Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is a very
common disease among women. It is characterized by
inflammations, which are caused by bacteria that enter
the urinary tract via the urethra. Every year ten
million women are estimated to seek medical help for
urinary tract infection, and most of them are prescribed
with antibiotics. So, can UTI antibiotics cause a yeast infection?
A UTI antibiotic is essentially formulated to
kill ALL the bacteria in your system – i.e., it can’t
discriminate between the good and the bad. The more
severe your infection, the stronger the antibiotic you
are prescribed, and the more is its ability to kill
microbes. While it does do a good job by killing the
notorious bacteria in your urinary tract, it also ends
up killing the beneficial bacteria in your gut and
around genitals – called probiotics. A prolonged
antibiotic course can actually deplete your body of ALL
existing bacteria!
Why is killing probiotics a bad
idea?
There are a hundred trillion probiotics in a
normal, healthy human being. They secrete chemicals,
like lactic acid, butyric acid, B vitamins and vitamin K
to facilitate digestion. They maintain pH balance in the
gut and around genitals to create a less favourable
environment for the Candida. They give less space to the
Candida for overgrowth. Probiotics are the ‘live’
factors in your body which vehemently oppose Candida
yeast infections. So, once you kill them – it’s
party-time for the Candida!
It is reported by women all over the world
that a treatment of urinary tract infection has been
followed by a yeast infection. The most common mistake
that they commit is that they take more antibiotics to
kill the yeast, instead of replenishing probiotics in
the system. While the Candida IS killed on taking
antibiotics, it comes back as soon as your antibiotic
course ceases to exert its impact.
Once yeast infection sets in, you will start
experiencing symptoms like irritation, burning and
itching of the vagina and abnormal vaginal discharge.
Allowing it to intensify can lead to painful urination,
anal rash, discomfort during sexual intercourse, leaky
gut syndrome, and bloating, among other
symptoms.
Is there a safer
way?
Yes. One option is to cure the urinary tract
infection naturally instead of resorting to antibiotics.
By doing so, you will cure the disease without
compromising on your internal defences upheld by the
good microbes.
If natural cure for UTI is too lengthy /
inconvenient for you and the UTI antibiotics are an
imperative, a good idea would be to refill the void of
probiotics in your system as soon as your antibiotic
course is over. Apart from probiotic supplements, you
can also gorge on yoghurt and kefir to retain your
reservoir of probiotics. Make sure that the yoghurt is
unheated, unprocessed, unpasteurized, and without any
added sugar, additives or flavours. Taking inuflora
powder, which is a food for probiotics, can cause new
probiotics to multiply faster and get to work sooner.
During the period when you consume UTI antibiotics, you
should take extra care with regard to diet, lifestyle
and stress management.
UTI antibiotics are known to trigger vaginal
yeast infections, however, a host of other factors also
significantly contribute to the occurrence (and
recurrence) of yeast infections. Neutralizing the impact
of UTI antibiotics may be good start to combat yeast
infections, but it doesn’t end there. You should opt for
the holistic treatment, which individually and
collectively treats all the imbalances in your system,
along with inculcation of daily hygiene practices in
your lifestyle. Unless you do so, yeast infection is
there in your body to stay. Going the holistic way also
ensures that your treatment works WITH the natural
working of your body, and not AGAINST
it.
