Spaz: Occasionally I get infection in my Kidneys (well always a low-grade and sometimes severe in-the-blood grade). When this occurs I take Cranberry Softgels and wait about one hr and take Dr. Christopher's "Kidney/Bladder" herbal formula and bang! Infection is gone in 24 hrs.

E coli is the most common cause of UTIs, although not the only one.

If you have problems with recurrent infections, one under-recognized issue to take a look at is iron supplements which can stimulate e coli's growth.

The body is designed to need only tiny amounts of iron and has ways to sequester to prevent large amounts from becoming available to microbes, which can lead to infection.

By taking vitamin pills containing iron, or iron supplements, or eating foods fortified with iron (e.g. some cereals, some milk), too much can become bioavailable to the e coli and this can lead to a new round of infection.

Note: this is a consideration for preventing recurrences rather than treating an existing infection, which if you have you should see your doctor about.

Iron is a complicated medical issue so please don't start or stop iron supplements without consulting your physician as there may be other considerations aside from this one.

I suffered with cystitis for over 2 years and tried everything possible, then someone mentioned Bio-Organics High Potency Cranberry, currently selling in Australia :$35 for 60 actual chewable Cranberry.If I remember correctly they were 30 or 40 mgs each tablet.

I was working 9 hours a day on my feet and always carried some in my pocket. I would chew them day and night as needed and went through a box every 3 weeks but what a relief! After some 2 1/2 months suddenly I didn't have it anymore and haven't had it since and that was 5 years ago. I now make sure that I drink at least 2 litres of water a day to "flush out" my kidneys and to stay hydrated..stops the bugs from collecting in places they shouldn't..!