Is anyone's pain like this? (& would pain meds work for this feeling?!)

[Shelka]

HI All!

When I read about people describing taking meds for 'pain' I often wonder if I'm a bit alone in the main type of IC pain I have?? :loco: When people talk about a feeling of 'pressure' is this what they mean...

I've been in a flare now for about 3 months & the best way to describe it isn't typical pain (not like horrid menstrual cramps), but a REALLY awful type of feeling (which is NO better than what I call typical pain!).

It's like having to go to the bathroom really badly, and then you go and you only have relief for 5 -10 minutes and then the feeling builds & builds again. Sometime, AS soon as I go it starts up almost immediately. Last night, for example, I hardly slept because even though the rest of my body felt sleepy, my bladder was wide awake & bursting!

Do anyone else experience this? Also, because I don't feel like it's typical pain, I wonder if pain meds would be any good for my type of IC symptom? :rolleyes:

Any input would be much help!
Thanks, Hope you're all having a relatively pain-free day! :)

Shelley

[Kathi]

That is what is typically called urgency. Have you tyried any of the antispasmodic meds? Pyridium, urapas (I thinK). Feel better soon, Kathi

[dg2901]

Thats exactly how I feel when the pain sets in; as if my bladder is on the verge of bursting. Like you I only get relief for a few minutes then the pain returns.
I also have a constant feeling of having to urinate, even when the pain isnt present.
Very frustrating to say the least.

[ICNDonna]

I'm also thinking that antispasmodics might be the answer for you.

Donna

[Shelka]

HI All,

Thanks for you replies. To answer your questions, I have tried antispasmodics (Urispas & Ditropan XL) but to no avail...

I wasn't sure if this was true 'urgency' because I can hold it for at least an hour (while in a flare) before the pain/pressure gets unbearable. I thought urgency meant that as soon as you felt the need you had to go RIGHT AWAY otherwise you might not be able to hold it?

Ahh, I'm all confused! I've never really understood the difference between what my IC feels like and urgency/frequency because although I probably only go about 15-20 times a day, I can hold it for awhile even after that first urge & also, I don't use the washroom everytime I have the urge so I don't know if 15-20 times reflects my true frequencey?!

If I did go everytime I felt I had to this is what it would be like --> :toilet: Hehe.

Thanks again, wishing you all a good day!
Shelley

[kygirltaytay]

hello hope you are doing better. I also have pain like that, nothing seems to help. I'm new to all of this. What bothers me is my symptoms, back pain, intercourse pain, (feels like he's hitting my bladder) then the left sided pain, also, when I'm really hurting my bowels act up too. I feel alone in this, my husband is very understanding, but we're both at a loss.

[Melanie]

Sometimes during flares I also experience that pressure type feeling you are describing. Sometimes it's caused by retention. Do you feel like your bladder empties completely when you urinate?

[Leslye]

Hye everyone!! This WHOLE Board has describe my symptoms! I also feel the need to Pee ALL of the time!! I NEVER feel like my bladder has emptied, I could just stay on the Commode 24-7. I also have lower back pain & pain with intercourse.(like he is hitting my bladder) I have found though that if we are both on our sides with my back to him it is almost enjoyable for me. The pressure for me feels like someone is trying to come out of my vagina or at least that they are jumping around on my pelvic floor.LOL The pain radiates down thru my inner thighs making it very hard to stand,sit & because of back pain, hard to lay down. Boy, I am a Mess!! The pyridium helps & I take Vicodin. The pyridium does upset my stomach so I take a zantac every morning.

[Imustpee]

Yes! Those have been my main problems for 38 years..feeling like I have to pee so bad my bladder is going to burst...I hate that...my meds are really controlling my symptoms these days...thank goodness...38 years of pressure is enough!

[SheriG]

...I have days like that, where you feel you may as well just stay on the potty with a year's worth of magazines, cuz just as soon as you think you are empty, you have to go all over again. :toilet: One thing that I experienced when I was first diagnosed, was that I would call my uro in tears, explaining what we are feeling here, and I was told that actually the antispasmotics (detrol, ditropan...) can work the other way and make you retain. Once I was aware of the, i cut my detrol dose in half ( doc said to ) and felt better. I hope you find some relief quickly, and that you can enjoy the upcoming long weekend! :grouphug: Sheri

[FibroMummy]

I don't get this too bad during the day, but the moment my head hits the pillow, WHAM! I'm up every 5 minutes until I finally fall asleep. Sometimes this happens for hours on end :(

Lisa

[jkcreations]

How is everything? Are you still using the forum? I just wanted to see if anything worked for you. I have the exact same problem you did, and I haven't had a good night sleep in years. I tried all the anti spasmodic pills also, to no avail. I wake up every hour on the hour with the feeling of having to go, and then it's so hard to get back to sleep because that feeling never really goes away. Anything work for you?

[TexasHoney]

I have been experiencing the same type of pain lately. Although my symptom is more burning and stinging sensation as my bladder feels and it increases when I urinate. The pressure could be due to your bladder not being completely emptied. I hope you can find some relief this symptom.

