in 2001, my only symptom was a burning sensation on visiting the restroom, the cystitis that began in 2007 gave me a sense of extreme urgency that woke me from sleep every 90 minutes. Each time, I would stumble to the bathroom, expecting to pass a quart or more of fluid, often to be greeted with only a few scant drops! The urgency was at its worst in the evening, between 9 and 11 p.m. In the later part of the night, it was accompanied by extreme thirst, dizziness, and dry eyes and mouth. I would wake up, guzzle a glass of water, visit the bathroom, and go back to sleep, only to do it all again in an hour or two.

The practitioner said that test results were OK.

While I was clueless to all of this, I came across posts by people with nighttime urgency who had found relief with two supplements: aloe vera and olive leaf extract. I began taking them and felt about 50% relief by the second night. Within a week, the urgency was gone! I was still waking up to drink water, but I didn’t need to visit the bathroom except when my “tank” was full.

I took two capsules of each, three times a day the first week and then reduced to two capsules of each twice a day. It didn’t seem to matter when I took them. I kept taking them for some months, then kept them on hand, always ready to do a course of a month or two if needed.

if you suffer from digestive problems, you may wish to take these herbs together with a warming herb or herbal supplement. The Chinese are experts in herbal medicine and always combine herbs that are said to have a “cold nature” together with herbs of a “warm nature.” Cold and warm in Traditional Chinese Medicine are metaphors that describe certain real, physical properties of foods and herbs. Aloe vera leaf is considered very cold in nature and taking it for a long time may heal your bladder but weaken your digestion. This can be avoided by taking it with warming herbs like garlic, ginger, or cinnamon, or a nice chai tea.