kathrynowyckoff Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Hi guys! I am new to the Whole30 lifestyle, as this is my first time taking on the challenge. I am happy to making changes to start improving my health! Anyways, I have suffered from chronic urinary tract infections for years. To the point that antibiotics don't really do the trick to make me feel better. Over the last year I did research on my own to see if I could find natural ways of relieving my infections instead of just turning to ANOTHER antibiotic perscribed to me. I discovered D-Mannose which is a naturally occuring sugar that prevents the bacteria from clinging to the wall of the uterus. It has taken care of my infections! However, since it is a sugar, I am not sure if it is in accordance with the Whole30 challenge and want to make sure I am not throwing off my whole challenge by taking this pill. Here is a link to my supplement for anyone not familiar with it: http://www.amazon.com/Solaray-D-Mannose-CranActin-Vegetarian-Capsules/dp/B0011FT8OM Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Tom Denham Posted January 2, 2013 Moderators Share Posted January 2, 2013 You can take medications during a Whole30 and D-Mannose would qualify as medication. I don't think it will reduce the effect of your Whole30 at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Just as an addendum, you may find that your chronic UTIs resolve, if you stick on the Whole30/paleo path. I wouldn't call my experiences "chronic," but it rarely fails that when I do some major food off-roading, I'll end up with a UTI. There are other factors at play obviously...but I definitely believe that the increased sugar intake gives me much less room for error/laziness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathrynowyckoff Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Thanks guys! I've changed a lot about my lifestyle, diet includedand still don't have much relief from my uti's, hopefully this could provide me some relief eventually. I might stop taking the d mannose while on the whole30 and see if my symptoms return. I see taking the d mannose as a better option over the daily antibiotic indefinitely as my doctors would like. We shall see! Thanks for the advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Jesus Christ, they want you to take a daily antibiotic indefinitely?!!!!!!! (brb, creating superbugs and destroying ANY possibility of beneficial bacteria growing anywhere, ever.) Sorry, I'm just really shocked and appalled that that's standard of care! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathrynowyckoff Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 I know right! That was my reaction. Three different doctors have told me that it's the answer. The antibiotic is an extremely low dose, and somehow the way it enters my body it does not effect other types of cells (probably not the right word) and there was a very minimal chance of it being able to create a superbug and would not effect my susceptibility to other types of antibiotics (according to doctors). Regardless, I don't want to do that unless it cant be absolutely avoided. Hence the D Mannose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Sometimes (read: always) I'm really disappointed with the state of health care in the US. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir here, but the fact that those antibiotics aren't helping you anymore is evidence that it's creating superbugs! I'm disgusted Have you tried Jarrow's fem-dophilus? (http://www.jarrow.co...91/Fem-Dophilus) Chris Kresser's seen some good results in his patients using this, either orally or as a suppository. Here's some more stuff from him on the topic: http://chriskresser.com/treat-and-prevent-utis-without-drugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 This would not be W30 approved but my daughter has the same issue. Her fab doc has her drink 4 oz of unsweetened NOT from concentrate organic cranberry juice. She does it religeously and has not had a uti in over 5 monthes. I can guarantee one thing..it will not waken a sugar dragon. I took one sip and it was so sour it made my mouth dry. She loves it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Susan, the probable (no RCTs that I know of) reason why cranberry juice works is the D-Mannose it's easier to get the necessary dose from a supplement than from cranberry juice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan W Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Susan, the probable (no RCTs that I know of) reason why cranberry juice works is the D-Mannose it's easier to get the necessary dose from a supplement than from cranberry juice Ahhh...seems to have worked. She enjoys the horrid stuff but I'll tell her about the supplement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathrynowyckoff Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Well ive never taken this antibiotic that they want me to take, apparently its slightly different than the other anyibiotics. Ive only ever taken the common ones amoxicillin, cypro, etc... And those definitely can create superbugs. Which is why I'm very hesitant to just jump on the indefinite antibiotic bandwagon. Ill check out your links, thanks for the recommendation! I did take cranberry pills for awhile but did not see much of a difference. It's so difficult to find not from concentrate juice or not cocktail cranberry juice that the d mannose supplement was just way easier for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathrynowyckoff Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 I see that the Fem Dophilus contains dextrose and potato starch. Would that be any better than the d mannose? The back of the d mannose says that it contains less than one gram of actual sugar but 1,000 milligrams of D mannose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee Lee Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Ugh, sorry about that. The Jarrow product I take is compliant. I assumed all their stuff was. This actually contains casein (Dairy) too. My bad! Chris actually didn't pimp this particular product either, just probiotics both in general as well as using them as a suppository. If the D-Mannose is helping, I'd stick with it! Just offering you other info on the topic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathrynowyckoff Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 No problem! I'm fairly ignorant with all of this so I appreciate the help. I will probably stop it during week 2 and see what happens. I feel like I can probably concede and take the d mannose if need be. The point of me doing the whole30 and then trying to switch to a paleo diet is only to be healthy. I'm not in a position where I have health problems that require me to change my diet or need to lose weight, so this is strictly for me and my body's benefit! I think that I probably have a little leeway when it comes to the medicine then . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahEmily Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Hey, I have had a problem with re-current UTI's also, I took antibiotics a few times if they were sever, but not as much as you it seems. I have found since going whole30 that they completely went away. In the first 5 days of going whole30 I had no pain/feeling of needed to go even when I had already been etc. I think that for me it was cutting out the dairy, since pre-whole30 the only major difference to my diet was the inclusion of dairy. I hope you find the whole30 helps you also. Sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathrynowyckoff Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 Great that's encouraging to hear! My main weakness is bread, so possibly it could have to do with the sugars in bread. We shall see . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulucandoit! Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Hi Kathryn. You might look into interstitial cystitis. This is a good source of information: http://www.ic-network.com/ . I had what my doctor thought were bladder infections for years. It was IC and diet plays a big part in alleviating flares. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrsStick Posted February 4, 2013 Share Posted February 4, 2013 Hi! As someone who's only had one full on UTI...I'm lucky. I get that. But I've had more than a few times where I've noticed that I'm starting to feel like I have one coming on, and even those have slowed down. If you've been on antibiotics for this long, you NEED a high quality probiotic supplement. That long of a set of antibiotics will leave your healthy bacteria absolutely decimated - from your digestive system to your *ahem* lady parts, you are SUPPOSED to have healthy bacteria there, but antibiotics (especially the nuke type ones that kill EVERYTHING - amoxy, cypro, etc.) will kill it all off. That will leave you very vulnerable to the bad bacteria or even yeast (surprised you haven't had one of those too!) will move in and thrive. Having the right probiotic balance will restore proper digestive functions (if you notice trouble digesting certain foods or get recurrent stomach aches, this is why) - gut dysbiosis can cause ALL KINDS of nastiness, from heartburn (GERD or LPR) to diarrhea, chronic sinus infections to eczema. The bacteria in your gut also act as an arm of the immune system and, in some cases, manufacture the vitamins we need (or help release vitamins from what we eat). So do yourself a favor and look into a good multi-strain probiotic (I use Bio-Kult, but do your research and find the best you can for your budget). Edited to add: I just got off of a 9 month stint of antibiotics, and taking the probiotic helped me out a TON. No stomach upset due to no gut bacteria (I took it twice a day if I noticed stomach upset coming on), stronger immune system, and it kept me from getting yeast infections or UTIs. In Afghanistan (it's not exactly a clean place...). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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