Can IC be passed on?

[KLR]

HI, I was diagnosed in April of '04 with IC. Started out with a major flare and I have since had a few more flares but all in all I feel I am doing well on the Elmrion. I take four pills a day and can usually eat whatever I want. When I am not in a flare food does not seem to bother me.
My question is that I am starting to wonder if my 11 year old daughter could possibly have IC. Last week she was complaining that it felt like she had to keep "going" but not much came out. No burning or cramping, just uncomfortable. Her doctor's office tested her urine twice last week and both times it came back negative. I have been trying to get her to drink, drink and drink more water. She seemed to be feeling better on Sunday and then at my sons (her twin) baseball game she happened to have a ice cream with hot fudge and wham, her symptoms started again. That's when it hit me, that maybe the chocolate bothered her bladder. I had her drink a ton more water before bed and she seemed better at school yesterday. Right now I am just kind of watching her to see what we can come up with to get her to feel more comfortable. I know she is stressing in school as she doesn't want to keep running to the bathroom. Could she have gotten this from me? I know my mother had a ton of bladder issues years ago and am now wondering if she could have had IC but no one knew of this back then. I hope I don't have to take my daughter to a urologist as she would be so embarressed and I hate to see her go through a whole lot of testing. I was actually tested by the nurse practitioner at my gyn's office who happens to be the doctor's wife. I would like to take her there but then if she needed to actally see the doctor I would prefer her to see a women doctor rather than a man.
Just kind of venting as I am not sure where this is going with her. My husband and I are going away for a few days this week and am also wondering if she is worried about that which may be causing all this. Sunday's have been the worst days for her and I know last school year she used to get pretty stressed on Sunday's because she had to go back to school the next day. Guess I'll just have to start a log on her.
That's all, just real curious if others have this disease running in their families.
Thanks!
KLR

[ICNDonna]

It's natural for an IC mom to worry about any bladder symptom in a child. It's possible, but it could easily be that she has an irritation that will go away as quickly as it came. Try not to stress over this --- children are very good at knowing when we are stressed.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[Ginny]

I think the tendency to have problems in the same area (bladder) runs in families. My grandmother and mom had problems with their bladders but not IC. I have IC but my two grown daughters do not. So, in my opinion if she has problems it does not mean it will be IC.

That worry over our kids is so strong. You are doing a great job of treating this. Water is the best thing you can do. I would have her drink a lot even when she is not complaining. It will help her to not be going to the bathroom so much.

Good luck.

Ginny

[KLR]

Thanks for both of your responses. She is feeling a bit better as of right now. I am starting to think that maybe she is just sensative to certain things. This may sound odd but she has been bringing her purse to school with toliet paper from home because she said the stuff at school is just to rough on her. She also may have become sensative to the shampoo she has been using for quite some time because she noticed after she used it in the shower it flared up again. I guess will will just keep seeing what is or isn't working for her.
Thanks again!
Karen

[dancemomof2]

My oldest does that when she drinks or eats anything with alot of red dye in. She is miserable for a day or so afterwards. Sunny delight also does it to her. After it gets out of her system and usually a benadryl she is better.

[purpleviolet]

Hi - I had that worry several years ago with my daughter. She had redness and irritation and it stung to pee. I had to get her to drink a lot, and used diaper rash ointment to get her to go one day. The pediatrician said make sure she changes underwear and hygeine etc. I think she did drink something with red dye, too, before. I think this is not so uncommon with kids.

[Moby]

I was just at the MD IC Forum and the researchers said that they had proven through numerous studies that there is a genetic component to IC. In particular, if you have IC, your child has a 17 times greater chance of having IC than a person of the average population. No one in my family has it though..... Dianne

[bpbennett]

This is something I was curious about as well. My daughter is 5 and had several episodes with the burning and irritaton...of course I am concerned b/c I started having problems like this when I was a bit younger than she is...and now I have IC.

[Friend2u]

I have been diagnosed with IC about 10 months ago. My daughter is 5 and is having problems and I am concerned with her. She has dripping after she goes to the bathroom and it really bothers her. Sometimes she will tell me that it burns. It feels like something is burning inside of her or one day it will be itching. I took her to the doctor several times and they say nothing is wrong with her except a labial adhesion. We have used the Premarin cream on her several times and it still is the same. She is so little and I don't want her to have to go through akward testing. As long as she wears one of my pantiliners everyday she is ok. I am still confused though. I don't know what to do for her. Any advice would be appreciated.

hugs to all of you guys little ones.
Friend 2u

[tigger_gal]

I think if your child is having any bladder problems you should get them to a childrens uro. I am one of the people who believe it can run in familes too. My mom, her sister and I have it and we have 2 cousins on mom's side that also have it... IC don't have an age range.. I pray no ones child gets this.. My 17 year old goes before she goes to school and then when she comes home... I wished I had her bladder....

[Sarojini]

The question of whether IC is genetic is still up in the air -- but I have heard many stories where it seems to run in families. However, I'm the only one in my family that has IC, so it's really hard to tell. I hope your daughter feels better soon and that it is just temporary irritation. :grouphug:

[mom_in_ma]

My six year old son has bladder problems...spams. He doesn't have IC, rather something that is called disfunctional voiding. In other words, his brain doesn't understand the signals from his bladder. Anyway, he sees a great pediatric urologist at Boston Children's. If you have a child that is experiencing problems, I highly recommend that you find a pediatric urologist.

My guy is doing well on detrol & oxybutnin. He'll be going through biofeedback this spring/summer in Boston and is expected to eventually outgrow his condition . Thank goodness!

[ICNDonna]

There are some fairly simple things that sometimes helps with irritation. I think the top of the list is to definitely avoid those good smelling, bubbles that kids like to bathe in. It's actually better if little girls can shower as young as possible if there's any irritation. And be sure that underpants are 100% cotton --- it can help if you double rinse them when doing laundry. I have one child with eczema and his doctor advised putting 1/2 cup vinegar in the final rinse to be certain the soap is all rinsed out.

I hope the problem is temporary and will go away very quickly.

Donna

[stacey79]

Hey, there. If your daughter starts having symptoms again, you might be sure to ask the doctor to do a urine culture. She might have a slight infection that isn't showing up in the dipstick test, but will grow if cultured. That's happened to me throughout my entire life. Even when I was little.

I also think it's possible that there are people with sensitive bladders but who don't have IC. In my own family, I have two great-aunts who have IC. My grandma and mom do not have it, but they do have sensitive bladders. Like if they eat a lot of acidic fruit or drink a whole lot of soda or something it will bother them for a couple of days.

[Moby]

Corena, I tried to PM you but your message box was full. The statistic I quoted above was from Dr. Susan Keay's speech at the IC Regional Forum in Arlington, VA on September 25, 2005. I do not have a transcript of the speech but you may be able to get it from the ICA, which sponsored the forum. Personally, of all the people I know with IC, no one has a family member who has it. Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me again when your messages are cleared so I can write back! :) Dianne

[Violin]

:) I was told by the dermathologist to put vinegar in the last rinse in my laundry machine. So I used to do that each time I had to do the oaundry during at least 5 years when my daughter was small and she had a bad skin irritation in the pelvic area and other part of her body with atopic dermatitis... It really reinse off the soap from the clothes...

[edythe]

Saw your post...myself and a research are doing an initial strudy on emloying a low oxalate diet, and calcium citrate and another protocol for healing the tissues on autistic children (though other have joined us), many of them have irritable bowel and the urinary problems--urgency etc. we have met with some really good success in these kids...you mentioned interestingly that your child hated sundays because of school the next day...does she having learning problems?....because this diet has also we have found, been helping these kids neurologically, will communicate with you more if you would like to have more info.

[K-lee]

Could it be passed to a partner? Bladder infections can right?

