Board Certified Urologist, Dr. Elizabeth Kavaler, Offers Tips on How to Avoid a UTI during Menopause

Menopause affects every woman and is usually associated with hot flashes, irritability, and difficulty sleeping. However, a lesser known issue in menopause is the increased risk of urinary tract infections (UTIs) due to a lack of estrogen.

“The decrease in estrogen causes the bladder to become less elastic, triggering an inability to empty the bladder completely,” says Elizabeth Kavaler, M.D., urologist and author of “A Seat on the Aisle, Please! The Essential Guide to Urinary Tract Problems in Women,” (Copernicus Books, 2006). “Ultimately, not being able to empty the bladder completely can create a breeding ground for bacteria to multiply, leaving menopausal women at risk for developing a UTI.”

Additionally, the amount of protective vaginal organisms, lactobacilli, which help prevent harmful bacteria from adhering to vaginal tissue and the urethra, decreases after menopause, as well.

Dr. Kavaler who is one of 500 female urologists in the United States specializing in female urinary tract issues, recommends these ways to control or prevent the recurrence of UTIs associated with menopause:

• Stay Hydrated: It is imperative to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water which promotes regular urination. This flushes out bacteria from the urinary tract

• Respond to “nature’s call”: Urinate as soon as you feel the need to in order to eliminate unwanted bacteria

• Watch your back: Protect your back since stress that affects the lower muscles of the back can interfere with the flow of urine, which can lead to abnormal voiding (urination) and UTIs

• Strengthen your core: Often, a lazy bladder (unable to empty urine properly) occurs due to lower back problem, so consider doing exercises to help strengthen your back and stomach muscles

• Take a vitamin C supplement: Take about 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C throughout the day to help inhibit the growth of some bacteria by making sure you have an acid urine

• Lubricate: As estrogen declines, vaginal dryness increases. Make sure to be properly lubricated during sexual activity (use a water-based vaginal lubricant) to decrease friction in the vagina/urethral areas

• Take an antibacterial: If you are menopausal and prone to UTIs, Dr. Kavaler recommends taking Cystex® as a preventative, as it is the only over-the-counter urinary tract medication that contains methenamine, an antibacterial agent that attacks bacteria and helps prevent it from adhering to the cell wall lining of the bladder, as well as a pain reliever

Visit www.cystex.com to view the new Cystex “Know Your Bladder Better” video series or connect with Dr. Kavaler directly by visiting the new interactive “Ask the Urologist” feature to submit an informational question about bladder health.

Cystex “Know Your Bladder Better” Video Gives the Down Low on the Sex and UTI Connection

According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, frequent sexual intercourse (three or more times a week) is associated with a greater risk of UTI compared with less frequent intercourse (less than once a week).

“An increase in sexual activity can lead to urinary tract infections and is often referred to as honeymoon cystitis, however, you don’t just get cystitis on your honeymoon,” says Elizabeth Kavaler, M.D., urologist and author of A Seat on the Aisle, Please! The Essential Guide to Urinary Tract Problems in Women (Copernicus Books, 2006). Any boost in the romance department can put you more at risk for a UTI.

The increased genital friction can more easily introduce bacteria into the female urethra (leading to the bladder), which for some women who have issues with urinating properly, can increase the chance of getting a UTI.

If you think you have a UTI you need to see a physician for proper treatment, but until then there are some things that you can do to ease the pain and keep the infection under control. Dr. Kavaler suggests drinking a lot of water, emptying your bladder frequently, and taking Cystex, an over-the-counter medication that will not only take the pain of the infection away, but it will also slow the reproduction of the bacteria in the bladder until you can see a doctor.

Visit www.cystex.com to view the new Cystex “Know Your Bladder Better” video series, including a new video on honeymoon cystitis, or connect with Dr. Kavaler directly by visiting the new interactive “Ask the Urologist” feature to submit an informational question about bladder health

Please note that the new “Ask the Urologist” and Q&A with Dr. Kavaler on the Cystex Web site (www.cystex.com) or other sites associated with the Cystex Web site are for informational purposes only and should not be construed as a personal medical diagnosis or formal medical advice. If you have any health questions or concerns, we recommend that you seek medical advice from your physician.

At last, you’ve arrived at your vacation destination only to be welcomed by a urinary tract infection (UTI). Although there’s never an ideal time to have a painful and annoying UTI, vacation time is at the top of the list, since its symptoms – painful urination and frequency – among others – is sure to put a damper on your fun in the sun.

