A UTI is an infection, UTI is an abbreviation for urinary tract infection. a UTI is the invasion of foreign harmful microorganisms (mostly bacteria) to the urinary tract of humans.
When the harmful bacteria or microorganisms reach the urinary tract they will stick to the inside walls of the urinary tract causing it to be inflamed as a defensive response against the bacteria.
When the urinary tract gets inflamed you will feel the typical symptoms of UTI like the burning sensation during urination, frequent urination and pain in the lower back or abdominal area, and others.
These symptoms can be sometimes so agonizing and painful so if you want to get rid of them for the time being before you can get to the doctor, use these fast ways to get rid of the UTI:
1) Phenazopyridine:
this is an OTC drug in many countries meaning that it can be taken without the need for doctor prescription.
this drug will give you fast relief from the symptoms of the uti. with that said you still gonna need to see the doctor because that drug will only give temporary relief from the burning sensation that accompanies the UTI.
this drug will not treat your UTI, because the infection and the bacteria will still be there but it will only give you an analgesic effect that will make the pain go away for some amount of time.
this drug has a characteristic side effect which is harmless by the way, this side effect is that it changes the urine color from yellow to dark orange or a reddish color.
this side effect is harmless and could be used as an indicator that the drug is working. this drug comes only in oral form, usually, it comes in oral tablet dosage form but there might be a liquid oral dosage form for it which is used for children.
do not use this drug for a child or a pregnant woman or an elder person without consulting a professional first.
some people may feel some back or abdominal pain or a pressure on the bladder sensation accompanying the UTI, phenazopyridine will also ease these symptoms and provide temporary relief from them.
the burning sensation, the frequency or urgency with urination, the pain and irritation, phenazopyridine alleviates all of these symptoms.
for temporary relief from the UTI pain, phenazopyridine should be taken in a 100 or 200 mg dose (1oral tablet or 2 oral tablets) three times daily after meal.
phenazopyridine works in a way similar to that of the topical anesthetic gels and creams. the only difference is that phenazopyridine produces it’s anesthetic effect on the inside walls (mucosal lining) of the urinary tract.
phenazopyridine should be used only for a short amount of time (1 to 2 days), otherwise, you will be only masking the symptoms of the UTI and not treating it.
in that period of time, you should go to a doctor or a professional to give you some antibiotics to kill the bacteria.
phenazopyridine is sold under many commercial names with AZO and URISEPT being the most famous ones.
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2) pain killers like Voltaren and ibuprofen:
pain killers, especially from the NSAID’s family, are the best suited pain killers to ease the UTI pains.
ps: drugs that belong to the NSAID’s pain killer family are Voltaren, ibuprofen, Celebrex, Mobic, and others.
these drugs will give you fast relief from almost all of the UTI symptoms. mostly about half an hour after you take an oral tablet of Voltaren or ibuprofen (Advil) or Celebrex you will feel relief from your UTI symptoms.
and if you take an intramuscular injection of Voltaren the time that it’s gonna take to perform its action will be even less than half an hour.
but that doesn’t mean that the UTI has gone.
these drugs will ease symptoms like the burning sensation and frequency and urgency of urination and also the back or abdominal pain.
these drugs can soothe the pain of the UTI and also can help in the treatment of the UTI but it can’t be taken as a replacement for the antibiotics treatment.
meaning that eventually, you gonna have to go to the doctor to asses your situation. now Voltaren, ibuprofen (Advil), Celebrex, and the other NSAIDs have an anti-inflammatory effect, which means that it can reduce the inflammatory response of the urinary tract when the bacteria attack it.
this is a very good thing for the treatment of the UTI because as we said earlier the inflammatory response of the urinary tract can be damaging sometimes,
so by reducing it NSAIDs will help in the treatment of the UTI. But the bacteria that basically caused that inflammatory response are still there in the urinary tract and NSAIDs can’t kill the bacteria that’s why they are not considered a replacement for the antibiotics.
