My Mom is having recurrent UTIs. Nothing seems to help. Any advice?

Maybe get her a portable toilet to use downstairs might help get her out of the depends?

You mentioned she wears depends. My mom has had repeated UTI's over the past 6 months, which coincided with her using the depends. She also has to go up or down stairs in her home to get to a bathroom. It has been suggested to us that the UTI's are recurring because she is not changing her depends as frequently at home as she should. She is afraid of the stairs, so she doesn't go to use the toilet as often as she should (she has fallen once and hurt herself with the cane while going up the stairs...we are fighting with her about going into assisted living, which she refuses to do, but that is another post!), so then she sits in her wet diapers longer, which contributes to the UTI's. She doesn't get them when she is in rehab, because she is using the toilet more regularly and changing her wet diapers more frequently....or not even having wet diapers. So maybe try to schedule more frequent bathroom breaks or at least change her diapers more frequently....that may help with the UTIs.

My mil had a uti every month for 2 years until we got the AZO cranberry pills from the pharmacy. 2 a day as directed did the trick. Good luck.

I give my mother a supplement called D-Mannose pure powder in her water when I give her medicine in the morning. The one I purchased is the NOW brand. She hasn't had a UTI in months.

Having had a few UTIs myself, I can tell you right now she's not drinking enough water and that's a straightforward fact. She also needs to do internal flushes with ice water on a regular basis and drink it in large amounts.

I recall the very night I was at my local ER when they needed a urine sample and I was caught like a deer in headlights because I was completely dry! I immediately thought of drinking a lot of ice water and suggested it to my nurse. I suggested that since I didn't know I would need a urine sample and I forgot my thermos at home, grab the biggest container she can find and load it down with ice water and I'll sit here and drink it until I can produce a urine sample. Much to my surprise I was able to produce more than just a simple urine sample, the ice water worked wonders to loosen other toxins I didn't know was up there. Of course I was quite busy for quite a while while awaiting my CAT scan and other test results. I guess you can't rest very comfortably when your body is constantly producing and illuminating toxins you didn't even know were in there. Yep, just enough ice water was enough to start doing the trick and much to my surprise, the pain I was feeling in a specific area for quite a while had suddenly vanished. Apparently there was internal swelling I didn't even know was there either. Much to my surprise, my test came back resulting in the diagnosis of my very first UTI. By the time my test results came back I not only finished producing and was finally able to rest a while, but my ice water was nearly gone and I started feeling more energetic and even internally clean. I ordered more ice water for the road because I knew I would be up the rest of the night or at least part of it because I told my nurse I would be up a while more after I got home, and that I would just stay up a while and drink more ice water before going to bed. Sure enough, by the time I drank the ice water I ordered to go, it was quite some time before I was able to rest very comfortably by time I finally went to bed. Yep, lack of water results in not only kidney infections but also UTIs and other health issues. She really needs to start drinking more water for sure. I know what I'm talking about because I have had a few UTIs and kidney infections of my own though they are rare. Just get her a very nice heavy duty thermos and fill it with ice water and keep it filled as she drinks it down. The human body needs about 64 fluid ounces of water each day.

What you can do is get a thermos that holds exactly that and start by filling it preferably with crushed ice if you have it available. If not, regular ice cubes Will do. Pack it down pretty tight with ice and then add filtered water. Filtered water is actually better for you, especially when you have infections. UTIs are especially painful and can cause you to faint when the pain is just too much, I nearly fainted from extreme pain. You definitely need to get some water into her right away, definitely go for the ice water and it will shrink swelling you never knew was even in there. It will definitely get your body to producing more than just urine, you'll also have her producing mushy stool. Don't panic when this happens, just have her keep flushing herself out with the ice water when this happens, this is just the body cleaning itself out because it now has what it needs to do that. It may seem like a lot, but there's no need to panic, the body needs to clean itself out and it needs lots of ice water to start the process and start her on the road to feeling better. Trust that I have experience from dealing with infections throughout my life. They were few and far between but I have dealt with them and successfully gotten rid of each one of them very quickly within even a few hours with extreme persistence. Getting rid of an infection takes extreme persistence because you must be very aggressive about it. I know what I'm talking about, I've been there

I recommend seeing a urogynecologist, if you haven't yet done so. There are many anatomical and functional reasons for recurrent infections, and someone needs to understand what is happening in her bladder. There are reasons the bladder does not completely empty, and many of these can be addressed medically/pharmacologically. You mother probably needs an expert opinion- which must include diagnostic work, likely resulting in effective treatment. My mother's new geriatrician advised that we seek specialty treatment (for incontinence, in her case) with a practice that specializes, versus a "regular" urologist/gynecologist. Tragically, problems like these among the elderly (women, anyway) are often considered inevitable, or the docs will simply give up; the 'old' old population do not get the best medical care.

