Sugar and Bladder Infections..... Could they be linked?

princessputz
princessputz Posts: 283 Member
edited October 1 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All,

So I kind of binged out last night on sugar....a handful of M&M's, a few cookies later....and now I have a bladder infection! Could these be linked? I had cut most refined sugar in my diet before last night and now I wake up with the most horrible feeling ever (you ladies know that feeling). Any ideas?

Replies

  • jazzy020106
    jazzy020106 Posts: 485 Member
    Hmm IDK! I hope someone here might know something!
  • sandislim
    sandislim Posts: 264
    You can get bladder infections from high blood sugar yes. You may be glucose intolerant - or if you've been dieting you may be temporarily glucose intolerant.

    I had a nasty bladder infection from drinking apple juice. Sugar affects me pretty badly. It could be a coincidence though - but I would visit your doctor to be on the safe side - especially if it happens again.
  • ladybug1620
    ladybug1620 Posts: 1,136 Member
    I think it's from bacteria getting into your urethra. Although I did have one friend who had tons of infections (I think hers might have been kidney though) and her doctor told her she needed to cut out the soda because she drank ridiculous amounts of Coke.

    I used to get them often when I was younger. Cranberry juice or cranberry pills always cleared them up fast for me.
  • fidgekitty
    fidgekitty Posts: 43
    Bladder infections are usually bacterial in nature, are there are several sources you can contract this bacteria from. However, if you pre-diabetic or diabetic without knowing it, you're more likely to carry bacteria in your bladder (which is normally a sterile place). Also, OD'ing on sugar will make you pee more and dehydrate you, and dehydration can aggrivate an already established UTI. Once you're blood sugar creeps up to the 200 level, your kidney's go into overdrive, trying to flush the system. So perhaps it's the regular presence of glucose in the urine that allows a breeding ground for any stray bacteria (on top of the already poor circulation experienced by the diabetic symptoms, keeping helpful WBC's at bay).
  • Michelle_M2002
    Michelle_M2002 Posts: 301 Member
    Yes!

    I had a sugar binge Monday of last week. By Sunday I was feeling a urinary tract infection coming on. I had an appointment with my chiropractor on Tuesday and told her about it. She did a nutrition response test on me, and sure enough I was right. She gave me two whole food supplements to take care of it. Then she told me that I need to be sure to cut back on my sugar this week while I'm healing from the infection because the sugar would make it worse. And of course told me that if I sugar binge again another urinary tract infection is a possibility.

    God bless!
  • lauram_23
    lauram_23 Posts: 141 Member
    i know this does not answer your question but I just had to say how much I HATE UTIS and I hope that yours goes away soon!
  • CaliSweden
    CaliSweden Posts: 62
    Hi, I have a sensistive bladder, and am prone to getting UTIs. I hate them! I do everything by the book to not get them, and it will still happen here or there.

    I notice that if I drink too much caffeine drinks, especially coffee, and I completely stay away from Red bull type drinks, I get that UTI is coming feeling. I know caffeine is a diuretic, and if you have a sensitive bladder you should stay away from any medicine(midol) etc that causes you to pee too much. Also acidic or spicy food can cause an imbalance too and cause UTI. Orange juice for example can cause UTI pain.

    Like someone mentioned about your sugar binge, that maybe it caused an imbalance in your bladder and therefore caused the bacteria to grow more easily than usual.
  • funkycamper
    funkycamper Posts: 998 Member
    Bacteria thrives on sugar as it basically eats sugar. So the more sugar in your system, the easier it is for bacteria to multiply. That's why infections are so bad for people with diabetes and take longer to heal. Even those of us without diabetes can have blood sugar spikes that bacteria love.
  • princessputz
    princessputz Posts: 283 Member
    Thank you everyone for your input! I guess I could have disclosed that I get frequent UTI's but for the last 4 months I was almost in a "remission" like state, it was pure bliss. I also have PCOS and take metformin (which is a diabetic drug, but I'm not diabetic).

    I guess I just need to be more careful. I went to the dr, and got some Cipro so I should be going freely in 24 hrs! YAY!
  • Caperfae
    Caperfae Posts: 433
    Yes there's a link.
    I have gestational diabetes and that's one thing the nurse told me to watch for because with the sugar imbalance a person is more susceptible to bladder infections.
  • fidgekitty
    fidgekitty Posts: 43
    Let me make a point though, the bladder is a sterile area. You have a few areas like this in your body (stomach, kidneys, ect) so it's not sugar that's actually causing the bladder infection, it's bacteria. The sugar is just giving them the fuel to multiply faster than they normally would. You should try and figure out why bacteria is being introduced into your urethra and bladder to begin with and combat the opprotunistic infections you keep having. And ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and all that good stuff.
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