Bladder irritants, cross posted

Cross posted in Seniors Lounge.

Who would have thought that bladder irritants mattered so much.

I saw my former pelvil floor PT for urinary frequency. She said that caffeine and carbonation are bladder irritants. I stopped drinking San Pellegrino even though I loved it. I did not stop drinking several cups of caffeinated beverages a day but diluted them, as she advised, with non-caffeinated drinks. I started making infused water on my own from berries, culinary herbs and peeled and cut lemon, a recipe I developed on my own through trial and error. The water tasted delicious but my symptoms were actually getting worse which was very discouraging.

In the meantime, the old pelvic floor PT did not come back from maternity leave and I made an appointment with a new one. She asked me lots of questions including whether I drank citrus juices. I inquired why she asked and she explained that citrus can be a bladder irritant.

I told her about my method of cold infusion and we agreed I would try without cut up lemon.

My symptoms improved drastically and literally right away. So clearly for me lemon juice was a bladder irritant. But that ot could be such a bad one was utterly amazing.

I still occasionally drink black tea with a slice of lemon. Maybe once every several days. It does not cause urinary frequency. Drinking water with lemon juice all day long was very irritating.

I have learned that without cut up lemons, herbs and berries take longer to produce tasty infused water. So, not overnight but a couple of days in the fridge. But after such a long process the infused water is really refreshing. My favorite recipe is to mix fresh sage with frozen raspberries in a glass pitcher and refrigerate.

Yesterday I was at a pharmacy picking up a prescription and saw a woman put AZO into her cart. I wondered if removing irritants from the diet of both food and beverages could help her alongside AZO.

Wow. And they keep telling everybody to have lemonwater before breakfast like its a religion.

Have you tried juniper berries in your concoction? I love the smell of juniper bushes, it reminds me of the nuns' garden at my elementary school. They sell them with all the regular jarred herbs and spices.

I have a tiny jar of juniper berries (dried). I did not know what to do with them! Will throw them in next time I fill my lahre jug with water and berries and let you know how it goes!

Regarding lemon water before breakfast and also regarding cranberries which are supposed to protect against UTIs: there are long articles explaining when lemon and cranberries can actually be bad for you, to the point of cranberries contributing to kidney stones. I did not read the articles in detail but noticed that they carefully parsed when these sour foods are good for you and they they aren't.

Are you psychic? I just started a bag of Craisins!

Oh craisins are not that acidic. I am sure they can do no harm to your urinary tract. Enjoy! We have this snack at work: cubed white cheddar, almonds, craisins. A bit of each. Yum!

Thanks for posting, coffee definitely is an irritant to me. Didn’t know about citrus!

I’ve got a pelvic floor app on my phone to remind and time my exercises, it’s helped.

What is this app? If it is available on Android, I am gonna try it!

It’s called Squeezy, and it was developed for the NHS. It’s not free but a small cost.

Junipero berries were wonderful in my infused water. Frozen berries, fresh thyme, junipero berries, water. Infuse for 24 hours or more. Very refreshing.