Have no fear and listen up! The Cystex Experts are here with a few tips to help minimize your risk of getting a UTI while you’re away and guide you through this common infection, should you get one:

• When packing your bikini and sunscreen, make sure to also pack vitamin C, which  helps acidify the urine and inhibit the growth of some UTI-causing bacteria. Take 1,000 mg. daily while on vacation.
• In between sipping frozen cocktails on the beach, make sure to drink plenty of water and limit your consumption of alcohol to keep from becoming dehydrated. Eight glasses of water a day isn’t necessary for everyone: the amount of water you need depends on what makes you feel comfortable, your level of activity, your diet and the climate. On average, 32 ounces of fluid a day is enough to remove bacteria out of the bladder. Also, urinate regularly and empty your bladder completely (each time) to eliminate any unwanted bacteria.
• Unfortunately, while you’re away from home, you’ll have to use public restrooms more frequently than you might like,   so before you leave home, check out The Bathroom Diaries at Cystex.com, which rates and reviews public restrooms, including hours of availability, details about cleanliness, and safety from a personal perspective. If you follow this advice and still get a UTI while you’re away, try Cystex®, the over-the-counter urinary pain relief and prevention product that will help with the pain of a UTI and also slow the progression of the infection with an extra ingredient –  methenamine — that helps stop bacteria from adhering to the walls of the urinary tract. (Other UTI products sold over-the-counter do not have this bacteria-fighting ingredient,) When used as a preventative treatment, Cystex® should be taken before any situation or activity that might cause the infection. Always follow the instructions on the package.

Ultra high heeled shoes may be sexy, but did you know that they may not only be bad for your feet, but bad for your bladder? If you regularly wear high heels and also are experiencing UTIs, you might want to consider blaming your stilettos, says our expert, Larrian Gillespie, a retired urogynecologist and author of the book, You Don’t Have to Live with Cystitis, The Groundbreaking Guide to the Prevention and Cure of One of Women’s Most Stubborn Ailments (Quill, An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)..

She says that wearing high-heeled shoes that are too high for your hip and leg structure can cause your torso to tilt forward, which forces your hips and spine out of alignment. If this occurs often, you could develop a “swayback,” also known as lordosis, which is a painful condition that creates pressure on the nerves in the lower back.

Okay, so how does this cause an infection in your bladder? Well, Gillespie says that this pressure contributes to “inefficient urination,” which is the precursor for urinary tract infections.

This is how it works: The back contains many fine nerves, which can become strained by lifting/carrying heavy items, exercising, wearing high heels, from altered position, etc. The discs in the lower back can also become damaged, compressing the nerves and signaling the bladder to empty – even when it isn’t full. The injuries also can disrupt or inhibit urine flow, which causes bacteria to become trapped in the bladder causing a UTI. And, as you may have read on this blog or seen elsewhere on Cystex.com, good urine flow is necessary for flushing all the “bad” bacteria out of the bladder.

High heels aren’t the only culprit of lower back problems. Back strain can also be caused by overexerting yourself while exercising. (no, this is not a good reason to stop exercising!) Just make sure to use proper workout techniques by participating in aerobic activities that give you a natural, fluid motion, such as walking, and use weight machines instead of free weights – and ask someone to show you the proper way to use the equipment. If you currently suffer from back injuries, try swimming, which creates the least pressure on the injured area.

Also, lighten the load you carry around. Carrying a heavy backpack, tote or large, filled-to-the-brim pocketbook, no matter how chic and gorgeous it is, can contribute to the development of lordosis. (According to Time magazine’s special Style issue in 2007, the average weight of a woman’s purse was 5.2 pounds.) So ligten the load by getting rid of that hard-covered novel you keep saying you’re going to read on your lunch hour (but don’t) and only carry what you need to help avoid unnecessary back strain.

If you are prone to lower back problems and find you continue to get recurring UTIs help is out there. Make an appointment with your doctor and in the meantime, try Cystex®, which is an over-the-counter urinary medication that not only helps with the pain of a UTI, it also contains the natural antiseptic methenamine that helps stop bacteria from adhering to the wall of the urinary tract, thereby helping to prevent the infection from occurring in the first place. For more information, visit www.Cystex.com.

You may have heard that cranberries (in juice or supplement form) play some role in helping urinary tract infections (UTIs). Some swear by it to help prevent UTIs, while others say it is a great treatment. While no conclusive evidence exists, we wanted to help sort through fact and fiction to get to the bottom of this “berry” interesting topic.

