Great article on IC and treatments

[Jax72]

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20011001/1199.html

I just wanted to share this article about IC that I found. It has interesting diagrams of the bladder wall (that give me a better idea of what may be happening in there) and it has a very informative run down on not just treatments - but success rates and what kind of testing (blind, open etc) has been done on them.

Wasn't sure which forum to put this in - since I haven't been diagnosed with IC (despite 4 months of bladder pain) I've put it here.

Jax

[systitis]

Thank you for posting this. An excellent & v informative article.

[sissygirl]

Thanks for posting this very helpful article. One thing that is unclear to me is bladder pain necessary for a diagnosis of IC? Is frequency enough? Does one have to have a faulty bladder lining to have IC? What is the difference between IC and "Overactive Bladder" that we hear so much about in drug ads lately?

I have been studying up and have seen a gyn and a uro for my bladder symptoms (mostly frequency and vag irritation) and I am still confused...

[systitis]

I've been dx'd with both IC and OAB...my uro told me that the two dxes can overlap & that there's no sharp/clear cut dividing line between the two dxes...hth

[sissygirl]

Interesting. IC seems like a condition where every practitioner has their own definition...I can't think of many other conditions like that.

[systitis]

I've read that IC is a dx of exclusion...basically, when they've ruled out all the other possibilities, they're left with either IC and/or OAB. I've had ulcers which tilt the dx to IC but also frequency (which continues after an operation for the ulcers) which seems to tilt to OAB...or at least that's the way I understand it.

Sheesh, no reliable treatment, not even a solid dx. Aren't we the lucky ones?

[Bekah79]

It is a great article indeed. Very informative. Thanks for posting it.