Had to take Mother to ER after suspecting another UTI (she just got over the first one in Feb/March). Thought we were doing things right, even giving her pure cranberry juice, etc. but here we are. Likely won't get in to see her PCP for a couple of weeks. ER gave an antibiotic script. She's generally fine attending to herself in the bathroom but that may need to change. Are there any remedies/habits any of you rely on to help avoid reinfection? She's the type to get delirium so really want to avoid future issues. Thanks in advance.
She may also be having problems with dehydration - very common in seniors. Unless told by a doctor to limit fluid intake, every person should take in about 2 liters of non-caffeinated fluids every day. Help her to create a plan to make sure she drinks enough throughout her day. Thirst is not a good enough indicator of need for fluids. If she drinks enough, she will usually need to urinate about every 3 hours while awake.
Also—hers come at least in part from an inability to fully empty her bladder. I have her bend over while sitting on the toilet to touch her ankles after she thinks she has emptied. This pushes the urina out. (Best case she does this twice. ) Almost always a good amount comes out that would have been sitting in there.
Best wishes. This is a chronic serious issue which does not always get the attention it deserves. It did not get it from my mom’s longterm urologist who refused to prescribe a preventative lodose antibiotic and suggested one option was we just don’t treat it. Really? 96 with diabetes and 1 kidney? (I get angry all over again just thinking about it.)
That's not nearly enough for someone who is active, but for her, it's plenty to keep the urine flowing.
Plain Greek yogurt with live cultures will help her UTI. Your mother needs to stay away from eating sweets or foods that contain sugar. Continue using the cranberry juice, but try to avoid the high sugar content in it. Your mother also needs to flush her system out by drinking pure water.
Every morning I give Mom a shot glass of cranberry juice. Also, plenty of fluids--tap water and white cotton underwear.
Oftentimes, sitting for long periods of time can cause this. My mother has Lewy Body Dementia and "used" to get these. Now with the morning shot of cranberry juice, no longer.
They say for kidney stones to drink lemonade or lemon water to keep your urine in the acid range. Also if you are drinking any kind of soda make it clear not colored.
Prayers
and sensitivity. I worked as a hospital micro tech. I know. Docs try
to save money by skipping this. DO NOT SKIP THIS. This helps explain
recurring infections.
UTI's seem to plague some older women. There are physiological reasons
for this. Women get more UTI's than men because of our anatomy.
Drink, drink, drink. Keep it flushed.
Wipe front to back.
Sometimes obese people have trouble with hygiene. They can't clean themselves well.
Sex - this can push bacteria up the urethra
Urine retention. Can she completely empty her bladder?
Then, on AlvaDeer's advice from this forum, we had the staff start giving her d-mannose supplement (which we purchase on amazon.com and give to the staff to give to her daily). It has dramatically reduced the number of infections to almost 0 per year. The staff calls us when she is low on the pills.
I am not a fan of supplements for reasons I won't bore you with here. However, d-mannose is a simple sugar that doesn't interfere with other meds and can't be overdosed on. You basically pee it out (as we do most other supplements). From research I could find online there doesn't seem to be any danger in taking it, and some clinical evidence it does stave off UTIs. It clearly workes for my MIL.
Your Mom needs to be free and clear of an infection before giving it to her, only because if she still has an infection, the supplement will have no effect and will be wasted.
If Mom does not drink water, she needs to. Do not get soap near the urethra. Dr. told me this when DD was having UTI problems. If Mom still wears underwear, it should be cotton. If she is wearing pullups she may be allergic to the brand. (I can't use any Kotex products) She needs to clean herself well. I like Huggie wipes, they are big and thick.
My mom's gyn recommended a probiotic called re-pHresh that keeps the pH environment of the vagina correct.
Finally, installing a bidet attachment might be well worth the initial cost if mom will use it.