Scared of food... even on the ok list...advice?

[valerie michele]

Hi everyone, I skipped Thanksgiving this year. I did not want to be at the inlaws with only a piece of bread and butter on my plate with a glass of water. I have had ic for one year now, since a kidney stone passed. I can not eat anything, even with prelief, beyond bread and butter without increased pain. I can handle plain bread and plain noodles but just about everything. ... actually everything, from the ok list hurts. Vanilla icecream hurts, veggies hurt. I am trying to drink sips of ensure throughout the day just so i don't get to malnurished. I have lost a great deal of weight. I am about 118 pounds at almost 6 feet tall. I am on elmiron, hydroxizine, valium and pain meds. I also have really bad pfd. Has anyone else had a really difficult time eating foods? How did you get through it? Thanks everyone and I hope we all feel better soon. :angel:

[123456]

Okay, first you have to quit taking the Ensure. That's probably what is making you flare. It is like taking a multi-vitamin which is a big problem for most ICers. Here's the nutritional data for you:

http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/7708/2

Also, when you're trying foods stick with one thing that works for awhile and then slowly integrate others. For example, I had a bagel with cream cheese and a pear every day for lunch for 2 weeks. Then, I tried a McDonald's vanilla milk shake and got sick. Some people with IC can drink those, but I know that I cannot. Start with the most basic boring foods on the "ok list" and then move to others. Do you use Prelief?

[valerie michele]

Hi Michelle, Thank you for the information. Yes, I do take two Prelief tablets right before eating. I do not drink the ensure everyday. Sometimes I go weeks without drinking it. I have had pain for every day, almost all day long, for just over one year. If I eat nothing but bread and water or the very blandest of foods I can get by. When I add things I start to hurt. How long does it take for malnutrition problems to show and what are the signs of malnutrition I should look for? Thank you for your help.

[123456]

Well, I'm no doctor, but judging by your height and weight, I'd say you probably need to see your doc for assistance. I'm 5' 9' and 135lbs and I'm on the skinny side. There's got to be something you can eat. What medications does your uro have you on?

[valerie michele]

I am on Emiron, Hydroxizine, Pain meds, Macrobid for uti's, Valium for pfd and Prelief.

[valerie michele]

I will have to find a doctor who can help me get a nutitional supplement of some kind. I wonder if there is a version of ensure without the vitamin C. I would like to find something without vitamin D too. I was taking vitamin D, which gave me the kidney stone, which kicked off the IC. Even better would be a time machine. I could make sure I didn't make that mistake again.

Does anyone know of a vitamin supplement that IC'ers can take?

[GinaGV]

Hi Valerie

I have found only one mulitvitamin I can take without pain. I find it online.

It's made by Natrol. The My Favorite Multiple Energizer. It is made from food based ingredients and uses Ester-C for the vitamin C source, which is the only IC safe kind I have found.

I've been working with IC for a bit over a year now and like everyone else it has been a real education. Eventually, you will find things that you can eat and drink.

For me, one of the biggest things that brings on pain is stress and strong emotions. That said, I know its hard, but try to not panic and know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

praying for healing for us all.

Gina

[valerie michele]

Thanks Gina, I will try that vitamin. I keep hoping when I can eat more foods I will not need a vitamin but I just can not seem to be able to eat much without increased pain.

[KarenAnne]

:grouphug: Valerie Michele, Is your urologist aware that you can not eat anything? The food problem may not be related to your IC. Also, an internist should check you out. If you have just been eating bread & water for so long, you have not been getting any protein, iron, etc. Please see a doctor about this.

[kadi]

Plain chicken? Rice? Plain gentle vegetables like cooked zucchini?

I'd second what KarenAnne suggested, definitely let your urologist know how limited your diet is.

[Snowden1]

Valerie,
I am so much like you. I lost about 40 pounds because of this. I did have an allergy test and found I was allergic to many foods.

