Good news-read this!

[lori jo]

I just wanted to share a most remarkable development with my IC. Don’t know if my experience will help anyone else, but it sure gives you something to think about. Sorry if this turns out really long but I want to paint the whole picture. To set the scene, I was in pain almost all of the time. I was using my heating pad day and night. If I wasn’t sitting on it, I was counting the minutes until I could get back to it. My husband was commenting about how just a few years ago, I was only in pain occasionally but now it was constant, and it was really bad pain. I tried the IC diet and couldn’t find any connection there. I had pretty much just accepted the situation and figured that my disease had advanced to this point of always hurting.
Except for the constant agony, my life seemed to be going well. After 26 years, I was still running my daycare and planning to close it soon, so that I could work on our other business beside my husband. We were very busy working with a financial services company, building our own business and looking forward to a wealthy future. It was consuming my every waking moment and I was stepping way out of my comfort zone to become what I needed to be, to be successful. I was actually pretty proud of myself for all that I was accomplishing, Then one day (about 4 weeks ago) I got real honest with myself and admitted to my husband, that this is not how I wanted to live my life and that I felt like I was trying to become, somebody that I’m just not.
So after almost 2 ½ years, I quit the financial business. In my head and in my heart, I was done as of that day. And I had my husband’s support. Now here’s the punch line; I have had NO pain since that day! Absolutely none. I even put my heating pad away. I feel like a totally different person now.
O.K. so I heard that stress could be a factor in IC pain, but I never connected it in my case. I guess I was clueless about how much stress I was actually putting on myself. I didn’t think I was stressed at all. I think that I am a lot wiser now. I sure learned a lot. I learned how important it is to be true to yourself. And I learned to appreciate every second that I don’t hurt. Sometimes I just want to cry, I’m so happy to be free from the constant torture of IC. :woohoo:

[sylvieCT]

Thank you for sharing you story. I have often wondered exactly what role stress plays. I am in IC torture right now, and I am incredibly stressed. It does seem that when I can just stay home and sleep, it gets better but it has never taken it away. Congratulations on feeling better. I am happy for you.

[kelly McC]

I so happy your symptoms are better. Wonderful to hear. I often think work has something to do with my pain level if I am off I feel much better than if I work that day... Good luck and hope your symptoms continue to improve...
huggs and happy holidays,
Kelly

[Katrina]

I am so happy you realized where stress was coming from for you. It is often very difficult to realize all the different types of stress we may have in our lives. Some of it is good but can still affect our IC. I am very happy for you!!! :woohoo:

[ICNDonna]

I'm so glad you are better. I know stress is a definite factor and so happy you were able to remove a large portion of yours.

Sending gentle hugs,
Donna

[traceann]

A big hooray for you! :) That is wonderful news, and thank you for sharing it, I always love to see and read hopeful stories, tends to build up my "hope reserve" when running a bit low...

It's so funny how our bodies react to things, it always amazes me. I know that about 4 years ago when this first kicked up, I was dealing with trying to heal a broken marriage (lol, 4 yrs later it didn't work), and I was in misery,constantly feeling like I had a UTI. Once I started getting our relationship back on the road, and we went on a really nice relaxing 2 week vacation, I went home completely symptom-free, so I never dug into getting a diagnosis. Now, for all intents and purposes it could have just been one of IC's quirky coincidences, but I was convinced it was the trip. I was great for 4+ years. Then this Jan/Feb right around the time of my court date for divorce, it started again, and that was after a year of seperation, financial worries etc... a huge stressful year, even when I didn't realize I was stressed. I am sure all of that just culminated into the painful year I have had since Jan/Feb. So, go figure. I continue to try to reduce my stress, but there are some stresses unfortunately one has no control over. Grrrr!

Thank you for sharing, cause it's going to make me try that much harder to de-stress myself of the things I CAN control!!! I must learn the word "NO", LOL!! :)

Thank you again for reminding me how much undue stress I put on myself needlessly. Sometimes I do need the reminder!!!

Tracey :)

[sleepyangel30]

i'm glad u are doing well :)

[jaime15]

Lori jo,
I'm glad you shared your success story! Isn't it great when we can put IC in the back of our head and enjoy life again!

