icgennifer
11-18-2008, 10:24 AM
Hi fellow ICers!
First off, I'd like to thank everyone who has been posting on here for the past few years. Your posts have given me a lot of hope and valuable information.
Here's my story.. During the summer of ‘05 I got a UTI that just didn't seem to go away. After a whole lot of antibiotics, pain, frustration and doctor’s appointments I was finally referred to a urologist.
The urologist suspected IC but I just didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t make an official diagnosis because the in office cystoscopy didn’t reveal anything unusual. He gave me a prescription for Vesicare and sent me on my way. The vesicare seemed to work. I took it for a couple of months and then stopped and didn’t have symptoms again until 2008.
Fast forward to 2008, once again I had the UTI that just didn’t seem to go away. I changed urologists and was scheduled for hydo/cysto and bladder biopsy. My bladder looked good during surgery but the biopsy revealed mild underlying chronic inflammation, small vessel congestion and mild submucosal edema. I FINALLY have my IC diagnosis.
My urologist was great for a diagnosis, but does not seem to know much about treatment options for the IC patient. I have an appointment with a urogynecologist in early December to explore other options.
I had my first bladder instillation today and I take 25 mg of lyrica. The Elmiron gave me migraines so I had to stop it.
Although I am devastated to have found out that I have this difficult to control disease, I am happy to have found such a wonderful website.
My IC seems to give me more pain and pressure than frequency and urgency. Has anyone taken any medication that has seemed to alleviate these symptoms?
My doctor said that I could not break open the Elmiron capsule to take the medicine.. does anyone know why?
Thank you for all of your support!
First off, I'd like to thank everyone who has been posting on here for the past few years. Your posts have given me a lot of hope and valuable information.
Here's my story.. During the summer of ‘05 I got a UTI that just didn't seem to go away. After a whole lot of antibiotics, pain, frustration and doctor’s appointments I was finally referred to a urologist.
The urologist suspected IC but I just didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t make an official diagnosis because the in office cystoscopy didn’t reveal anything unusual. He gave me a prescription for Vesicare and sent me on my way. The vesicare seemed to work. I took it for a couple of months and then stopped and didn’t have symptoms again until 2008.
Fast forward to 2008, once again I had the UTI that just didn’t seem to go away. I changed urologists and was scheduled for hydo/cysto and bladder biopsy. My bladder looked good during surgery but the biopsy revealed mild underlying chronic inflammation, small vessel congestion and mild submucosal edema. I FINALLY have my IC diagnosis.
My urologist was great for a diagnosis, but does not seem to know much about treatment options for the IC patient. I have an appointment with a urogynecologist in early December to explore other options.
I had my first bladder instillation today and I take 25 mg of lyrica. The Elmiron gave me migraines so I had to stop it.
Although I am devastated to have found out that I have this difficult to control disease, I am happy to have found such a wonderful website.
My IC seems to give me more pain and pressure than frequency and urgency. Has anyone taken any medication that has seemed to alleviate these symptoms?
My doctor said that I could not break open the Elmiron capsule to take the medicine.. does anyone know why?
Thank you for all of your support!