We asked one of our experts, Elizabeth Kavaler, M.D., urologist and author, for her thoughts.  According to Dr. Kavaler, the first thing to keep in mind is that treating and preventing urinary tract infections are two very different subjects. Cranberries are filled with antioxidants and have long been considered a very valuable ally for our health.  In addition to these antioxidants, cranberries contain hippuronic acid. This compound has been shown in some studies to make it much more difficult for the bacteria that causes urinary tract infections to attach to the bladder wall (because this acid works to acidify the urine). This lowers the risk of getting a UTI in some cases.  An important note however, is to make sure that you are drinking 100% cranberry juice because most of the sweetened versions with added sugar do not contain hippuronic acid.

However, once you have a UTI, cranberries in any form will do little to help treat it, and can actually exacerbate painful urination, one of the main symptoms associated with a UTI. This pain is caused by irritation and inflammation of the urethra and urethral opening. Once you have a UTI, the same acid in the cranberry juice that acidifies the urine to help keep bacteria at bay can actually increase the irritation and cause more pain when urinating. The best thing to do is to go to your doctor for proper antibiotic treatment (he or she will take a culture to confirm the UTI), and, in the meantime, take an over-the-counter urinary pain relief medication like Cystex® to help calm the symptoms.

Cystex® Urinary Pain Relief Tablets is the only over-the-counter (OTC) medication that has a dual-action formula, with both a pain reliever to help with the discomfort and burning, as well as an antiseptic to help keep the bacteria in check and the infection from worsening before you can get into your doctor’s office.

So, bottom line…..by all means drink 100% cranberry juice to help ward off UTIs and to add antioxidants to your body, but once you have a UTI, it is best to stick to proper medication and forgo the berries.

For more information on UTIs, visit http://www.cystex.com.

Let’s face it – honeymoons are a time when most couples participate in a lot of sexual activity. That’s the good news. But it’s that sudden increase in sexual activity that some experts believe triggers “honeymoon cystitis” (AKA – urinary tract infections/UTIs) – the bad news. An unexpected UTI – as you can imagine – can put a real damper on your honeymoon.

In fact, getting a UTI is the second worse ailment (following diarrhea/stomach upset) that can ruin a romantic vacation, let alone a honeymoon, according to a Cystex® Harris Interactive survey.

And it’s pretty hard to “grin and bare it” when a UTI strikes! Its dreaded symptoms include frequent and painful urination, abdominal pain and in some cases, even flu-like symptoms.

So how do you avoid becoming a statistic? Think about how and why a UTI occurs:

Intercourse can easily introduce bacteria into the female urethra, which is in the unfortunate situation of being physically located near the action (of sexual activity), so to speak. For some women who have lazy bladders (and experience weak urination), or, are using barrier contraceptive methods (such as diaphragms or sponges), these factors can increase their chances of getting a UTI, as they make it difficult for the body to flush out excess bacteria that may have entered the bladder.

So take some advice from our expert Larrian Gillespie, one of our “resident” urology experts: pack some vitamin C in your honeymoon suitcase and take 1,000 milligrams daily (while on vacation) to help acidify the urine and inhibit the growth of some UTI-causing bacteria. Gillespie also recommends carrying along the over-the-counter urinary pain relief and prevention product, Cystex®, since it not only will help with the pain of a UTI, but will also slow the progression of the infection with the natural antiseptic methenamine that helps stop bacteria from adhering to the walls of the urinary tract. When used as a preventative treatment, Cystex® should only be taken before engaging in sexual activity or in other situations that might create the onset of infection.

Last, but not least, dehydration also contributes to the development of the condition, so as you enjoy your romantic, candlelit dinners and drink champagne to a lifetime of rapturous bliss, be sure to down plenty of water, too! 

For additional information about the UTI/sex connection, visit the Burning Love section of the Cystex.com site

Many women turn to the Web for health information (as you are right now!), and as much as there is great information online, there are quite a bit of myths and misconceptions that travel around like wildfire, too!

We aren’t about to tackle all of them, of course, but we would like to get into some of the more common ones that have to do with urinary tract infections (UTIs)…and there are plenty. We tapped into one of our experts, Larrian Gillespie, former urologist and author of You Don’t Have to Live with Cystitis, to address some of the more common UTI myths she hears about…so she can set the record straight.

Myth: Cranberries cure urinary tract infections (UTIs).

While cranberries in the form of juice or supplements may help prevent bacteria from adhering to the walls of the urinary tract (by making the urine more acidic), they will not relieve the pain and have little effect on killing bacteria once you get a urinary tract infection (UTI). In fact, ingesting cranberries while you have an infection may actually make urination more uncomfortable (even more burning) because they can make the urine more acidic. It is best to pass on cranberries once an infection is present. And, if you do drink a lot of cranberry juice to help in the prevention urinary tract infections (UTIs), make sure it is 100% natural juice and not jam-packed with sugar.

