Do UTIs go away on their own?

No, UTIs are infections of a bacterial nature and can only be cured with an antibiotic. Symptoms of a UTI can be ameliorated with juices or water or what have you but it won’t make it go away. In fact, if you wait you might experience increasing pain and the infection can get into your kidneys. So don’t delay seeing your doctor.

It will take a bit longer, but yes, you can mostly get rid of it. Drink a lot of cranberry juice (like you’re already doing), buy the concentrated cranberry tablets and take those too. If you’re having pain from it, they have AZO urinary pain tablets that help a great deal. They will turn your urine orange though, so don’t freak out.

Do not drink anything except water and cranberry juice for a while. No sodas, no tea, no alcohol. Those will make it worse.

@Simone_De_Beauvoir is absolutely correct. A UTI is nothing to mess around with. Cranberry juice, water, OTC analgesics may make it feel better, but it won’t go away with any home remedy.
Cranberry juice will help to prevent a UTI, but it is not a cure. It is not an antibiotic. Drinking it before getting a UTI will coat the bladder and helps to prevent baddies from sticking inside. Once you have an infection, you need antibiotics.

Yes, if you have a functioning immune system then it can clear up in about 50% of cases without the need for antibiotics. It can take anything from a few days to a couple of weeks. Having said that I would still go and see the doc. Why suffer when 3 days of treatment could sort it out?

Incidentally, while cranberry juice can reduce the risk of getting a UTI once you have one it makes no difference.

Tell your doctor that antibiotics give you a yeast infection, and they’ll prescribe you a second antibiotic to take when you’re done with the first to get rid of the yeast infection. Or buy some Monostat.

You should not fool around with a UTI. The damage that one untreated could do is quite serious.

“They can also become a serious health problem if the infection spreads to the kidneys.”

Go get the antibiotic. Tell your doctor they tend to give you yeast infections.

Penn State

Do you know you have a UTI? Why didn’t the doctor give you antibiotics when he tested your utine? Canesten is cheap and fixes a yeast infection in one day.

Thanks a lot, folks. I will see a doc. My abdomen/back are starting to hurt, so I fear it is moving to my kidneys.

Also, in anticipation of starting antibiotics, is there anything I can do to prevent the yeast infection in the first place? If I load up on yogurt now will it decrease my chances of getting it?

P.P.S. Could having had sex on Tuesday night have exacerbated it?
That was tough grammatically

Sorry, last addendum: I just moved across the country. Do I need to actually see a doc or can I talk on the phone to my gyno back home and have her prescribe me something?

@sliceswiththings that depends on your doctor. Many doctors refuse to prescribe antibiotics until they have done a culture to be certain that you do have an infection.
Unless you have a history of recurrent UTIs, it’s hard to say.

@sliceswiththings You need to go in – it has to do with records and insurance and the conditions for legal prescriptions. However, mine has never required a culture, just an appointment. Sex can indeed exacerbate things, or even create a UTI – the humping in sex tends to shove stuff in your urethra (which is why you should always pee after sex, to flush everything out).

There is an over-the-counter pill that used to be called Azo, but now they are called Uricalm. It’s a little red pill that will turn your pee red, but they really work and will clear up a URI in most cases. Try that with your cranberry juice. If you don’t feel better in two days, then surrender and go to your doctor.

I’ve taken stuff that treat the symptoms, but nothing other than antibiotics have gotten rid of mine. Tell your doc that you get yeast infections and they can try to prescribe a more directed antibiotic and perhaps you won’t get the yeast infection. I used to get that too, but then a doctor prescribed an antibiotic more targeted at the bladder.. I think it was Bactrim. I didn’t get yeast infections with that.

Next question: is it easy to quickly see a CA doctor when all my medical records are in MA and I have MA specific health insurance?

I’d try dropping into a reproductive health care clinc/ie.. a family planning clinc and see if you could get help.. if that’s the case. I have NO idea about health care in the US other than it’s a really f’d up system.

