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Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,491
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Has anyone experienced a UTI after using fabric softener?

Anything can change your pH and make you susceptible to a UTI or yeast infection.

 

It could also just be an irritation due to an allergic reaction to something in it.

 

I have never used fabric softener.  Why do people use it?

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QVC Shopper - 1993

# IAMTEAMWEN
Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,051
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Has anyone experienced a UTI after using fabric softener?

@tuscaloosa  one more thing to add to my cart. Which one is it for Toms soap? There are several.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,258
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Has anyone experienced a UTI after using fabric softener?


@VaBelle35 wrote:

Anything can change your pH and make you susceptible to a UTI or yeast infection.

 

It could also just be an irritation due to an allergic reaction to something in it.

 

I have never used fabric softener.  Why do people use it?


@VaBelle35

@Deanie

 

(Deanie, I hope you're the OP.)

 

VaBelle,

 

You ask why people use it.  Well, I use the sheets in the dryer because I simply loathe bath linens that feel like sandpaper and clothing likewise.  Have used various "balls," and they simply do not provide the results I'm after.

 

Now, I have a question for you and the OP.  If you are past menopause and are exhibiting symptoms of a UTI or are exhibiting some but not all of the symptoms of a UTI, you may very well not have a UTI at all.  It is quite common in post-menopausal women, whose estrogen levels have dropped some or plunged, to experience feelings of a UTI.  I am one of those women - millions of women who do.

 

Never assume you have a UTI and dose yourself with an antibiotic.  Never!

 

Get yourself to a doc or urgent care center where they can do a UA to make a proper determination.

 

If lack of estrogen is the culprit, a twice a week vaginal application of Estrace will take care of things.

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 17,491
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Has anyone experienced a UTI after using fabric softener?

@sfnative  Thanks for the fabric softener info.

 

You are absolutely correct about post-meno and UTI symptoms.

 

I learned that earlier this year.

 

 

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QVC Shopper - 1993

# IAMTEAMWEN
Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,051
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Has anyone experienced a UTI after using fabric softener?

Thanks for all the comments. I went to my primary and I do have a UTI. I am getting a panel of blood work tomorrow. Oh by the way, I know my way around self dosing. Even my primary agreed with what I did Woman Happy

Honored Contributor
Posts: 13,776
Registered: ‎07-09-2011

Re: Has anyone experienced a UTI after using fabric softener?

@jeanlake

 

1/4 cup white vinegar instead of softener.  No Problem!

"Animals are not my whole world, but they have made my world whole" ~ Roger Caras
Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎11-16-2014

Re: Has anyone experienced a UTI after using fabric softener?


@Deanie wrote:

Thanks for all the comments. I went to my primary and I do have a UTI. I am getting a panel of blood work tomorrow. Oh by the way, I know my way around self dosing. Even my primary agreed with what I did Woman Happy


I never heard of self dosing an infection without having a culture to determine what bacteria is causing the infection. Without a culture it is impossible to know whether the bacteria will be eradicated by the antibiotic.

 

Not all antibiotics work for UTI's because some become resistant to particular antibiotics. That is why a sensitivity test should be used each and every time a patient has a UTI.

Frequent Contributor
Posts: 131
Registered: ‎03-23-2010

Re: Has anyone experienced a UTI after using fabric softener?

@Deanie  Tom's orange blossom with moroccan argon oil - also Kirk's original Coco Castile soup is great too. Good luck.

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Super Contributor
Posts: 341
Registered: ‎02-20-2011

Re: Has anyone experienced a UTI after using fabric softener?


@VaBelle35 wrote:

 

 

I have never used fabric softener.  Why do people use it?


 

It cuts down on static greatly.

 

Ladies, doctors tell you not to use fabric softener in your underwear!

Honored Contributor
Posts: 32,613
Registered: ‎05-10-2010

Re: Has anyone experienced a UTI after using fabric softener?

Probably, I think any of us can develop sensitivies to anything.  I didn't get UTI's but I did get itching, irritation, boils.  I did my own research online and discovered that some detergents and fabric softeners can do that.  So, I started hand washing my undies in with shower gel.  I figured if my shower gel weren't causing me any skin problems so it was safe to use them to wash my undies and I was right.  I haven't had any of those problems since.  I think, for me, that the residue from the harsh laundry detergent was the culprit.  But I do hang my undies to dry.