Posted , 9 users are following.
I have a diagnosis of Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis - apparently the result of a heavy growth of enterococcus faecilis in a semen sample I provided
Anyone know if D Mannose is any good here?
Thanks in anticipation
0 likes, 16 replies
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jim81578 ian30145
Posted
I just took 3 weeks of Cipro. Seems so far it has helped.
Some folks in here have had bad side effects from Cipro.
tom86211 jim81578
Posted
Cipro is THE most dangerous antibiotic. If you get "Floxex" it can damage you for life. Many threads here about this. Also websites devoted to people who have had reactions. I did a year and a half ago and am slowly recovering. Cipro was described by Bayer as the antibiotic of last resort.
ken95795 ian30145
Posted
I take it when it feels like i'm getting an infection. It seems to work most of the time.
carl91171 ian30145
Posted
Hello ian30145
I drink one glass of water (16 ounces) a day with a teaspoon of D Mannose. From what my urologist has told me, it keeps your bladder from being a breeding ground for some bacteria. It's relatively inexpensive and seems to have helped me quite a bit. I won't play doctor here but certainly couldn't hurt to try it for a month or so. Good luck.
tom86211 ian30145
Posted
Take d-mannose and vitamin c granules - just mix in water or any drink. Very effective. I take both every day and have no issues.
TKM ian30145
Posted
Ian,
I have been taking Dmannose for 3 months now. It seems to calm down my bladder. When I have to urinate it is not as urgent. You have to be careful who you buy it from though, because supplements are not regulated. The first two 3 ounce bottles I bought from NOW, worked very well. Then I bought a 2Kg bag from a popular on-line source, and my bad symptoms returned. The new bag was grainy in texture, while NOW was smooth, making me think the bag may have been diluted with table sugar. I bought a third bottle of NOW and it seems to be keeping things calm again.
I stopped using intermittent catheters for two weeks, to see if it would lower my PSA, by taking a double dose of Flomax. PSA went from 6.3 to 5.08. I was still taking Dmannose. But a couple days after I started using catheters again I developed a UTI. It may be that in the two weeks I stopped the urethra got soft and was injured, but there was no blood. Another possiblity is that not using the catheters caused a lot of retention, which can make you prone to UTI.
The morale of the story is that Dmannose seems to help Urinary symptoms, but in my case could not prevent or cure my UTI.
Thomas
ian30145
Posted
Thanks , very helpful
miriam65408 ian30145
Posted
D Mannose clears stubborn infections by breaking down the biofilm that colonies of e.g. E.coli protect themselves with and which antibiotics are unable to penetrate. If you look around you can find sites which explain more clearly how D Mannose is effective in cases of prostate infection.
With both bladder infections and, it seems, prostate infections, it's important to flush away the bacteria as D mannose exposes them but doesn't actually destroy them. With UTIs, cranberry juice or simply drinking plenty is used to flush them through. You would need to take D mannose regularly for several weeks/months.
Cipro is generally prescribed for prostate infections as it penetrates deeper into the tissues than other antibiotics - which is also why it can have much worse side effects than other antibiotics. Some people can tolerate several courses of Cipro (as Jim says here) while others have had their lives destroyed by just one tablet. You can read about the dangers in the fluoroquinolone antibiotic discussions on this forum.
ian30145 miriam65408
Posted
Thanks - I've read that D Mannose is effective when the infection is E Coli; but I can't find anything which recommends it when you're infected with enterococcus faecilis - so I don't know what to do really.
I wouldn't risk CIPRO myself, too much potential to turn a disaster into a catastrophe
miriam65408 ian30145
Posted
When I searched the makers said it is also used for prostate infections (they perhaps would!). I don't know if enterococcus is a biofilm-forming bacteria (like E.coli) or not. If it is, then I guess D mannose will do the job of wearing down the biofilm in the same way. If it isn't then D mannose won't get rid of the bacteria as it isn't an antibiotic.
ian30145 miriam65408
Posted
Thanks - I'm reluctant to experiment unless there's a strong suggestion that DM would be effective with an enterococcus faecilis infection
miriam65408 ian30145
Posted
I just looked it up and it does form a biofilm which makes it naturally very hard to eradicate with antibiotics as they can't penetrate the biofilm.
You can only do what you think best but it seems that for prostate infections they usually prescribe long courses of ABx as it is very hard to achieve sufficient tissue penetration.
In my earlier post I said about D mannose exposing the bacteria by gradually destroying the biofilm. Using D mannose prior to taking an antibiotic might result in clearing the infection more quickly than just by antibiotic alone (which, in the case of E.coli in UTIs, often doesn't actually clear out the offenders, they stay protected under their film and start work again once the AB is gone - described as "persistent" or "recurring" UTIs).
ian30145 miriam65408
Posted
Amoxicillin is apparently very poor at penetrating into the prostate - and that's the one my enterococcus faecilis is apparently susceptible too. In any case as I've reacted very badly to erythromycin and doxycycline and now Amox it all seems a bit academic. I can't handle these drugs - there's something going on nobody understands
I'll have another think about DM - just wish I could find something to say it was appropriate for Enterococcus Faecilis - another thing is that I fear that I have an underlying candida issue so I am wary about introducing sugar into my urinary system
I've been talking to local Prostate Clinic about surgical removal - drastic, but it might work
tom86211 ian30145
Posted
D-mannose is a form of sugar. I used to get minor UT irritations every few months but started taking the d-mannose and vitamin C supplements each morning and have had no UT issues since. It's certainly a lot less dangerous than taking antibiotics and if it can prevent or control UTIs is well worth taking.
markiebaba ian30145
Posted
D-Mannose may be of help in the case of simple UTIs (cystitis, mild bladder infections, urethritis etc) where EColi is the cause of infection but I'm unaware of evidence that it may be of use for simple infections caused by other bacteria, bacterial prostatitis or to breakdown biofilms.
Antibiotic penetration of the prostate is a challenge and this is why long courses of antibiotics are often prescribed. However, if you suffer side effects from taking antibiotics like cipro or bactrim two or three times daily for weeks on end then it may be worth considering an alternative such as fosfomycin which can be taken once every 48 hours for 3 or 4 doses and is sensitive to Enterococcus faecalis.
ian30145 markiebaba
Posted
It's a shame there's no evidence for the use of D Mannose for enterococcus faecilis, typical of the luck I'm having.
I wouldn't take CIPRO at any price - I saw the Consultant today and he's checking which, if any, other antibiotics would be suitable ie to which the EF in my sample would be susceptible. We talked about prostrate removal though he wasn't very keen