[angelaharrell]

I recently participated in a study from the University of Maryland where they are researching the genitic aspect of IC.

My Grandmother and Mother both have chronic UTI's but haven't been diagnosed with IC. My daughter (17) has in the last year had 3 UTI's. She did test positive all 3 times. She is a huge water drinker, very active, and eats a great diet because she plays soccer. I know there are gentic traits that are inherited, I'm sure the bladder problems is just one.

I have to share this story...aside from being a scrapbook junkie, I also do genealogy (family history). About 4 years ago I applied for a war pension record that belonged to my 4th great grandfather on my Mothers side. His reason for not working after the war was "kidney problems & problems with loose bowels". My Great Grandmother (same line) died of colon cancer and had health problems all of her life always stating that her "kidneys are working overtime". My Grandfather, her son, has IBS and is battling prostrate cancer. My Mother, his daughter, has IBS & cystitis. I have IBS and Interstitial Cystitis.

My point is this...someone should have quit reproducing a long time ago...we are a sickly line of family!

[angelaharrell]

Hey K-lee, IC can't be passed to a partner, however, yeast infections that can cause UTI's can be passed back and forth like a ping pong ball between partners.

During my first marriage, I had a terrible UTI & yeast infection. I was treated and less than a month later I was back at the Docs office. Got treated and again and still didn't get rid of it. Finally my Doc prescribed my husband & I an antibiotic and something else (can't remember) because he said we had two party infection. UGH!

[angelaharrell]

I forgot to mention K-lee, that your partner can be tested to see if he is carrying anything. I don't think UTI's can be passed

[edythe]

You may be interested in our site : Trying_Low-Oxalates http:/health.groups.yahoo.com/trying_Low_oxalates
there is all sorts of biochemical info on this and many of the people on the site have long family histiries like yours of IC, urinary urgency, irritable bowel, colitis, kidney stones....initially we started it for mothers of autistic kids whom we found had high oxalate levels (this was a very small initial project, to try and see if we could help heal gut, and urinary issues, what we found out later was many of these people who did respond so positively to the diet and other protocols also had these types of family histories too) but now we have about 80 mothers using the diet and other protocols, and everyone gets involved with sharing research. Since you seem to be research oriented by your letter you may find what we are discussing really helpful. There are files section with description of the project, and others with food lists of high oxalates, and files of many oxalate research studies...it can seem a little overwhelming at first, because there are several thousand emails now, but scan some, look at some of the research, and anything you can share on your family history would be helpful, just introduce yourself as new.. Hope you join and share your experiences with us Angela. I am sure some of the experiences mothers share about their kids can help your daughter. There are plenty of adults, male and female sharing info on the site in order to hep Susan our researcher on this.

My Grandmother and Mother both have chronic UTI's but haven't been diagnosed with IC. My daughter (17) has in the last year had 3 UTI's. She did test positive all 3 times. She is a huge water drinker, very active, and eats a great diet because she plays soccer. I know there are gentic traits that are inherited, I'm sure the bladder problems is just one.

I have to share this story...aside from being a scrapbook junkie, I also do genealogy (family history). About 4 years ago I applied for a war pension record that belonged to my 4th great grandfather on my Mothers side. His reason for not working after the war was "kidney problems & problems with loose bowels". My Great Grandmother (same line) died of colon cancer and had health problems all of her life always stating that her "kidneys are working overtime". My Grandfather, her son, has IBS and is battling prostrate cancer. My Mother, his daughter, has IBS & cystitis. I have IBS and Interstitial Cystitis.

My point is this...someone should have quit reproducing a long time ago...we are a sickly line of family![/QUOTE]

[Imustpee]

My son certainly doesn't have it...he pees 1 - 2 times a day! GRRRRR

[corena]

I will try to unload my mail box. Also, I live in ARlington, MA and I think you live in Arlington, Va. So sorry but even so, I think we are all in the same position here with IC. Hope my suggestions help.
Corena