By Dr. Ellen Lewis

When UTI’s are a Vicious Cycle

 There’s a sensation familiar to too many women (and some men): the urgent need to empty their bladder, along with the burning that accompanies doing so. Even worse is the ongoing ache above the pubic bone that falsely signals a need to go. If untreated, a somewhat common urinary tract infection (UTI), can progress to fever, chills and even a kidney infection.

There has long been a simple cure: a urine culture followed by a course of antibiotics. This is the standard treatment that many women are familiar with. By the time they’ve finished day 10 of the drugs, the UTI is cleared up.

Except when it’s not. For some, that first UTI becomes a nightmare of recurrent infections. Over and over again the cycle is repeated. Bladder health seems to be restored, but before too many weeks or months have passed, the painful symptoms return. And the cure is –once again—antibiotics. Even worse is when the symptoms are there, but the culture shows a negative result. No infection. No bacteria to treat with antibiotics.

So what’s going on?

At this point, many women are diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis. Interstitial Cystitis is the name given to a permanently inflamed bladder, a chronic disorder diagnosed usually after a cystoscopy or bladder biopsy. The treatment is frustrating and often ineffective: it ranges from advice to avoid irritating foods and drinks (coffee, tea, citrus, etc) to methods to enlarge the bladder wall or filling the bladder with a solution meant to soothe symptoms. There’s nothing else to be done. Or that was the common belief among medical doctors.

Enter Ruth Kriz, Nurse Practitioner

 Ruth Kriz is a nurse practitioner, a medical professional who says she was failed by the medical profession. After years of recurrent UTIs and a diagnosis of Interstitial Cystitis, Ruth says she lost faith in what she was being told about her condition. Fortunately, she knew researchers who were working on different culturing techniques. With better testing, Ruth discovered that she did have an infection, and there was a treatment available.

Why Was the Infection Hidden?

What Ruth discovered through her own journey through bladder infections and discomfort is that up to 50% of urine cultures are wrong. If you’re someone who has been left with an Interstitial Cystitis diagnosis after many episodes of recurrent UTI’s, you could very well benefit from advanced testing. Here’s why: Ruth found that the culprit was a chronic, imbedded infection in the walls of her bladder. Standard testing didn’t catch it, as the bacteria was encased in a biofilm—a community of bacterial cells that stick together and adhere to the bladder wall. They then create a protective slime that shields the bacteria from antibiotics and the body’s natural defenses.

MicrogenDX Testing Can Provide the Answers You Need

Once Ruth knew the truth about the embedded infection, she was able to get the right diagnosis and engage upon a treatment that worked. She devoted the next part of her career to helping other people like herself find healing. For the past few years, I’ve worked closely with Ruth, learning from her years of study and incredible ability to offer relief to people suffering from this misdiagnosed condition.

Ruth has retired from active practice, but she’s taught me to follow her groundbreaking and successful protocol. Once the advanced testing has identified an infection, I can offer an oral antibiotic or antifungal. In some cases, we use a catheter to deliver a bladder instillation, created by a compounding pharmacist. The instillation may contain antibiotics or antifungals, along with biofilm dissolvers. The treatment may need to be repeated, but the good news is, it works.

Hope for Interstitial Cystitis Sufferers

When the bladder has suffered from repeated infections and a tortured urinary tract, healing needs to go beyond just the bladder.  I help you support your immune system so that your body and your bladder can repair and recover. Chronic illness of any kind can depress the immune system, so like all of my work in Naturopathic medicine, we focus together on whole-body health.

This time-tested method has a success rate of more than 80%. That’s great news for women, men, and their bladders. You can put Interstitial Cystitis behind you, so let’s get started.