Alternative Medicine

It sounds like you are taking great steps to figure this out. Having a culture to confirm it is an infection, and wht type of infection it is - both important steps. Recurrent UTIs can suggest other minor issues in the urethra, and seeing a urologist is also a good idea, to be thorough. I have seen oral birth control increase UTIs in some women, as well as the other factors Dr. Dodge lists below. Another one I would add to the list is whether you have a new partner.

There are other sound options you can use besides antibiotics, if you catch the infection early enough and have close monitoring with your doctor to prevent progression to kidney infections. One additional piece I would consider for you would be a high-quality probiotic. Again, your doctor can advise you on specifics; it is an important piece if you have done a few rounds of antibiotics.

There are many factors contributing to difficulty falling asleep including: thyroid issues, hormone dysregulation, sleep apnea, anxiety, issues of sleep hygiene...This is a good time to have some further investigation with your physician. After some basic tests and suggestions, a sleep study may be warranted.

If you start with the basics of healthy sleep habits, you'll give valuable information to your doctor at that visit. The general recommendations include: no TV or computer 30 minutes before bed; have all lights off in the room; no caffeine after your morning cup; have a cup of relaxing tea before bed; practice meditation or some other relaxation technique once you are in bed. If doing all these steps don't ellicit results, do see you doctor to look for other causes.

Yah, you need to get to a sleep specialist if it is a chronic problem. I'm going right now and got my first sleep study night over with. So far we have learned that I'm a free-cycling sleeper...meaning that I don't sleep at any one time. You probably get *some* sleep or it is likely you'd be dead. I have been keeping a sleep journal for the past month or so, and that is helpful information to know. I try to keep track of my caffeine consumption, if I dream, how many times I wake up, how long it takes to get to sleep, my mood when I wake up and how many hours I sleep and what the times are. I just made a spreadsheet and fill it in. It isn't too hard.

ANYWAY, doctors will talk to you about sleep hygiene, but if your problem is not fixed with sleep hygiene you'll need to see a specialist. Go do it! It is worth it!

Google "Sleep hygiene". However, if you are a chronic insomniac, and I mean epically bad non-sleeper, that won't help. Talk to a sleep clinic - I know it seems useless to go if you can't sleep anyway (why bother getting hooked up to electrodes if you know you won't sleep?) but it's worth talking to them, and insurance will usually cover. Regular docs don't tend to know much about it and will often doubt your estimation of it's severity. It helped me to get them to believe me by keeping a record - I found a work sheet from a sleep clinic website and took notes for a month or so - they were suitably horrified and sent me to the sleep clinic. If you are a really amazing insomniac you may be able to make good money off of it - university sleep clinics are usually running clinical trials involving shining flashlights in your eyes at odd intervals or seeing how great your memory is after three days without sleep, and sleep clinical trials are some of the few that don't involve being injected with experimental drugs. If you don't mind going inpatient for a month you can earn thousands of dollars - keep in mind they usually won't let you out for that time, although often you get paid a percentage if you ditch in the middle of it.

Alternative medicine is modern snake oil for the most part, inform people however you feel is necessary. Questionland devoted a whole event to alternative medicine, someone has to point it that this stuff has no scientific basis.

I'm no medical expert or anything, but I take 50,000 IU Vitamin D once per week (I'm very Vitamin D deficient) and I sometimes sweat at night, but usually it is because of environmental factors like too many covers or too much heat in the room.

Like others have suggested, maybe try testing out the variables separately. Well, that *might* work. You probably don't have the sweats every night, so it might not. I tend to think that maybe when you are camping you are getting more fresh, cool air, so you don't sweat. Do you sleep with your window open or closed? Do you have A/C? Your boyfriend's body heat might be a significant factor. Also, maybe you have too many covers...as the night progresses you get hotter??? Maybe it is a combo of things?

Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm also taking Vitamin D and not having night sweats, but I'm sure your body is different.

I'm sorry you are having night sweats. Good luck!

Post a uterus-for-hire ad online.

No. (If you tone it down any further it'll only be gray and/or only heard by micro-sized mice).

i.e. Your responses are fine. It's only this Q this grates. (Though I thumbs up'd it anyway.)

And no, I don't think Qland is 'for' debate (in general). But answers can have errors and the comments field's mere existence suggests a certain acknowledgement that such a chaotic and powerful collective of know-it-alls would invariable correct one another on fine points. So long as those remain corrections / clarifications and not outright yelling matches, I think any discourse can still be on topic and therefore still worthwhile / enjoyable / welcome.

From what I've heard, and with my own experience with UTIs, cranberry juice will usually only work to help prevent future infections. People who have a history of frequent UTIs will drink cranberry juice on a daily basis. But once you're already having issues, it doesn't help much.

Keep your sugar intake at a minimum. It can really make things worse. Some people read online that cranberry juice helps without doing more research, and will end up making their UTI worse because of all the sugar in the juice, so it's good you're drinking it pure.

