I have suffered from UTIs since I was a child. I was even hospitalized at one point while they ran various tests to try and figure out if there was a reason I kept getting them.
I work on a health campus and when I got what I knew to be a UTI , I walked over to the Express Clinic where they did a culture and I was given Bactrim. I took that and never felt good the entire time. 3 days after getting done with the Bactrim I had what felt like another full blown UTI so back to the express clinic I went and was given another course of Bactrim. Same results. I went back to the express clinic and was told they'd put me on Cipro this time and that knocked it out.
About a month ago I was sitting at my desk and wham. UTI. That quick, no warning. This time I called my PCP and she saw me within an hour. Took a culture which showed an infection, gave me an RX for Cipro and this time gave me an RX for Pyridium which was a Godsend. It's the prescription version of AZO but works better and quicker, at least for me.
I have read over and over again that there is no proof that cranberry juice does anything for a UTI. My doctor told me the same thing when we discussed it. She told me water. Water, water and more water. She also said once you have a UTI, cranberry juice isn't going to cure it or help in any way. You need meds. She did tell me it wouldn't hurt to take Cranberry supplements and see if they help.