Daughter flaring after 1 year remission

[threewins]

Hi-
I haven't been on the boards in a few years now. My daughter was diagnosed with IC in 2003 (age 5) after hydrodistension/scope. She is now 11 has been medication & symptom free for the past year, and for the 2 years before that, all symptoms were controlled with ditropan and atarax.

Since her original diagnosis and treatment started, most of the times she flares are when she has a cold/virus. She caught a terrible cold last week, and today started with painful urination & frequency.........so I am back hoping to hear from other parents or patients who have a similar pattern? I have never noticed a tie to her diet.
Thanks for any insight you could offer,
Cara

[leelee88]

Hello and welcome back!

Is your daughter taking anything for her cold? I know cold meds will flare me and I have to be very careful in what I take. Also I flare with antibotics. Also when flaring I only eat IC friendly foods to get my bladder calmed back down and drink only water and milk..I hope this flare does pass soon..

[TexasHoney]

:grouphug: To your daughter. I hope she gets better soon.

[Smokey]

cara,

can i ask you do you have ic too?

[vm]

When I was symptomatic any kind of illness could throw me into a flare. That was typical for me, too.

I hope she starts to feel better soon. :kissing:

[ICNDonna]

Cold medicines can be a problem for me too. When I catch a cold I just take tylenol and drink lots of fluids. I am super diet sensitive any time I have any kind of illness. I hope this flare goes away soon.

Donna

[threewins]

Hi,
Thanks for all of the warm wishes.
She has not been taking any medication for her cold other than advil which she has taken before with no problems. Now I put her on the Atarax - hoping it helps both the IC and cold symptoms.
Her IC has always been related to her catching a virus - not medications or diet. Her pediatric urologist has told me he has seen this with a few other patients, but I guess it is not typical of IC. To me, it makes sense if IC is an autoimmune disease that it could flare up during times her immune system is compromised.
Fortunately I do not have IC. I had a 2 year period in my late teens (19/20) with constantly recurring uti's, but fortunately only 2 or 3 uti's in the past fifteen years or so. ( I am now 39).
Is anyone aware of any recent studies about children with IC and their prognosis/treatments? I searched online, but the same old info from the late 90's and early 2000's was all I found.
-Cara

[ICNDonna]

Advil is a problem for lots of ICers. I know I can't take it.

Donna

[threewins]

Yes, in many ways she is an anomoly within the IC diagnosis. But , no advil or any other diet changes have never made any difference to her flares..........the only correlation I have ever been able to make is when she gets a virus/runny nose/cough.
She is lucky in that she doesn't get sick very often now that she is older! Dr. Klauber told us that he has seen a few other patients similar to her now, but a few years ago when I told him this correlation he didnt make much of it.......really thought we would find a diet connection, but no.
THanks for the suggestions, and help with the brainstorming of causes. Hopefully somebody like her will find this post!
-Cara

[threewins]

Thank you very much - it is a good point about the hormones.
It was a VERY quick flare for her, just 3-4 days and she has been great since.
Thank you so much for sharing your insight, I greatly appreciate it!

One other question - regarding diet/IC correlation: How quickly can symptoms be seen after eating/drinking the food? There is a restaurant we go to frequently, and everytime we go there, she has 2-4 times that it hurts when she pees that same night - sometimes, before we even get home. She has orange soda there - the last two times we went she had water instead & no problems. I was just very curious that it could have such an immediate result, and short lived problem?

Thanks!

[ICNDonna]

If the flare is from a soda, the reaction could be very quick. If I drink something that's a problem for me, the flare can hit within an hour. Orange (citrus) soda (a problem for most ICers) is a double whammy. The only soda I have found that I can tolerate is root beer, which I can have if I'm careful about everything else.

I'm glad she's feeling better now.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[SharonA]

When I drink something that I should not, I feel the effects rather quickly...like within the same hour I had the liquid. With solid food, I can feel a flare anywhere from 3 hours to possibly the next day if I ate something that bothers me late in the evening. IMO, I think fluid goes through to the bladder much quicker than solids. It does not take the stomach as much time to digest the fluid, therefore it ends up in the bladder faster. Since she experiences the effects with orange soda and not water, I would say she should not be drinking the soda.

For me, once I get the offending urine out of my bladder and into the toilet, I begin to feel better. To do this, I begin to drink more water than I normally do. I also take 2 Prelief Tablets with the water when I first being to notice that a flare may be coming on. I sometimes take 2 more Prelief if things are still not settling down after 1 hour or so.

[threewins]

Thanks, yes she usually only drinks water and milk except when we have gone to this restaurant...........but she has "learned the hard way" that she really is much better off without her favorite soda.
-Cara