Bri Hurlburt 0:00
Welcome back, everybody. Hey, Melissa.
Melissa Crenshaw 0:02
Hey.
Bri Hurlburt 0:05
Today we're doing kind of a back to back episode. We just did bedwetting last time, so today we're going to cover some of the same remedies, but also several different ones. We're going to go over cystitis.
Again, before we jump into that, if you missed last time we mentioned a couple new courses and study groups. The first one is the Home Prescriber with CHE. That's a free online course, so no matter what I think you should go snag it. It's free and you can just listen. It's a lecture style. It's just good to have a well rounded education, I think. So, go get that one and then join our study group. It's just a shorter two or three week one and it's $27. So, come to that even if you're taking the other ones.
And then New Old Viruses and Post-Viral syndrome. I've nailed that twice now.
Melissa Crenshaw 1:09
You really did.
Bri Hurlburt 1:11
So that is a self paced extra. We don't have a study group for that but it's a ton of information. You'll have access to the Q&A … no, the chat box that we had, which is different from the Q&A, is what I was gonna say. And all of the slides. Go get that on Melissa's website, melissacrenshaw.com, under her courses tab.
Melissa Crenshaw 1:36
Yeah. Join us. That'll be fun. Okay, good.
So today we're talking about cystitis. What is the definition of cystitis?
Bri Hurlburt 1:48
So cystitis … I had to look this up. I know you already knew this. I looked it up. It is the medical term for bladder inflammation. Most of the time that's caused by a bacterial infection, which we commonly call UTI.
Melissa Crenshaw 2:05
Mm-hmm. Okay. It's very painful. Very painful. You want to ask the person who you're helping if the pain is before, during, or after urination? Because that matters. You want to also ask the etiology. Etiology is what is the cause. What happened just before this cystitis came on?
Bri Hurlburt 2:35
I feel like in this case, it almost always has a pretty obvious cause. At least a lot of people I know who deal with this often, they always know what triggers it.
Melissa Crenshaw 2:49
Yeah. Yeah. So you want to know that because that can matter, too, in remedy selection. Some of the etiologies are anger; emotional upset; acidic foods; sex, which is the most common one; or alcohol. You might have to keep a food log, even journal a little bit. When I say journal and food log, sometimes that really turns people off and they're like, “I do not have time for that.” You can make this as easy or as hard as you want to make it. And I'm speaking as a person who has a history of making things harder than they have to be. But I'm much better now. I feel like I’m getting better, at least, because I'm such a … I like everything to be just right. You know, pretty and neat and perfect. I'm not a perfectionist anymore. But sometimes I would make things harder than they had to be because I was going to do it perfect or I wasn't going to do it at all.
Bri Hurlburt 3:53
I was going to say that often leads to nothing.
Melissa Crenshaw 3:56
Right. That’s right.
Bri Hurlburt 3:57
At least in my life.
Melissa Crenshaw 3:59
So what I want to encourage you with is that I've been there, I know how you feel, and I'm not there anymore. You can literally just open the Notes app in your phone or Google Doc or Word or whatever in your phone, whatever you have on your phone. You can even just open up an email to yourself, which would not be a good way to keep it organized, and just voice it, “Today, blah, blah, blah.” Don't worry about spelling. Don't worry about grammar. Let it go. Keeping good notes like that can really help you to figure out the things.
Bri Hurlburt 4:29
Good advice.
Melissa Crenshaw 4:32
Cantharis is the number one remedy for cystitis. Cantharis. We did talk about that in bedwetting. Cantharis is also number one for burns. If any of you have been in any of my classes, you've heard my little burn story where my son burnt his finger on the stove and my first go to is always Cantharis. It wasn't working for him and he got really angry and he said, “Your stupid remedies aren’t working,” and I'm pointing my finger because it was his finger. And I was like, “Okay,” that was so out of character for him.
Bri Hurlburt 5:08
Because he’s not like that, right? He’s usually very sweet.
Melissa Crenshaw 5:10
No, he's not. Yes, very sweet, very calm, very quiet. And I was like, “Oh, that's Chamomilla.” I saw Chamomilla all in that so I went and got Chamomilla and then he fell asleep, he woke up and it was gone.
Bri Hurlburt 5:24
So funny
Melissa Crenshaw 5:25
Cantharis has always been my number one go to for burns. The symptoms may include severe burning of the urethra, so this says severe. If you don't know what the urethra is just go Google it and you can see.
Bri Hurlburt 5:42
The anatomy.
Melissa Crenshaw 5:43
It’ll show you which part that is. Yeah, the anatomy. The urine might feel hot while it’s coming out. The urethra feels scalded. So the urine feels so hot that the urethra feels scalded. Intense urgency to urinate, so this is urgency again, and very intense urgency. Urine could have blood or pus in it so you want to look and you want to take good notes.
Bri Hurlburt 6:08
This is giving me the heebie jeebies just listening. I've only ever had one UTI.
Melissa Crenshaw 6:14
Really? Okay.
Bri Hurlburt 6:15
It was miserable.
