Robert Filice, M.D. - Dr. Bob's Newsletter
Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections
Recently I saw a young women in her very early twenties. She had recently come in for her first visit with complaints of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI, about monthly), discomfort on urination even between UTI’s, repeated antibiotic exposure, constipation, a tendency to vaginitis, and some mucous in her stool. She had been treated empirically and repetitively without urine cultures by her family doctor, so we were unaware of what organism was involved. Each time she got a UTI, she’d be given an antibiotic, and she would get a vaginal infection.

It was not immediately apparent what was predisposing her to the UTI’s, but she did use sugar in her diet, and she was taking the birth control pill, two factors that can promote the growth of Candida yeast and bacteria.

My presumptive diagnosis was Candidiasis and recurrent UTI. I needed to get her off the antibiotic merry-go-round so I prescribed D-mannose, an inert (not metabolized) sugar which binds to receptor sites to which pathogenic bacteria usually attach. By so doing, mannose can eliminate recurrent UTI’s. I also prescribed a probiotic to replentish good bacterial colonies, and Nystatin, a safe antifungal medication that kills Candida on contact as it passes through the GI tract. 

At her first follow-up visit, the patient reported that all urinary tract symptoms had disappeared within several days of starting the D-mannose, and that she had not had any further UTI symptoms. She had stopped eating sugar and lost a few pounds (which is common), but was a little concerned that she was now underweight. Her constipation had also resolved, and there was no mucous in the stool. The Candida antibodies blood test we ran confirmed the patient had a Candida problem, and I suggested she stay with the Nystatin and probiotic for several more months. I had been planning on getting a urine culture with bacterial sensitivity when the patient experienced her next UTI, but from the looks of her response to treatment, that may never happen. This dramatic response makes it clear that the offending organism was E. coli, the most common urinary tract pathogen.

This case illustrates the fact that pharmaceuticals can both help and harm people, and that antibiotics in particular can set patients up for a recurrent cycle of disease. It is often necessary to think outside the box to find a solution to such problems. D-mannose is just what this patient needed. Unfortunately orthodox practitioners are constrained by the self imposed prison of prescribing only the consensus medical treatments, and accepting the medical establishment’s bias against natural treatment approaches, all to the detriment of patient care. When orthodox medicine doesn’t work for you, or if you intuitively understand the advantages of natural medicine, see a well qualified natural medicine physician the next time you need a creative solution to your health concern.

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