Sabtu, 05 Mei 2012

Lesley Garrett on beating cystitis: Four litres of water a day

Lesley Garrett on beating cystitis: Four litres of water a day

By Alice Smellie

PUBLISHED: 16:00 EST, 5 May 2012 | UPDATED: 16:00 EST, 5 May 2012


Lesley Garrett drinks a huge amount of water â€" up to four litres every day.

It’s something the opera singer has in common with many female showbiz professionals who swear it is the secret to a flawless skin.

But for the 57-year-old (who has the dewy complexion of a woman decades younger, but swears it’s not thanks to the surgeon’s knife, just a bit of Botox) there is a far more serious reason for her slavish regime.

In tune with her condition: Lesley Garrett is now able to predict when cystitis is about to strike, and take action to prevent it

In tune with her condition: Lesley Garrett is now able to predict when cystitis is about to strike, and take action to prevent it

Lesley, who lives in North London with her GP husband Peter, 60, has been struggling with a painful and debilitating illness since her teenage years: a chronic form of the urinary tract infection (UTI) cystitis.

The water is essential in keeping the condition at bay â€" when she was in her mid-20s, it led to her collapsing and being taken to hospital with kidney failure.

‘Cystitis is a nightmare,’ says the soprano.

‘I suffer all the symptoms â€" agonising stomach pains, a raging fever, and the constant, desperate need to go to the loo. It’s like peeing broken glass.

'At its worst, in my 20s, I couldn’t leave my house when it was bad â€" I could hardly leave the bathroom.

‘The only thing I could do was drink unbelievable amounts of water, which seemed to work but that gave me another problem â€" desperately needing to go to the loo.

'I’d be on stage with a bursting bladder, ticking off the seconds until a scene is finished.’

The water is essential in keeping cystitis at bay (picture posed by model)

The water is essential in keeping cystitis at bay (picture posed by model)

She also has a far more frank confession: every time she makes love, she has to take an antibiotic tablet â€" on doctor’s orders.

‘Dehydration and sex are the main risk factors with cystitis. I’m sure a lot of women identify with that.

'As soon as I feel the warning signs â€" discomfort when I pee or twinges in my lower abdomen â€" I take an antibiotic called nitrofurantoin.

‘And after sex I don’t wait for a twinge, I take one irrespective.

'I’ll just take one that night or afternoon.’

So far the treatment has worked. ‘I have never had side effects,’ Lesley says.

‘Even better, my kidneys have stayed relatively healthy.’

Half of all women in the UK will suffer from a UTI. Urine is made in the kidneys, and ureters are the tubes running from the kidney to the bladder where urine is stored.

The urethra carries urine from the bladder and out of the body.

In the case of a UTI, bacteria enter the bladder from the urethra.

Symptoms include a burning sensation when urinating, a need to urinate more often and pain in the abdomen.

In serious cases the bacteria may ascend to the kidney via the ureter and cause acute inflammation. This can cause long-term problems such as reduced renal function.

Aged 27, Lesley collapsed after performing The Marriage Of Figaro.

Scans revealed she had an ectopic kidney â€" a condition that affects one in 3,000 Britons â€" where one or both of the organs fail to move into the correct position below the ribcage in the womb.

In Lesley’s case, one kidney was in her pelvis and was functioning at a quarter of capacity.

The other had grown disproportionately large  as it worked hard to compensate.

'I'm careful about anything which may dehydrate me,' said Lesley

'I'm careful about anything which may dehydrate me,' said Lesley

Further tests showed she had an exceptionally short ureter: 2in when it should be up to 10in. It means she is more prone to infections.

Her kidney was infected; she was in danger of losing it completely.

‘By the time I became seriously ill, I was having full courses of antibiotics six or seven times a year to combat cystitis.

'It was a terrifying time. I was so scared and in excruciating pain. I thought I might die.’

Lesley was referred to now-retired consultant nephrologist Dr William Cattell. He was pioneering a new treatment at Barts Hospital in London.

Low-dose, long-term antibiotics were then a new concept. Lesley credits him with saving her career and kidney.

She was on antibiotics for several years before changing to her current regime.