Melissa Crenshaw 6:17
It really was. Yeah.
Bri Hurlburt 6:18
And you say severe burning. Any burning feel severe when it's coming out of there?
Melissa Crenshaw 6:22
Right, right. Yeah. Things should not be burning down there. I've only had one UTI also, and then I had a second one that kind of, like it felt like the beginning and I just quick did Cantharis and I shut it down. But the first UTI that I ever had was before I knew homeopathy. I was doing cranberry juice and …
Bri Hurlburt 6:46
Same. Yeah, I didn't have homeopathy then.
Melissa Crenshaw 6:49
Urtica? I was doing some kind … was it Urtica urens, not the homeopathic but the …
Bri Hurlburt 6:53
Oh, like herbs.
Melissa Crenshaw 6:55
Yeah, like an herb?
Bri Hurlburt 6:55
Like a tincture?
Melissa Crenshaw 6:56
It was a capsule I was taking. I don't know. It took a long time to get over. It was terrible.
Bri Hurlburt 7:01
Yeah, same. I did a ton of cranberry. I think there was another tablet thing you could take. I can't remember. I did all those things, too. And it did go away. It just took a while.
Melissa Crenshaw 7:11
Yeah it did. I believe homeopathy can work faster.
So the next one is Sarsaparilla. Sarsaparilla. For those of you that don't know, this will be transcribed so you'll have the spellings of the remedies. These symptoms may include burning pain at the end of urination that feels better after passing the urine and standing. This can be in men and women. The woman feels better if she maybe stands to urinate. Lifting up off the toilet causes less pain.
Bri Hurlburt 7:51
After you’re done you stand up and you feel so much better?
Melissa Crenshaw 7:55
Yeah, or maybe you press …
Bri Hurlburt 7:59
Oh like lift up while you're going.
Melissa Crenshaw 8:00
Yeah, lift up while you’re going.
Bri Hurlburt 8:03
Oh, this is tricky.
Melissa Crenshaw 8:05
Staphysagria. Wait did I finish? I didn’t. Sarsaparilla has severe bladder infections that go up into the kidneys, especially the right kidney with kidney stones, and maybe even swollen joints. These are very specific things that might make you think of Sarsaparilla.
Okay, so Staphysagria. Staphysagria is the next remedy. Staphysagria is really good for any … really, I don't know if I can say any, but most or a lot of ailments, pain things in the private areas. I'll give you a quick example. I'm helping a mom whose intact son, he’s just one, and he is just pulling on it a lot and he's just messing with it a lot and it's getting red and irritated. He’s starting to cry now when he urinates. And so Staphysagria did it. I think we tried Cantharis and some other things but it was really, I believe it was Staphysagria that really did the most good. Just general ailments down there, you can think of Staphysagria.
But this cystitis that needs Staphysagria is brought on by sexual intercourse.course. The symptoms may include cutting and burning pains, rape, sexual abuse, incest, violent relationships, where the woman feels worthless and can't stand up for herself. Those are extremes so please don't feel like you can't use Staphysagria if those things don't fit you. Maybe you're in a happy marriage but you just get UTIs after sex with your husband. Think of Staphysagria. You don't have to have been through, but Staphysagria’s a big one for abused women who either were abused in the past or are being … and we just did an abuse podcast. I believe Staphysagria was in that one, wasn't it?
Bri Hurlburt 10:17
I think so. Well and it makes sense when you think about the way that it's happening is traumatic and not sanitary? Not in a safe way and Staphysagria … Isn't that an infection? It was in our abuse one.
Melissa Crenshaw 10:35
Yeah. Staphysagria is the Spanish Fly.
Bri Hurlburt 10:43
Spanish fly?
Melissa Crenshaw 10:43
If you look it up, it's a big fly. Remember when people were using Spanish Fly, like the herb or something, to put in women's drinks.
Bri Hurlburt 11:02
Oh, yeah. Okay. This is so interesting, the way that these things are all linked as a homeopathic remedy to things like that.
Melissa Crenshaw 11:13
All right. Benzoic acid. We did cover Benzoic acid in the bedwetting one, but Benzoic acid can also be for cystitis. The symptoms are the same, so gravel or gritty substance in the urine, very strong smell like a horse’s urine, gout or kidney stones, and swollen joints might come along with this.
Bri Hurlburt 11:37
A question about this connected to bedwetting. Would this be a scenario where maybe you have a UTI, you have cystitis, you use Benzoic acid. You treat that, but then you have bedwetting after because it worked to treat your cystitis. Would you go back to that as your bedwetting remedy?
Melissa Crenshaw 11:58
You definitely could. You definitely could. If one of our remedies in bedwetting said the etiology or the cause was a cystitis, then definitely. Right?
Bri Hurlburt 12:17
Right. I was more thinking in terms of the linked remedies, like the remedy has worked, but it is a different condition.
Melissa Crenshaw 12:24
It is, but because it worked there, it could work, you know, because it could be a really good remedy for you.
Bri Hurlburt 12:30
Okay.
