Re: Could a sudden shift in diet and lifestyle "shock" my system and cause recurrent UTIs? Treatment advice?

I can see one real mistake right of the bat.  The baking soda.  This is going to alkalinize the urine too much allowing for infections to flourish in the urinary tract.  Most pathogens, especially fungi, thrive in alkalinity.  But people keep buying in to the acidity myth and work overtime trying to alkalinize their systems, which just ends up putting more stress on their system as their system now has to work harder trying to restore its own pH:

http://curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=1502701#i

http://curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=1503688#i

http://curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=1481812#i

Therefore the first suggestion is to stop alkalinizing your urine, which is just going to promote pathogen growth.

Drinking plenty of water and urinating frequently will also help.  Women have a shorter urethra than men, which is why they are more prone to urinary tract infections.  Pathogens have a shorter distance to travel.  So urinating frequently is essential to keep the urethra flushed.  This is especially important immediately after intercourse as intercourse pushes bacteria up in to the urethra.

Here is an old post on treating urinary tract infections:

http://curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=1522711#i