I recently came down with a bladder infection just before leaving on vacation and I knew from past experience that an antibiotic would take days to make me feel better. I researched online and discovered a new natural treatment that sounded promising. It's called D-Mannose and it's a sugar that has the ability to bind to E-coli in your bladder and take it out of your body. About 95% of bladder infections are caused by E-coli. I found D-Mannose in a health food store and following directions on the internet, I took a tsp. in a little juice or water several times a day. I began feeling better by the end of the first day and by the third day it was completely gone. I continued taking it for two more days to be sure and it didn't come back. It was amazing and had no side effects. It isn't effective against the other 5% of infections that are caused by other organisms, so if you try it and don't feel any relief after a couple of days, it probably isn't E-coli. Also, call the health food stores and make sure they carry it before driving there because not every store carries it. If you google D-Mannose you'll find lots of info. Hope this helps. It worked much better and faster than drinking cranberry juice, in fact, I've never actually managed to cure an infection with cranberries.

I don't mess around ~ I go to the doctor for antibiotics immediately! With diabetes it could turn bad very quickly. I had to have my right kidney removed 3 years ago. When I was 66 I started getting many UTIs, bladder,kidney infections. Twice I passed out and fell and broke my left wrist and them 6 months later passed out and broke my right wrist! The last time I had fever, dizziness, confusion and diarrhea. I awoke about4 am and knew I was going to have diarrhea but I couldn't even stand up straight. I passed out and fell breaking my wrist. I woke up wondering why my my face was on the carpet and knew my wrist was broken when I couldn't push myself up. My left wrist was still too weak and painful to push myself up either. And the diarrhea was starting. I'm praying, help me Lord, to get up! After a long time I struggled to my knees and got to the bedroom door. Hallelujah! Here comes my DH to go to the bathroom. (he has his own room because he goes to work at 2 am) and I ask him to help me up, my wrist is broken and I have diarrhea. He pulls me up and puts me in the bathroom and shuts the door! He goes downstairs to the bathroom and back to bed. He hadn't even realized what I was saying. I'm a mess, I can't clean up, I'm exhausted so I finally get the door open and just go back to my bed and laid my arm gently down and fall asleep. A couple of hours later my DD comes in after seeing the mess on the rug and toilet and says, "What happened?!' Why didn't you wake me? Why didn't Dad wake me?" All I could say was I broke my wrist and I was too tired go do anything but lie down. She had to get me in the shower and clean me and the bathroom up and take me to the ER. She asked my DH why he hadn't woken her. He was just What? What happened? Another surgery with another plate and screws. Then they started sending me to specialists and doing tests and scans and find out that my ureter (between the kidney and bladder) is UNDER my aorta instead of on top. It is being crushed and calcified and my right kidney is enlarged and has ruffles all around the edges. I have had diabetes since I was 12 so It's not like I didn't go to the doctor ALL the time and have all kinds of tests. But who knew I had a birth defect like that?! And no one found it until I was 66 years old. So I say don't mess around with any kind of infection. Get on antibiotics right away. Infections can spread to other parts of you body, you can get sepsis, loose body parts and who know what all can happen. The worse the infection is the longer you'll have to be on antibiotics which is not good because then you develop and immunity o the antibiotics. Sorry this is long. LOL It wasn't fun when it happened.

As much as people hate to believe this, Cranberry juice is NOT the save all when it comes to Bladder, UTI or kidney infections. I think if one doctor or ten doctors tells us as much we should take them at their word. Why wouldn't we trust them to know something so basic? Obviously they have the education and literature to back up their opinions or do they just make this stuff up as they go? Quite a few years ago I had a very severe kidney infection and on the advise of a friend who told me it was the cure all, I was drinking cranberry juice like crazy. This went on for several weeks and because I was no longer feeling the symptoms I thought I had managed to fight it off on my own. The next time I had to visit my practitioner for something unrelated, he noticed a slight fever and routine tests I need to have done reflected a severe infection in both kidneys. He was livid with me and told me that cranberry juice is good for a lot of things but fighting infections is not one of them. Quite the contrary as it masks the symptoms while the infection continues to fester. He made me promise right then and there to never rely on it again for UT, bladder or kidney infections and to seek medical help instead. Secsteve, After this new round of testing, I hope you are finally able to find out what the problem is. At least it's a step in a new direction.

My opinion is that the cheaper ones with fewer strains are hardly helpful. The best ones have millions per dose and are sold and kept refrigerated. If you want a strong immune system, you need to have more good guys than bad guys living in your gut. Anti biotics kill off the good guys and let the bad guys reproduce. Antibiotics are in cattle feed, chicken feed, farm raised fish feed, etc. You especially need them if you have a Candida overgrowth. This is a sneaky condition that makes you feel rundown, crave carbohydrates, gives you sinus issues, makes your sweat smell bad, and get headaches. Candida overgrowth is common and once you correct it, you have energy and feel healthier in general. The reason that people get carb and sugar cravings is that the Candida wants to eat these and uses your urges to feed itself. It sounds like sci fi but it's not. Lots of people lost weight after giving Candida the boot.