Yes, you're seeing correctly. It is a TWELVE POUND bag of Baking Soda.
This post is especially for the Ladies. The only reason I say that is because it deals with an affliction from which, to date, only one male I know of personally has ever suffered. (And that, I'm SURE was karma!)
I am speaking of the dreaded and much-loathed Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) also known less accurately but far more conversationally as the "Bladder Infection."
People, there are few things on this earth that make a girl hate being a girl with more fury and gnashing of teeth than this bacterial menace. To add to the *enjoyment* you can rest assured that the vast majority of the time, said loveliness will usually chose, say Saturday morning at about 1:45 to present itself so as to make sure you are just miserable enough as to render you unable to wait for your regular doctor's office to open Monday morning to seek treatment... And the local ER's cash register *Ka-CHINGS!* with satisfaction.
Seriously. The last three times I've had one of these curses of gal-dom, I have had to fork over a $100 co-pay... only to be billed $160-and-change more from the ER after insurance! For which, by the way I am EXTREMELY grateful because just to walk into the ER in Lincoln City, tell them what was happening with me, get my blood pressure taken, pee in a cup, wait in a room under a pre-warmed blanket, tell the doc three times that yes, Pyridium DOES, in fact, contain red food dye... "what do you think makes your urine orange???" and therefore yes it WILL make me vomit, yes, I'm allergic to sulfa drugs and Cipro makes me sick as a dog, at which news he looks at me accusingly like I'm telling him all this just to challenge his medical knowledge and spouts at me with disgust, "Well, I'm running out of things to give you so you're going to have to take something or just take your chances until maybe this thing kills you!"
"Can you just give me some Macrobid and let me be on my way, please...?"
"Um, okay... $816 please!"
Can you imagine what it would have cost me if I needed, oh, I don't know, for them to actually figure out what was wrong with me? What if I had needed a stitch or something?! Ka-CHING!!
But, I digress...
So. Fast forward to Monday evening.
The unmistakable sensations begin and I'm thinking how grateful I am that at least it's not Saturday, but it is too late to call the doctor at the moment. I'm going to have to try some home triage until morning.
My mom happens to call and I tell her what's up and she says "Oh, I read the coolest thing about Alka Seltzer and UTIs! I can't remember exactly what it was, but, you know..."
Well, I don't own any Alka Seltzer, but I do have... you guessed it... Baking Soda!
What is Alka Seltzer but fizzy baking soda in a tablet?
I have nothing to lose at this point so I decide to improvise. I took a rounded teaspoon of Baking Soda and dissolved it into about 10oz of water. I drank it down as quickly as I could, *YUCK* and followed it with most of another glass of clear water. Of course, the burping erupted immediately... followed by some nausea, but that passed pretty quickly. An hour later, I began to notice some other, um, plumbing activity. It seemed I was purging a lot more than just urinary bacteria, but it wasn't like when that happens when you're sick. There wasn't any cramping, just an urgent need to "go!"
By bedtime, I felt mostly fine, but still made an appointment with the doc's office the next morning so as to not get another "ER Surprise" over the weekend. They couldn't get me in until Wednesday.
Tuesday, I felt fine all day but decided to do the baking soda and water thing again that evening, just for good measure. No extra "plumbing" action this time.
This morning, I kept my appointment with the doctor.
Guess what? For the FIRST TIME EVER my UTI test came back NEGATIVE!!!
The doctor walked into the exam room, results in hand, with her mouth hanging open in disbelief! There was not a TRACE of bacteria. Believe me, and gals who have experienced a UTI more than twice can attest... once you start down that road, there is NO question what those specific symptoms mean and they do NOT get better by thinking happy thoughts and waiting it out.
I'm not a doctor. I can't (legally) say the baking soda thing cured my UTI. All I can say is, somehow between Monday evening and this morning, with pretty much just baking soda and a whole bunch of water in between, the UTI was rendered completely undetectable... and the doctor was amazed enough to make a big deal about it.
I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'...
Baking soda: takes the stains out of your sink, deodorizes your fridge, cleans your teeth, and apparently your urinary tract... and the list goes on, and on and on...