If you can eat bread there is milk and wheat in that (in most). Although, I have rice bread because I have trouble with gluten. So, can you drink milk - this will give you calcium. Also, butter has milk or cream - you could probably to cream. You may want to try cream cheese - very bland almost like butter. How about almonds? There are a ton of vitamins and protien there. This holiday my mom made a cheese cake for me with just knox gelatin (this is the coating on some of our pills), cream cheese and vanilla. She even burned off the alcohol in it by putting it in the microwave. The crust was almonds with canola oil, but you could use butter because you know it's o.k. Chill it - it was wonderful and I gained about 3 pounds because I ate it all.

Also, like others have suggested bagels should be o.k. if bread is. Add one food one at a time. Do not drink ensure - that stuff is flare city and you may flare for weeks before your bladder calms down. Try things one at a time. Sometimes I think I have a problem with a food, but it is just a bad day or week for my IC.

I also drank "Rice" protein drink from The Vitamin Shoppe for awhile when I couldn't eat. It is just "brown rice." I know how scared you are - I am the same way. I am scared to try anything new because the pain is too much to deal with. If you do have a reaction to something try the baking soda trick - if you don't have high blood pressure. I use prelief on everything - I bought the powder.

Just try one food at a time.
Sorry you feel so bad:pray:
Teresa

[Julie B]

I just wanted to chime in here. Everyone seems to be giving you very good advice. Even if you are not consuming the Ensure every day, the flares could last awhile.

I also think you may be a good candidate for allergy testing. Or, there could be something else wrong besides the IC (an infection? Just a thought)

I hope that you find something that helps soon....

Gentle hugs........ Julie B

[valerie michele]

Hi everyone, thank you for the good advice. I have been a vegetarian for almost 30 years, so my diet was a bit limited even before the ic. I ate alot of soy based products for protein. I am going to try the rice protein drink and get some almonds as teresa mentioned. I have one local urologist and he doesn't seem to know much about ic. The other one is a two hour drive to Boston but the people there really don't seem to care about any of my problems. When I call them for help they seem annoyed, can't answer my questions, and just want me to come in ($$$$). Even if I was just there two weeks ago. I will have to find another uro/gyno somewhere again. If someone knows of anyone, who is actually good, knows what ic is and cares, in the Boston area please let me know.

I have not had allergy testing but before ic was diagnosed, i was given a colonoscopy, mri, catscanned, x-rayed, and a vaginal ultrasound, in order to find out why I was having such pain.

I am using about two prelief tablets before I eat. I am concerned about using anymore than that because the calcium could lead to more kidney stones and that is the reason I am in the ic boat to begin with. I was fine until that fateful night when the stone went through. I get my urine tested for uti's every month or so and since i have been on low dose macrobid I have not had any. Before I started the low dose macrobid I had back to back infections because of the ic.

I do use the baking soda drink when the pain is so bad that I just can't take it anymore. It does help. I try not to do it often though. I will try and go to the supermarket and look for some foods to try. I used to love the supermarket. Now when I go, I see so many aisles filled with food that I can not eat. I especially miss the condiment aisle. My husband goes now. I am going to get some bagels and cream cheese, cross my fingers, and hope for the best. Thank you for you help everyone and I hope we all get better.

[GinaGV]

Note on the cream cheese... make sure you get only the block kind, not the kind in the tubs. The tub kind has bad stuff in it that will flare you.

[loveslife]

Hi Valerie,
I'm sorry you're having such a hard time right now. I too remember hating going to the store because of all the food off my list but believe me that eventually fades as you get adjusted to your diet. Here's a link to a listing of doctors in Mass. area from this site here:http://www.ic-network.com/md/listings/Massachusetts.html
Maybe you can find one there. I used to be vegetarian but was never fond of soy products(and it's not good for my thyroid condition). Anyway to get protein, I would do combinations of beans, grains and nuts to get a complete protein. I used to make a great cashew walnut loaf...you know things like that.
take care,
Cynthia

[Snowden1]

Valerie,
Yes, GinaGV is right about the cream cheese. I get the organic in blocks - the tubs have some kind of acid I think, don't buy that one. Thanks for that Gina:).
Teresa

[kadi]

In Massachusetts, do you have Whole Foods or Bread&Circus? Those stores tend to have more IC friendly foods...

