AMP
09-18-2005, 03:19 AM
Hi all! I just joined here the other day, and I thought that I would share my story:
For most of my life, I have had some level of urinary and digestive problems. I can remember as early as the age of 10 or 11 having burning and frequency problems that I was too embarrassed to tell anyone about. They would pass, so I just put up with them. When I was 27 I saw a urologist for the first time. At this point I had been treated for numerous UTI's, and my doctor recommended that I see a Uro. Well, he did an IVP and cysto and said that he found nothing wrong mechanically other than the fact that my urethra was very swollen. (I thought I was going to die when he did the cysto.) He put me on Septra, telling me that I should take it daily to help ward off future infections. I did as was told, but had pain regularly. Sometimes I was sure that I had an infection, and could not understand why since I was on antibiotics every day. There were times where a few months would go by where I was pain-free, but then I would have times where the pain was constant. Last fall, 13 years after those first tests, the pain got so bad that I felt that I could no longer function. I went to another urologist. He did some tests and diagnosed me with IC. He immediately put me on Elmiron, but after a month, my primary had to take me off of it due to nasty side effects. Since I am very sensative to any sort of drugs, I resisted taking anything else. I began to follow the IC diet religiously and have found that to have helped a ton. Other things that I have found that seem to help me: 1. When I start to flare, I try to sit down and relax. I have found that standing for me can bring on bladder pain if I am on my feet for too long. If I can sit and concentrate on relaxing my pelvic muscles right away, it seems to help. 2. I try not to drink too much when my bladder is upset. I know that water is supposed to dilute the urine, but I have found that for me adding too much water seems to make me have to urinate more and that just brings on more pain. 3. I try not to empty my bladder too often. If I know that I just did a short time ago, I fight the urge to empty again; doing so just causes pain when there is not much unrine there. 4. When the pain won't go away with relaxation, I will lay down with a heating pad under my bladder. I have a heating pad that has a massager in it. I don't use the heat; I use the massager. Somehow this seems to lessen the pain. If it is really bad, however, this can make it worse. 4. If all else fails and I can't deal with the pain, I have davocet.
One of the things that I always did was take vitamin pills. After reading about IC, I stopped them. I used to take a multi vitamin and then extra vitamin C. I tried again, when my bladder was feeling pretty good, to take a multivitamin. Bad move! I started a flare-up. I would love some words of wisdom from others about your experiences with vitamins.
I would also love feedback from some of you on other diseases. I have read that people with IC often also suffer from other diseases. I have had migraines for years. I am on Protonix for acid reflux disease. I am seeming a GI doctor for possible IBS later this week. Has anyone ever been giving a reason to explain the link between these disesases? If so, I would like to hear it.
Well, I have other questions, but I need to go now. I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks!
For most of my life, I have had some level of urinary and digestive problems. I can remember as early as the age of 10 or 11 having burning and frequency problems that I was too embarrassed to tell anyone about. They would pass, so I just put up with them. When I was 27 I saw a urologist for the first time. At this point I had been treated for numerous UTI's, and my doctor recommended that I see a Uro. Well, he did an IVP and cysto and said that he found nothing wrong mechanically other than the fact that my urethra was very swollen. (I thought I was going to die when he did the cysto.) He put me on Septra, telling me that I should take it daily to help ward off future infections. I did as was told, but had pain regularly. Sometimes I was sure that I had an infection, and could not understand why since I was on antibiotics every day. There were times where a few months would go by where I was pain-free, but then I would have times where the pain was constant. Last fall, 13 years after those first tests, the pain got so bad that I felt that I could no longer function. I went to another urologist. He did some tests and diagnosed me with IC. He immediately put me on Elmiron, but after a month, my primary had to take me off of it due to nasty side effects. Since I am very sensative to any sort of drugs, I resisted taking anything else. I began to follow the IC diet religiously and have found that to have helped a ton. Other things that I have found that seem to help me: 1. When I start to flare, I try to sit down and relax. I have found that standing for me can bring on bladder pain if I am on my feet for too long. If I can sit and concentrate on relaxing my pelvic muscles right away, it seems to help. 2. I try not to drink too much when my bladder is upset. I know that water is supposed to dilute the urine, but I have found that for me adding too much water seems to make me have to urinate more and that just brings on more pain. 3. I try not to empty my bladder too often. If I know that I just did a short time ago, I fight the urge to empty again; doing so just causes pain when there is not much unrine there. 4. When the pain won't go away with relaxation, I will lay down with a heating pad under my bladder. I have a heating pad that has a massager in it. I don't use the heat; I use the massager. Somehow this seems to lessen the pain. If it is really bad, however, this can make it worse. 4. If all else fails and I can't deal with the pain, I have davocet.
One of the things that I always did was take vitamin pills. After reading about IC, I stopped them. I used to take a multi vitamin and then extra vitamin C. I tried again, when my bladder was feeling pretty good, to take a multivitamin. Bad move! I started a flare-up. I would love some words of wisdom from others about your experiences with vitamins.
I would also love feedback from some of you on other diseases. I have read that people with IC often also suffer from other diseases. I have had migraines for years. I am on Protonix for acid reflux disease. I am seeming a GI doctor for possible IBS later this week. Has anyone ever been giving a reason to explain the link between these disesases? If so, I would like to hear it.
Well, I have other questions, but I need to go now. I look forward to your thoughts. Thanks!