Stress???

[Kiyoka]

I am not sure about all of you, but I started having problems as soon as I came to college....really less then month :S. Maybe stress could causes it?? I do know that STRESS flares me wayyyy up. Food doesn't really bother me. what do you think?

[Katrina]

I am certain that stress does contribute to flare ups and affects our whole body ...especially our bladder.... but as far as cause...No not by itself. I guess I think if Stress was the cause...a lot more of us could get better. I will not disagree that stress is a big contributer though...just as surgeries and things that are tramatic to our abdomen are common triggers...big changes in life are too. That is the part that is significant though...it isn't just stress that contributes to beginning IC...although it does affect most of us. Marriage (which is a big change in life as college is) is often a beginning of symptoms or worse symptoms. Stress is significant...but I don't think it alone is the cause.

I think one thing we don't look at with stress is though is that stress can also affect our immune system a lot...so if you believe that it is auto immune or because of a weak immune system (some flaw there) than a big stresser in life would make sense to cause problems.

I don't understand why food doesn't seem to bother some people. I wonder if they just haven't found what bothers them or they were too dammaged to notice what food was doing.

:grouphug: Hope you feel better Kiyoka!

[Julie B]

When the body releases cortisol (when it is under stress) all sorts of bad things happen.There is a good book out there called, "When the Body Says No" and it talks about the connection between stress and disease. I highly recommend it!

When the Body Says No (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471219827/ref%3Dnosim/nutraconsults-20/)
I am also doing a talk today on "Making Peace with Stress" that will be recorded. I will put it on my website for those who are interested!

[Julie B]

Well, the talk went good! This was a tele-conference and it really was fun! (Well, there was someone that came online and there was a lot of noise interruptions LOL but, oh well.)

Here is the link to the handouts that I used, and I will post the link to the recording as soon as Margie sends it to me:

Making Peace with Stress (http://www.nutraconsults.com/Making Peace With Stress.html)

[green_the_fish]

Hi Kiyoka! First, I wanna say that I think it's so awesome that you're in college with IC :) Well, it's not awesome that you HAVE IC, but that you're not letting it stop you :lmao:
Anyway, this topic has come up before, and here's what I said about it last time:
"It's not just in IC though, it's in all of the chronic illnesses.
Several groups of psycologists did a study, I think it was back around '95, which involved epileptic individuals. They found that, when placed in stressful situations, persons with epilepsy will respond by having more seizures.
Maybe that's why chronic illnesses are more prevalent in the more modernized countries: high stress levels caused by constant competition.
Well, that's some food for thought. Anyway, I can definetly see how your IC would respond negatively to stress."
Yep, I still agree with what I said before.
I hope your stress and your IC symptoms decrease real soon :grouphug:

[Silverfox]

my Dr. told me that I have nerve damage. So, I asked him just where in my body are my nerves damaged and her told me all throughout my body. Yikes! So, I asked him what does this nerve damage look like and what type of nerves are damaged? He told me some of them are the autonomic nerves like to the intestines and bowels, heart, lungs. I know that I had problems with asthma like symptoms and IBS. He told me that the burning pains I have are to my unmyelinated sensory nerves. Yikes!

well at least there are some IC researchers who are working on trying to lesson the nerve pain. I'm putting all my hopes and prayers, and support on them.

I always thought I would be told it was MS and tests say NO MS!

It is no wonder that I have stress!

[Kahlen - Sue]

I recently went to a lecture at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, BC, Canada and asked how the Kidneys play in the IC. All though they wouldn't say exactly how it effects the bladder, they did say alot of research is being conducted on the kidneys as the kidneys produce the urine, and it is the caustic urine that causes the gag in the bladder to become diseased. I truely believe that the kidney is the key, and the bladder is the unfortuneate organ that suffers greatly. I suffered from Kidney stones, just weeks before my IC began. I hope a cure is found real soon. Hope all are having a good IC day. Sue

[green_the_fish]

Hey SilverFox, have you tried Neurontin (gabapentin)? It's specifically for nerve damage. I'm trying it now at a low dose, even though the docs aren't sure I have nerve damage... apparently, I'm very had to diagnose at all! Anyway, I think that in your case, it's definetely worth a try.

Kahlen-Sue, that's an interesting theory, and one that has come up before. You might wanna check out this thread: http://www.ic-network.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14666&page=1
Your theory is mentioned there.

[Silverfox]

I have tried neurontin and all the rest of the pain meds. Side affects were so bad with little symptom relief. My unmyelinated sensory nerve pain is also in my hands and feet. So, I guess I have IC in them too. The Dr. says the nerves can heal but do it slowly and when they heal they can cause more pain.

