First time on this forum and I'm so pleased to see that I'm not alone in suffering with lots of UTIs. Im not sexually active so that isn't the cause. I am very careful to wash after opening my bowels, to pee about an hour after doing the same in case any germs have got inside my bladder but still get UTIs. I bet Ive had 5 this year and its only April. Do people find probiotics or prebiotics work? Ive not had any joy with cranberry tablets or juice.All suggestions gratefully received, thanks.
Hi Christine, I have been taking probiotics for a couple of months now and they do seem to be helping, do you only use water to wash? anything perfumed can cause it to flare up, I also don't use perfumed detergent to wash my underwear, I was on cranberry tablets but have stopped taking them this week to see if they were doing anything, if it flares up again I will know to buy more.
Thanks for your reply Phoebe. I use an antibacterial handwash to wash myself with and yes I use perfumed detergent to wash my underwear. Maybe I should stop using both. My doctor says the UTI is caused by a small amount of faeces getting into my bladder so this is why I wash after opening my bowels. Im not sure the type of detergent will affect this but who knows? Anyway Im starting a probiotic tomorrow in case its the bacteria in my bowel that is somehow causing it. Let me know how you get on without cranberry tablets. Kind regards.
My suggestion to you, is to start off drinking 3L of water everyday for 1 week and see if that clears it up. It got rid of my constant UTI'S.
Also, it could also be the toilet paper you are using. I find that the name brand kinds such as cottonelle and a few other ones tend to have A LOT of fibers which can cause irritation in the uterus/vagina which can feel like a UTI (painful etc), as well as spreading bacteria from fiber to fiber due to how much certain brands toilet paper flakes. Try switching toilet paper as well. I find no name brands don't have flaky toilet paper that has a lot of fiber.
I use moist toilet tissue after opening my bowels (unscented ones), I also drink as much water as I can (usually about 3 pints over the course of the day) as I am terrible for hydrating myself, I used to go all day and realise I hadn't drunk anything since early morning, not good, try to cut out caffeine as well if you can, I hate not using soap of any kind, I do use unscented sometimes and also a water based cream and sometimes water baby wipes, my UTI's began after my hysterectomy 2 years ago and I was getting them every 3 months or so.
I will let you know what happens RE the Cranberry tablets.
Take care
Phoebe.
Thanks Phoebe. I do suspect that I don't drink enough, someone told me I should drink 10 cups of fluid a day so I suppose thats a starting point. Keep in touch.
Thanks Tristan, I am definitely going to increase my water intake and possibly the number of times I wee too. It makes sense that I should be flushisng my bladder out each day. Will try switching toilet paper too 
Hi there Just a question, but have you been reffered to a urologist to see if there is an issue going on causing these infections? Also Yes probiotics are very helpful and useful in keeping the bad bacteria out. Especially after taking antibiotics it takes away all the good bacteria leaving you vulnerable for another infection. Another cause could be that your PH levels are off down below this can allow bacteria to stick to the walls of the bladder. D-mannose is a great supplement to use, however it is only useful for the E-coli bacteria. Also you are doing the right thing of cleaning well after a bowel movement, drinking lots of water to keeps things constantly flushing out, wear cotton underwear.....these are all good preventatives. Cranberry pills or the real cranberry juice is also good to keep things acidic so bacteria won't stick, but if your bladder is inflamed this can cause more irritation.
Hi Linda I saw a consultant many years ago and he suggested I take a low-dose antibiotic every evening for the rest of my life, changing prescriptions every 3 months so that my body wouldn't get used to them. I resisted doing this as I again didn't want my gut bacteria compromised but now that I'm having such regular infections and having to take a week's course I am wondering if a nightly one is the lesser of two evils. I will google D-mannose, thanks for that suggestion.
Tha's awful to suggest anti biotics for the rest of your life, I would have resisited as well, I am currently on a 6 month agreement with my GP, she wants me to see a urologist, I have my reasons for not wanting to go, so we are going to see how I get on in the next 6 months and if I have too many flare ups I will just have to go, so far so good, I haven't had Anti biotics for for 2 months...woopee! I have felt much better for taking the probiotics, D-mannose never worked for me and the jury is still out on the cranberry tablets..................what fun we ladyfolk have 
, I know men can get UTI's but usually they are not so persisitant.
Oh and of course I/we must keep up the hydrating which in turn makes us pee more so thereby flushing everything regularly......what joy LOL.
What joy indeed, but so nice to meet other women who are suffering from the same thing, none of my friends has this problem. I know how mine started, a forceps birth almost 40 years ago leaving me with lots of both internal and external stitches and consequently a loose bladder entrance. I do pelvic floor excercises every day now and can finally run without embarrassment but those pesky germs still find their way in ....
I had a forceps birth almost 40 years ago also (40 in February next year) had about 24 stitches in and out so completely understand that but I only had 1 bout of cystitis up until about 8 months ago when it all went pear shaped, my GP said it is definitely to do with my hysterectomy which was done vaginally, I hadn't realised so many women suffered with this until I got chatting on here.
Maybe your bladder entrance wasn't affected initially and has only got 'loose' as youve got older, you know, the way everything sags or flops! I had stress incontinence for years where I couldn't run or sneeze without wetting myself, all due to this bladder damage. But since starting Pilates Ive made a conscious effort to pull everything in when im sat in the car or in the supermarket queue and am a lot better now. And ive always suffered from UTIs but theyve got a whole lot worse now as ive got older. Ive even got a spreadsheet to record them from year to year! Your hysterectormy won't have helped of course.
Saggy just about sums me up, ha ha! we have a few pilates classes in our village, trouble is they do a lot of floor exercises don't they? I could get down there but as to whether I would get up again is another question, I have been doing some kegel exercises on youtube since my op and things are a little better, when I had my first son almost 42 years ago I'd never heard of kegels, he was 9lb 13oz at birth, I was blissfully unaware of what lay in wait...............................................
Yes about two thirds of the class is on the floor. I will have to look up kegel exercises, Ive not heard of them. I am guessing they excercise your pelvic floor so that must be a good thing. Thats a good weight for a baby isn't it!
Yes they are for pelvic floor.
I did everything differently, instead of my second son being heavier he was lighter at 7lb 1oz yet still needed to be helped with forceps, bless him.
Sat here waiting for GP practice to ring me back re what will be my 4th UTI this year.
I am in the same boat, Christine, have followed all the usual advice & guidelines, not tried probiotics yet though. Definitely have had more recurrence since stopping HRT 2 years ago, although I've been having them since the age of about 18.
I don't really want any investigations, have a feeling catheters & the like are not going to improve the situation! I'm sure there is a familial trait. I remember my mum suffering a lot. Note to self, not sure if my 34 year old daughter suffers too, she's never mentioned it, but I will definitely talk to her about it when I next see her.
Any new suggestions would be most welcome. I don't like the way it is impacting on me now. I would be happy to try the low dose antibiotic for 6 months to see if that helps.
I'm trying probiotic tablets starting this evening and have ordered D-mannose from Amazon, whatever that is, but I saw it recommended on this forum. Anything to avoid having to take these antibiotic courses. Talking of which, my GP now prescribes a shorter course, following national guidelines Im sure, which never completely clears it up so inevitably I get a follow-on infection. I think I had a UTI for the whole of March and another one or two in April. This cannot go on! I only had three last year so really thought Id cracked it. I have to carry a 'bidet kit' with me when I go out for the day and then find a disabled toilet to wash myself if I've opened my bowels. Do others do this?