MY IC story

[Globug]

After reading several IC stories I have either been very blessed or misdiagnosed.
I was diagnosed with IC in Spring 2005 by my OB/GYN. I had been to a uro and due to lack of symptoms he felt it was probably a gyn issue. He offered to do a cysto if I wanted him to. However, if he didn't feel the need to do one I wasn't going to.
When I went to my gyno he did the cysto along with a lap to rule out any uterine problems. The cysto confirmed IC.
I went thru 5 weeks of bladder instillations which consisted of normal saline and elmiron then began the max dose of Elmiron, which I still take.
After reading some of the stories I don't feel I have the right to even complain. I rarely get up in the night to go to the bath room. I do go frequently thru the day but I drink a lot thru out the day. My biggest problem is ( and was) pelvic pressure. I have a lot of pressure but I've gotten used to it and it's my norm. Most of it is probably my fault due to my diet. I'm addicted to diet pepsi and drink a lot of it.
It has changed my life somewhat. I can't hold it as long as I used to. Intercourse can be painful - of course that affects my husband more than me. But again, after reading the issues some of you IC sufferers have, I have no right to complain. I have done research on it but didn't realize how bad it could get. I would like to know what some of you take for flair ups, I usually don't take anything and wait for it to pass. I sometimes take AZO or antibiotics. I can't tell a big difference with AZO but the antibiotics usually help. Any advice for anything else?? God bless each of you!

[ICNDonna]

If you're drinking "a lot of" diet Pepsi, that could very well be that's your biggest problem. I suggest (very strongly!) that you try going without the Pepsi for just two weeks --- just to see if you feel better without it.

Try thinking about it this way --- if you pour acid on your hand, it's going to hurt. That wouldn't be very good for you, would it? Pouring that Pepsi into your bladder is also going to hurt --- not very good for you either!

Sending encouraging hugs,
Donna

[Briza]

Whether you have been blessed or misdiagnosed is no reason to minimize your symptoms which apparently have caused you enough discomfort to seek medical help, whether you really do have IC or not!

I have to agree with Donna here...sodas are infamous for being bladder irritants, whether one has IC or not....I have a relative who does NOT have IC but used to drink tons of diet coke....road trips w/ her were worse than me with IC>>>>she had to stop to pee every 20 mins or whenever there was a rest stop..and if rest stop/gas station was more than 20 mins then she would whine she had to pee but she had no pain or burning just urgency gotta go right now, and no symptoms any other times...she just was "addicted" to drinking diet coke on road trips namely!

I have to highly advise you to stop drinking sodas of any kind...even if that takes some time to wean off..possibly try mineral water as a substitute while in weaning off process...some can't tolerate it but others can and it is by far not as hard on bladder as sodas...

Diet changes like you mention are a MUST for you, hon, if you want to feel better, I think!!!....chronic bladder pressure is not the norm...it may be if you have IC but it is not the norm for those who do not have IC or just an irritated bladder. Please take some of your own advice and make some diet changes..if you KNOW diet Pepsi or any other soda/bev or food is causing you problems and if you REALLY want to relieve that problem then diet changes are very often the best way to do it!!

Also it is NOT the norm to think that YOUR painful intercourse is affecting your HUSBAND more than YOU!:confused: Most definitely it can, may, will affect your spouse, but again, do not minimize YOUR pain or any other symptoms that you are having....whatever is going on with your bladder is NOT YOUR FAULT and thinking that it is affecting someone else more than your own well-being and comfort is a bit distorted, but there are definitely things that you can do to help yourself to prevent and control the pain... and if you don't do those things that could very well (and seems like you know already) may help, then yeah, you gotta re-assess the situation to determine who and what is creating these symptoms...and it sounds like dietary changes would be of much help to you, and a very easy way to go about it that doesn't require a doctor's appt, a presciption, nor cause any side effects and that is DIET...for majority of us on this board diet plays at least a small role but most often a HUGE role in how we feel and what symptoms we have on a day to day basis, regardless how severe or mild our symptoms may be, how and what we are dxd with, and regardless what med treatments we have to help control our symptoms....in the end, for majority of us, most of our med treatments only work, or work their best, if we avoid the foods/bevs we know are really bad triggers...and you are already one step ahead of the game b/c you have already figured out what your main symptom trigger is!!!....whether or not you have IC, think how much better you would feel if you avoided that Pepsi! I won't lie...coffee causes me many problems and it took a good 2+ yrs to phase it out of my diet completely, but every sip less that I took the better I felt and now I don't even care for the smell or the taste of it but rarely. So please know that you can help yourself so much by phasing out your already known food/bev bladder symptom triggers!:flower:

[katie87]

I am on day 5 of no coffee, still having nonstop pain, but the pain is a little less than after I drink a cup of coffee for sure.. Do not feel bad for mentioning your problems, pressure and frequency are very annnoying and a big issue for most of us here! best of luck!