How to prevent those nasty UTI’s

ImMaggieMae

My DH is taking antibiotics for yet another UTI. This is the 6th one this year. He never had one before becoming urinary incontinent. He wears incontinence underwear along with a pad around the clock. He goes into the bathroom on his own or I take him but he’s usually already wet. I don’t think he can tell when he has to go anymore. I change the pad whenever it’s wet and also the incontinence underwear if it’s also wet. We go through many pads and about 4 or 5 pairs of underwear during the day. I think the problem occurs at night. He sleeps about 9 hours straight and I often wake him up after 7 hours to change him. I don’t really want to wake him more times during the night because I think his (and my) sleep is important. He sleeps on his back and barely moves.

I believe that bacteria builds up during the night due to the warm damp environment. I have been trying to think of ways to prevent the bacteria from building up on the pad. I kept thinking of things I could put on his skin, but I can’t think of anything to use that would be safe and non irritating for that length of time. Then, last night I starting thinking that maybe there is something I could put in the (very thick) pad instead that would kill bacteria. The surface of the pad does wick away moisture, but still, after that many hours there is some wetness on the surface. So I’m trying to think of something that I could perhaps inject into the underside of the pad that wouldn’t be irritating or dangerous to his skin. I already poke 4 small holes into the sticky underside of the pad so some of the excess moisture soaks into the middle of the incontinence underwear instead of just over the edges of the pad. Does anyone have any ideas? Sorry for the long ramble, but there has to be some way to get around this problem.

Iris L.

Look into d-mannose. It has a reputation for preventing utis. It is a sugar.

Iris

Ed1937

@ImMaggieMae, it sounds as if you are using an extra pad that is used like a Depends, and has a moisture barrier on the underside. If that is what you're using, I think you should reconsider that. The moisture barrier holds the urine from getting to the other absorbent layer. There are pads made specifically for your use that do not have the waterproof layer, and should work better. The waterproof layer should only be against the clothing, not another incontinence garment.

I used parentgiving.com to order higher quality incontinence wear. I found them to be an excellent company with high quality products. You can order trial packs, which come 2 to a pack. Cost is $2.99, and I would recommend trying at least 2 different products to see which ones work best for you. I could tell you what we used, but that might not be best for you. They are a little pricier, but better than dealing with UTIs.

Iris gave you good info on d-mannose. We used TheraCran One, which is a cranberry supplement, and it seemed to work well. Amazon.com carries them. My wife also fought recurring UTIs.

MN Chickadee

Does he have prostate or bladder issues? If something is causing the bladder to not move urine fast enough it is more likely to sit and get infected. Is he drinking enough fluids? Is the lab culturing it each time? Is it the same strain of bacteria or different with each infection?

I have dealt with recurring UTIs in both parents although only my mother had dementia. She passed before we were able to figure out a solution, though we had discussed options. For her it was always the same treatment which never seemed to work long term. With my father (no dementia but countless UTIs in one year and he's elderly) he had so many in a row; the urologist was the one prescribing at the time. He kept prescribing via his nurse 5 days of abx and that was it, no discussion. Eventually I made an appointment with dad's primary doctor to discuss the problem. He decided to put him on a longer course of antibiotics and this did the trick. The other doctor just kept throwing 5 days of meds at the problem and it wasn't working. The 10 day course of antibiotics seemed to wipe it out for good. There are also some medications designed to prevent UTIs and alternatively some people are put on ongoing antibiotics. My dad is now on Methenamine which makes the urine more acidic and less likely to breed bacteria. Hasn't had a UTI since these two interventions, been many months. He had a headache as a side effect but that went away after a week, now no side effects from the drug. I have no idea how safe this med is for dementia, but I would discuss options with his primary doctor. There were more than one option for preventative meds. Continuing to throw the same solutions at it for months did us no good but for some reason many doctors are ok with that approach. His urologist said not to bother with cranberry juice and supplements because they were more effective in women than men. I also got dad to drink more fluids by making more options available. He just isn't that into tap water and won't bother with anything complex or that makes dishes or mess. I buy him zero sugar sparking water cans now and he upped his fluid intake a lot.

Ed1937

I called parentgiving.com just to confirm that the product I was looking at was in fact what I thought it was. It's been a year and a half since I needed to order from them. Here is a link to some of the products they offer, and the ones we used were the first ones in the chart you will find when you scroll down a bit. It can be a little confusing when you order because the product name is almost the same for two different products. We tried both, and the one made in Italy was superior to the one made in the U.S. This does not mean it will be the best for you. https://www.parentgiving.com/collections/dry-direct-by-parentgiving Check out the site. There are many other options. The phone number is listed at the top of the page.

I also asked about the pads I mentioned, and the woman I talked to said if you call them, they would send you a sample. Mention that to them. I'm sure this is the kind you are looking for. Here is the link for the pads. https://www.parentgiving.com/products/dry-direct-ultimate-booster-pad

I don't think any kind of cream or anything to put on the skin will help. You need to keep the bacteria from getting into the urinary tract as best you can. But the TheraCran One or the d-mannose may be very helpful.

terei

I 2nd d Mannose…it is a preventative + should be taken daily. I have two friends who suffered for years with recurring UTIs that this helped.

It’s worth a try. Check for possible interactions, but I dont think there are any.

Marta

People with recurrent UTI at some point need imaging of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder (KUB X-ray, or CT) to rule out stone or other source of re-infection.

Whyzit

My DH is urinary incontinent and was having UTI problems so I started giving him cranberry capsules (2 per day) as well as prunes (4 per day) to prevent constipation and he hasn’t had a UTI in 6 months. The cranberry has been working for me too for almost 4 years. It’s worth a try.