Chronic UTI's

[Dana66CKD]

Have had UTI once a year for past 4 years. At stage 2 ckd from acute injury. I know antibiotics are hard on kidneys, so trying to figure out what has worked best for someone at my stage of ckd. Last year was prescribed Macrobid, but ceftriaxone, clindamycin & monural are used in people with kidney disease & lower egfr. Just trying to avoid any further decline in function. I see urology next month. Hopefully they can offer a preventive solution. I have Sjogren's Syndrome as well which can also contribute to frequency. Anyone have any insight or suggestions for avoiding or decreasing incidence with this issue? I don't drink fruit juices, of course, so cranberry is off table. I welcome your experience and knowledge.

[userotc]

Whilst lots of juice is not generally recommended with CKD, cranberry juice or supplementation may be an option unless you have limitations eg a history of kidney stones. Have you considered?

[Darlenia in reply to userotc]

Yes - I agree with your advice. My husband has diabetes induced utis. He was constantly looking for relief. He was given antibiotics routinely and was finally told he needed to cath himself to fix the situation. As a last ditch effort, on our own, we found a cranberry supplement and finally...relief! I suspect kidney disease, dialysis, and transplant folks often contract utis for a variety of reasons including a poor internal biome. My hubby went through purgatory with utis while on both dialysis and transplant. The antibiotics eventually led to awful c-diff, a superbug. He's beyond thrilled that a simply cranberry probiotic supplement taken daily manages to return his life to normal.

[userotc in reply to Darlenia]

So glad your hubby found relief. As you may know from our past communication on HU, we avoid drugs where possible. My mum has also found cranberry supplements to prevent UTIs which, of course, can adversely affect renal outcomes, for some (1st 2 links below).

kidney.org/atoz/content/uti

nature.com/articles/s41598-...

And Im sure youre right that microbiome affects UTIs nature.com/articles/s41564-...

[Darlenia in reply to userotc]

Yes, we got a doctor's approval...they asked him to take less than recommended. It still worked!

[userotc in reply to Darlenia]

Just noted I said mum used cranberry supplements to "remove" UTIs when I meant "prevent" (now edited). Sadly I think only antibiotics have a chance to remove an existing UTI! I presume you also meant prevention which Is what Nutritional Therapy is all about.

[viviselphie in reply to userotc]

My pharmacist and I talked about that. I have to drink tonic water every other or every day per rheumatologist orders. I mix it with cranberry juice. She was a lot happier when I told her I was drinking diet juice. So maybe that can help others.

[viviselphie]

I had them often before I was diagnosed with Common Variable Immune Deficiency. I don't make enough white blood cells to fight them. I also saw them often are transplants when my meds for the CVID running out . Now I do treatment more often.

Anyway, you might want to have your white blood cells checked. Immune deficiency stuff is often co-morbid with auto immune issues (I have two).

[Dana66CKD in reply to viviselphie]

I have Sjogren's syndrome & positive for Rheumatoid Factor, both autoimmune disorders, so chronic inflammation contributes to lower rbc's and wbc's. Lower wbc count is going to affect my body's ability to fight infections. With ckd, most have changes in their microbiome affecting wbc numbers & lower number of leukocytes to fight infections. I just want to decrease use of abx and do something to stop infections before they start.

This recent uti came 5 months earlier than last time, so having my wbc's rechecked is in order.

Thanks for your response.

[FelineFandom146]

You're right to be concerned about UTI treatment. I had a very painful UTI a few years ago during the Pandemic in April 2020. My Primary Family physician put me on three meds, which proved to be very bad for my kidney. According to my Nephrologist, it was the worst combination for me to take. One was the antibiotic Bactrim, which made me very ill, the other two I can't recall the names but one was pain reliever while the other anti-inflammatory. Long story short is that my Creantine went from a steady 1.51 to 2.67 after the medication regime for the UTI to the point it has steadily gone down. I am currently is STAGe5 with an eGFR of 10 on my last labs in May this year. I never trusted physicians, but I was in pain and discomfort and that one time I let my guard down. Never again. I advise caution. To keep away any more UTI's I drink lots of water take one AZO Cranberry pills twice a week for prevention. The last time I felt one coming on a few months ago, I drank lots of water and took AZO six a day for the few days it took the UTI to go away. This works/worked for me. It may or may not work for you. I wish you the best.

[Dana66CKD in reply to FelineFandom146]

Do you have autoimmune disorder and ckd? It's definitely hard to balance all of it.I will be discussing use of AZO with my Nephrologist at next visit in Sept.

[FelineFandom146 in reply to Dana66CKD]

In fact, yes I do and it is AZO Cranberry tablets not the medication. It may nor may not work for you, but it is worth a try. Wish you well.

[Dana66CKD in reply to FelineFandom146]

Thank you for your response and I figured it must be AZO cranberry tablets. Will give this a trial after I talk with Nephro at upcoming visit.

[Danc3432]

I used to have reoccurring kidney infections. I was put on antibiotics for 3 years. It never helped and made me worse and really sick. A nurse suggested I went to a homeopath. Wouldn't have a clue what was in it. The guy was from India and used to go over every so often to get his ingredients. It was amazing the stuff. After 5 months the kidney infections went away. I stopped the antibiotics before I started treatment.

[GoodHealthIsAJourney in reply to Danc3432]

Would you be willing to share his info? My husband gets a UTI every month, and has been to urologists and an infectious disease doctor. We're willing to try anything at this point!