[valerie michele]

Thank you so much for telling me about the cream cheese, Gina and Teresa. I would have bought the tub kind because I have always liked the whipped cream cheese best. I have a Trader Joes near by and I will see if they have the block kind. There is a Whole Foods about two hours away from me. I used to visit it before because of all the great vegetarian options they had. The last time I went there I bought vitamin D because I was told it was good for the thyroid and my pc dr said she was watching my thyroid in my blood work. Well like a dope I ate a lot of the vit. D and grew monster kidney stones from the excess of Vit. D. Now here I am with this horrid bladder problem. (sorry ... venting a little). Thank you Cynthia too. I am going to check out that link you gave for Mass. Dr.'s. Thank you everyone. It's so good to have this place to come to. I can not even imagine what it must have been like for people with ic before this forum was here.

[valerie michele]

Hi Kadi, I can eat zucchini without to much trouble and I have tried it with angel hair pasta without a big increase in pain. Carrots really hurt still though and most of the other veggies I have tried. Maybe they need to be boiled for a very long time? I want to try broccoli again because I think it might be a good source of vitamin c. Last time I tried broccoli though the pain picked up. Maybe with more time I can handle it. Thank you for your help.

[Snowden1]

Valerie,

I can't believe how similiar we are with food. I can't eat carrots at all. Also, brocolli is bad for me too. I can eat zuchinni (although I don't think I can spell it):). Lettuce is o.k. for me, I buy organic and rinse it in distilled water. Potatoes are o.k. for me and have lots of potassium. I can have sweet potatoes too. I am very diet restricted - I can't do blueberries, watermelon, dates or apples yet. I thought I could do watermelon, but after eating it the third time in one day bam! I so love watermelon. If you find you can do blueberries or pears you could make a shake with the rice protein drink.

Teresa

[Snowden1]

Oh, if you want my mom's cheesecake recipe just PM me. I have trouble with dairy, but am taking those lactose pills before it now so it does not upset my stomach.
Teresa

[baaaby11]

I'm vegetarian, too. =)

Have you tried anything like lentils or chick peas or anything like that?

I see you have done okay with zucchini. Have you tried any other types of squash? Maybe try a mild one like spaghetti squash? Or maybe even acorn squash?

Maybe some other suggestions you could try: quinoa and polenta. They are both good for main dishes and they're pretty mild-tasting.

[NancyB]

Dear Valerie -

Sorry you are having such a bad time. I just wanted to make sure you were drinking an OK water. You should be drinking ONLY SPRING WATER WITH NOTHING ADDED TO IT (by you or by bottler). You would be surprised at what a difference it can make in how you feel. You may have to try a few before finding one that works for you. Ice Mountain, Poland Springs, Crystal Geyser are a few of them. This site says Evian is ok, but a lot of ICers cannot drink that. In addition, make sure you are staying well hydrated. Concentrated urine will hurt you and your bladder more than diluted urine.

Hope this information is helpful to you.

NancyB:)

[Glenda2]

A Bagel and Cream Cheese is extremely Fattening.

I am Not Surprised that it would make some one ill and cause a Flare of either IBS or IC or Both together.

I know these things taste good , but Yikes , consider that this stuff has to under go the digestion process , and How it is going to affect your Insides.
I would Love to have a Shake ( any Flavor ) But I am allergic to Milk.
If I drank that , I would be sick as a dog and My insides would be trying to digest it and I would be On the potty with Diarrhea and my head in a bucket throwing up. Now that I have IC , you have to realise you have to urinate the shake and that would irritate the IC even worse.

Be carefull what you put in your mouth . It can come back to haunt you.

[Snowden1]

Glenda,

Yes, she WANTS to gain weight - like me she had dropped too much. I also have milk issues, but can now take lactaid and be fine with it. Cream cheese is one of the only things I can eat that does not cause a flare. She is already eating bread and a bagel from Trader Joe's or Whole foods would be the same. We are trying to think of ways for her to gain weight and add some nutrition. You will get sicker if you don't eat.
Teresa

[valerie michele]

Hi Teresa, Baaaby11, Nancy, Glenda and everyone,

Teresa, yes, our diets and bladder tolerances sound sooooo much the same. I can do a very little bit of watermelon, which i put on iceberg lettuce w/olive oil. But... i can not do more than a few small cubes of it and I can not eat it two days in a row. I can have a few blueberries but the same thing... only a few and not two days in a row. I am to scared to venture much further right now.

