garlic - attn: sara

[Guest guest]

Sara wrote:

Thanks Doc! I have a question relating to garlic that

I thought I'd

stick

on this thread. As most people know by now, I love

garlic; I love it

as a

food and I use it as a remedy all the time.

Yesterday, I suddenly came

down with a urinary tract infection (ick, ick, ick!).

My usual course

of

dealing with those is to chop up a clove of garlic and

eat it (along w/

drinking heavy quantities of water); by the time it

gets through the

stomach, all is usually made well. But yesterday, the

garlic didn't

help

*at all*. In fact, it gave me heartburn so bad that I

would have been

up

all night even if I wasn't up with the UTI anyway.

After suffering

half

the night and peeing every 10 minutes (and starting to

pee blood, which

scared the hell out of me), I dug around and found

some pennicilin and

took

it. That's the first time I've had to take a chemical

antibiotic in a

long

time, and I wasn't happy about it, but thank the gods

it worked.

 

Does anybody have any idea why I would suddenly have a

nasty

gut-reaction

to garlic (when I never do normally) and why it would

fail to handle

this

UTI when it's handled all the others (which are rare

in any case)?

 

And before anybody asks, yes, I might be pregnant. I

am a bit 'late',

and

I'm not usually. Then again, I've had female problems

in the past, so

should I be worried if I'm suddenly late and sore and

start getting

things

like UTIs out of nowhere?

 

--Sorry for jumping in here, Sara, but I really think

you're my long lost twin or something. UTIs have been

a huge problem for me and I've tried everything under

the sun (herbal and other) to prevent them. What has

worked for me is diet, water and more water, and uva

ursi. I've tried other herbs like juniper berries (too

harsh, IMO), cornsilk (a bit too weak for me, but

nice), and buchu leaves (awesome herb, but quite

expensive) to name a few. I intitially thought uva

ursi was too astringent for me, which perhaps it is in

tea form, so I've been taking it in capsules. Knock on

wood, but it's been working like a charm. It's amazing

really, considering I was getting them every time I

had sex with my fiance. Fun, huh?

 

Do you have a family practitioner? If so, take a pee

test. Most importantly, you can determine if you're

preggers. If you are, you'll have to be careful about

what herbs you take...you might want to take some

cornsilk since it's so so gentle. Be careful of too

much tannin, like what's found in the uva ursi. Next,

tell your doc that you suspect you have a bladder

infection and want to know what sort of bacteria is

present. THIS IS IMPORTANT!!! Here's why: certain

antibiotics and herbs are ineffective for specific

strains of bacteria. You could very well take an herb

or antibiotic that does nothing to help your

condition. This is especially dangerous when it comes

to antibiotics, since they tend to do nasty mean

things to your digestive tract and delicate vaginal

flora. Try to avoid popping that penicillin until you

know for sure what sort of bacteria it is. There's

nothing worse than having a UTI, a yeast infection,

and diarrhea on the same day.

 

Another tip...if that UTI came from sex, what I

suggest, and I know you've heard this before, is to

pee right after. And try to make it more impressive

than a dribble. Try to get the stream strong enough so

that if you were peeing on a dirt ground it would move

the dirt around. A good way to ensure this is to drink

a big 'ol glass of water right before you get

intimate. Yeah, you might feel a bit bloated, but

that's better than burning pee shooting out the next

day, no?

 

I'm writing a book here I know, but another thing you

might want to consider is a short liquid fast. Nothing

but fresh pressed veggies (no fruit...too much sugar),

mineral rich bone broths, and herb tea. This will

allow your system to rest as it fights of the

infection. If you are pregnant, skip the fast but do

make sure that you're sticking to a VERY low carb/no

sugar protein rich diet.

 

And cranberry juice has way too much sugar for it to

be a healthy solution, IMO, although some people do

find it to be therapeutic.

 

Good luck and let me know if you need anything at all!

 

Erica

 

=====

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Thanks Erica! I can NOT stop taking that antibiotic, as I almost had to go

to the hospital before I found it, and since the infection is fading but

still there, I'm sure I'll get sick as heckfire if I decide to just *stop*

it for any reason. I don't like the side effects either, but the beat the

alternative. I have gotten these from sex, but I don't think that's what

this is from. It was too sudden and not timed right for that, IMO. My mom

the nurse trained me to pee after " any hanky-panky " (her words) and I do so

religiously; it's good advice though, and generally that's all I need to do

to avoid these things. I do not have a family doctor. I've had several,

but after seeing them a few times I hate them and won't go back, and after

the last one I pretty much gave up on GPs altogether. I'd really like to

have a doctor I could go to with questions, but not having one is better

than having one that doesn't help and makes you feel stupid besides!

 

Thanks for the advice,

ST

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