How to prevent Chronic UTI's?

Two things I can think of: don't sit around in your exercise clothes after you are done exercising, cut down on wearing thongs if you do. Drink extra amounts of cranberry juice to restore the levels within your system.

(All things I've been told by a doc)

I think you're supposed to drink lots of water too.

Also avoid bubble baths.

Sometimes fem products with perfumes/scents added to them might add to the problem.

Oh and use soap that has little or no perfume in it as well. My mom always has to use Ivory.

White toilet paper, no perfume. I don't think they make the colored stuff much anymore.

You can always water down the unsweetened and drink more...it will obviously have you running to restroom more but that might help also...

Make sure you don't "hold it" if you have to pee, to put it bluntly. That will also exacerbate the problem.

You're right about sweetened cranberry juice RR--during an infection it should be unsweetened. But, since that is so unpalatable, they do sell tablets that might make it easier to swallow.

I don't think I could drink unsweetened at any time. I would definitely need the tabs.

MW--you should ask your Doc if you could incorporate something like Ocean Spray into your diet during non-infection times. Like I said earlier, I had a friend who had them so bad she had to eat cranberries with nothing on them--even during her non-infection times. So, your Doc would be the one to ask.

But, definitely non sweet during your infections. I was wrong. Lash me with the spag noodles.

Unsweetened isn't so bad once you get used to it. I still drink it sometimes now.....wean over to it by cutting it half and half with the sweet stuff, but RR is right, most bacteria feed on sugar so especially no sweetened during the infection. You want to raise the acidity of the urine to kill the bacteria, which is the reason they recommend unsweetened.

I struggled with this for a while, partly because I was chronically dehydrated and I did take the cranberry tablets for a while, which really seemed to help.

All this is great advice... my little girl India had 3 of them in one year and the doctor said it was from baths. She takes a shower now... but I remember what he said in addition to the cranberry juice and water... like they said, NO colored toilet tissue, slightly loose cotton underwear, etc.

Those things HURT! I've never seen a person in so much pain as when she had them. Also, the doc said some women are simply more prone to them than others. Sucks. Hope you can avoid them in future.

It also depends on the frequency of your UTI's. (You state chronic)
If they are so frequent then you need to see a urologist. Perhaps ou have a fistula which is a small connection from place to place. (ex: your bladder to you__________??? fill in) That could also be a cause.
I am sure it is just a simple thing but best to get it checked out.
I also used to have frequent UTI's and always seemed to be when I was in a new more serious :pinklove: relationship (ex: screwing all the time)

My grandma used to always tell me to wear cotton underwear and I never knew exactly why. So, the last time I had a UTI I mentioned it to my doctor and she said my grandma was right - cotton underwear all the time...and nothing tight-fitting.

Dang, guess that rules out my thong & tight jeans! :?

I suggest trying an over the counter medication for UTI pain relieftier. I have had chronic UTI for probably my whole life.  I have been pretty much trying to figure out how to prevent UTI for a long time now. Antibiotics are a safe and easy route to go, but they can become expensive. Also, for your knowledge, antibiotics get rid of ALL bacteria, including the good ones. So whatever immunity that your body has been building up, is now gone and you have to start all over again. The other option was natural remedies and making prevention methods like peeing before sex because most of my problems were UTI after sex. The causes of UTI for me were pretty much happening all the time so I had to look into solutions. I looked into a product called Cystex. This really helped because it gave me immediate UTI pain relief from the burning, but also only kills the bad bacteria. Leaving with my good ones whenever the flair ups would happen.  This method worked each time. And for even more protection, I use their cranberry complex, which is a liquid that give you two week of UTI prevention. It costs 10 bucks. Drink one of these every two weeks and your chronic UTI problem will be gone. Bam.