Functional Roots Wellness

Women's bodies are created beautifully. We believe all women should be able to know and understand the beauty of their natural feminine design. It is time all women know their body is good.

What to do when you feel the early symptoms of a UTI?

Typically, UTIs are treated with antibiotics 💊... Since we try to stear clear of antibiotics in our family and support the body's natural immune response, we are so grateful we've learned about the natural remedies & simple lifestyle interventions we can implement.

Since UTIs are more common in pregnancy, and have more ramifications, we are a bit more cautious, but that also doesn't mean we have to go straight to antibiotics. It just means antibiotics are a tool in the toolbelt, and we're SO happy we do have them, because UTIs can turn into kidney infections and the whole body can get sick🤒, or we can go into early labor.

Common symptoms:
🌺 Urgency (the need to go quickly, and then not a lot of urine comes out) 🌺 Frequency (the need to urinate ALL.THE.TIME). 🌺 Burning & sometimes pain with urination 🌺 Spasms with urination 🌺 Pain above the p***c bone 🌺 Sometimes even blood in the urine (40% of women will have this)🌺 If symptoms are worse, there can be a fever & flu-like symptoms (go see a physician)

Moving on. The tools in the toolbelt.

Just barely feeling symptoms:
- Drink 6-8 8 oz. glasses of water each day. Seriously. I measure out 3-4 mason jars of water & set them on my counter. The goal is to rinse the bacteria OUT of the urinary tract.
- Cut out ALL sugar for 5 days. Yes🍰. The bacteria have to starve & bacteria LOVE sugar.
- Urinate at the first urge
- Don't have s*x while until no symptoms for 3 days
- Don't wear a thong. 🩲 Most UTIs come from Ecoli (💩 think about it. It's basically a tight rope from a very bacteria- rich environment 🥴)

*Side note - the no sugar things goes for all infections. When the kids get sick, no sugar. They just know that's part of the routine. If we've been around people that are sick and we're headed on vacation, no sugar. Seriously 🤣. And make sure we're all getting rest. How terrible would that be, for the whole family to spend vacation days home, in bed? 🤦🏻‍♀️ It's just the basics of how we can support the immune system.

Still feeling symptoms, or possibly getting worse?
- 4 probiotic capsules daily for 2 days; then 2 capsules daily for 5 days.
1000 mg. vitamin C every 4 hours for 2 days; then 500 mg every 4 hours for 5 more days
- Cranberry D-mannose 2 capsules twice daily for a week
- Homoepathy (always in my toolbox). I've successfully treated myself based on symptoms, while other times I've called my homeopath. I prefer either option is preference to antibiotics. Typical remedies for UTIs include Cantharis, Apis, Equisetum, Kreosotum, Sepia, Sarsaparilla, Berberis Vulgaris, Nux Vomica, Mercurius, Aconite & Pulsatilla. Sometimes it's nice to have a skilled & objective person to talk over the key symptoms with.

If you're really crunchy 😉, & are comfortable with herbs/tinctures, the following can be absolutely lovely:
🌾 urinary tract flush: uva ursi leaf, marshmallow root, and yarrow blossoms 1/3C each, steep for an hour, strain/press. Drink 1/2 -1 cup every 4 hours (not tasty, but so helpful)
🌾 spastic, cramping bladder pain: 30 drops cramp bark tincture, 30 drops wild yam tincture, 5-10 drops kava kava tincture. every 2-4 hours for the first 24 hours, and reduce to every 4-6 hours for the next 24 hours (avoid the kava kava if you have any liver problems or are taking other medications)

Preventing UTIs. Some people get UTIs more often than others...
👍 Make sure to urinating after s*x
🩲Don't wear a thong...
🧻 Wipe from front to back
💧Stay hydrated
🚽Urinate at first urge (when the tubes going from the bladder to the urethral opening (ureters) are full of urine, bacteria can swim right up, so keeping the bladder empty prevents the bacteria from coming up so easily)

And when is it time to go see a practitioner?
🤒 Fever, chills, and lower back pain- probably a kidney infection. Usually antibiotics are necessary.
🤰Pregnant w/ a kidney infection. This is a big deal. Antibiotics are necessary. UTIs/bladder infections can put a pregnant momma into early/preterm labor.

So you have to take antibiotics. How to mitigate the effects of antibiotics?
- Take a daily probiotic & continue for 3 months after. Continue the steps to avoid a UTI.

*Treatment for kiddos with UTIs is different, and is not my specialty, so I don't recommend the above treatment options.

Read more about UTIs on my blog, where I discuss why we try to avoid antibiotics as well