11/01/2025
My sweet friend Meghan McClenny shares her journey with chronic UTIs and yeast infections...
"As a child I got UTIs and yeast infections. The pediatrician told my mom no bubble baths, drink cranberry Juice etc and we followed instructions. I learned the red pill brings relief from the burning and pain and took loads of antibiotics.
At 17 I had surgery to widen the urethra to see if that would help. The surgery was the day before I moved into my dorm at UVM and it was really uncomfortable. It did not help.
The infections continued and I saw a urologist at 18. They had a fiber optic camera they put up my urethra in the office with no anesthesia 😬. I can still feel the paper gown as I recall the memory burned in my brain.
I was hospitalized multiple times and given IV antibiotics and IV fluids. One time I was so full of infection I couldn’t keep my eyes open and slept for 2-3 days. My college roommates were concerned, called my mom and she took me to the hospital in Burlington. They treated and released me. She took me home only to have me decline more and spend almost a week at NVRH. It’s all a blur. I missed 2 weeks from that experience in my first semester in college. I was able to keep my grades up and powered through. By Gods grace it didn’t derail me.
I felt such shame. Was I not clean? I was studying anatomy and physiology, chemistry, microbiology to get a degree in dental hygiene.
I felt it must be my fault. It was the 90s - everyone was eating potato chips fried in Olean and drinking Diet soda to be skinny. No one was talking about gut health.
This is a part of my story I haven’t shared publicly, but I will today because someone else struggles and needs a solution instead of more antibiotics.
PS - the culprit? Too many antibiotics. Ironic? Yes.
Antibiotics allow candida to overgrow and cause many symptoms. Mine were UTIs, yeast infections, allergies, depression, headaches, fatigue, constipation, sugar cravings. That was my life, until I skeptically tried a pink drink and a couple of capsules because I was desperate for more energy.
The photo on the left was me when I newly engaged and happy but full of inflammation. The right is me 10 yrs later, gut health regimen in place, free of all those symptoms.
I don’t share the intimate details for me. I share it for the person who relates to this."