jjt001
07-06-2007, 06:19 PM
I really need some help! I'll try to be brief :-) I started having symptoms a few years ago during pregnancy, it got markedly worse last year (PAIN, urgency and frequency) and I participated in the Elavil/amitryptaline study last summer with no relief. It was a terrible summer. I was clearly on the placebo though, because when I started real Elavil last October I got much better. After about three months, and going up to 75 mg per day, I was feeling terrific. I did have small flares here and there, but could usually trace them back to food/drink. I felt like I could really measure my success by the fact that I had taken only one or two pyridium all year.
Then I got a sinus infection, which eventually required antibiotics. The antibiotics gave me a yeast infection, so I bought some of that three-day yeast remedy (where you insert the cream with an applicator). As soon as I used it the first day I knew it was a huge mistake. I think Kadi described the feeling as sitting on a hill of fire ants. I got through that night, trying to be very careful not to let that stuff anywhere near my urethra, and I actually felt okay the next day (which was good as I had to throw a birthday party for my 4-year old). I thought I had dodged the bullet.
The next day my bladder pain was back in full force, I could barely move without wanting to cry (or scream). I pulled out the pyridium and the heating pad and the pain went away. The next couple of days and nights I was hit with the worst frequency ever. I would literally get up and go to the bathroom, lie back down and then need to get up and go again -- and this was while taking 75 mg of Elavil at bedtime! I really understood how bad that frequency feeling could be, and I thought I had understood it before. I was a zombie and it was awful. Then after a few days that tapered off, but I've been left for the last several days with horrible pain during and after urination. I feel lots of spasms and just horrible pain -- not really burning, just awful cramping pain in my bladder and urethra. I dread going to the bathroom, but feel pretty normal at other times (and luckily I don't have to go super often). I have a hard time not crying out in pain every time I go.
So... that's my story. Any ideas? I don't think I have a UTI, since I did have pain upon urination before, but the pyridium used to help more (I tend to get used to it really fast and when it stops making me nauseous it usually stops working, too). I hope I haven't completely ruined my bladder... I hope someone has some ideas for me. Thanks in advance!!
Then I got a sinus infection, which eventually required antibiotics. The antibiotics gave me a yeast infection, so I bought some of that three-day yeast remedy (where you insert the cream with an applicator). As soon as I used it the first day I knew it was a huge mistake. I think Kadi described the feeling as sitting on a hill of fire ants. I got through that night, trying to be very careful not to let that stuff anywhere near my urethra, and I actually felt okay the next day (which was good as I had to throw a birthday party for my 4-year old). I thought I had dodged the bullet.
The next day my bladder pain was back in full force, I could barely move without wanting to cry (or scream). I pulled out the pyridium and the heating pad and the pain went away. The next couple of days and nights I was hit with the worst frequency ever. I would literally get up and go to the bathroom, lie back down and then need to get up and go again -- and this was while taking 75 mg of Elavil at bedtime! I really understood how bad that frequency feeling could be, and I thought I had understood it before. I was a zombie and it was awful. Then after a few days that tapered off, but I've been left for the last several days with horrible pain during and after urination. I feel lots of spasms and just horrible pain -- not really burning, just awful cramping pain in my bladder and urethra. I dread going to the bathroom, but feel pretty normal at other times (and luckily I don't have to go super often). I have a hard time not crying out in pain every time I go.
So... that's my story. Any ideas? I don't think I have a UTI, since I did have pain upon urination before, but the pyridium used to help more (I tend to get used to it really fast and when it stops making me nauseous it usually stops working, too). I hope I haven't completely ruined my bladder... I hope someone has some ideas for me. Thanks in advance!!