I'm sure your story will put hope in the hearts of our newbie and veteran patients.

Hugs to you........ :grouphug:

[Betsie]

When my symptoms first began in January of 2002, i was coming off of two of the most incredibly stressful and personally emotional years of my life. I felt I had changed nothing in my life, I dealt with stress as always, I ate as always and I socialized and kept up my life as always. Busy beyond belief. We were on our way to buy a new mattress for the house when I stopped to use the bathroom as we were leaving...typical right?

The burn that remained following that turned ugly and unresponsive to anything...my first culture was positive for a strep type of culture....but from that point on and two surgeries following in the next 8 weeks or so, including doing the hydro/cysto....it never left. it was life altering.

I have often wondered if your body can possibly reach its melting point...almost a signal to say "knock it off", because it knows you will not recognize it on your own. I wondered for months whether my own lifestyle and some extremely stressful and sad events in my life put my bladder in harm's way.

i will never know and it sure doesn't explain the many different stories of folks here, but this does make me wonder.........but here I am, surviving somehow, go figure.

[vm]

Stress is the one thing that can still make me flare up these days --- even though I can eat whatever I want now. It's so weird that I can eat 2 bowls of chili and be fine ---- but stress me out one evening and I will feel it in my bladder.

Glad you made the connection --- and that you were able to cut down the stress. I bet you are ECSTATIC!!!! :) :) :)

[poetgirl]

I'm so glad you're not in pain right now! That's wonderful news!

It is hard to believe how much stress is a factor in our lives, but it can really wreck our bodies. I had mono when I was in college and since then, if I get too stressed out, my body basically shuts down. Normally, I'm a "nervous-energy" kind of person, always puttering around, always keeping busy but when the stress level gets too high, I get walloped with a fatigue I can't shake. I literally can't get out of bed. And it's hard for people to understand because usually I'm running circles around everyone. Stress will cause me to get strep throat infections, and of course aggravates my IC, VV and IBS.

I realized after my husband and I separated that many of the symptoms I experienced calmed down a lot. I used to be in pain most days out of the week, curled up around a heating pad at night, etc. Even on days where I don't feel that great now, it's still better than the 5 years previous. Part of it is the medication, but I know the rest of it is because I'm not carrying around that constant low-medium level anxiety I had when I was with him.

[summermuffin]

Oh my! How wonderful! I'm really happy for you and I hope to be at the same place someday! I hope by removing stress that I could have the same luck.

Your story gives me some hope to hold onto.
Oh! By the way! Did you take any meds when you were feeling pain?

[lori jo]

Thanks to all who replied. I am glad to hear that my experience gave some of you hope. Just remember, reducing stress isn't a cure. I have been relishing the time I have had with out pain. But I've also been realistic and knew that the pain could hit me any minute. Fact is I've been flaring for 5 days now. It's not a real bad one though. God only knows what brought it on. Anyway I still feel like I'm way better than I used to be. This is only temporary. And my answer to the last post about the pain meds is: I WISH! Unfortunatly I have no medical insurance and therefore no pain medicine. I was able to get my hands on some Vicodin for awhile, and it was heavenly. It took 3 of them to knock out the pain, but it did knock it out. Problem was, I felt that I was getting addicted to them and so I stoppped taking them when my connection fizzled out. My only pain relief is my heating pad. I guess I'm addicted to it now. :big laugh:

[mayray518]

Stress may play a minor role in IC but it is not the cause. When I got IC I had a great life. Great job, great condo, great relationships. Then after the IC I lost job, condo and many friends and then the stress started. I cant believe stress can cause you to pee 30 times a day and to have an inflamed organ in your body. I guess I believe headaches and heart problems may have more to due with stress. Anyway I am back to work now thanks to elavil and stress is still bad but no more IC pain.