Melissa Crenshaw 12:32
Another great remedy for cystitis is Apis. Apis is the honeybee. This has urinary retention. Urethra swells shut. Has to be catheterized. That happened to me after one of my children's births. I couldn't urinate.
Bri Hurlburt 12:53
Like the swelling and inflammation?
Melissa Crenshaw 12:58
You know, I had an epidural. I knew my body that I wasn't one that could go that many hours without using the bathroom. Plus I had an IV, so I was getting fluid.
Bri Hurlburt 13:13
Oh yeah.
Melissa Crenshaw 13:14
And I started to think I'm pretty sure that my bladder is full.
Bri Hurlburt 13:20
I had the same thing. That’s funny that they didn't put a catheter in until I said, “I probably have to pee,” because you can’t feel anything.
Melissa Crenshaw 13:27
Right. You can't feel anything. I just had a strong feeling. I was like, “I probably need to empty my bladder.” And when they catheterized me they were like, “Oh my gosh.”
Bri Hurlburt 13:45
You sort of exploded?
Melissa Crenshaw 13:45
I said you were about to sit over here and let me explode because you weren't paying attention. So anyway, yes. So, Apis because the urethra swells shut and you might have to be catheterized to use the bathroom. Stinging pain. Only passes a few drops. Thirstless and scanty urine.
Another quick little example where I used Apis. My youngest son had a surgery and then after that surgery, he couldn't urinate so we had to take him to the doctor's office in the middle of the night so they could catheterize him. Then he got Apis. He was just a baby and he was screaming.
Bri Hurlburt 14:36
That’s terrible.
Melissa Crenshaw 14:37
It was terrible. It was awful. I kept waiting and waiting. I was like, “Okay, it's been a long time. He hasn't had a wet diaper,” and I was worried. I kept calling the doctor’s office. they were probably like this crazy lady. Finally it had been 10 hours and I was like, “Okay,” and he's crying. There's something wrong.
Bri Hurlburt 14:54
And he's a baby so he's nursing?
Melissa Crenshaw 15:00
Yes. Apis also can have chills and fever and be worse for heat.
All right. Our last little cystitis, there's two more things to say. Our last cystitis remedy is Causticum. It has a raw burning in the urethra. A constant dribbling with laughs, sneezes, or coughs. Worse for cold, dry weather. Causticum also has bedwetting in children. Worse for wind. Those are some pretty specific things, too, right? If it gets windy, if you're out in the wind, and then you get a cystitis, then you might think of Causticum.
The last thing you can do is potentize your urine and take it as a remedy.
Bri Hurlburt 15:48
Stop it.
Melissa Crenshaw 15:50
Right? We can turn anything into a homeopathic remedy, right? All these remedies were talking about: Spanish fly is crushed and then turned into … they put it in an alcohol solution, they let it sit, and they take that tincture and they make it into … you can do the same thing with your urine. And you dilute it and succuss it, just like Hahnemann did, or just like the homeopathic pharmacies do now. And you can make like a 30c. I would only do that if the other remedies weren't working.
Bri Hurlburt 16:27
And you have to use your sick, like with a UTI, urine?
Melissa Crenshaw 16:32
Say that again.
Bri Hurlburt 16:34
Does it have to be your urine with the UTI? .
Melissa Crenshaw 16:37
Hmmm. Interesting. I would say … I don't know if it matters.
Bri Hurlburt 16:44
Okay.
Melissa Crenshaw 16:45
I don't know. That's a very good question.
Bri Hurlburt 16:47
Because that seems like an involved thing to do when I'm not feeling well.
Melissa Crenshaw 16:51
Right. Yeah.
Bri Hurlburt 16:52
So post-apocalyptic, you know, if we ever need to make our own remedies. I mean, actually though, you really can make your own remedies out of …
Melissa Crenshaw 17:00
Out of anything.
Bri Hurlburt 17:02
Yeah. All these things.
Melissa Crenshaw 17:03
You just have to have the alcohol.
Bri Hurlburt 17:05
And do it properly, which is a lot more involved, I think, then we think. We’re like, “Oh, dilute it, shake it up a little bit, no big deal.” 100 times 100. That’s so interesting.
Melissa Crenshaw 17:24
Yes. So that’s cystitis. I know a lot of my listeners do Banerji protocols. There is a Banerji protocol. I didn't have that written down for this but I feel like all of my listeners know how to find Banerji protocols. You probably have the Banerji book or if you've been in a Gateway class … I don't know if we talk about cystitis in a Gateway class? Did you find it?
Bri Hurlburt 17:54
It says Cantharis 200.
Melissa Crenshaw 17:56
Okay. How often?
Bri Hurlburt 17:57
2-3 times a day until symptoms improve. I mean, that is the number one.
Melissa Crenshaw 18:04
Yeah. Yup. Awesome. So it’s Cantharis 200, 2-3 times a day until symptoms improve. Very good. Wonderful. All right. This was fun and I hope that it helps you in the future. Remember to get all these things in your notes and we'll see you guys next time.