Voltaren, ibuprofen (Advil), Celebrex, and the other NSAIDs can increase the acidity of the stomach that’s why they are best taken after meals to prevent them from causing ulcers.
Even if you take them in an intramuscular injection or a suppository form you best take them after meals cause they are still gonna increase the acidity of the stomach.
you shouldn’t take NSAIDs like Voltaren and ibuprofen for a long amount of time as they will not treat the UTI and also they may produce some side effects. side effects of the NSAIDs drug family include
gastric ulcers, upset stomach, heartburn, constipation, diarrhea, and others.
If you have asthma or some kind of chronic cough or breathing problems then do not take Voltaren or ibuprofen or Celebrex or Mobic or any other drug of the same NSAIDs pain killer drugs family.
unless your doctor who knows about your condition tells you otherwise.
NSAIDs are best used for the purpose of soothing the UTI pain until you can get an appointment with the doctor.
NSAIDs are sold without a doctor prescription in many countries (OTC).
Ibuprofen is synthesized by the American pharmaceutical company Pfizer under the well known brand name Advil.
it’s the most effective among the other Ibuprofen trade names.
here you can check out its price on amazon
3) drink a lot of water:
drinking a lot of water can both help in the treatment of UTI and also soothe the UTI pain, especially that burning sensation.
while it may not get rid of the UTI completely but only in some rare cases where the UTI at it’s very beginning and is very weak.
but in most of the UTI cases drinking a lot of water will help in decreasing the painful symptoms such as the burning sensation with urination and others and in addition to that it will help in flushing the bacteria out of the urinary tract.
that’s why this is considered an advantage for the water over phenazopyridine and the pain killer drugs because water will actually help in treating the UTI.
unlike phenazopyridine and the pain killer drugs which will only mask the symptoms of the UTI.
But drinking a lot of water will not make almost all of the symptoms of the UTI disappear like the pain killers and the phenazopyridine drugs but it will decrease to some extent the intensity of these symptoms.
another therapeutic effect for water is that it dilutes the urine making it harder for the bacteria to find food inside it.
because the distance between one food particle and the other will be big so the bacteria will have to travel in longer distances for it to find food which will make things hard for the bacteria, this is called the dilution effect of water on the bacteria.
but that doesn’t mean that you won’t have to pay a visit to the doctor if you drink a lot of water because even if water will help in treating the UTI it will not get rid of it completely on its own.
well, it can sometimes get rid of the infection on its own but only if the infection was weak or at it’s beginning. and some times the effect of water on treating the UTI will be very minimal especially if the infection has progressed to an advanced stage.
but it will surely ease the symptoms for you while you can get your hands on a doctor.
in any case, whether you are taking other treatments or just using water you should at least drink 3 liters of water per day if you have a UTI. if you can reach up to 6 liters per day then that will be even better
4) drink lemon or orange juice:
when the bacteria invade your urinary tract it will try to change the acidity of your urinary tract. the bacteria prefer to live in an alkaline medium.
so the UTI bacteria will try to make the urine less acidic and more alkaline. so by drinking acidic juices like lemon juice and orange juice (lemon juice especially) you will make an attempt toward making the urine more acidic.
making the urine more acidic will hinder the growth of the bacteria and make it difficult for them to reproduce.
acidity kills the bacteria or at least harms it’s better if you make your own lemon juice and try to make it with a minimal amount of sugar in it or better even with no sugar at all.
so by drinking lemon juice a lot of water will be entering your body basically because lemon juice contains a lot of water. also, the acidity of your urinary tract will increase because lemons are acidic fruits.
also, lemon juice and orange juice contain high concentrations of vitamin C which is very beneficial to the people suffering from UTI.
vitamin C is the compound most responsible for the acidity of the lemon and orange juices. in addition to that vitamin C plays a very healthy role in supporting the immune system in our bodies.
the immune system is the system responsible for fighting infections that invade our bodies including the UTI.
