I developed a bladdr infection on Dec 31st and was hoping it was nothing, but it developed into a full blown infection. I absolutely did not want to go see the doctor and have her put me on an antibiotic like in the past. I have been working hard to strengthen my gut and felt that the antibiotic was not an option. I did some rescearch regarding bladder infections and WOO and found some helpful information---which said that the woo should take care of the infection but I was finding that woo alone was not enough. I found another site that said to take 2T. apple cider vinegar in 8 oz of water with 1 t. baking soda and stevia to help with the taste 4X/Day. I was hesitant about the vinegar b/c of it irritating my intestines and that fact that I have been carefully watching what I consume, trying to rid myself of candida---vinegar is supposed to be avoided. Anyway....I took 2 glasses of the apple cider mixture yesterday and a half dose at bedtime. I also drank plenty of water, went to the bathroom often, continued with my WOO protocol and drank Lakewood pure not from concentrate cranberry juice (that is some tangy, strong stuff!). I have to say I am amazed at how well all of it has worked! Has anyone else tried something like this before? What are the concerns about ingesting so much vinegar? I am hoping for short term use it will not be harmful to my gut. It has to be a MUCH better option to taking an antibiotic! Oh, I forgot---I also soaked in the bathtub for about 1/2 hour---putting 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup sea salt, 2 T. ginger and 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar in the water. This was also suggested in the website I found. I can't remember the site and will have to post the info later.
Any thoughts on the above?

Kelly

Hi, Kelly.

Apple cider vinegar is actually fine on an anti-candida diet because of its antifungal properties; it's just the other vinegars you need to avoid.

Good for you finding that information and following your gut!

It's true that something as acidic as vinegar could be very harsh on an inflamed, ulcerated surface but from what you said, it didn't seem to bother you, so I say, great. Also, as you say, in weighing the options, vinegar could certainly cause some irritation but I highly doubt it would be as long-lasting and profound as the damage antibiotics can cause to the gut flora.

I know Dr. Mercola recommends a product called D-Mannose for anyone who tends to suffer from UTI's. It's been many years since I had one.

I'll be very interested to read the experience of anyone else who cares to share in this discussion thread.

Good work, Kelly.

Nicole

Nicole,

I am glad to hear that apple cider vinegar is ok for the anticandida diet. I can't believe I have never stumbled across this information before when looking for alternative cures for a UTI. I did see some mention of mannose-d. I will have to check into that more as I am not sure what it is. Hubby and I are trying for another baby, so I am assuming that this played a part in why I developed the UTI this time around and probably every other time I have gotten one. Ladies--remember to always pee afterwards!

I wanted to share how the apple cider vinegar worked for me so that if anyone else runs into the same problem, they have an alternative to antibiotics. I am amazed at how well and how quickly it worked--(pardon the following descriptions) especially since I was to the point where I was passing blood and pus. I was free of symptoms by the next day!!
2 T Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tea. baking soda
4-6 drops of Stevia (this helped with the taste a lot!)
put all in 8 ounces of water and drink. It is strong, but was worth it to avoid an antibiotic! The website said to do it 4X/Day, but I decided to only do 2X/Day on the first day to see how my system reacted. I also drank plenty of purified water and I picked up Organic Pure unsweetened Cranberry juice. I got the Lakewood brand. It is quit strong and tangy (kinda like sucking on a lemon), so I added a bit of stevia to this also. I must say that I rather enjoyed the taste after my first few glasses. I sipped on this throughout the day. Remember to urinate frequently to keep flushing out the bacteria. I soaked in the tub on the 1st day--I added 1 cup of kosher salt, 1 cup of baing soda,1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar, and 1 T. ground ginger to my bath water and soaked for about 1/2 hour. The following morning I was feeling pretty good, so I only mixed up half of the apple cider vinegar drink and drank it and also continied with plenty of water and the cranberry juice. My syptoms went away and I have been fine since. Oh and I can't forget to mention that I was also taking WOO---I am doing Jini's WOO protocol and felt that the oregano oil also played a part in killing off the infection, but I found that I needed something in addition to it to entirely kill off the infection. The website I found the information on is www.earthclinic.com

Kelly

Sorry if my questions sound dumb, but I am new here and this is my first post. So what is Stevia and what is WOO? And rather than cranberry juice, I was thinking about throwing everything into the vitamix blender with whole cranberries. Would this be better?

there aren't any dumb questions when you're searching! WOO is Wild Oil of Oregano...Jini has a protocol for taking it. You can put this into the search box and find other posts on it, or it's in her books. It is a natural anti-biotic/anti-viral/anti-fungal essential oil.
Stevia is a plant that can be turned into a powder and used in place of sugar for sweetness, without the problems that sugar causes.

I loved the posts above. I was 37 weeks pregnant and got a yeast infection. I was already taking oral probiotics, but started to apply small amounts of the Natren acidophilis powder vaginally. It helped, but didn't stop the problem. 2 weeks later i was pretty raw and concerned that delivery was getting close so my doctor prescribed some medicine that even the pharmasist questioned, so I decided not to take it. I found info on the web about douching with diluted apple cider vinegar. I can't remember the exact amount, but it was like 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to 4 cups of warm water. The acidity is supposed to resemble the natural vaginal environment. so I tried this for a week and then at night would add the probiotics. I also wore skirts without underwear outside to try to ventilate everthing. the info I found also suggested that before intercouse the man wash his penis off with the same apple cider vinegar solution, which we also did with success (by this I mean no resurge in my symptoms). anyway it worked! I delivered the baby vaginally without any problems... no thrush developed in the baby's mouth and my symptoms were completely gone and have stayed gone. He is 4 months old now.