normally comment on a post this old but I want to warn people that antibiotics interact with BCP's and weaken how effective they are (something with the BCP needing bacteria in your digestive track… ask a doctor for real details). I chugged water and popped cranberry tablets like crazy for 3 days til I said "screw it". But seriously, you cannot fix a UTI on your own!! I didn't want another excruciating kidney infection which is why I caved after only 3 days.

    Case in point– ANTIBIOTICS INTERACT WITH BIRTH CONTROL PILLS & YOU CANNOT FIX A UTI ON YOUR OWN!

    good luck everyone

  22. Karen says:
    Thu, 12th Jan 20124:07 pm 

    The problem is, the university forgot to enroll me in the insurance plan last fall, even though I paid for it. I rarely get sick and almost never go to the doctor, so I didn't realize I was uninsured until this week. Now I have a very mild UTI (pretty sure, though I've never had one before) and need antibiotics, and they're telling me I have to re-apply and that it will take two weeks for the insurance co. to process my application. Without the insurance, I can see a doctor for an extra $180. Can I wait two weeks until the insurance comes through??

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