so by drinking lemon juice, you will strengthen the immune system against the UTI.
while they will not make you get rid of the UTI completely lemon and orange juice will definitely reduce the intensity of the infection and will make some of the symptoms of the UTI get easier.
because of their high acidity, I don’t recommend drinking more than 1 or 2 cups of lemon juice per day or 3 in maximum.
drinking more than that may expose you to some problems related to increases acidity like heartburns and ulcers and others.
other fruit juices may also help in getting rid of the UTI fast but lemon and orange juices remain the best solutions among them.
ps: if you have kidney stones then it’s better if you consider the other ways for getting rid of the UTI fast as drinking lemon juice may worsen the kidney stones problem.
5) apple cider vinegar and other vinegars:
the main constituent of apple cider vinegar and most of the other kinds of vinegar is acetic acid. acetic acid is a compound known for having antibiotic properties.
in many studies, scientists have noticed that by putting an amount of acetic acid in bacterial colonies they have noticed that the growth of the colony has stopped and the size of the colony is getting less and less with time.
while scientists differ in explaining how the acetic acid kills the bacteria, the one thing that they agree on is that acetic acid does a good job in killing the bacteria.
so by incorporating vinegars with your salads or other types of food or by diluting the vinegar with water and drinking it, you will be introducing acetic acid to your urinary tract then acetic acid can kill some of the bacteria inside your urinary tract.
off, course it will not kill all of the bacteria inside your urinary tract especially if it was a resistant bacteria but it will definitely reduce the severity of the infection for you while you can go to a doctor.
so if the infection was at it’s beginning maybe it can get rid of it.
ps: do not drink too much of apple cider vinegar or it will cause you harmful side effects because vinegars are too much acidic.
also when you dilute the vinegar make sure that you dilute it with enough water so that it won’t be too much acidic.
for more information on this subject please visit the apple cider vinegar article.
if you have kidney stones or if your UTI was caused by kidney stones then do not drink apple cider vinegar as it will worsen the problem.
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so these were my 4 ways in which you can get rid of the uti fast
in conclusion:
_ going to the doctor can be the best and most convenient way to get rid of the UTI fast especially if the UTI was in a progressed stage.
– if you can’t go to a doctor for the time being and the UTI is too painful you can use these fast ways to get rid of the UTI that I have given you on this article.
– if the UTI pain is intolerable then phenazopyridine and the pain killers are the best suited way to get rid of it fast but they will not actually treat the UTI they will only make the UTI pain disappear.
– if you can tolerate the UTI pain but you want to get rid of it fast then drinking a lot of water or drinking 1 or 2 cups of lemon juice or eating salads containing vinegar can be a good and fast way for you to actually treat the UTI.
– drinking a lot of water, drinking lemon juice, eating salads containing vinegar especially apple cider vinegar can actually treat the UTI if the UTI was at its first stages.
– you can use one or more of these ways at the same time like you can take phenazopyridine and drink a lot of water and drink lemon juice this will be even better than using one of them only.
– you can’t drink a lot of lemon juice and also drink diluted vinegar at the same time because that will increase the acidity of the stomach leading to problems so only use one of them
– if the UTI has progressed and became a kidney infection like if you have symptoms of fever and chills and shivering and vomiting then go to a doctor or to the emergency department of any hospital nearby.
– if your UTI was caused by a kidney stone then drink a lot of water and take some pain killers and then go to the doctor, but do not drink lemon juice or any kind of vinegar.
– sometimes delaying your visit to the doctor will give the chance for the infection to progress and to become a kidney infection.
– if you notice that you are not getting any better in the first 1 or 2 days then go to the doctor.
so thank you for reading this article to the end I hope that it was helpful and I wish you to get better with your UTI condition if you have on so thank you and goodbye.
ps: don’t forget to check out the other articles on this website KNOW & TREAT UTI as they contain many helpful pieces of information.