Happy & Healthy

FROM THIS PROBLEM DOWN UNDER YOU WON'T BE HAPPY

I don't often complain in posts. Just because there's already enough negativity to be found on the internet and we hope to delight, entertain, and inform you with Amayzine. Much more pleasant. But can I just once be sad, sick, weak, nauseous, and incredibly grumpy? I'm just human too, right?

So here's the thing: I'm at home with a nasty bladder infection. It started with a sharp stabbing pain in my lower abdomen last night. Then came the chills, the general feeling of illness and the constant pressure on my bladder. It's hell on earth.

I don't dare to get on the train. Can't even get out the door, because I think every five minutes that I'm peeing my pants. Correction: leaking razor blades in my pants. I'm panicking around my house and don't know what to do with myself. And this happens about twice a year for me and when it happens again, I'm in a real panic. I could actually cry. My only comfort today is my sweet cat who comes to purr next to me but the moment she decides to lie on my bladder, I suddenly find it a lot less pleasant.

‘But come on, does it really have to be this week?’

Why this happens so often, Mrs. Bladder won't tell me. It seems like Mrs. B. just enjoys complaining from time to time. Because yes, we all want to do that sometimes, so she does too. But come on, does it really have to be this week? When I should be on the train more than ever, going to a movie premiere, and had a number of fun interviews planned? Does it really have to, Mrs. B.?

And well, so this doesn't just become a whiny post full of self-pity, I've panicked texted a number of women whom I know understand the misery of the razor blades. So here, dear friends, if you often suffer from this too: we understand it like no one else and this is how you can get rid of it as quickly as possible. – Step 1: Just go to the doctor. I know, it's a bit of a hassle, but with those antibiotics, you'll be fine within a day or two/three.

– This was probably thought up by a sadist, but really: drink a lot of water. At least a glass every hour. This flushes and cleanses the bladder, allowing the bacteria causing the bladder infection to be removed.

– Drink a glass of water with two teaspoons of raw honey and two teaspoons of apple cider vinegar with every meal. What also seems to help? Drink three glasses of cranberry juice a day.

– ALWAYS PEE AFTER SEX.

– Avoid alcohol for a while, as it irritates the urinary tract.

– A tip from the doctor in the group chat: don't wait to go to the toilet when you need to pee, even if it really hurts. Because if you hold your pee, your bladder stretches. And a stretched bladder has a hard time completely emptying all the urine, giving bacteria the chance to thrive in the leftover urine that remains at the bottom of your bladder. Yikes.

– Mix a spoonful of baking soda in a glass of water and drink this. Repeat every day until the symptoms of the bladder infection have completely disappeared. Oh, buy everything with cranberries that you can find.

– By the way, the burning sensation can also be somewhat relieved by keeping your lower abdomen warm. So, off you go, with that hot water bottle back to bed. Three guesses what I'm going to do now.

I don't often complain in posts. Just because there's already enough negativity to be found on the internet and we hope to delight you with Amayzine...