If you've ever had an attack of cystitis, you'll know the main symptom: it burns when you pee - and the awful thing is, you want to pee all the time. A cystitis attack can strike suddenly, and Murphy's Law dictates that it usually happens when the doctor's surgery is closed. The natural treatment below will safely control the infection and reduce your symptoms, for several days if necessary, until you can see a doctor.

Some people claim this treatment regime can cure cystitis attacks altogether, but I hesitate to make that claim. Most natural remedies aren't strong enough to completely kill off every single bug causing the cystitis infection. You may feel fine, but so long as a few bugs remain, they will quietly multiply in your bladder until there's enough to start a full-blown cystitis attack again - or worse, they can travel "upstream" to your kidneys, where they can become life-threatening.

If you are self-treating (either with the regime below, or any other home remedy), please take the following precautions:

• Drink LOTS of fluid - anything except alcohol.
• If your home treatment doesn't start giving relief in a few hours, it's not going to - see a professional.
• If you are passing blood (check by drying yourself with a tissue, you will see the blood on it), the infection is beyond effective treatment by a home remedy - see a professional.
• Even if you're confident that your home treatment has been successful, visit your doctor to have a urine test, just to make sure.

The secret of success is the combination of ingredients you're going to use. Gather everything you need before you start:

1. Your preferred painkiller (an anti-inflammatory is best);
2. Urinary alkalinizer, or bicarb;
3. Cranberry (tablets, real juice or powder), or hibiscus tea;
4. A caffeinated drink (e.g. coffee, Coke, energy drink);
5. Fresh water and other drinks, especially citrus juices;
6. A hot water bottle or heat pack
7. A timer (optional)

It's a good idea to organize your "drinks station" on your bedside table. Fill a jug with your favourite drink, or set up a selection of bottles.

It's important to follow the sequence carefully:

1. Take your urinary alkalinizer or bicarb in a glass of water. These products work AGAINST the effects of cranberry, hibiscus and citrus juices so you want to avoid them during the treatment, but they are the quickest way to remove the sting. So it makes sense to take it now, to give you a kick-start. Take a note of the time.
2. Take your painkiller with a large glass of something. Water, cordial, juice, soup - it doesn't matter. DON'T just drink water, because you'll be able to drink much larger quantities if you drink a variety of different liquids. The only thing not allowed is alcohol. (Don't forget to eat something if your painkiller must be taken with food).
3. Have your caffeinated drink. In this case, caffeine is your friend, because it makes the liquid move faster through your body - which is what we want. If you don't normally take caffeine, just have this one caffeine drink. Otherwise, make sure you have at least as many as you usually would in the course of a normal day.
4. Go to bed with a hot water bottle or heat pack on your tummy. This will soothe the area and reduce the feeling that you need to "go".
5. Every 15 minutes (or more often if you like), have a drink - drink as much as you can (not just one glass). If you are going to read a book, watch TV, play Sudoku etc, then set your timer to go off every 15 minutes, in case you get absorbed in what you're doing.
6. An hour after you start the treatment, start taking your cranberry or hibiscus (the recommended dose and frequency stated on your product). If it's juice, have as much as you like.
7. If it's time for a meal, ideally make it soup or a smoothie - something with a lot of fluid.

Continue with this routine as long as you need to.

• keep drinking as much as you can
• go to the toilet as often as you feel the need (and completely empty your bladder)
• take your cranberry/hibiscus and painkiller according the recommended dosage

The dilution and the cranberry should fix the burning sensation, but if it doesn't, you can take another urinary alkalinizer as needed. Bear in mind, though, that it does work against the cranberry, so try to separate the two by at least an hour.

Some naturopaths recommend parsley, garlic and cider vinegar for cystitis. It does no harm to add them into the mix (maybe in your soup, or as salad dressing, or both). In general, there's no harm in adding other herbal remedies - just don't take them with your other supplements, in case they conflict. Be especially cautious with Uva Ursi, which is strong enough to kill some bugs but can also have a nasty effect on your liver.

• Don't try to follow this treatment and "soldier on". If you try to keep working or doing the housework at the same time, you simply won't drink enough. Try to devote a couple of hours to doing this, and just this! The best thing is to go to bed, so that you are away from distractions. If you can, spend at least half a day working on it.

• During this treatment, you will be drinking a huge amount of fluid and you will go to the toilet a lot. I know, it's a horrible thought when it hurts, but you'll find that as your urine gets more diluted, it will sting much less. When you go, it's very important that you empty your bladder completely. Again, this is something that cystitis sufferers often don't do, because they subconsciously contract the muscles to avoid the final sting. But it's the leftover stale urine that allows the bacteria to multiply and re-establish, so don't do it. Take your time, and make sure you squeeze out the last drop - every time!

Even when you've been prescribed drugs for a cystitis attack, the pills alone are not enough. To treat cystitis properly, either medically or at home, we need to do three things:

1. Flush the infection out of the bladder.
   We do this by drinking lots of fluid, and by encouraging it to move through the body as fast as possible. Think of the bacteria as sand on the bed of a river. If it's a gentle flowing stream, the sand won't move much. Now think of a raging torrent and how the sand will get picked up and washed downstream. That's what we're trying to achieve.
2. Kill the bugs or create an environment they can't live in
   If you're taking antibiotics, they'll kill the bugs: natural treatments make the urine acidic (so the bugs can't survive) and/or affect the lining of the bladder (so the bugs can't cling to it).
3. Stop the pain
   The quickest way to do this is to make the urine alkaline, which unfortunately deals with the worst symptom, but does NOTHING to kill the infection - so don't be tempted to think you're cured, just because it stops stinging!

One natural cystitis treatment can't achieve all three objectives - but the simple ingredients in the Combination Treatment can.

As I said before, there are people who swear this particular Combination Treatment can cure cystitis attacks. However, do remember that the bacteria which cause cystitis can be resistant, and there's always a risk they will escape to the kidneys and cause havoc. So it's always best to ask your doctor to check once you're feeling better.

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All text copyright Marisa Wright. Mannekin pis photo thanks to Ricardo Martin on Flickr.