How I broke free of chronic UTIs

I developed my first ever UTI within two weeks of discontinuing hormonal birth control.

Then,

• A year and a half

• five Healthcare practitioners

• and so many rounds of antibiotics I lost count

later I myself figured out the underlying root cause of why my bladder was suddenly much more susceptible to harboring these bad bacteria, I had a problem with how my body was creating energy, specifically how it was using its preferred fuel source… glucose and carbs.

Post-birth control syndrome: Chronic UTIs

My journey with urinary tract infections post birth control looked something like this… I was on a hamster wheel of experiencing UTI symptoms (specifically urinary urgency and burning while peeing as well as cloudy urine and urine that smelled weird).

Even though I'd told each one of these five healthcare practitioners that I saw over that year and a half that my urine smelled fruity and acetone-y (having worked with acetone abundantly in my scientific career) and even asking if it were possible I was making ketones, this particular symptom was overlooked by all 5 of those HCPs.

What happened instead over that year and a half was a bunch of standard urine cultures (SUCs) that tested positive resulting in a prescription for antibiotics which provided temporary relief from the UTI, but as soon as I was done with the round of antibiotics, symptoms would quickly return.

This cycle repeated itself until I stopped testing positive on standard urine cultures despite having symptoms of a UTI (burning while peeing, urinary urgency, cloudy urine).

Symptoms were so bad it caused many almost sick days as I struggled to get past the bathroom on my way out of the house.

PCR Testing for chronic UTIs 

At my wit’s end, I discovered Ruth Kriz, a retired nurse practitioner who still works directly with HCPs across America to help diagnose and treat UTIs that don’t show up on a standard urine culture.

This resulted in about 3 to 6 months more of lost time and chasing symptoms.

When the HCP I was seeing using this advance method of detecting urinary tract infections prescribed a 28-day course of Augmentin 875, I fired her and decided that I needed to figure out why I was getting reinfected so easily because something major in my body shifted dramatically when I stopped taking hormonal birth control, which was the single event that happened separating my pre-UTI life from my by then chronic UTI state.

About this time, I had a cycle consistent with PCOS.  And, this is when I struck gold!

The PCOS / UTI Connection and Insulin Resistance 

PCOS is a condition that is still shrouded in a bit of mystery.  Most women suffering from PCOS have higher levels of androgens (male hormones) and also insulin resistance.  The confusion lies in which causes which… it’s a chicken and egg question, and the answer really doesn’t matter.

Because as soon as I saw that cycle consistent with PCOS, I went off the deep end investigating insulin resistance and how hormonal birth control impacts your body’s ability to regulate glucose.

And, that’s how I got the answer…

When I stopped hormonal birth control cold turkey, my body was in an incredibly insulin resistant state and now lacked the synthetic hormones (specifically synthetic estrogen) that was prompting it to create enough insulin to deal with the insulin resistant state that hormonal birth control created within me in the first place.

My body couldn’t use glucose properly, so rather than using glucose (which is your body’s preferred fuel source), it entered a state of ketosis, creating ketone bodies which were entering my urine and causing…

• that sickly sweet fruity, acetone-y smell I’d been complaining about

• altering the composition of my urine (specifically impacting urea and ammonia levels) so that my urine was less bactericidal than a healthy person’s (somebody who’s not prone to UTIs) urine

• some of the very same symptoms as UTIs!!! (ketones in your urine are known to cause something the keto community calls “keto crotch”… namely increasing your risk both of bacterial vaginosis by altering your vaginal flora and of UTIs by altering the composition of your urine and also… presence of ketones in your body alone are known to cause cloudy urine, urinary urgency, and burning when you pee)

And, since your body’s unable to absorb glucose from your bloodstream because the cells of your body are insulin resistant, excess glucose gets excreted in your urine…

And, here’s the deal.  You may not see it on a urinary glucose test and the reason for this is because glucose is an excellent food for bacteria.  So, if you’ve got a UTI and you have a urinary glucose test performed, chances are the bacteria in your bladder have already broken down the glucose so it’s not seen on the glucose test. 

So, once I figured out I had a sugar metabolism problem and my body was in a ketogenic state, what did I do?  I spent about 20 hours researching how to regain insulin sensitivity and then I made the dietary changes and incorporated the supplements I’d learned about in that 20 hours worth of research immediately.

Naturally addressing UTI symptoms with improved insulin sensitivity

Within 1 week of adding those supplements into my day, symptoms dramatically improved! 

I was able to get through most of the day without urinary urgency.  Over the next few months, symptoms improved even more and now about a year after discovering this underlying problem with blood sugar regulation, I rarely experience any urinary urgency and have completely eliminated the symptom of burning while peeing.

I’ve also gone deeper into researching how to fully restore my body’s ability to use glucose as its energy source investigating the process of the body converting stored glucose reserves back into usable glucose/energy in a process known as gluconeogenesis.

This process of gluconeogenesis paired with improved insulin sensitivity are the keys to supporting a healthy bladder and of breaking free of UTI symptoms. 

From this extensive research, I’ve designed a program to walk you through how to restore insulin sensitivity and how to support healthy conversion of glucose into usable energy within your body so that your body’s able to get out of a keto state and back into its preferred state of using glucose for energy.

By doing this, you’re cutting UTIs off at the pass.

When your body uses glucose as its energy source, your urine naturally makes the proper urea and ammonia levels to prohibit growth of the bacteria that cause UTIs.

When your body uses glucose as its energy source, your urine doesn’t contain ketone bodies that cause the same symptoms as UTIs (most notably urinary urgency, burning sensation when you pee, and cloudy urine).

When your body uses glucose as its energy source, your urine doesn’t smell like acetone or sickly sweet.

Bonus: 

When your body uses glucose as its energy source, you’re better able to metabolize the food you eat properly which supports a healthy weight.

When your body uses glucose as its energy source, your vaginal environment naturally moves towards a state to support beneficial bacterial species (vaginal probiotics) and to starve pathogenic species associated with bacterial vaginosis.

And, how to restore healthy glucose metabolism within your body is now available for you in 14 days to UTI freedom. 

When you enroll, you'll instantly access a list of supplements you'll need (these aren't snake oil supplements, these are essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients necessary for energy conversion processes).

Then, each day for 14 days, you'll receive an email delivered directly to your inbox with key insights into how hormone balance is essential to break free of UTI symptoms for good. Those emails include:

• how to maintain healthy sugar metabolism when you stop hormonal birth control/go through perimenopause/menopause/are postpartum

• how to restore insulin sensitivity through diet & lifestyle

• how to restore your body’s ability to use glucose as a fuel source (supporting the process of gluconeogenesis)

• which supplements support healthy glucose metabolism

• why it's essential to support your thyroid health for sugar metabolism

• how to support the adrenals to avoid UTI symptoms

• the step-by-step path I followed to break free of UTIs

• foods to avoid while restoring bladder health

You’ll also receive access to this bonus video: retraining an overactive bladder, which is especially helpful if you’ve struggled with recurrent UTIs or interstitial cystitis for years (or even decades).