The Curse of the Stingy Bladder

Luckily I had a little bit of base knowledge thanks to uni and a lot of late night google searches…

Urinary tract infections are an infection of any component of the urinary system, most commonly attacking the urethra and bladder.

They are primarily caused by bacteria, prominently E. coli, entering and growing in the urinary tract through a myriad of ways: blockages to the flow of urine, catheters, hormonal changes, dehydration or bacteria from your anus entering your urethra.

This can happen in many ways, sexual intercourse, not wiping front to back, and even just by wearing a thong. It has been found that up to one third of the population with vaginas would have experienced a UTI by 24, and 30% of these individuals will have persistent infections.

It is so so SO crucial to be aware of the symptoms when experiencing a UTI as they can easily spread to the kidneys and cause further complications.

The most common symptoms, for people with vaginas in particular, are; burning sensations whilst weeing, needing to wee more regularly and urgently, cloudy or red-tinged wee, and lower back pain.

It is SO important that if you start to have a raised temperature, you’re shivering and start feeling a little bit loopy that you contact your GP or 111 as these are key signs of a spread to your renal system.

The Curse of the Stingy Bladder

I distinctly remember at precisely 11.55pm on NYE being doubled over on the toilet in hysterics with another bastard UTI - this was the exact moment I realised I needed to get RID of this problem once and for all.

BY: VH

Updated: 27/10/2023

By always counting myself as one of the ‘lucky ones’ who had never experienced any sort of issues down there, I probably shot myself in the foot by constantly mentioning how I didnt know what thrush or urinary tract infections were like.

It wasn’t until 2020 when things went a bit shit in the vaginal department.

I never really figured out whether it was just extreme stress (university), being suddenly changed to a different pill that was apparently ‘identical to the one I had previously’ (bullshit) or the slightly problematic situationship I had started (incompatible emotionally AND bacterially).

I remember the first time I got a UTI. It strangely started with the feeling of needing a massive poo all day, major lower back pain and just general tiredness. I didn’t realise what was going on until that evening when I sat down for a wee and everything went 0 to 100; I was pissing blood, unable to get off the loo and felt like I was pushing knives out my urethra every 20 seconds - the WORKS.

Little did I know this would be my life for the foreseeable - probably once every 2 weeks for about 7 months.

It got to the point where I had the nitrofurantoin on speed dial and it was a pretty regular occurrence that I would go to sleep on top of a washing up bowl with my head on my bed just to get some shut eye.

I remember desperately calling the doctor trying to figure out why I was developing chronic cystitis. I was told it was due to my current partner’s bacteria not agreeing with me and after 6 months (?!) it will all be happily ever after. I took their word for it and didn’t think to change any other aspect of my life.

Anyway, as the story continues, we broke up and I had about 5 months of UTI and thrush free bliss and my vagina was happy as bloody larry…

Until I met my current partner.

Now, the part we’re all waiting for, how did I fix it?

Much to my new partner's excitement and joy, it was a very strict 3 step regime to rid my body of this nasty chronic bacteria and prevent me from having to take ANY more antibiotics for my UTIs if I could help it:

1. Main crucial component: PEE AFTER SEX EVERY SINGLE TIME!! Force that pee out of you no matter what and give your vagina a scrub whilst you’re there!! It may not be particularly romantic or sexy in the moment, and I know you wanna lay there cuddling, but you’ll be thanking yourself when you don’t have that horrible 2am wakeup call in 3-5 business days.

2. D-Mannose: D-mannose undoubtedly saved my bladder! It is a form of naturally occurring glucose which has been found to inhibit the attachment of bacteria to the urethra. As a biomed gally, I obviously got obsessed with all medical trials involving this supplement, and there have been several studies revealing how it successfully prevents the recurrence of UTIs, and has even been shown to work as well as nitrofurantoin in the treatment of UTIs! I was pretty much convinced after a few papers, and immediately waltzed myself down to Holland and Barrett to find these magic pills. I popped a few of these bad boys every day for about 6 months and can confidently say I have only ever had ONE UTI since!! That is in 2 whole years! Obviously D-Mannose alone wasn’t the solution to my problem, but it definitely did most of the work.

3. This one is not necessarily needed, but I feel like it helped me flush out the system. I had 2 weeks of strictly no dickly, or any sort of downstairs happenings after my last UTI. This was basically to give her a break, let the last batch of antibiotics do its thing, and give the D-Mannose some time to work its magic. Take or leave this step, just do whatever you feel is right for your vagina!!

   
   

I can safely say I have been UTI free for about a year now. I know that this is all laughs and jokes but I get, as do most people with vaginas, how absolutely horrific UTIs can feel physically and emotionally.

Don’t lose hope and think this will be your life forever because there are so many options out there for how you can help yourself. My regime might not work for you, everyone is so different and it is so worth doing your own reading; but if it can aid just one fellow sufferer my work here is done!!

Went on a first date, 3 days later (like clockwork) BAM, nice little visit from the old stingy bladder.

This sent me into research oblivion. Who, what, when, where and most importantly WHY am I being burdened with recurring UTIs, as it clearly wasn’t my ex.

Please find more informative links here if you have any further queries, or just fancy a little more reading:

‘Role of D-mannose in urinary tract infections – a narrative review’

‘What You Need to Know About Urinary Tract Infections’

Quick Disclaimer: please don't take medications/vitamins without discussion with a medical professional!