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From the Bedroom to the Bathroom: 5 Ways to Prevent a UTI

UTIs, sometimes called a bladder infection, or, affectionately known as, "honeymoon cystitis" can ruin your week, make you cry, and mess up your sex life. Is there a way to avoid the hell known as the UTI??

Sarah Fazeli

I am the queen of UTIs. The joke is that all my husband had to do was look at me and the telltale twinges would start. From there, the heavy, uncomfortable feeling in the low belly, the maddening feeling of having to constantly pee and never feel relief, and, of course, the agonizing pain of trying to actually pee.

I’ve been not only to gynecologists, urologists but also to gyne-urologists—ladies, they are out there! Find one, tout suite!

Frustratingly, I got the common advice that truly works for some people. But, if you haven’t heard it – this may help you:

  • Always pee immediately after sex. No lying around in bed! Your days of blissfully falling asleep in your lover’s arms are over. GET UP and pee. Rinsing with water can help.
  • Make sure that you are drinking a large glass of water immediately after sex.
  • Take daily preventative, like 100% cranberry tablets or drink 100% cranberry juice. One caveat is that it should be the unsweetened kind (bleh), so add Stevia to make it bearable. If you can’t find it at the regular grocery store, try a health food store like Whole Foods.
  • I’ve always thought that this was slightly patronizing advice ("I know how to wipe, doc. Been doing it for years") but make sure you are wiping front to back, not back to front after visiting the toilette.
  • For good measure, and to stave off any accompanying yeast infections and hearten the related vaginal area, always wear 100% cotton underwear and eat yogurt daily. This one is a bonus, and worth trying if all else fails.

In the end, the only thing that cleared my chronic UTIs (a low UTI, which can be trickier to test and treat than an upper UTI infection) was a serious, long-term course of the antibiotic Macrobid. Once that cleared, it was followed by continuous, post-sex prophylactic Macrobid. (one capsule immediately after sex, with large glass of water—you should be taking it while you’re up peeing after sex immediately anyway!)

If you are getting more than two or three infections a year, it is time to see a specialist. In the meantime, try all the tricks listed above. Let’s get you out of the doctor’s office, and bathroom… and back into the bedroom with one happy urethra!

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