Has IC made you sad?

[waterflow]

I was wondering how many of us have sad lives now due to the IC happening? I know it has made my life very sad.

[gottapottie]

Yes it has. It is definetely an effort to look at the good things I have, and count my blessings. Somedays, I can do it just fine. And somedays IC consumes me and that is all I have energy to deal with. One of my favorite quotes: " Tommorrow is another day........" Scarlett O'Hara, Gone With The Wind. (This is better said with a overly drawn out southern accent....LOL)

[stef000]

Yeah well it was added on to the other stuff but i definitely had a lot of crying times on the toilet......ouchie......
so yeah i would have to say yes for sure it has since i didn't want it and flaring is the worst thing in the world to go through besides some other things but having knives come out of your urethra well at least it feeling like that, its not fun at all....
:toilet::bonk::loco:

:hi:

[Sally939]

IC makes me sad more than it makes my life sad. I know at first dealing with the concept of having a medical condition made me very sad. All of the restrictions have made my social life a bit sad but, as my meds keep working and I add a few things back into my diet I am learning how to have a normal full life with IC.

[leelee88]

In the beginning IC made me sad and everything around me sad. But the longer I have IC, I have come to realize that only you can make yourself sad. I know that sometimes IC makes things worse. But I also know it could be ALOT worse. I am just happy that I do not have a terminal illness.

So does IC make me sad, Sure sometimes. But does it make my life sad. Only if I let it!

[ICNDonna]

I think everyone has some sad times, IC or no IC. But I keep remembering that when my oldest son was a baby and had just been diagnosed with asthma I was feeling very sad and sorry for both him and myself. Then one day I was at the grocery store with my little guy when I saw a lady with twin girls about his age --- they were totally beautiful and both deaf. I took my baby home and thanked God that all he has is asthma.

I know IC is not fun to have, but I can walk, I can see, I can hear, and most days I feel pretty good --- so I guess I'd have to say I'm very fortunate.

Donna

[Laura78]

There are days when I get so down about it that I can hardly see straight, but I have to. I have to keep going for my husband, daughter & one to be. Exhaustion from lack of sleep *definitely* correlates w/ those darker times. I'm doing my best & I have many good days. There are so many, many things in my life to be grateful for, so I always try to remember them in spite of this wicked disease.

[kadi]

IC has definitely changed my life and there have been losses I've had to grieve because of it. Losses of some friendships, losses of a way of life (I was a big traveller, very active & loved being out, eating out, & had a very high energy/high stress lifestyle). And when people talked about finding a "new normal", I wanted to punch them in the nose & say, "I liked my 'old normal' just fine, thank you."

I can say however, now, I am happy again. Most days, I can make the best of it. And I am grateful for the medical care I've received, grateful for every treatment that helps me live with the IC. I still have IC, still have some level of symptoms daily, but thanks to this site, the diet, oral medicines, instillations, physical therapy & stress reduction, most days are manageable. I am able to work (I had to fight hard for that & some days it's still not easy, but I'm grateful to have a job & coworkers who are great people & help when needed), I spend time with friends & family, I am learning & growing. Thanks to being blessed to live in this country, I have a standard of living that many of the people I've met travelling would find enviable.

I guess I've seen enough in my travels to know that while IC is not what I hoped for in my life and while it does cause a fair amount of problems for me, it is far from the worst thing in the world.

All that said, if I'm flaring, yes - IC does make me sad & I just hold on tight to my gratitude & know that it will pass. When my IC was at it's worst (voiding 60x a day, unable to work, function, sleep, eat, everything), I forced myself to write down 5 good things about each day. It kept me sane...

[karen10]

Having any type of chronic condition, especially one with pain is going to cause times of sadness. Many people don't realize that you have to grieve the loss of the life that you once knew. This is necessary to come to accept it. This doesn't mean you won't get better and start feeling like life is "normal" again. So many people are afraid to grieve and let go because it feels like giving up and giving in to the illness, but in reality it offers freedom. There's such a powerful mind-body connection that when we feel better mentally, it affects us physically, especially over time.

I still feel sad some days, other days I'm angry, and other days I'm able to accept it better. It's not always dependent on how my bladder is doing either. Today I had lots of discomfort (woke up in pain), but I had a really good day and was feeling positive despite my IC. I'm lucky because I know there are certain things that I can do to feel better, and eventually I do. I hope everyone can take the time to let themselves grieve properly and then get on living their lives to the best of their ability! :)

[SandyRN]

I think it's perspective....it's all in how you look at it, much like Donna said. We all have our bad days and our days where we just want to curl up and cry the day away...believe me I have mine. BUT, when I stop and think what wonderful things I have in my life I realize that all my health problems won't take that away from me. It's finding your own inner peace and not dwelling on the problems in your life whether they be health related, financial, etc. I would have lost my mind by now if I sat around all day every day crying over the multiple dx's that I have but I can't and won't do that for ME and for my family. This is not to say that you won't see me on here ranting about the pain or saying how I'm crying over this or that. I have many low days, but I stop and pull myself up by the bootstraps eventually and tell myself to get on with it, this too shall pass, and guess what? Those bad feelings always pass!

