purpleviolet
07-07-2008, 09:11 PM
OK - I had this big looming "field trip" to Japan and just before it I got a UTI ( I was on prosed DS at this point so it took 4 days for a culture to grow probably due to the anti-infective agent in it). As soon as I felt the UTI I started Macrobid and pyridium (I stopped the prosed)which helped 80% of the UTI symptoms but then when the culture returned I had to switch to Levaquin which the bugs were more sensitive to but that antibiotic started giving me GI symptoms after 3 days so I called and they said I could discontinue the antibiotics so off I went (on the plane I mean). Being an herbal nut I had added forskolin for a few days to the regimen because supposedly it pushes germs out of the bladder wall increasing antibiotic effectiveness. (That is one reason why I stopped the prosed while taking the antis because I wanted to minimize the amount of substances I was consuming - I don't recommend mixing that herb with any other drugs). Anyway at this juncture I had narrowly avoided a huge disaster because I would have had to cancel me going.
I returned to taking Prosed/DS and tylenol if needed. I also took valium at night to make sure I slept. So actually during this trip I felt fairly well and even drank green tea (cold from vending machines which was actually quite weak), There were lots of bathrooms around. Some were the pit kind and some were so so modern with bidets and sprays - you just push buttons, some public toilets even had a button to press to make the flushing sound I guess to cover up any un-nice sounds to the next stall if you know what I mean. The only time I was stuck was when I drank the rest of my water bottle before going thru security and that was a mistake owing to the long line and when I was on a very jolting hiking trail which seemed to irritate my bladder a lot but luckily noone but my family was around and it was deep forest.
THen I got this horrific cold and I had to fly back in a day. I had to stop the prosed and dry up my nose so I took benadryl and echincea and goldenseal and oregano. I felt awful on the plane but my bladder felt OK and it still feels somewhat better than normal even though I didn't restart the prosed because I took a lot of herbs when I returned in order to battle this bad cold which moved right into my ears from the plane trip.
So I always ask - when I take antibiotics I seem to enjoy feeling better for a few weeks after. Is that from the so called anti-inflammatory effect of the antibiotics or is it that I have a low level infection that is temporarily suppressed? The herbs I take, such as goldenseal, may also contribute to that suppression, but that herb cannot be taken long term. OR was it the prosed/ds or the valium?. I wish I could figure this out. Oh also I started to take melatonin which may increase bladder capacity. So what has been making me somewhat "flare free" for several weeks. Note this is not a remission, just a period of very little pain and slightly less frequency which means I'm holding a little bit more. Now I have to figure out what next - I have some new herbs to try and I won't mix them with synthetic drugs. PV
I returned to taking Prosed/DS and tylenol if needed. I also took valium at night to make sure I slept. So actually during this trip I felt fairly well and even drank green tea (cold from vending machines which was actually quite weak), There were lots of bathrooms around. Some were the pit kind and some were so so modern with bidets and sprays - you just push buttons, some public toilets even had a button to press to make the flushing sound I guess to cover up any un-nice sounds to the next stall if you know what I mean. The only time I was stuck was when I drank the rest of my water bottle before going thru security and that was a mistake owing to the long line and when I was on a very jolting hiking trail which seemed to irritate my bladder a lot but luckily noone but my family was around and it was deep forest.
THen I got this horrific cold and I had to fly back in a day. I had to stop the prosed and dry up my nose so I took benadryl and echincea and goldenseal and oregano. I felt awful on the plane but my bladder felt OK and it still feels somewhat better than normal even though I didn't restart the prosed because I took a lot of herbs when I returned in order to battle this bad cold which moved right into my ears from the plane trip.
So I always ask - when I take antibiotics I seem to enjoy feeling better for a few weeks after. Is that from the so called anti-inflammatory effect of the antibiotics or is it that I have a low level infection that is temporarily suppressed? The herbs I take, such as goldenseal, may also contribute to that suppression, but that herb cannot be taken long term. OR was it the prosed/ds or the valium?. I wish I could figure this out. Oh also I started to take melatonin which may increase bladder capacity. So what has been making me somewhat "flare free" for several weeks. Note this is not a remission, just a period of very little pain and slightly less frequency which means I'm holding a little bit more. Now I have to figure out what next - I have some new herbs to try and I won't mix them with synthetic drugs. PV