Ew, if you’re having back pain from it, you definitely need to go to the doc!

I’m lucky to be living with an ER doctor, so she says she can phone in a prescription for me if I know what I need, any ideas?

If she’s a doctor, she should know what you need. That seems freakin’ weird.

Okay she just wanted to know what I usually take. Prescription’s on the way, hurray!

I don’t understand. Why didn’t you ask your roommate about this when it started if she’s an ER doctor? Why would you trust the internet to inform you when you have that resource? Just confused.

Because she’s my mom’s friend and I don’t know her very well. I also didn’t think the first thing we should ever talk about was my urethra. Also she’s been out of town, so I finally called her. I know, it’s quite the luxury to have her here.

It’s mildly unethical to write prescriptions for someone other than people in your designated patient base. But in this instance, it’s very simple. A very simple antibiotic for a very straightforward problem. If it was a narcotic pain killer for a roommate complaining of chronic back pain…. it would raise alarm bells, I’m thinking.

@sliceswiththings: Ah, I see. As it was stated before it just seemed odd, thanks for the clarification!

@asmonet Haha when you put it that way I wondered why I didn’t call her up on day 1!

@sliceswiththings I’m sure she’s glad she can help with this. UTIs are the bane of female genitalia…. sooo unfair!

@cazzie Seriously! I’m shocked I haven’t gotten one before this. I should make the Colombian male model guy who’s responsible pay for my prescriptions. Pumped for the bright orange urine to come!

ooooh, Colombian male model, eh? sounds worth it…. (sigh… of a married woman over 40…)

We don’t have designated doctor bases. You can go to whoever you like for family physicians.

Do not eat the yogurt close to the antibiotic! You need a 2 hour buffer, I believe, maybe more. Check with the MD.

@cazzie It was almost worth it:)

Is it appropriate to ask the guy responsible to chip in a little? Antibiotics, precautionary Monistat, and three jugs of cranberry juice ended up being a bit expensive, and I know that this particular Colombian male model has money to spare (you should have seen that apartment I didn’t get up to pee in).

Awww….. I’d tell him gently about your despair in a sweet and innocent nature. If there are genuine feelings there, he should do something to comfort you and then ‘remind’ you when you are at risk next…. (I am so grateful sometimes that my hubby gives me a shake when I’m about to fall asleep and reminds me that I should go to the toilet!!)

but ultimately, it’s your body. You need to take responsibility for it.

NO IT MIGHT NOT GO AWAY ON ITS OWN- It depends on the type of bacteria causing your infection, but bladder infections are usually caused by E.Coli bacteria and if untreated, a bladder infection can spread to your kidneys, blood stream, then your lungs causing Pneumonia. Believe me, it happened to me, I tried to do the cranberry and probiotic thing, which is a great idea for PREVENTION, but if you already have an infection, get to a Doctor, get a Urinalysis and CULTURE to make sure they know which exact organism to treat, and then take the Antibiotics for the entire time they are prescribed. Believe me, you do not want to end up in a hospital like I did. I almost died. And had to spend TONS of money.

Oh and I went to the Dr when I started peeing blood, and they gave me Cipro- which is a broad spectrum antibiotic, without doing a culture… SUCH A BAD IDEA… the particular strain of E.Coli I had was resistant to Cipro… Which is how I ended up in the hospital 2 days later. Always get the CULTURE along with the urinalysis. VERY VERY IMPORTANT!

@cazzie Aw that’s so nice of your hubby!

Oh fun. Now I’m barfing. Took the two dosages too close together, I guess. Really sucks to be a woman, eh?

@sliceswiththings Take it with some crackers next time – it’ll help.

What antibiotic did you end up taking? I got prescribed Cipro and the pharmacist told me that I would get an upset stomach so I haven’t taken it yet….I’m wondering if I should get my doctor to prescribe something else.

see a doctor asap