Urinary tract problems

HellonWheels

I'm wondering, have any of you had these on a recurring basis? My dr told me to make sure I change out of sweaty bike shorts ASAP because this can cause them. I've got a nasty one right now, on two meds for it, and it came back after having it a few wks ago and was on meds then too (but not as much meds then.)

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"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius

Joe Faust

If you are drinking sugared drinks.....stop. Start drinking unsugared cranberry juice, available at most health food stores. Works for myself and wife when afflicted.

HellonWheels

No, I don't drink anything with sugar, all I drink is water and lots of it. But you know, its WEIRD that you say this! A few days after this first hit me, I got a gut feeling (call it intuition, whatever) that sugar in my diet might be doing it. I had nothing to base that on, just some freaky gut feeling, and so I researched it online and I was RIGHT. Sugar can cause this and make it worse.

Based on that gut feeling, I went to Whole Foods and got cranverry juice without sugar, sweetened only with other fruit juices. I also take concentrated Cranberry capsules and I'm on an antibio right now for it.

That is really something that you said that!

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"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius

Karenemt

I have had no more problems since drastically cutting back the sugar in my diet. If you're taking an antibiotic, you should also add a good acidophilus supplement to help recolonize your "good" bacteria or you could end up with a yeast infection on top of everything.

I always change into bike clothes immediately before a ride and change out of them immediately after. I also make sure to dry my shorts inside-out on the line no matter what the season because the direct sunlight on the chamois kills the bad organisms that can grow there.

HellonWheels

But if you permanently cut way back on sugar, where do you get energy for working out and long rides?

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"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius

Karenemt

I haven't had any energy/bonking problems with cutting out the sugar. I get my carbs from non-sugary veggies and salads. I have also lost 25 lb since March, so that has helped me greatly as well!

I

moo-jo

close fitting clothes such as cycling shorts also push up the temperature, which encourages bacteria. Hence the advice to get out of them.

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Brunswick_kate

Two words:

Clean

Dry
Change out of cycling gear as soon as you get off the bike. There's a lot of sweat glands in that region and that chamois...it's like a sponge.

Never climb back into dirty gear.

Handwash, vinegar rinse, hang to dry outside with the gear turned inside out.

Cutting back on refined sugars...always laudible. But SUGAR is sugar, okay. Fructose, sucrose, glucose -- it if ends in "ose", it's sugar. If you're having ongoing repeat and persistent urinary track infections, I urge you to have a glucose tolerance test. If I recall from your other posts, you've had signifigant weight issues previously and diabetes is a very under-diagnosed condition. In fact, we suspect half the people who have Type II diabetes don't know it and therefore can't manage it properly.

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moo-jo

On the diabetes front, how much water do you drink, when not riding, has it increased recently?

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Lyz2814

I like the Ocean Spray Light Cranberry juice. It uses Splenda, so only 2/3 of the sugar.

Also, I had recurring UTIs, that we could find no source for. Turned out I had trigonitis (a different kind of bladder infection), and had to take an extended course of macrobid. I also had a precripd for Urised, which is purple (and turns your pee blue!), but it is an analgesic and an anti-infective. That worked really well.

BTW: as stated before, sugar is sugar, whether it is pear juice, white grape juice, or the granular stuff. I'm pretty sensitive to juice, and the "natural stuff" triggers a rush as much as a soda. I'm not wild about Splenda, but it cuts down on the sugar--unsweetened cranberry is nasty. Another juice to try is pomegranate juice--that's usually sold as is, and has tannins in it that might be helpful.

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HellonWheels

My health has not changed since losing over 150 lbs, believer it or not. My chol was 170 back then, it still is. My BP was low then, it still is. I did not have diabetes then, I still don't (I have become a bit of a hypochondriac since getting back to the active/healthy lifestyle, so I get tested a lot, lol.) I even had an exercise stress test a few weeks ago at my request, and it said my heart is perfect and my arteries are unblocked.

I was always very healthy regardless of weight. It did not impact my health at all, amazingly.

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"He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior"--Confucius

BHman

I've been on Atkins since 08/02. (I lost 40# of fat which has stayed off. weight training has added a few # of muscle back on) I've noticed that it takes a good 20 to 30 minutes of easier pedalling before I feel like the "engines are on" in my legs. For the 1st year, I noticed a definite improvement in all day riding stamina, but this past summer, I found my legs losing steam more rapidly. On some long rides, I've had to "cheat' and eat some gorp or other carb rick food (NOT candy) to get enough energy to continue. I wonder if others have any experiences to share?

drdoug

If you aren't eating any carbohydrates then you'll have no glycogen in the muscles which is why you feel crappy for 30 mins. Glycogen is the easy access carb store in your muscles, whereas fat is the slow access store. You can get loads of energy from your fat, but only slowly, hence the lag.

There's lots of debate on whether Atkins is any good health wise, as opposed to losing-weight wise, and personally I would think eating no carbs when you are doing endurance exercise is likely to be really bad for you. If you don't have fat, don't have glycogen then the only energy you have on the bike is from breaking down proteins (ie muscles) which is akin to malnourishment.

Why not just eat a balanced diet and cycle more?