Does not having flare mean symptom free?

[rb7]

Those of you that are not in flares do you still have mild symptoms of IC? I am trying to figure out if by doing the elimination diet does that make you completely symptom free?

I have been trying very hard to do the eliminatin diet and drink lots of water but I still have a slight burn when I urinate or when my bladder fills up. Also get up 1x every night to pee. Used to get up 3-4x before taking enablex, now down to 1x.

If I am doing the elimination diet correctly should I be completely symptom free?

Thanks
Jen

[ICNDonna]

I don't think I'll ever be 100% symptom free. I normally make at least one or two bathroom trips every night and am always aware of my bladder. These are feelings I can tolerate easily. When I flare, it means I have pain.

Donna

[leelee88]

I was Dx in Nov06 and while I only flare sometimes, I am by NO means symptom free. But I am SO much better than when I was Dx.. My every day pain level use to be at a level 10 now it is at a 2, while I am not symptom free. I will say I am happy with a 2 compared to a 10.

My frequency has went down also from 20-30 times a day to maybe 10-15 and night time from 2-3 to 1 time. So I have just decided this is my norm now. Now when I flare all my symptoms return full force..
My opinion is if you have been Dx with moderate to severe IC you will always have some symptoms. But they do get better over time..

[Want2BPainFree]

No, I wouldn't say to expect symtom free, but it does sound like you are improving greatly already. Keep up the diet and see if you can achieve symptom free, even if it is only 1 day, that will be better than what was going on, right?

I feel a lot better than I did last year before diagnosis. I attribute most of it to diet, however, I am not symptom free. I still have bad days, flares sometimes, and frequency/urgency. However, they are so much less bothersome than before.

Also, I was able to go skiing this past weekend, and while I had to stop and undress about 8 times while on the slopes, I still was able to go. A year ago, that would not have been able to happen.

[SharonA]

As these others have said, I don't think I will ever be symptom free. When I first went running to a Urologist because of the pain, it was off the charts. Now, I usually am at a 1 on the pain chart. I say 1 because I am always aware of my bladder but it is not really painful at that point. When I do flare, which is a burning feeling inside the bladder, the pain is at a 3 or less. I start drinking water to dilute the urine and flush it out of my bladder as quickly as possible. Around Christmas, I had a 4 day flare but that is very unusual for me. My flares tend to only stick around for as long as it takes to have a complete urine exchange which calms the bladder after around 1 hour or so.

I contribute my general pain relief to learning what triggers my symptoms, which are something I eat/drink (IC Diet) and/or stress (my #1 trigger), plus finding a med that works for me.

It sounds like you are doing really well. That is great. :) :) :)