newly diagnosed and anxious

[Karen M]

I am 38 years old and suffereing from terrible pain for a while now. I have been to the ER a few times, several doctors and underwent tests and just this week at a pelvic pain specialist center, found my answers! I have IC along with endometriosis. I am glad to finally have the answers and not be shrugged off, but all the changes and the upcoming surgery are very frustrating and aggrivating. I now wonder after seeing the diet list, what on earth can I still have! A lot of my favorite foods and foods that I use in recipes are on there. Anyway, my doctor has started me on Elmiron, Atarax and Elavil. I still take pain medicine at times, use the heating pad quite a bit and have tried putting baking soda in some water when the pain is real bad. All this helps minimally. I know I am new to this and it will take time for me to feel better but it's still hard to take. There are so many questions. If anyone know what the best book would be for me to get I would appreciate some advice

[ICNDonna]

The best books I can think of are:

1. Dr. Robert Moldwin's "The Interstitial Cystitis Survival Guide."
2. Julie Beyer, RD (She's an IC patient): "Confident Choices" --- she also has another book coming out very soon and I plan to order it.
3. Bev Laumann's "A Taste of the Good Life." It's an excellent reference book and includes some good recipes. Bev is also an IC patient. It's a little more expensive, but well worth the money in my opinion.

All of the above are available in the ICN Shop.

Donna