Thank you for covering this. I was getting teary watching because this has been my life for the last three years. I was so, so sick. Still cant work but slowly improving under the mentioned treatment. Those saying, "just change your diet, have some cranberry", please STOP. You have no idea and are only adding to the gaslighting we receive while trying to get help.

This made me emotional, thank you The Project for being one of the first to listen to us, when many Drs and the Australian health system doesn't even believe us. It is a nightmare to go from perfectly healthy to chronically sick over night (what happened with my cUTI), but it is another kind of hell when no Dr or medical professional listens to you or believes you or has an answer for you. I truly thank you from the bottom of my heart for running this story and helping spread awareness of this debilitating and life altering condition, and for validating something that actually a lot of people are suffering from.

I feel so deeply for these women. My beloved Grandmother suffered from chronic UTI's for yr's b4 her passing. I felt (/still feel) SO sorry for her, she was in agony. I myself suffered from excruciating interstitial cystitis for a period of time as a symptom of undiagnosed lupus so can understand the medical gaslighting as that happened to me with my bladder condition for a long time. What a relief that these women were able to find treatment and are feeling better now.

Interstitial cystitis is a nightmare

Bladder pain is the WORST. If you've had something unresolved do see a pelvic floor physiotherapist to eliminate the possibility of urethral prolapse or other structural problems. The antibiotics took helped but I found out it's because I they also have an anti-inflammatory effect. The problem was structural and most drs just shrugged until an integrative dr suggested I tried the pelvic floor physio which cured months of struggle. It's not the same as the women have here, but I just want to mention it. Even if you have a chronic infection, pelvic floor physio can help relieve pain anyway including for endo.

ALL 3 girls in my household had recurrent bladder infections/cystitis for months. Then I went away for work for a week and mine cleared up, but came back when I got home. So I looked for what the cause could be... I found it was the bamboo toilet paper!!!!! I hadn't had a recurrence for years, until I bought a new pack of toilet paper, not realising what it was made of, and got one within the day. My cousin recently said all 4 girls in his household were having recurrent bladder infections/cistitis for about 3 months, I asked him what toilet paper they were using, he said bamboo paper, I asked when did they start using it, and his face said it all, it was just as the bladder problems started. They stopped using it and they're all free if problems!

I had a lot of urinary tract pain. Antibiotics did nothing. Did some fasting and avoided all carbs and it went away. Cutting out oxalates seemed to make a big difference. I think serrapeptase may help too.

Are we turning into the UK? Next we will be waiting in line for months for basic prescriptions like friends of ours in London.

Try cutting out foods that contain oxalates and you may find a difference.

Hoped. Lots of water can help

Are UTIs only a woman thing?

An inflammation of the bladder lining. Could be stress related as cortisol triggers ph imbalance. Also too much allergens causing food, wrong kind of yogurt which has too much of wrong kind of acidophilus perhaps. Could tx with benedryl in emergency, change ph, more water, clean more frequently, pomegranates or cranberry juice(whatever diet works for you),, remove sugar and too much fat, walk in nature once a day, remove from diet milk (use oatmeal milk as cows have penicillin in their milk), and mindfulness meditation. Lots of elders suffer.

People need to go back to what they’re eating. Start with meat only for two entire weeks and add things from there. As soon as a symptom starts again, put what you at the days prior on the ‘no’ list. Worked for me Haven’t had BV or a UTI since I went carnivore food only.