Help! What causing this flare??

[JenAZ07]

Many of you know I am pregnant again and thought things were going so well.....I was feeling so much better and even started to try things that would be no/nos on the IC diet and was doing well with those. Then starting Friday night I start getting some terrible cramping. It was horrible. I thought maybe it was related to the babies and the fear of miscarriage started taking over me....espcially since my Dr warned me about vanishing twin syndrome and I am terrified I am going to lose one or both of these babies before I make it out of the 1st trimester. Saturday morning woke up with more cramps, rested a bit they seemed to get better, but later in the afternoon they returned. Sunday I woke up with them and they just kept getting worse. Scary painful.....the pain meds aren't doing a thing. I called my OB's office (I started to suspect IC at this point), but the on-call dr knew nothing about IC so that was pointless. She told me to rest, drink fluids, and take some ibuprophen. I had already been resting, drinking water and taking pain meds and it wasn't getting better, but I tried it. Nope didn't get better.

Today....I woke up and the cramps are even worse than they were yesterday. Can't imagine my growing uterus is causing this much pain....it has to be a flare. Possibly a UTI? This one came out of nowhere and I have actually been pretty good on the diet for the last few days, so I don't think I ate anything that would cause this 4day flare. Any suggestions?

I am going to call my OB in the morning, but not really sure what she can/will do for me. (She is not that familiar with IC, so I feel like I need to dx myself or at least give her suggestions). Should I ask them to screen my urine for UIT? What else could it be? I have never had a flare where I couldn't point to the culprit....so this is kinda scary. :help:

[malone]

Jen,
I am SO sorry you are going through this! If it gets too bad I wouldn't take any chances and I would go to the ER. This can be such an anxious and scary time anyway so to combine it with IC is horrible. If there is anything I can do just pm me. You will be in my thoughts, Ginny

[SharonA]

I agree...I think you should see a doctor. It would be a good idea for you to call your OB right now. There will be someone who is on call. If you don't get some help by doing this, then a visit to the ER or Urgent Care is probably a good idea. I know...We all hate going to ER, but it might be something you should think seriously about. At least you can get your urine tested to see if indeed it is an infection.

Sending you some (((gentle hugs)))

[Briza]

Oh sweetie, I'm sorry you are going thru this. I am sure you are so scared. :grouphug: I do hope that you have contacted your dr and have gotten some med care since you posted! I sure hope so! You could always buy an OTC UTI test kit, but considering your situation I would think that med care is definitely in order! This is not a time for you to take any chances. Please keep us posted when you can...many prayers your way.:angel:Bri

[JenAZ07]

You guys think it is that serious to warrant a trip to the ER? I kinda thought maybe the ER, but that was mostly b/c I wanted a sonogram to check on the twins (and make sure they were still doing good)....but then I thought that I was just over-reacting and needed to wait to call my dr's office again tomorrow am and see if I can get in there. I am pretty sure whatever Dr that is on-call is just going to tell me to drink liquids and rest. Or worse they will tell me to drink cranberry juice! (ha!) It is getting worse though...I can barely walk right now w/o being in agony....but stupid me am still at work when I should have gone home already. (Can you tell I am a work-a-holic...and will work through the pain as much as I can?)

I have a scheduled appt with my pain dr in the am, maybe wait to talk to her?

[monica78]

Did you find anything out from the doctor yet? I do ultrasound where I live and think you should go just to be safe. Are you feeling better today?

[ICNDonna]

You absolutely need to see a doctor. Please don't delay. And let us know what you find out.

Donna

[JenAZ07]

I called my OB's office on Tues and it was somewhat of a disaster. The nurse tried to say that this flare was caused by me dropping my pain med dose too quickly (went from taking 6-8/day to 2/day b/c I was only taking as needed). She says I dropped too quick, but my pain dr said that drop was fine....as long as I was taking it as needed and wasn't experiencing hot flashes/cravings/sweats/irritability, etc. Pain dr said I was fine.

Then the OB nurse tried to tell me it was OK to just take pain meds until the flare was over and I protested saying that I knew it was okay to take the meds, but I needed to find out the "why am I in this much pain" part and hopefully take care of it. She told me that they do not want me seeing my IC dr b/c they want control over the meds I am given, etc.......but they have no experience with IC!!!!! At least they agreed to test my urine for a UTI and I am awaiting the results of that test, but b/c I was not having any burning or what they considered typical UTI symptoms (even though frequency and urgency are way up there) they refused to give me any antibiotics until the results are back. So I sit here suffering until then. Part of me is hoping it is a UTI so I can tell them "I told you so."

What is worse is that I don't think my dr is the one saying all this, I think it is just her nurse. I have an appt with my dr on Monday and I will be discussing this issue with her. If she doesn't want me seeing my IC dr, then she needs to become an expert in IC quick!! I refuse to be miserable or dx myself for the next 7 months.

Flare is still really bad...and getting worse by the day...so it has to be some kind of infection or something. I have never had a flare last longer than 2 days (except for after a hydrodistension) and I haven't had a UTI since getting IC....so I am thinking/hoping that is what it is. Plus I think UTIs are super common for preggers to get. That would just make sense and be somewhat of a quick fix. Sucks too b/c I am an attorney and I had a jury trial start today....and I have to be super careful about what I do in front of the jury..meaning I have to wait for breaks, etc. before I can take any meds and I can't let anyone see me in pain. Just wish I could stay at home in bed and relax. (Oh...and I am not stressed about the trial....we are not presenting the case, we are appellate trial, and basically babysitting the lead counsel....so most of my work was done in helping get them prepared for trial....I am not working near as hard now as I was a few weeks ago!)

Thanks for all the support and thoughts.

[Briza]

:grouphug: have you at least tried an OTC UTI test kit? You can buy them at all drugstores, pharmacies large supermarkets. If not, please try one or drop by ANY of your drs office and submit urine for testing AND culture, you don't even need an appt to do that in my experience...that will at least cover your concerns as to whether this is a UTI or not. I'm sorry you're are still suffering and having to deal with work at the same time...never fun, take care!:grouphug: