Recipes for avoiding UTI's

[NoDecafPlz]

Since UTI's are a consistently a major topic, I wonder if the SCI nurses/Mods
would see value in permanently stickying this thread so that everyone could
post their own successful strategies for avoiding UTI's.

I intermittent cath so here is mine:

Besides drinking water/cranberry juice and making sure cath area is prepped with betadine, I supplement with:

2 Uroquid Acid (50/50) x2 daily (morning and bedtime)
2 Green Source multivitamins x2 daily (morning and bedtime)
2 CVS Brand Max Cranberry x2 daily (morning and bedtime)
1 1000 mg time release Vitamin C (morning)

Uroquid acid can be up'd to 4x a day when people feel one coming on.

Thank God I have been near UTI free for two whole years.

[SCI-Nurse]

Ihave no problem doing that - what do the other nurses think?
CKF

[smokey]

I also intermittent cath during the day so here is my UTI avoiding routine:

At night I insert a regular latex red rubber catheter into my bladder and tape it to my dick and leave it all night. It drains the urine into a bedside bag. In the morning I take a crap and take out the catheter before I shower. I catheterize as required during the day.

I drink a 12 oz. glass of cranberry juice every morning. I drink no carbonated beverages and no booze.....just water and cranberry juice. For my bladder I take 1G Vitamin C twice a day, 1G Mandelamine twice a day, 1 500mg cranberry pill twice a day, 10mg Ditropan XL once a day. I haven't had a UTI in 8 years since I started doing this.

[NoDecafPlz]

Woah! How the hell does that catheter not get dry and stay there?
I would do this every damn night if I thought it wouldn't dry out!

Originally Posted by smokey

I also intermittent cath during the day so here is my UTI avoiding routine:

At night I insert a regular latex red rubber catheter into my bladder and tape it to my dick and leave it all night. It drains the urine into a bedside bag. In the morning I take a crap and take out the catheter before I shower. I catheterize as required during the day.

I drink a 12 oz. glass of cranberry juice every morning. I drink no carbonated beverages and no booze.....just water and cranberry juice. For my bladder I take 1G Vitamin C twice a day, 1G Mandelamine twice a day, 1 500mg cranberry pill twice a day, 10mg Ditropan XL once a day. I haven't had a UTI in 8 years since I started doing this.

[smokey]

NoDecaf, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "dry out". I sip water from a bottle with a straw during the night sometimes. I insert the catheter using KY Jelly. It's never been clogged up. I put out anywhere from 1500cc-2500cc each night. I tape the funnel end of the catheter to my dick and use a Dale catheter strap to secure the catheter to my thigh. Not sure what else you might mean.

[NoDecafPlz]

Originally Posted by smokey

NoDecaf, I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "dry out". I sip water from a bottle with a straw during the night sometimes. I insert the catheter using KY Jelly. It's never been clogged up. I put out anywhere from 1500cc-2500cc each night. I tape the funnel end of the catheter to my dick and use a Dale catheter strap to secure the catheter to my thigh. Not sure what else you might mean.

I mean the KY jelly that you use on the disposable catheter doesn't dry out over night when in your urethra?

Oh wait, you mean you wear an external at night?

[SoulScream]

I intermittent cath as well and do not take anything special at all. I've had one UTI in seven or eight years, before that I had a few when I was newly injured. I am curious why they are so common with others.

[Gimpy77]

Old quad with SP cath. (30 years post) Wait till signs point to UTI, Gunk, Smell, Color, etc. Go into kill bug mode, take 6g Vit C, 2 3x a day, and push huge water. (Beer doesn't count now, sorry.) Repeat untill a differance or symtoms get worse and call doc. 95%+ things start to clear, after 5ish days of mega doseing Vit C, back off by 1/2 for another 3-4, still pushing water. All still well, drop to 1g at night, still fluch for 4-5 more days. Stop if all seems good. Change SP if anywere close to time to prevent survivors. 3 years since my last antibiotic. (And posting this likely just screwed me.)

Just one quads experiance....

[smokey]

NoDecaf, No it doesn't dry out.

[BillMiller823]

Knock on wood and thanks to God and the below routine, I haven't had a UTI in at least four years (I think it's closer to 6 years).

Technically I'm cathed intermittently, but it's left in almost all day.

When I'm in my chair (usually 15 hours per day) we cath and hook the bag to a bungee cord (when I go out, we cover the bag & top of the catheter with a small lap blanket -- so I can very discretely pee in public, while doing anything). The bungee cord is adjusted so that it will hold the 32 oz. cath bag in place to where the catheter doesn't usually slip out too far. If I get dysreflexic, either the bag needs draining, or the catheter has slipped out a bit, and I ask a caregiver to check it out (that happens probably 0-3 times per day when I'm in my chair; being vent dependent, there's always a caregiver around, or one who will be back shortly -- and yes, I can breathe some on my own).

We take the cath out before I'm transferred to bed, and insert it again and leave it inserted most of the time while I'm in bed (no tape; fortunately I don't spasm too much once I'm positioned, and the cath stays in pretty well; although my nurse or caregiver will check it periodically).

By intermittent cathing at least twice a day, we're cleaning me and the catheter each time (besides a bed bath, we prep with baby wipes, and use baby wipes for quick cleaning of me after removing the cath) and that breaks the bacteria path. But, by leaving the cath in almost all the time, I can drink at will (a Camelbak drinking system is on my chair, and hooked to my sip-and-puff) and I also receive water and meds via my g-tube when sleeping (we kept my g-tube for convenience after I started eating again). Altogether my daily input/output is about a gallon, which helps me flush my bladder and kidneys and prevent UTIs.

My caregivers are good about washing or cleansing their hands before adjusting the cath (and after). I buy individually wrapped antiseptic towelettes for less than 3 cents each ($2.95 for a box of 100) at the below link, which are great for cleansing away from home (I also buy other supplies from Allegro Medical).

http://www.allegromedical.com/browse...ase=towelettes

Early in the morning I have a 500 mg chewable vitamin C and either late afternoon or with dinner I try to have an orange juice cocktail (OJ mixed with a colloidal vitamin & mineral solution called "buried treasure" link below).

http://www.vitacost.com/Store/Produc...r=016055453784

I don't drink much caffeine or carbonated beverages, but I'm not sure how much that contributes to my lack of UTIs. Juice, water, Gatorade, etc are my usual beverages of choice.

That's pretty much what we/I do to prevent UTIs.

For details on some of my other care as a vent-dependent C1-2, visit the below page on my website, which I designed to share info long before I knew CareCure existed!

http://www.lookmomnohands.net/Life_with_an_SCI.htm

- Bill Miller :-)