I went to Trader Joes yesterday and got some slivered almonds and some cream cheese. I had a rough time in there and I had to leave quickly. The smell of that delicious coffee and all of the foods that I used to love in there. All of the chocholates .... it overwhelmed me. I do not have the apparatus to psychologically handle it right now. I am no stranger to pain and have had many operations after an accident but this disease is just cruel and it's association with food makes it much more so.

Baaby since you are a vegetarian too you know how our diets were a little limited to start out with. If you have any safe recipes that you have tried please let me know. I have not tried to eat lentils yet. I used to like progresso's lentil soup but that would be a no no now. I don't think lentils just boiled in water would be very good. I can't put onions in it. I used to like hummus. I think that has lemon in it though. The polenta may be an option I will look into. Is polenta made of corn? Maybe I will try a corn muffin. I did have a corn on the cob over the summer with butter on it and that worked out ok. Strangely, I felt better after eating it.

I am trying to drink just Evian water. I run out quickly and have used other bottled waters. I hope the ph is good in those. I feel best with no food at all and just drinking water. May day usually consists of water and pills up to about six pm, then I try some food, feel worse, and eat more pills. JOY!!!

I am going to get some plain bagels today and try out the cream cheese. I hope it works out well. If it does I will be eating more cream cheese and that should help get some weight back on. Teresa, I will want lots of cheesecake if this works. Thank you for the recipe offer.

Thank you everyone for your concern and help. Best wishes to you all.

Valerie

[NancyB]

Dear Valerie -

Are you sure that the Evian is not causing you problems. It appears from all that you have said that it might be something you are consuming on a regular basis that is causing you problems. I would try another SPRING water. While this site says Evian is usually ok, a lot of ICers cannot drink it.

NancyB:)

[dee106]

I hope I am doing this right. It's been awhile since I have posted. I can feel your pain. It's been over one year and all I can eat is rice, carrots and chicken. One week ago I did the *dumb* thing and had sex, my body has not been right since. Sending prayers your way. {{HUGS****

[valerie michele]

Hi Nancy,

I don't think the evian is bothering me. I don't drink it everyday because it is really expensive. I drink other bottled waters too. I am really at the lowest amount of pain during the day, when i do not eat food, then after food at night the pain really picks up. It only takes a minute after I start eating and I feel the pain picking up. Bread and butter is really the only thing I can eat without the pain picking up. Other foods just make the pain rise. I thought that evian was a ph neutral water. What could be in it that hurts other ic'ers? I wonder if anyone has done ph tests on other nationally branded waters and how these waters scored. Is there something besides the ph that ic'ers should be concerned about? Maybe a chemical added to the water? Just curious. Thank you and I hope we all feel better soon.

[valerie michele]

Hi Dee,
Thank you for the prayers and I am sending some your way too. You sound like me with food just hurting. I am way to afraid of sex right now. LOL. Even the thought of it is painful. I wonder how long all of this trouble is going to go on for. I have severe pfd too. Does any of this stuff ever stop? I could really use a brake from it. ((hugs)) for you too.

[kadi]

I have trouble with Evian water and any waters that have high mineral content. I don't buy Evian or any water that says minerals added. I was really surprised the Evian made my bladder more irritable since it's supposed to be a good water for us. I use mainly Arrowhead, Crystal Geyser or the Brita pitcher with tap water at my house. I know some patients here have said the Brita made their water acidic, but I pH tested my water by itself and after putting it in the Brita & there was no difference.

[Snowden1]

Valerie,
Yes, we are alike - I feel best when I am just drinking water. My pain level is much better. Strangly though, cream cheese seemed to help - like corn on the cob for you. It may be something in the milk part. I have also tried many bottled waters and I am good with Arrowhead (but they don't sell it here) and I am good with Evian. Dasani makes me flare.

