sarahmichelle81
09-23-2004, 06:01 PM
I am 22 years old and I have had severe lower pelvic pain for the last 4 months or so at least. I have had attacks in past years and UTI's but the pain was not as bad until recently. I have had a lot of stress in the last year including getting married and graduating college all in the month of May. I went to my family doctor and he changed my birth control and put me on antidepressants because I was crying the whole time I was explaining my pain. The change in birth control and antidepressant seemed to only make it worse. I stopped taking both. Can the hormones in birth control make IC worse? The doctor then referred me to a gynocologist. I went to 2 different gynocologists and they both told me that there was nothing that they could find and they would need to do a laparoscopy to see if I had endometriosis. I had a bad feeling about that from the start. I didn't have irregular or painful periods and I felt like the doctors were taking a stab in the dark.
After many hours of searching on the internet, I found the ICN website. I read stories about patients who were feeling the same thing that I felt. I knew that this was what I have. I am thankful that I was able to avoid an unnecessary laparoscopy by reading other people's stories on this website.
I decided to see a urologist to either confirm or disconfirm my diagnosis. I filled out a questionaire regarding my symptoms and talked to my doctor and we decided to do a cystoscopy. It was so painful I was screaming and the doctor said that we should set up another time that they can put me under anesthesia. I didn't want to wait for answer so I asked them to go on with the procedure right then. Immediately he said that the walls of my bladder did not look normal. He saw ridges and engorged blood vessels that looked like they were stars. It was neat that I was able to see what he was seeing on a screen too. They proceded to do hydrodistention and what they called "bladder rescue." My doctor put me on Elmiron, Elavil, and Detrol. I am scheduled to go back in a month.
I had to take a leave of absence from work because of the pain and I was so emotional that I even had a nervous breakdown in the vice president of my department's office. I was so embarassed but she seemed understanding. Taking some time off seemed to help me and take some stress out of my life. I started back at work today and I had a good day for the most part. I noticed that I seem to tense up when I am typing and I never even realized I was doing it before. This caused me pain this morning and I hope the stresses of work do not make my IC worse again. I think I am going to buy one of those cushions soon.
I have changed my diet and it seems to make me feal a lot better than I used to feel. I have noticed changes in my entire body and not just my bladder. I used to have really bad acid reflux and be tired all the time and ever since I have been eating an IC diet, all of that has improved tremendously.
My mom talked to Jill Osborne the other day and ordered "The Interstial Cystitis Survival Guide." Jill was very helpful and the book seems to be very informative and useful.
I feel fortunate to have found a doctor that cares and is up to date on the new tecniques for IC patients. I am glad that I was able to get a diagnosis sooner that many other IC patients, and I credit that to the help of this website. I am thankful that I have the support of my husband, family and co-workers who care about me despite the fact that they do not know what it is like to have IC. :)
After many hours of searching on the internet, I found the ICN website. I read stories about patients who were feeling the same thing that I felt. I knew that this was what I have. I am thankful that I was able to avoid an unnecessary laparoscopy by reading other people's stories on this website.
I decided to see a urologist to either confirm or disconfirm my diagnosis. I filled out a questionaire regarding my symptoms and talked to my doctor and we decided to do a cystoscopy. It was so painful I was screaming and the doctor said that we should set up another time that they can put me under anesthesia. I didn't want to wait for answer so I asked them to go on with the procedure right then. Immediately he said that the walls of my bladder did not look normal. He saw ridges and engorged blood vessels that looked like they were stars. It was neat that I was able to see what he was seeing on a screen too. They proceded to do hydrodistention and what they called "bladder rescue." My doctor put me on Elmiron, Elavil, and Detrol. I am scheduled to go back in a month.
I had to take a leave of absence from work because of the pain and I was so emotional that I even had a nervous breakdown in the vice president of my department's office. I was so embarassed but she seemed understanding. Taking some time off seemed to help me and take some stress out of my life. I started back at work today and I had a good day for the most part. I noticed that I seem to tense up when I am typing and I never even realized I was doing it before. This caused me pain this morning and I hope the stresses of work do not make my IC worse again. I think I am going to buy one of those cushions soon.
I have changed my diet and it seems to make me feal a lot better than I used to feel. I have noticed changes in my entire body and not just my bladder. I used to have really bad acid reflux and be tired all the time and ever since I have been eating an IC diet, all of that has improved tremendously.
My mom talked to Jill Osborne the other day and ordered "The Interstial Cystitis Survival Guide." Jill was very helpful and the book seems to be very informative and useful.
I feel fortunate to have found a doctor that cares and is up to date on the new tecniques for IC patients. I am glad that I was able to get a diagnosis sooner that many other IC patients, and I credit that to the help of this website. I am thankful that I have the support of my husband, family and co-workers who care about me despite the fact that they do not know what it is like to have IC. :)