You cannot get a urien sample free of contamination unless it's a mid stream. This method is  very difficult from an aged person who's confused. A contaminated urine may not always be due to lack of hygiene. It could be from a " leaky gut sydrome". It's surprisingly quite common.
I personally have suffered constant UTI's since drinking polluted water accidentally. I tried everything to help. Stinging nettle tea is a good start as it works on immune system & taste similar to regular tea. However, the best thing is to try & swallow a raw garlic clove. It can be crushed & mixed in honey or any food. I find it easier to chop up, mix with honey then swallow like a tablet.  It works better & quicker than even antibiotics. This coming from a registered aged care nurse. 

Simple hint:

Anytime you don't drink enough water, you're automatically prone to infections. Definitely encourage the patient to drink more water, especially ice water to shrink any internal swelling. I've also had a few UTIs of my own, and it's as simple as just drinking more water and giving the body more of what it needs. I also found that starting the morning off with a big huge glass of warm water really does the body good. If your dehydrated and drink a big huge glass of warm water, your body will definitely welcome it, you can feel it going to work inside of you. Very refreshing in the end. You may balk at the idea of drinking warm water, but what's more important, your health or your pride? My health is more important to me than pride, and I was already to get rid of more than one UTI on my own without medication.

If we only take proper care of our bodies especially as we get older, we can have a longer lifespans to well into our hundreds. I'm actually kind of surprised at the modern diet and lack of water therein with all of the other drinks out there that take you away from what's the very key to survival, water. Your body needs about 64 ounces each and every day. Without it, you start to dehydrate and things start going wrong, one of them is UTI and even kidney infections. Without your kidneys, you would die. Without your urinary tract, you would also be in danger. Take care of what you have because you only have one body to carry you through your physical life. The body is a beautiful piece of machinery with such capability if we only took better care of ourselves. 

Sometimes  people don't want to hear the truth when the truth is actually good for them and will actually help them. Sometimes when someone is not taking proper care of themselves and causing themselves undue pain and infections, sometimes stepping up and saying something is necessary. Someone here also happened to mention  wiping from back to front and scraping fecal matter into the vagina. This is true, the poster was telling the truth. It sounds like maybe a rinsing system should be attached to the toilet where the patient can just use a sprayer before actually wiping. Another thing you can use is a special kind of spray bottle called a bidet. They are specially designed just for this purpose, and the best way to use them is from the front so that the spray goes from front to back. It's actually healthier to have some form of sprayer before actually wiping, you may find yourself using less paper, which will be cheaper in the long run

My urologist placed a suprapubic Foley about a month ago. I use a 2-liter hanging bag at home, and a 1-liter belly back when leaving the house. I take Bactrim every night at bedtime. I currently have a mild UTI for which I'm taking another antibiotic, flushed the prescribed by my urologist. Before I started the new med, which is used to flush the Foley, I had a mild episode of UTI, causing some leakage through my urethra, but that stopped after the first flush. I definitely recommend seeing a certified urologist. S/he may instruct you, as mine did the visiting nurses still do, to change the bag every time she gets a new Foley. I also recommend the use of a 2-liter hanging urine bag, as I do while I'm at home. I use a 1-liter belly bag when I'm going out (or hosting guests. In any case the bag--leg, belly, or overnight--should be changed anytime the tube leading to it looks cloudy or opaque.

I have a patient with an occasional uti. I discovered that she wipes herself from back to front which will spread rectal germs into the vaginal area which will in turn cause a uti. Same thing when she was washing herself in the shower until I began to take over the showering. But inevitably she still wipes back to front even with coaching.

Mother's constant UTI's were finally "contained" due to have a supra pubic catheter placed. It isn't pleasant by any means, but she's not constantly on antibiotics. She does have to wear a urine collection bag strapped to her thigh, and she isn't super careful about the hygiene of the thing--so we just don't mention it. She smells strongly of urine, as does her apartment as she just cannot get the extra bag completely clean. BUT, she has had very few UTI's and only my brother and I go into her place. She also wears depends, the caths can leak and the bags MUST be emptied as they fill...but her health has improved. You might want to ask a urologist about this, this procedure is not something a GP would do.