Now THAT's what I call versatile!
Baking Soda and Water Cocktails all around! Woo Hoo!
Party on, Y'all!
I am speaking of the dreaded and much-loathed Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) also known less accurately but far more conversationally as the "Bladder Infection."
People, there are few things on this earth that make a girl hate being a girl with more fury and gnashing of teeth than this bacterial menace. To add to the *enjoyment* you can rest assured that the vast majority of the time, said loveliness will usually chose, say Saturday morning at about 1:45 to present itself so as to make sure you are just miserable enough as to render you unable to wait for your regular doctor's office to open Monday morning to seek treatment... And the local ER's cash register *Ka-CHINGS!* with satisfaction.
Seriously. The last three times I've had one of these curses of gal-dom, I have had to fork over a $100 co-pay... only to be billed $160-and-change more from the ER after insurance! For which, by the way I am EXTREMELY grateful because just to walk into the ER in Lincoln City, tell them what was happening with me, get my blood pressure taken, pee in a cup, wait in a room under a pre-warmed blanket, tell the doc three times that yes, Pyridium DOES, in fact, contain red food dye... "what do you think makes your urine orange???" and therefore yes it WILL make me vomit, yes, I'm allergic to sulfa drugs and Cipro makes me sick as a dog, at which news he looks at me accusingly like I'm telling him all this just to challenge his medical knowledge and spouts at me with disgust, "Well, I'm running out of things to give you so you're going to have to take something or just take your chances until maybe this thing kills you!"
"Can you just give me some Macrobid and let me be on my way, please...?"
"Um, okay... $816 please!"
Can you imagine what it would have cost me if I needed, oh, I don't know, for them to actually figure out what was wrong with me? What if I had needed a stitch or something?! Ka-CHING!!
But, I digress...
So. Fast forward to Monday evening.
The unmistakable sensations begin and I'm thinking how grateful I am that at least it's not Saturday, but it is too late to call the doctor at the moment. I'm going to have to try some home triage until morning.
My mom happens to call and I tell her what's up and she says "Oh, I read the coolest thing about Alka Seltzer and UTIs! I can't remember exactly what it was, but, you know..."
Well, I don't own any Alka Seltzer, but I do have... you guessed it... Baking Soda!
What is Alka Seltzer but fizzy baking soda in a tablet?
I have nothing to lose at this point so I decide to improvise. I took a rounded teaspoon of Baking Soda and dissolved it into about 10oz of water. I drank it down as quickly as I could, *YUCK* and followed it with most of another glass of clear water. Of course, the burping erupted immediately... followed by some nausea, but that passed pretty quickly. An hour later, I began to notice some other, um, plumbing activity. It seemed I was purging a lot more than just urinary bacteria, but it wasn't like when that happens when you're sick. There wasn't any cramping, just an urgent need to "go!"
By bedtime, I felt mostly fine, but still made an appointment with the doc's office the next morning so as to not get another "ER Surprise" over the weekend. They couldn't get me in until Wednesday.
Tuesday, I felt fine all day but decided to do the baking soda and water thing again that evening, just for good measure. No extra "plumbing" action this time.
This morning, I kept my appointment with the doctor.
Guess what? For the FIRST TIME EVER my UTI test came back NEGATIVE!!!
The doctor walked into the exam room, results in hand, with her mouth hanging open in disbelief! There was not a TRACE of bacteria. Believe me, and gals who have experienced a UTI more than twice can attest... once you start down that road, there is NO question what those specific symptoms mean and they do NOT get better by thinking happy thoughts and waiting it out.
I'm not a doctor. I can't (legally) say the baking soda thing cured my UTI. All I can say is, somehow between Monday evening and this morning, with pretty much just baking soda and a whole bunch of water in between, the UTI was rendered completely undetectable... and the doctor was amazed enough to make a big deal about it.
I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'...
Baking soda: takes the stains out of your sink, deodorizes your fridge, cleans your teeth, and apparently your urinary tract... and the list goes on, and on and on...
Now THAT's what I call versatile!
Baking Soda and Water Cocktails all around! Woo Hoo!
Party on, Y'all!
9 comments:
That's awesome! I'll have to remember that to add to our UTI arsenal. Though, for bladder infections in this house, we swear by CranActin. (Another natural health post I've been meaning to do, but haven't gotten to.)
One of the girls has a condition that makes her prone to bladder infections (She refers to it as 'Spicy Pee') and we have yet to put her on antibiotics because it works so well.
So glad yours has cleared up. Worst. Feeling. Ever.
If you are suffering from common cystitis, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda with water will help alkalinize your urine and help deprive bacteria of where they need to grow.
Cystex is also a great choice for managing a UTI before you get to the doctor, as it is the only UTI medicine available over-the- counter that combines a pain reliever (sodium salicylate) with an effective antiseptic (methenamine) to help keep the infection from progressing. It also doesn't dye your urine orange like other urinary pain relievers.
Hi, Anon. Thanks for stopping in with the good information!
How is it you that happened by my blog?
Are you a doctor?
Wendy, thanks for your tip about CranActin, too!
You are most correct in your assessment... "Worst. Feeling. Ever."
Me? I think the term spicy pee, is darn close to the mark and funny to boot. This will be my new term from now on. And thanks for the baking soda tip- I'll be tucking that little bit of info away for sure.
Wow.
So it appears the baking soda got rid of the infection, but did it help with the excrutiating PAIN? I haven't had to deal with one in years but I still remember that awful pain.
Hey - happy 29th birthday, by the way! :)
that is fascinating! always get them on the weekend too it's like your body knows
You're so right, I got a UTI this weekend starting late Saturday night, aaaargh! I knew I couldn't get to the doc until Monday but good grief I was in so much pain even though I was drinking buckets of water. I didn't have any cranberry juice to try. Then while Googling I turned up your page and thought well it's worth a try... I took 1 tsp baking soda in a cup of water. Then drank a lot more plain water. Went to sleep, got up in 2 hrs to "go" noticed the pain seemed to be down a little bit. Took 1 more tsp in a tall glass of water. Went back to bed got up again later and went to the bathroom thank goodness the pain was down by 90%!! I was amazed and so grateful it had been hurting so bad I wanted to cry and now I knew I could make it through Sunday. The baking soda didn't kill the infection but it reduced the pain by 90% maybe 95% and made it easy for me to keep drinking plain water and "going" often, all through Sunday. Got my script from the doc this morning and now I'm taking my antibiotics. She said yep, baking soda is an old remedy for the pain, take a tsp in a glass of water at the first sign of pain but no more than 2-3 tsp in 24 hours. And drink plenty of good old fashioned plain water through the day.
Now I just need to warn you all that if you have high blood pressure you should not do the baking soda it is high in sodium.
Also if you are on any other medications you need to ask a doc or at least look up the drug interactions because baking soda CAN AND WILL affect how your body processes certain meds. I had to stop taking the baking soda by last night because I'm on another med today three days a week and alkalinizers like baking soda cause the blood levels of the med to shoot way up which can be dangerous.
Anyways thank you for your helpful hint and God bless you and your family you have saved me a world of pain!!
AWESOME! I love baking soda. My little one is starting to show symptoms of uti, so I am coaxing him to drink a baking soda cocktail. Wish us luck:)
After Google searching for UTI help, I came across your blog entry and decided to try baking soda out. I have to say, I was in some bad pain. I have had one previous UTI that traveled to my kidneys, and this felt the same way. I was forced to pay a big price tag for the visit and antibiotics.
This time, worried I'd have to hit the E.R. by morning and having some severe back pain from the kidneys, I drank some water with 1/2 tsp baking soda.
After falling asleep (!) about an hour later, I woke up with literally no pain. It no longer hurts when I pee, and there's no more back or abdomen pain!
Thank you so much for your advice! Baking soda worked for me - it looks like it kicked that bacteria from my kidneys down to my bladder and urinary tract... now it's GONE! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Post a Comment