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3.01.2017

That Post About the UTI That Knocked Me Out

That Post About the UTI That Knocked Me Out

I'm no stranger to the occasional urinary tract infection (UTI). I've had my fair share. It sucks, but that's life.

Fun fact: 50% of women will get a UTI in a lifetime. UTI's also account for 4 million doctor office visits per year in the US.

I was feeling run down on a Thursday and by Saturday exhausted, nauseous, and had stomach pains.The thing is - I had a UTI when I thought I had food poisoning or a stomach bug.   

Now, being a Saturday, I had a ton of stuff to do to have a tummy ache. We went to breakfast, Monster Jam, cleaned house, and hosted a Perfectly Posh open house. 

By Sunday, I felt like I was recovering. 

The upcoming week was going to be important at my day job.Visitors from all over the country were coming to town. I wanted to make sure everything went well. I needed to be okay. 

Still feeling run down, I kept my head down and got through the important parts. By Thursday afternoon, I was in more pain and beyond nauseous. My boss sent me home.

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That night, doubled over in the worse pain I knew I need to see a doctor. I would have gone to the emergency room that night, but I couldn't drive and I didn't want to wake the kids.

Friday morning came and I couldn't wait any longer I needed a doctor. Mine wasn't answering. Off to the ER, I went to get some answers and relief.

They guessed kidney stones due to the pain and location, but nope. I had a UTI and my bladder - inflamed. I'm sure that sounds worse, but what I didn't know is that a UTI can travel to your kidneys and that's bad. Shut your kidneys down.

What is wrong with me that I waited so long for help? How often have we moms talked about putting on the oxygen mask first? And, how often do we ignore our instincts when it comes to ourselves? 

So, besides taking antibiotics (three times a day, for seven days!) and an anti-inflammatory, I rested. And, rested.

I also learned that cranberry juice really isn't the cure-all everyone thought it was and forced myself to drink more water. Normally this is not a problem, but I was still nauseous.

In addition to all the water accompanied by all the extra trips to the bathroom, I rested some more. I also eliminated the big C's - chocolate, caffeine, and carbonated beverages. I love soda water, specifically Dasani. Love it. I don't drink soda pop anymore, but I still like the bubbles. 

Coffee is hard, but with the pain not as hard. Once I was feeling better, I still wanted to stay away from coffee to be safe. But, I was going through withdrawal. Then it dawned on me - decaf! I finally understand the usefulness of decaffeinated coffee.

I also learned that not everyone has symptoms. For instance, I have lower back pain. Nothing else. It's always been this way and not new to me. I didn't have that this time. Thinking back, I did notice that my pee was darker, so I drank more water. This caused me to go more often. This was not helpful for figuring out that it was a UTI.

It's been two weeks and I'm finally feeling like myself. Look out for a few more posts this week! 

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