Thanks for your suggestion. I am interested in the Dr. from Bulgaria who is using NGF Nerve Growth Factor. Thats what I would volunteer for if I had the opportunity.

[Betsie]

I persoanlly would be hard pressed to give stress the recognoition of "causing" IC...I just can't see it as being a fair option to so many.

That being said, I for one would be the first to say that when under a lot of stress, my symtoms have been known to get much worse. Now, to counteract that statement...I just went through 14 months of caring for my terminally ill mother, in a nursing home, but the day to day decisions were up to me, along with the legal, financial and emotional support....on top of 90 minute drives both ways to be with her.

There was a time at the beginning that I did this every single day for 4 months...without any further IC problems.

As a matter of fact it was during this time that I really started to experience the best upswing since dx. Though pain was often a symptom after a long day, I think that was a very physical response to being in the car and on my feet for hrs on end.

I still believe stress can really cause symptoms to escalate, I do not think it is the root cause.

[green_the_fish]

Yeah, Betsie made a good point: stress worsens IC, but doesn't cause it. I agree with that.

[shennan]

i agree with the kidney theory.

maybe the kidneys somehow can not filter or protect the bladder from some sort of toxins.
maybe they malfunction somehow.

i took tegretol, which is secreted thru the kidneys out thru the bladder.
this is when my ic started.

granted i had vesicoureteral reflux as a child, but i never had debilitating pain/muscle spasms ever--until tergetol! in 1969/1971, my ureters were taken out of my bladder and reinserted higher up on the bladder. the ureters were too short from a congential defect. the procedure is called the politano-leadbetter technique.

wish i was at that lecture.

please keep us updated on any new information from canada.

thanks!

shenna
:kiss:

[shennan]

cannot filter.

lol...

[Portia17]

I was told by the urologist nurse that they think it is caused by chemicals in the kidneys that some people are allergic to which in turn affects the bladder

[shennan]

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/501727?src=search

allergy article.

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Anti-IgE Therapy Curbs Interstitial Cystitis Symptoms: Case Report


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By Megan Rauscher

SAN ANTONIO (Reuters Health) Mar 21 - Is interstitial cystitis (IC) an allergic disorder? Clinicians at the University of Tennessee in Memphis think so, based on their treatment of a woman with IC whose bladder symptoms virtually disappeared with the introduction of anti-IgE therapy.

"IC is a real problem - about 500,000 people in the US suffer from IC, 90% are women, and there is no cure for it. I think we may have found a good treatment for cystitis," Dr. Tai June Yoo told Reuters Health.

At the 61st annual meeting her of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, Dr. Yoo's colleague, Dr. Brandon D. Hill described the case of a 28-year-old woman with asthma and allergic rhinitis. She also happened to have a 3-year history of IC. She had the typical bladder symptoms of IC including urinary frequency, urgency, and pelvic pain, symptoms that disrupted her daily life and were refractory to standard treatment.

While taking specific immunotherapy (SIT) for her allergic symptoms, the woman experienced anaphylaxis. She continued to have anaphylactic reactions even when the SIT shots were significantly diluted. Anti-IgE therapy with omalizumab was instituted in an attempt to prevent anaphylactic reactions during SIT.

"Once omalizumab was started, she responded beautifully - immunotherapy built up quickly - and remarkably, all of her cystitis symptoms disappeared," Dr. Yoo said. "The cystoscopic pictures of this patient who recovered by our treatment are impressive," he added.

"I believe IC could be an allergic disorder and the bladder is a target organ," Dr. Yoo said. "We have to figure out how the mast cells in the bladder get activated, maybe by pollen allergens or cross-reacting food allergens in the circulation," he said, adding that he's recently submitted a research grant proposal to study this further.


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American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology 61st Annual Meeting




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[kadi]

I don't know. My IC started during the summer, when I am always at my least stressed. Stress does seem to worsen symptoms, but I don't think it's responsible for starting it...

[kadi]

That allergy article is fascinating. I wish more people would see it. Sounds plausible to me.

[Stephanie2004]

Thanks for posting that article, Shenna.

I'm convinced that my own IC is allergy-related. I moved from a "low-allergen" state to an area with all kinds of pollen and allergans in March last year. After suffering from horrible allergy and asthma symptoms all spring and summer long, my IC began in August.

I also have food allergies. (Eggs and peanuts.) As a baby, the doctor told my mother that I was allergic to all of the solid foods she was feeding me and he put me back on formula, then slowly reintroduced each food. I've decided not to risk trying Elmiron because I've been allergic to sulpha drugs since childhood, and also have reactions to sulfates.

What is anti-IgE therapy?