It's hard not to think about pain when it's overwhelming and all consuming, but if you just stop and look around you there has to be something in your life that makes you feel whole and needed. Even just going out in the sunshine on a warm day or watching the rain on a rainy day can bring a smile to my face.

I truly believe that in most cases, certainly not all, but in most cases WE control how we feel mentally. This certainly isn't true for people with chemical imbalances and chronic depression, but for those who are simply, or not so simply sad over losing part of their lives that they loved due to this illness you simply must find something else in your life that fulfills you.

For me it's my kids, reading a good book, petting my animals and laughing at their silly antics or taking a nice, quiet hot bath. The other morning it was watching a cool thunderstorm out my sliding glass door as I laid on the couch with my heating pad.

So, to answer your question, yes, IC has made me sad. I am still sad that I'm not working as a RN right now but when I start to get upset over that I try and shift my attention to something else that I love.

[gigisgirl]

It makes me sad each and everyday. I'm just at a very low point right now with my IC. I feel better after knowing that now at least there is a plan for my ic with longacting pain meds, a pain psychologist, PT for me PFD. I think it just seems like such a long road to get down and I'm starting it already exhausted. I'm hopeful that I will get a handle on this and this time next year I will be one of the success stories.

[sandberg4]

Most days I don't think about it much. I'm fortunate, I can control mine pretty much with just diet. Of course, I get angry sometimes when I can't eat the things I used to love or take an aspirin or decongestant. I try to tell myself it could be cancer or something worse, and if this is all God will throw at me I can handle it with relish.
But then I'm human too and sure miss the heck out of tomatoes, mayo, and salad dressing.

[karen10]

but for those who are simply, or not so simply sad over losing part of their lives that they loved due to this illness you simply must find something else in your life that fulfills you.

Sandy,
I like what you said, but I think you especially nailed it when you said the above quote. We must learn to let go of what we can no longer have, grieve it, and then find something else that's fulfilling. We have to learn to adjust how we look at things. That's not easy and it takes time. We have to be patient with ourselves, but at the same time always be doing something to more forward! Even in the clouds, we need to never lose hope that the sun will shine again!

[JKL]

IC makes me sad; It affects every day of my life. It used to make me really sad when doctors couldn't make a diagnosis and thought that I was mental, but now I can put things in to perspective and it helps me deal with the pain better.

I just need to pay more attention to my diet! :)

[MiLynn]

IC is pretty new to me, and the first month I was a basket case. There were many days that I wasn't sure I would get through, or that I wanted to get through. But, I know I can't let this control my life and I'm getting much better at dealing with it. I haven't had any bad days in several weeks.

[mom_in_ma]

When I was younger and could control my symptoms...I was ok. Not happy with it, but lived life pretty normally - even moved across the country and took a new job. When I was in remission...life was grand! I was one on the boards saying, you can live a normal life!

Now that I've been out of remission for quite some time and can't seem to get a handle on it, I'm really sad and angry. Stages of grieving. It's taking a lot more from my life than I EVER expected. I try to be positive, but when you have pain and can't take pain meds....it's much harder than I ever imagined!

[Claredale]

I had mixed feelings at first as well. Sure I had the perception that I was sad and that I don't have the life I had before IC and never would again. I was busy, had young sons and enjoyed my job. Luckily my IC was mainly freq/urg for the first few years then I went into remission for a couple years. When I came out of remission, is when I had my worst time. Then I was dealing with pre-teen sons that were very involved in everything and I was struggling to do it all as well. My husband was finishing his degree, so he helped as much as he could. I also went through counseling to deal with what was happening to me and how to deal with life in general.

Like other people said, I put things in perspective. My son was dealing with his best friend from 2nd grade being diagnosed with leukemia. He was diagnosed on his 13th birthday. His mother had already lost a daughter to liver disease at 9 months. I decided that my life wasn't so bad after all. Even being sick, tired and frustrated, I had a purpose and I was going to focus on that. I watched my son do such a precious thing and chose to stay close to his friend through the good and the bad. He was their for his friend's chemo, sat many days at St. Jude with him just so Paul could have someone to play video games and not talk about being sick. Tyler lost his friend 3 days before his friend turned 15 and handled it better than I would ever have imagined. I learned through that to be very grateful for my life. We aren't promised a perfect life, we just need to live it as perfect and be as giving as possible. Every time I would have a bad week flaring, or couldn't sleep, I would write in my journal of the things that were good each and every day. I would count my blessings more than I would say what I couldn't do anymore. I found that was how I got through the hardest days.

I can't say I was actually sad. I just needed to learn how to live a different life.

T83