Dr Cattell says: ‘Women’s urethras are too short, so it’s easier for infection to penetrate to the bladder and kidneys.

â €˜Antibiotics have been used to treat UTIs for 60 years. It wasn’t the antibiotic that was new, but the way we used it.

'We realised for women with recurring cystitis, the dangerous time was overnight.’

Urine flow rate goes down overnight and germs can multiply.

Dr Cattell says: ‘We had the idea of a dose of antibiotics before bedtime so that patients were protected throughout the night â€" a preventative measure.’

Women can take this reduced dose nightly for years.

‘It’s enough to protect from future infection but not so much of the immune system is overwhelmed,’ says Dr Cattell.

Lesley was on nightly antibiotics for five years.

‘In some women, just being on constant antibiotics for a few months means they recover completely,’ says Dr Cattell.

‘For Lesley, this wasn’t the case, so she stayed on the course for longer.’

Lesley says: ‘I’ve become so a ttuned to my condition I can tell when I’m at risk.

'I’m careful about anything which may dehydrate me, such as tea, coffee and alcohol, and have a glass of water at the same time.’

Does she ever get bored of having to guzzle so much water?

‘No. If I had another kidney infection, I would be very seriously ill. Without the antibiotics I would already have died.’

Lesley’s CD, A North Country Lass, is out now.

 

Here's what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards.

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Lesley looks great, but did we really need to know about this?

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I used to get UTI's all the time and was constantly on antibiotics having to change every so often because they stopped working. I hated taking so many pills and done some research about alternative medicines. I tried cranberry capsules after reading a lot of recommendations online from women suffering the same problem. What a god send! I haven't had a UTI in nearly a year (I was getting at least 1 every month before) honestly cannot recommend cranberry capsules enough. You can get them in Holland and Barrett for about £5. Well worth trying if your as frustrated as I was.

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Women's anatomy puts them at risk since e-coli is the usual culprit that can enter the urethra 'cuz it has been deposited there, either thru sex, or simple act of wiping the area after a bowel movement. I worked for many a year in primary medical care, and when a microscopic eval from a urine sample came back with e-coli in it. I asked these women, how do you cleanse that area and in every case they said they wipe bum first, then used the dry area of the tissue to blot dry the rest. Yep, its that scenario, learned from early childhood and almost impossible to convince women who do it to dry up front prior to wipe the rear area. That this opera gal is married to a doctor and still had problems tells me she never bothered to tell any medical practitioner of her own wiping style was the source of all those infections.

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What is it with these old biddies fessing up on their sex lives of late? ENOUGH!!!

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I've been taking nitrofurantoin daily for at least 5 years and still get a UTI once in a while. I then treat it with a glass of water with sodium bicarbonate. I’m glad to have read some other medical solutions here to keep in mind for the future, the HRT sounds promising.

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Thanks great tips I suffer and it gets worse by not drinking enough

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I've had cystitis once and it was horrendous. I can't imagine having it constantly. She's been through a lot. Good luck to her. Nice lady

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Lesley looks fantastic. Give me her figure any day over the skinnie minnies who populate our celebrity world. And her hairdresser!! We don't see nearly enough of her on TV. I hope she keeps well and the disease under control.

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Lesley looks fantastic. Give me her figure any day over the skinnie minnies who populate our celebrity world. And her hairdresser!! We don't see nearly enough of her on TV. I hope she keeps well and the disease under control.

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Interesting article, I commented on a similar one a few months ago. I said it before and I'll say it again. Doctors need to take cystitis more seriously. It ruins your life! I suffered for the majority of my teenage years. It started to affect my school life as I was getting it at least twice a month of not more. Meaning days off school hours sobbing because I felt so I'll. I stopped going to the doctors when they kept implying it was because I was having sex. I was 14, sitting next to my mum! Mortifying! I wasn't sexually active. I'm guessing the amount of times iv had it is near 100 as it went on till I was nearly 20 I was never offered medication. Also I noticed on the previous article many women saying samples had been sent to the hospital to hear nothing back. Scary to realise now how serious it is and how I'll I could of been!

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