Myth: UTIs are caused by sex.

Sexual activity, itself, does not lead to a urinary tract infection (UTI). However, sex can easily introduce bacteria into the female urethra and bladder, which for some women on certain types of birth control or those who have issues with urinating properly, can increase the chance of a urinary tract infection (UTI), even if they have sex only once. If you have a strong stream of urine, it will naturally wash away bacteria in the urinary tract.

Myth: My urinary tract infection (UTI) should go away on its own.

While a urinary tract infection (UTI) may seem to subside on its own or from taking an over-the-counter product to manage it, this infection requires a visit to the doctor for a urine culture to confirm a diagnosis and a prescription antibiotic (provided by your doc) to completely eradicate the bacterial infection. So while waiting to see the doctor, you can alleviate the infection’s painful symptoms by taking Cystex® Urinary Pain Relief Tablets, which are available over-the-counter at most pharmacies nationwide. Cystex® is the only non-prescription medication formulated with both a pain relieving analgesic and an antibacterial agent, methenamine, which helps stop the progression of a UTI infection by reducing bacterial overgrowth.

The Cystex® Ladies Room, a new blog designed for women seeking up-to-date information about managing and preventing urinary tract infections (UTI’s), is delighted to introduce our two noted medical advisors who will help answer UTI-related questions, dispel common myths and more. These experts have treated thousands of female patients for their urinary health disorders and are authors of two of the only consumer-oriented books on urinary tract health.

Elizabeth Kavaler, M.D., is a board-certified urologist practicing in New York City. Dr. Kavaler is one of only 500 American female physicians specializing in urological disorders in women. She is also the author of A Seat in the Aisle (Copernicus Books, 2006), a consumer-friendly book that has helped many women to better understand their urinary tract disorders and learn when to seek help from their physicians.

Larrian Gillespie, a former retired Beverly Hills urologist, is recognized as a pioneer in the area of female pelvic pain. Gillespie has been leading a national health initiative in educating women on urinary tract health with her best-selling book, You Don’t Have to Live With Cystitis (Quill).

Both of these medical experts are thrilled to be a part of this new online community that Cystex® has created and look forward to helping answer any questions you may have about urinary tract infections (UTI).

Please note: These experts are providing advice and opinion for informational purposes only, which should not be construed as a formal medical diagnosis by a physician. The experts and DSE Healthcare, maker of the Cystex® brand, urge you to speak with your own physician for proper diagnosis and treatment of any medical conditions.

Welcome to the Ladies Room blog, designed by Cystex® Urinary Pain Relief Tablets as a resource for the millions of women who suffer from urinary tract infections (UTIs) – whether just once a year, or more frequently with recurring UTIs.

Anyone who’s had a UTI knows what it feels like – the constant urge to urinate (with just a few drops coming out at a time), burning pain when you pee, aching in the lower back/abdomen, etc. The Cystex® Ladies Room blog was designed to help you get the information you need about UTIs, common misconceptions on causes and surprising triggers, as well as how to manage the infection (from getting worse) while you wait for a doctor’s appointment (since UTIs require prescription antibiotics to completely cure the infection, we urge you to see a healthcare provider for proper diagnosis and prescription medication).

Our noted medical advisors will also answer your questions and even offer some lifestyle changes that you can do to help prevent your next urinary tract infection (UTI).

The Cystex® Ladies Room blog can be your resource for the latest news and information regarding UTIs, as well as an outlet for you to chat about your struggles with UTIs, etc.

The Cystex® Web site – www.cystex.com – was also re-launched with a new design and
updated information. We will be providing site visitors with monthly giveaways and other interactive items, so please take the time to visit our new site and offer us your comments on what should be added or expanded.

Thanks, again, for visiting the Cystex® Ladies Room.

Elizabeth Kavaler, M.D., is a board-certified urologist practicing in New York City. Dr. Kavaler is one of only 500 American female physicians specializing in urological disorders in women. She is also the author of A Seat in the Aisle, a consumer-friendly book that has helped many women to better understand their urinary tract disorders and learn when to seek help from their physicians.

Larrian Gillespie, a former Beverly Hills urologist, is recognized as a pioneer in the area of female pelvic pain. Gillespie has been leading a national health initiative in educating women on urinary tract health with her best-selling book, You Don’t Have to Live With Cystitis.