Why Drinking Less Water After 50 Can Backfire

I wanted to scream.

I was on my way to the gym when I felt an all-too-familiar uncomfortable sensation of having to pee when I knew I didn’t really have to go.

Another urinary tract infection. I’d been plagued with these for as long as I can remember. Some were so bad I ended up in the ER in the middle of the night because I couldn’t deal with the pain.

Do I turn around and go back home? No. It’s only 5:30 a.m., and urgent care doesn’t open until 8:00. So I pushed through my workout and waited for them to open.

But here’s the kicker: my UTI test came back negative. This was the second time in several weeks and I was at my wit’s end. I’d been through several rounds of antibiotics — including cipro, an antibiotic used as a last resort because of its inherent danger of increasing the risk of tendon ruptures .

I’d been evaluated by a urologist, who found nothing structurally wrong. She prescribed medication for an overactive bladder. It came with such awful side effects I stopped taking it. The symptoms wouldn’t go away.

I tried a few other doctors, the last of whom said, “I don’t know what to tell…