January, 2017
My husband had several UTI's and after using Batrim, it would eventually return. My daughter suggested a different antibiotic, especially for UTI's and it never returned!!
It is called: Macrobid

There is a bladder condition that is a chronic cystitis, research it, take her to a urologist for a diagnosis and the appropriate medication.

Never roll my eyes, don't mind going over any helpful solutions on here.
It is often a helpful reminder for so many people.

For example, taking Curcumin for pain helps me. Don't know why I forget that one supplement! Part of the fog of fibromyalgia, I guess.

Be sure to include your search right here on Ac forum.

No one better roll their eyes at dutifulnmisery, she/he is a caregiver, and welcome!

My mom has frequent bouts with UTI's as well. Her doctor prescribes Bactrim which works in the short term. The infection always returns. My question is so basic that y'all will probably roll your eyes, but could her Depends be causing the problem? I'm thinking it cannot be a good thing to sit around in damp diapers. Bacteria may be coming from there? I change her very often, but this still happens sometimes.

My mom, too, was put on methenamine as part of a regimine for chronic UTI's. There were other drugs as well. Methenamine is a drug to help halt chronic UTI's. The regimine mom was on also stopped the infections.

Methenamine and memantine are two very different drugs.

Memantine (Namenda) will not cure or prevent UTI's. However, it can calm the patient down.

My grandma was having constant UTIs. Antibiotics weren't working, cranberry juice wouldn't work only cause her heartburn terribly, yogurts didn't work, me wiping her, changing her depends more often, and even some herbal teas didn't work. I went to a urologist and begged him to do something. I said I was willing to do anything to just have her have some relief. She's terrible with a UTI. She was put on methenamine. It works amazing. She hasn't had another UTI except for the one time the insurance didn't cover it for some odd reason because it was a holiday and the doctor wasn't in to write a script for 3 days. Other than that it's a total win-win scenario. I highly recommend that drug to preventing UTIs.

I am 70 and have had continual uti,s for over a year. My MD thought they would end when i had a very large kidney stone removed. But that didnt solve the problem. I have e-coli and have been given 5-6 different antibiotics, each one for4-5 times. I have had iv-s , in and out of the hospital. I drink a lot of water, avoid the bad food and drinks, wipe correctly, drink pure and real cranberry juice, take ditropan before i go out, take potent probiotics, and many other things. Recenty i read about D-mannose and am taking 3000 mg a day. It is the same element found in cranberry juice that keeps the bacteia from sticking to bladder walls so it is flushed out in the urine. No side effects or interractions with drugs. You can google it. I pray that it solves my problem and those of you reading this. God bless you!

Sherry1anne, what you were describing here sounds exactly what my mother went through. Unfortunately I lost my mother on October 1 this year. She was 88. Her last two hospitalizations or for urinary track infections were back to back. She went in for a UTI caused by E. coli (caused from feces.) When elderly people have dementia, they can forget some of the simplest things such as the correct way of wiping themselves after using the bathroom. They get confused. You not only are dealing with the confusion from dementia but confusion from the UTI and also from the prescription antibiotics they give them. Cipro was a drug that her physician had given her before because she had so many reactions to the other ones. I would constantly encourage my mother drink water. I would give her Popsicles, I would take her favorite juices and freeze them and make slushy's ...anything to get her to drink more. Snowballs are a great way as well as Italian ice. A lot of these you can make yourself. She definitely should see a urologist if she continues to have these UTIs The problem with them is they can return and you don't always know because older people do not get the same symptoms as younger people when they have a UTI such as the burning sensation. However keep an eye on how often she goes to the bathroom. This is a really hard situation, I know because I have gone through this with my mother the past two years and it's really hard to pinpoint. The second hospitalization my mom had was only 13 days after the first and she had C Diff, a urinary track infection caused by yeast, (both most likely caused by the use of antibiotics in the first place) She also had renal failure and had lost one kidney. The dementia had worsened and eventually she succumb to it. I hope you can get your mom back on track and keep her healthy.

Cranberry juice will not help. I gave my mum Bioorganics Cranberry 10,000+ n she was UTI free since 2009.. i reckon its the concentration of cranberry that makes the diff. Hope it helps. God bless n hugs from me.

