You mean Hiprex??I took them for?approx?7 years but no,?haven't?needed them for oh 8-9 years now I guess. A few naturally brewed beers daily seems to keep my sediment levels low enough to not need Hiprex or?Urex. I still recomend them for those who do and aren't aware of any severe adverse side effects when taken responsibly.

Warnings

Large doses of methenamine (8 grams daily for 3 to 4 weeks) have caused bladder irritation, painful and frequent micturition, albuminuria, and gross hematuria.

Precautions

Prescribing Hiprex in the absence of a proven or strongly suspected bacterial infection or a prophylactic indication is unlikely to provide benefit to the patient and increases the risk of the development of drug-resistant bacteria. Minor adverse reactions have been reported in less than 3.5% of patients treated. These reactions have included nausea, upset stomach, dysuria, and rash.

Source http://www.drugs.com/pro/hiprex.html

I think two weeks for a drainage bag?is fine. Might be a good idea to change more frequently if you have a bad UTI and/or it becomes to smelly. I order by the box full so change when it becomes a bit smelly or gets very cloudy which is about every 2-3 weeks. I am pretty resistant to infections and even if I get a really nasty one they generally don't?knock me flat like some experience.

Clean?and sterilize urinary drain bags before reusing to avoid infection. There are many commercial sterilizers on the market like Milton and Hibitane but even bleech diluted with water to a ratio of 1:100 or vinegar at 1:10 or hydrogen peroxide at 1:10 are effective in sterilizing drainage bags.

Fosters bleh! No I usually drink Powers Bitter.

Naturally brewed?beer uses five basic natural ingredients (water, malted barley, yeast, cane sugar and hops) and is?free from artificial additives and preservatives.?

• Water ? base ingredient
• Barley ? a starch?source which is able to be fermented (converted into alcohol) some barley?substitutes are?corn sugar agave and millet
• Yeast ? a brewers yeast to produce the fermentation
• Sugar ? secondary starch source and sweetener
• Hops?- for flavouring

With truly "naturally brewed beers" the secondary fermentation process takes place in the serving?bottle.?Using high quality?natural products makes a more flavorsome beer that is healthier for you, and if indulged upon, dramatically reduces?those nasty hangover side effects.

?
Now for our purpose Mason; how does beer?reduce urinary?sediment and urinary?tract infections.

We can pretty much rule out water or sheer volumes as 3-4 bottles of beer/night gives a?far greater result than 3-4 bottles of water/night. I am in no way suggesting beer substitutes for water. In fact beer is a diuretic,?it's important to drink water in addition?to?avoid dehydration. Three liters of?water/daily alone is adequate in keeping most peoples sediment and mild strains of urinary tract infections not only down, but can often flush them from the body.

It's?unlikely sugar is our sediment busting hero either.?Three liters of cordial/daily (a flavoured sugar based sweetener added to water) proves to be of no significant benefit over plain water alone.

That leaves barley, yeast, or hops. You may have read here or elsewhere Hiprex Urex (methenamine) etc?reduce the development of drug-resistant bacteria/UTI because the methenamine component is hydrolyzed to formaldehyde in acid urine ? less than 5.5 pH. This hydrolyzation process (break down from initial state?e.g. salt?in water) is similar to the fermentation process of barley or yeast in beer production. It only takes about five minutes in a healthy body?for this pre-hydrolyzed ? if you will ??beer once consumed to reach our bladder and so, should still remain in its original state?enough to be of benefit.

Hops are used extensively in brewing today for their many purported benefits, including balancing the sweetness of the malt with bitterness, contributing a variety of desirable flavors and aromas, and having an antibiotic effect that favors the activity of brewer's yeast over less desirable microorganisms.

So, take your pick! lol.. While?I haven't yet been able to isolate one ingredient, or prove if the?benefit is in?the process itself, what has been proven is that beer (all beer)?in general is an?extreme acid forming food ? with a pH of 5.0 to 5.5.?For this reason people with a condition such as gout should avoid any?consumption of beer. However for reducing urinary?sediment and urinary?tract infections it has potentially great benefit.

*note; A gastrointestinal specialist doctor suggested to me recently?where?regular (daily) consuption a limit of three beers.

Yeah might have to test a few?beers?until you find one you like.

As long as the drainbag tap is closed off, you can leave it flat on the floor.

Budweiser NaturaL Light., King Cobra… yes unfortunately there are many more to chose from in Australia. I'm going to have a go at cranberry juice instead of beer.

A few members here do reqular bladder washouts or blader irrigation. You should only?perform a washout if you need to, otherwise you're opening yourself to infection unecessarily. I'd be more concerned about blood clots blocking the catheter than skin. In any case neither commonly stay in the bladder long nor are they?atributed to causing infection. Should you be concerned, or require a washout, here's two proceedure manuals.

1) http://www.health.qld.gov.au/q…..ashout.pdf

2) http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/r…..gation.pdf

*note; In the second manual advice to flush with saline is outdated. In some people it causes crystalization where small salt like crystals form on the bladder wall. Plain sterile water is best for irrigation. You can buy bottles of sterile water or simply boil water and let it cool in a clean container.