[DetroitMel]

I've posted before that I think stress (and pineapple :) ) is the number one trigger for me! I can eat pretty much whatever I want, but when I am overloaded with work, graduate school exams, wedding planning and the like - that is when I will have a flare. My body has always been very responsive to stress - it will shut itself down when I'm overworked and stressed and I'll end up sleeping for days! Learning to control the amount of stress in my life has been a huge relief for my IC. Granted, I know the Elmiron works, and not eating certain things, such as citrus fruits, has also stopped the flares, but I always have to remember to keep myself as stress-free as possible! If nothing more, its an excuse to get lots of massages and take lots of naps :)

Mel

[Sharing]

Glad you are better :kissing:
I agree with you, My symptoms started when i switched to the midnight shift-
Friends & family tell me thats what is causing my symptoms!

I don't feel like it is, because the job itself is stress free but sleeping patterns are extreme 2hr's here, 3hr. there 5hr's there-
Standing & walking on the job all night.. who knows--on my days off when i am well rested i feel fine!

I sure hope that is why i have this, so i can drink my coffee again..LOL... :woohoo:

Thanks for your input! :grouphug:

[Sharing]

Thanks to all who replied. I am glad to hear that my experience gave some of you hope. Just remember, reducing stress isn't a cure. I have been relishing the time I have had with out pain. But I've also been realistic and knew that the pain could hit me any minute. Fact is I've been flaring for 5 days now. It's not a real bad one though. God only knows what brought it on. Anyway I still feel like I'm way better than I used to be. This is only temporary. And my answer to the last post about the pain meds is: I WISH! Unfortunatly I have no medical insurance and therefore no pain medicine. I was able to get my hands on some Vicodin for awhile, and it was heavenly. It took 3 of them to knock out the pain, but it did knock it out. Problem was, I felt that I was getting addicted to them and so I stoppped taking them when my connection fizzled out. My only pain relief is my heating pad. I guess I'm addicted to it now. :big laugh:


Try the baking soda it helps me in 5min.
:grouphug:

[KLR]

Hi...I am so happy to have read this tonight as I am miserable because I am in a flare up. As I think back to a year ago when I was first diagnosed with IC I had been under a lot of stress due to problems I was having with my eyesight. Maybe the stress of that made things worse for me. Things then got better and I was feeling great all fall and through the holidays, then January came. I had a bad night one Friday where I was really, really stressed about something (something that of course seems silly now). I had a few glasses of wine that night to help calm me down but that didn't work. I couldn't sleep because of the tremendous stress I put on myself and lo and behold the next morning my pelvic area was starting to hurt again. I haven't felt good since that night. I am back on the Urelief and that is helping only a little. I am suppose to call the drs. on Monday but don't know if I can wait that long. I have been taking Elmiron since last April which I know has helped. me. I have been driving myself crazy trying to figure out what triggered this flare up and maybe now I know why. I am not sure about the IC diet for me as when I was feeling good all those months I was eating pretty much anything I wanted and it didn't bother me. I am trying to watch things presently to see if things will calm down again.
I just want to get back on track and feel good again. It's hard to feel like it is ever going to get better when it hurts so bad.

Karen

[mayray518]

I know even when I was feeling better red wine make me go into a flare. I can handle white win okay. dont know why

[michelesgirl]

I have read many times that mixing baking soda with water is a quick relief for some...so how much do I use and how often shoud it be drank ??

Michele

[Sharing]

Use it when ever you have IC symptoms this works for me when i have -pressure,urgency/frequency and burning!
1 teaspoon in a 8oz glass of water!

Good Luck1

[IC SARAH-CPP]

Wow, you sound like me!! When I was in college, I worked full time, owned a home, was engaged and planning a wedding, and took more than a full load at school. Well after we got married, my husband and i went to Europe for almost three months. I swear, it took me a whole months of doing nothing but vacation before I felt I was "destressed".
That even changed my life. I never realized just HOW stressed I was. We get so involved with our schedules and lives that we dont realize how stressed we really are. I made a promise to myself that I would try to never be like that again and I really have tried.
I did want to tell you that I work in the financial sector and it IS so stressful, it is not for the faint of heart!!! I admire your courage to follow your heart!!
Love Sarah

[maddy]

I do believe that stress play a role in my IC. I don't believe it is the only cause, but I have been stressed lately and I have had more flare ups than normal. Thanks for your stories. It is nice to hear a positive one and a word of hope. Maddy