Hang In There

[amaranthe]

I would describe my daily pain similar to feeling like really bad menstral cramps or the cramping you get with diarrhea, except that the pain is most intense in my bladder and lower back, and seems to radiate outward from there, getting less intense at the outside of the radius, feeling more like soreness and tenderness there. Although, I also have that feeling that my husband is hitting my bladder during sex. I also have urgency, but for me, the urgency comes and goes, but for some reason (like someone else mentioned here), my urgency is worse at bedtime, often preventing sleep.

I now take round the clock pain meds (15mg Morphine every 12 hrs with Percocet 10/325 for breakthru pain.) That pretty much controls my daily cramping kind of pain. For the urgency, Elavil seems to help some people with that, but I cant take it because it is contraindicated with Cymbalta. So, I take Utira C for that. It contains an antispasmodic along with other things. Sometimes that will calm it down, but occaisonally, it persists even after that, so I take B and O suppositories at those times instead of the Percocet. The B and O (belladonna and opium) suppositories calm that down very swiftly like nothing else I have found. Though they dont make me sleepy, I have heard others say that they make them very sleepy. Either way, they are definately worth trying.

Some ICers swear by the Valium suppositories for the Urgency. I have never tried them, but I have heard they work very well for this too. (My Dr. wont r/x them for me b/c I am already taking so many other things.) However, if the B and O's every quit working for me for this, then he said we will try that next, as he has had good luck with them with many of his other patients.

I know the urgency can drive a person crazy! If you dont have an r/x on hand for it (or your Dr. wont call in something for you), then try using an ice pack down there. I have found it often helps to get the urethral twitching to stop. Sometimes, if you can just get that cycle to break, (like with using an ice pack), then it will settle things down enough that you can get some sleep.

When the urgency is in my bladder, (as opposed to the urethral urgency), I find that doing a rescue instill calms things down. (My Dr. taught me how to do them so I can do them at home whenever I need to do so.) If bladder urgency is a chronic issue for you, I would try getting your Dr to do a rescue instill when you are having this problem and see if it settles things down. If it does, then you can have youur Dr. to show you how to do them at home so you can calm things down at home whenever you are symptomatic.

I hope that everyone gets their symptoms under control very soon. This is such a miserable disease to have. Thank God there are at least meds out there to help with this or I think I would have gone crazy by now!

Best wishes for to all of you!

Sincerely,
Amaranthe

[jameson77]

seems as though i am reading all of my symptoms. burning while peeing, painful sex, never feeling like i am done peeing, getting up at night feeling like my bladder will burst, lower back pain, intermittant bladder pain, and sometimes i feel like i will have a sudden onset of a fever. i am taking all the meds i am supposed to, but i think i mistakenly downgraded myself on pain meds....i was taking lortab and wanted to try tramadol, but i think that was a mistake. but...i am seeing my doc tomorrow.

it is nice to have support and somewhere i can come and compare my symptoms with everyone else.

[Goldfinch]

Jameson, when my symptoms are their worst I feel like I have a terrible UTI: bladder feels tender, stinging and burning, need to pee constantly. Does Urelle or Prosed help you? Urelle helps me enormously when I flare. If you have not used either of them do ask your doc tomorrow.

[mary124]

I usually have problems like that at night- pretty much under control during the day, but once I try and settle in my bladder is awake! I have been taking Levsin and that seems to help. If I have to get up at all it is usually one maybe 2 times at night (last night I didn't get up at all till 5:00am- and I went to bed at 9:30. Too bad that doesn't happen all the time.

[jameson77]

Jameson, when my symptoms are their worst I feel like I have a terrible UTI: bladder feels tender, stinging and burning, need to pee constantly. Does Urelle or Prosed help you? Urelle helps me enormously when I flare. If you have not used either of them do ask your doc tomorrow.

....I have never tried Prosed...is it something the doc has to prescribe? I am taking Pyridium right now and i also have a script of Urelle...not sure which helps more. I know Urelle is more of an antispasmodic and i did take one of those early one morning when the burning tried to start.

....I am also trying figure out how to get rid of or lessen my lower back pain. I have Soma to take at night but I cannot take it during the day b/c it knocks me out. Before I was diagnosed, they did x-rays, and gave me Lidocaine/Flector patches, etc...but finally said it must be related to IC. I guess they meant referred pain? Boy I have lots of questions for my doc tomorrow!

[Goldfinch]

I only know that Urelle and Prosed (both prescription drugs) share four out of five ingredients and that some like one, some like the other; if you're happy with one of them you might be unlikely to try the other. Ask your doctor about taking Pyridium. Great for an emergency since it's OTC, but it isn't usually recommended for long-term use.

[nmariebal]

These are EXACTLY my symptoms and it seems to be worse at night. I get up, pee, go back to bed and 20 min later I feel like I have an extremely full bladder and have to pee again. I can actually go to the bathroom, stand up, buttom my pants and sit right back down and go again. I am working on bladder control, not going every time I think I have to (like before I go ANYWHERE) and it does seem to be helping. And the medication helps with that "I gotta pee so bad" or "am I getting a bladder infection" pain. On a bad night I am up every 1.5-2 hr to go to the bathroom. Now that I'm on my meds, I went 5 hr last night. There is hope!