I drink tea & it helps me...here's how

[systitis]

I've hesitated to post this because as we all know what works for one person doesn't for another. However, tea which is high on the list of IC no-nos actually makes me feel better. My symptoms are at their worst when I wake up & my morning cup of hot tea with milk relieves my discomfort & frequency.

I've read that large-leaf teas are lower in tannins than smaller leaf teas & I
order from on-line tea vendors that show a picture of each of their teas so it's easy to avoid smaller-leaf teas. I drink only large-leaf, black teas (Keemun, Darjeeling, Assam) & brew carefully (never overbrewed which makes tea get bitter & tannic) for not more than 4/5 minutes. Also I always add milk which, I have read, "binds the tannins."

I don't drink teabag tea (like Lipton's or other supermarket brands) or so-called Instant tea. I find them way too bitter & acidic and my bladder agrees.

I also avoid green tea which makes my frequency go crazy.

I would like to add that I am not particularly diet sensitive but that plain water and especially iced water aggravate my bladder. I wouldn't even try iced tea for that reason, only hot tea, freshly brewed.

Perhaps I am one in a million but I thought that perhaps my "rules" about tea might help someone else.

[ICNDonna]

I don't even try tea any more. If anyone wants to try it, my suggestion would be to drink a very small amount at first.

Donna

[systitis]

Thanks, Donna, for your good point. Yes, take a only very small amount at first and also take some Prelief along with it if you want to try some tea. When I first tried this I always took Prelief with tea until I figured out that, for me at least, tea is safe.

[leelee88]

We are all so different when it comes to diet.. I also agree small amount at first..I can tolerate a small cup of coffee in the mornings with lots of warm milk.. And that is a big no no.. So I like I always say the diet is trial and error and what might be ok for me might hurt someone else..

[Julie B]

I wish so much that I could drink tea. I used to live on iced tea in the summer and hot tea in the winter. Every now and then I try it again, just a pinch of weak tea, and my body just can't tolerate it. :( I will be interested to see if anyone else has good luck with the large leaf teas...

I do love peppermint and chamomile tea.

[krisillis]

I can drink tetley's de-caf orange pekoe because it is done with the swiss water process when my bladder is behaving itself. And I also enjoy Honeybush tea which is from Africa and is naturally cafeinne free. It tastes like orange pekoe but has a delicate honey after taste. I have not had any bad reaction even when my bladder is seriously angry.

Christine

[tangerine3]

I haven't had any problems with celestials, peppermint or chamomille tea.

I too miss my ice tea. I make these teas cold but not really any taste to them in my opinion even when you add sugar it is like you didn't really add any.

When it gets warmer I will try them hot with milk. I loved hot tea with milk and sugar.

[allipal]

I also miss black teas. I have a large selection of flavors here from a great loose tea cafe called TeaLuxe... but I can't drink them. I tried one of the loose black teas on Sunday and the urgency and frequency were incredible!! I never saw the connection before. So weird. I didn't have much pain, though. For now it's peppermint tea only.

[lauraads]

Has anyone tried White teas like silver needles? I was at a tea shop yesterday and they were trying to convince me the white tea was very mild.

I will have to try honeybush. I know many with IC who seem to be able to tolerate Red Bush or Rooibos as well.

I drink Chamomile but I spice it up with some bruised fennel seeds and dill seeds. I do see that some days my frequency goes up for an hour after drinking. There's no rhyme or reason to what days, though.