While you said you'd rather not give up alcohol for social reasons, I'd *highly* recommend you do. Not only does most alcohol have a high sugar content, the alcohol itself can make things far worse than just sugar alone.

Some UTIs absolutely will not go away without antibiotics. I had one for a month, thinking I could get rid of it by drinking tons of water, etc. The issue with doing this is that if your body is trying to fight off the infection but just can't quite do it, the infection will actually start to get resistant to your body's attempts, and will be even harder to get rid of, even with weaker antibiotics. If it stays untreated, you could wind up in the hospital with a kidney infection.

By the time I went to the doctor, I had to be put on ciprofloxacin, which is a nasty antibiotic, and is usually used as a last resort.

On thing you can do while you're waiting for your appointment with the urologist is ask your regular doc for some pills that will numb your urinary tract. It's near instant relief of that horrible feeling of having to pee all the time.

I have a few thoughts: Have the UTI's been confirmed with a culture? That would settle the question about whether each episode indeed was an infection and might help guide your efforts toward prevention. If the bacteria is E.coli, for example, there have been studies showing that d-mannose powder can be effective as a treatment and plausibly might help in prevention if you were motivated to take it proactively.

A deeper question worthy of exploration might be "why is this happening to you right now?" Has there been a change in your behavior, lifestyle, diet, etc in the last 5 months that might be affecting your immune system negatively making you more susceptible to these infections? High stress, dietary protein deficiency, over-consumption of sugar or alcohol, and/or lack or sleep are some of the many possible factors that can bring our defenses down.

Are you taking birth control pills? My wife used to and had problems with UTIs all the time. She went off the pill and hasn't had a flare up in years.

I've always found you to be moderate and considerate. Maybe it has something to do with your non-threatening photo, too?! LOL!

No doctor necessary! (No offense docs.)
Your local fish monger has dry ice in the back. Ask for a little piece, and then go to work on that wart. It did the job for me. This was years ago, and Wartella has never returned.
Placebo? Perhaps...

In my humble opinion, alternative medicine and things of that ilk NEED to be railed against. I could elaborate, but I won't get into a long schpeel. I just wanted to say that. It is also good to rail against traditional medicine sometimes. One of the reasons why I like Questionland is because it encourages questioning things in general. I think that too often adults do NOT question things enough. And as you may know, I'm a big fan of questions.

Arsenic, don't change a thing. Your answers are reasonable and thought-provoking. As evidence, I'd submit the response you got from Barak Gaster in Uplift's question about homeopathy. It was the clearest and most balanced take on the topic so far, and it wouldn't be there if you hadn't challenged Gaster's original response.

http://questionland.com/questions/12628-homeopathy-and-evidence-based-medicine#ysi_a_39784

Interestingly enough, his final point was to emphasize "keeping an open mind in terms of judging others who try such therapies." I think you've done a pretty good job of judging the therapies, and not the people who use them.

For reference, here are the QL terms of use:

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Questionland is a tool for people who have honest questions, intelligent answers, and meaningful things to contribute. Questions, answers, and comments that are hateful, abusive or bigoted, trolling, deceitful, vague, confusing or nonsensical will be removed. We're also going to delete personal attacks and spam and any other crap that we deem to be inappropriate.

--

In my small experience, when you explain to someone why his or her belief is nonsensical because it is based on things which are not true - which is something you and I both did on the homeopathy thread, for example - it frequently doesn't go well. Obviously, what a person believes reflects on who they are, and so it's not crazy to take it personally when I dismiss your beliefs.

That said, pointing out that a belief held by an individual is false is NOT an ad hominem attack, in and of itself. Nor is it intrinsically mean or rude to do so. It can be; I think it's mean/rude when you're pointing the thing out to a small child and the stakes are low (i.e., it's mean to tell a three year old that there's no Santa Claus), or when it's not invited and has no effect on you (i.e., walking into random churches and lecturing people in them about how creationism is lies). There are probably other situations, as well.

But Questionland is a public forum where people are supposed to ask questions, give intelligent answers, and contribute meaningful things. Asking and answering questions in a public forum that allows comments is a setting where it's neither mean nor rude to point out relevant facts, no matter how disturbing they may be to the deeply held beliefs of people reading the forum. That last bit bears repeating: just because someone's deeply held beliefs have been challenged by something you said, does not mean you were rude or engaged in ad hominem. No one has the right NOT to have one's beliefs challenged in public.

Nearly everything you've posted in this thread (that I've read) meets my definitions of "intelligent answers and meaningful things to contribute". I also do not think that repeatedly and stating facts - even forcefully and/or snarkily - constitutes "abuse".

The only question, then, is one of tone. Your tone may have veered close to the snarky from time to time. If you feel unsure, then do an editing pass through your posts to tone down snarkiness before posting - I try to, although I don't always succeed.

I would challenge anyone to point out something hateful, abusive, or bigoted that you've stated, however. Moreover, you've at least once gone out of your way to show respect for people with whom you have fundamental disagreements: you were specifically respectful of sphinxemmashade's personal experiences in the Nurse thread on cranio-sacral therapy.

So I think you're doing great, and keep it up.

The reason I no longer go on Slog is because it got so caustic and aggressive. I was pretty psyched to see that Questionland was so respectful in the beginning. People shared their opinions, gave thumbs up or down, and offered opposing opinion without personal attacks or without suggesting their opinions were the only viable option.

I think that's changing now, which kind of bums me out. I think a lot of people who engage in thought debate via the Internet enjoy going for the jugular-it's, as you say, fun for them. For many of us, that isn't that fun.

I know science is very personal for you, but dealing daily with a debilitating illness is very personal for me. I have had to turn to alternative medicine because traditional medicine has not been able to help me (and not, as you suggested, because of bad people. My doctors are good people, they just have limits since a lot still hasn't been discovered about ulcerative colitis and crohn's).

I'm not some crackpot who eschews traditional medicine and just sits in a mud hut praying the physical demons out. I'm more educated on my illness than some GIs. I have just chosen to use the whole gamut of treatments available--many of which are untested and what you would classify as "snake oil."

I think there's a halfway point between everyone being super polite and just putting out their opinions without debate and attacking each other personally or acting like we're developmentally delayed if we don't agree with you.

You've been very reasonable. I've wanted to jump into the debate several times, but realized you'd already covered every point I would have made.

I think your answers have been entirely appropiate. Don't be cowed into silence because some people gave you a few thumbs down, or because someone takes issue with what you have to say.

Honestly, I appreciate that you and others have taken the time to address these issues with a science-based perspective. And it occurs to me now that I should probably be giving those of you who express opinions I find reasonable thumbs up, so I am going back to do that now.

If others do the same, hopefully we can balance out the impact your candor has cost you. But don't stop speaking your mind, no matter what happens! If everyone bowed to the will of the voting majority, this place would become very boring very quickly.

This is a rare occurence, as you have noted. I would also consider any changes to supplements or you diet as you try to investigate the cause.

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A bit. You just pissed me off quite a lot, for example, with your comment on my answer to Nurse's question. I think when you use words like "enlighten", or mention "blood letting" like you're some genius who's read a history textbook and those of us who think some alternative medicine might have value are completely ignorant of scientific knowledge and theory, incapable of analytical thought, and generally wide-eyed ingenues who are being deceived by the big bad alternative medicine industry, it's insulting.

I've enjoyed your posts on the topic. If QLand became a place where strongly felt disagreements had to be sugar coated or papered over, I'd be out of here.

So, no.

I don't know, but: When I first started getting migraines (at 14), I was in unbearable pain for months on end. With my migraines, I get numbness and paralysis in my limbs, aphasia, and extreme light and noise sensitivity. The first "alternative" practitioner I ever saw (after months of heavy duty medications, tests, scans, etc.) was an acupuncturist who also practiced what she referred to as "craniosacral listening" (no massage or claims or impacting my cerebrospinal fluid). After a visit to her, I would be migraine-free for up to two or three days--a HUGE improvement. I was not able to see her often, as we lived on opposite sides of the state at the time, and she eventually moved away to Nevada. I have seen many, many other practitioners (massage therapy, chiropracters, MDs, acupuncturists, physical therapists, etc.) in the 9 years since then, and have never again experienced that kind of relief. I believe that she is an incredibly skilled practitioner, and that the others I have seen are simply not skilled in the same way.

Here's the thing about "alternative" treatments-- if they work for you, why not embrace them? A healthy dose of skepticism is always appropriate when walking into ANY healthcare situation, especially when you don't understand the mechanism of whatever treatment you are receiving, but if your condition is more of a chronic/quality or life issue than a serious threat to your longevity, why question a treatment that measurably improves it?

Did you try contacting one of these sites? They have things like lists of agencies in the FAQ and so on.

I know the professional med peeps already weighed in, but I'll pitch in my two cents. I sometimes have night sweats that are related to my menstrual cycle, both when I ovulate and just before my period, and I don't have them when I'm away from home either. My theory is that it's because I don't sleep as deeply.

You mentioned your bed - any chance of a latex allergy? Aren't mattresses full of latex?

Well, yes, the theory behind it is pretty crazy. That said, when it comes to pain relief in particular, the placebo affect is very strong. You don't need to do much to make people perceive that they feel better than before. And the clients are at least being touched and massaged, a social contact that's pretty well proven to promote well being.

But why go to a specialist if the philosophy is bull? I dunno. Seems to me you could get the same treatment from a friend or significant other for free.

Ever hear of blood letting? People used to think that worked ,too. Ever hear of energy work? Well this is just another sort of faith based medicine. There was a reason people used to buy snake oil, too, at one point. It really did make people feel better about themselves because they were DOING something about their ailment.

Whether or not that something actually does them any good in and of itself...well to some degree that's irrelevant.

The question for MYSELF is, why deceive people when you could enlighten them and get the same result?