I heard nursing homes are using vitamin c. I give a tablet to my mom every day and she hasn't had any more UTI's.

I use the antibacterial non-flushable wipes after a bowel movement and at least once a day, pretty well stopped my uti's.

If the UTI's are a result of E coli (sp?) d-mannose might be useful. It's a sugar that is not absorbed into the blood stream, so safe for diabetics, but makes the lining of the bladder, (and I would guess the rest of the UT system, ) so slippery that the bacteria cannot cling to the walls; it is just washed out. I think it's the same substance that's in cranberry juice but you don't have to drink gallons of juice along with the sugar that does absorb into your system, to get the great benefits. I keep my MIL who is nearly 102 on 'happy bladder' juice. I mix 3/4 t. d-mannose in 1 T. juice (in bulk it works out to 4 T. d-mannose to 3/4 c. juice) and give her a Tablespoon of juice in a little medicine cup 4 or 5 times a day. It's a great preventative and she loves it. You can buy the d-mannose in bulk on the internet.

I've used a Foley for the past 9 years, and have had far fewer UTIs than I did when I'd had when I used the "straight cath" method. Inserted carefully by a trained physican or nurse using sterile technique (nurses are better), you get far fewer infections. I've even done it myself, though I don't recommend that!

Don't let UTIs go on too long. I took Mother to one doctor after another, hospitalizations and finally got her in with a urologist. It was hard to find one here that would take medicare urgh. The urologist did a weekly bladder wash with an antibiotic cocktail by catheter. It worked, but if the urologist was closed the infection came back with a vengeance. The UTIs damaged my mother's brain finally and she was not herself at the end. The urologist told me that it's usually UTIs that take old people out. Mother died this year at 104 1/2. I blame my ignorance in part for her UTI induced dementia. I didn't realize it was a UTI. There's not much information and the primary care doctors don't seem to recognize it. I'm educated now, but my mother is gone.

As I've said in other posts, I use a Foley. My current nurse comes to the house to change the thing monthly, though the MD urologist usually waited 2-3 months. After decades of straight and Foley use, one's urinary tract gets pretty irritated, and sometimes blood clots developed, a tiresome, scary, and painful occurrence. I'm thinking of having a suprapubic Foley, which the urologist says is cleaner, safer, and less painful than one that goes in the regular way. It may also free the penis for (ahem) other activities.

The unfortunate truth is that catheters can be another source of UTIs.

Everyone's system is different. It's possible that she's not completely voiding, which in turn, proves to be problematic and allows for easier infection (often, doctors will suggest a catheter for this issue. This problem, combined with severe Diverticulosis is why Edna has one). If she's incontinent and is too often exposed to the stale urine, that can be another source of the UTI. Some doctors prescribe premarin cream as a topical treatment to the peri-area, to help keep the muscles supple enough to be controllable (was completely ineffective for Edna, and we finally discontinued its use, since it can have some unwanted side effects).

Keeping the peri area clean is pretty critical: the urethra is easily contaminated by fecal matter (the older we get, the less strength there is in the anal sphincter, and leaks can be frequent). Remember to clean, always wiping away from the urethra.

d-Mannose is a good resource, as long as the source of the infection is one of only a few eColi strains, otherwise, it's ineffectual. I haven't read or heard that we can get too much cranberry .. I'll have to look that up, but even our doctors recommend a strong dose, especially when it's obvious that there *is* an infection and before an antibiotic can be prescribed (our labs seem to take forever to get sensitivity results, so there's always a wait time between diagnosis and prescription) ... this is one of those, "your mileage may vary" scenarios.

The sooner you catch a UTI and get it treated, the better. With a caveat: with recurrent UTIs there's a real danger of becoming immune to the antibiotics. Sort of a catch-22. So, all we can do is learn the early symptoms (varying from individual to individual) and respond accordingly.

Best of luck!!

My mom had an ongoing UTI for a very long time. Her dr. gave her Cipro which worked at first,but then it didn't. It was when she got a cathater that it seemed to go away.

My chiropractor, self-treating with cranberry juice damaged the lining of her bladder and urethra. Be careful, even though this is a good treatment.
I am liking the use of apple cider vinegar. However, the same precaution should apply with too much acid. The body is meant to have a balanced pH.

After a course of antibiotics, it is common to get a yeast infection. Treat that topically with over the counter (ask the pharmacist) east treatment. Then take probiotics to replace the normal flora of bacteria vs. yeast. Overgrowth of either cause infection.