Dee, wow, I thought I was limited in food. Do you eat this everyday? I was eating only chicken, turkey, lettuce and rice for a long time without pain. I could not maintain that and strarted trying some other things, but most caused pain. Now, I have pain alot, maybe because I have added too much organic cane sugar. I can't help it that diet was making me crazy. Sometimes I feel it is eating or pain. This IS a cruel disease.
Teresa

[dee106]

*sigh* I waited one year to have sex...I was in a good place, my body felt fine and my mind. I know I won't be going to work tomorrow (the pain). Funny thing about IC...if you don't have a broken leg or cast on your body *NO*body can understand it. I would give anything to blink and for back 5 years alas...but I can't. I struggle with the *new* me....as to the food, yes...the same old, same old....good thing is I enjoy the rice, carrots and chicken every day...no snacks that is all I can eat. I feel for you....you know even though you can only eat certain things as well as I I haven't meant anyone else who is so limited in our eating. I do have to say "Thank you" for allowing me to connect with you I wish you well....

[kadi]

I've also noticed that eating fresh corn seems to help my bladder & I saw it listed somewhere as an especially soothing food for IC... Weird. But, hey, at least it's tasty.

[dee106]

Yes, I eat the chicken, rice and carrots every day. Actually a year and a month now. My drink of choice is water. I'm up now because I had to go to the bathroom and can't fall back asleep, *lol* I attempt new foods but it just doesn't work out for me.

[baaaby11]

Yes! As vegetarians, we are very limited to what we can eat sometimes, especially when that means also following the IC diet. Luckily, I found out that despite the fact that a lot of people have problems with tofu, I am able to eat it without many problems.

However, before I added tofu back into my diet, I ate other things for protein instead. My suggestion is to try and make your own vegetable broth. It's REALLY easy and you can throw just about any vegetables in there that you think you'd be safe with. Basically, I cut up some vegetables, sautee them in a little bit of oilive oil, add in some herbs (I usually use dry because I always have them but fresh are good too) and salt and let it simmer for a while. Strain and then you have some homemade broth without onions or garlic, or any other foods you may not be able to tolerate. Personally, prior to having IC, I never even liked onions so I never use them.

Then, once you have some broth, use it in everything! haha. That's what I do! I use broth to flavor almost everything I eat. Try cooking your lentils in broth with some extra herbs instead of using water. You can easily make some lentil soup. =)

You can still have a version of hummus without the lemon juice. You just have to make your own. I grind up some chick peas with some good olive oil, add some basil, cilantro (if you're okay with it. If not, just omit it or substitute it for another herb, like oregano) salt, and pepper (if you're okay with pepper)
It doesn't taste like traditional hummus, obviously, but it's still pretty good.

Also, do you like avocados? I just mash some up, add in some cilantro, salt, and pepper and it's still really good! Hey, even without the lime juice, it's still avocado and they always taste good! haha.

Yes, polenta is made of corn. I usually make my own polenta but if you go to somewhere like Whole Foods or Trader Joes, look for a brand that contains only natural ingredients. No citric acid or anything like that. I even found a brand at Giant Eagle that contained only corn, salt, and water. Look for a brand like that. I slice it up and grill it on my grill pan. Then I make an easy sauteed mushroom sauce for it. (Just brown your mushrooms, then add some vegetable broth, hebrs, salt, and pepper. Let it simmer for a few minutes. If you want it to be thicker, whisk in some corn starch slurry ot just whisk in some flour. Let it thicken and pour it over your polenta.)

I cook A LOT. But by doing that, I actually get to eat a lot of really good food, despite being on the diet. Other things I eat a lot: things with Nomato sauce (there are a few recipes on this site for it. Search for one and if you can't find one, let me know!), sweet potato gnocchi, butter nut squash ravioli, potato perogies (I make my own and never include onions!)
I love cooking so I try out a lot of things. If you have ANY questions whatsoever, just ask 'em here or send me a message. You should also look at the diet portion of the board. We have a "what did you eat today" thread and it might give you some suggestions. I post in there a lot and of course, all of my meals are vegetarian. =)

[ICNDonna]

My suggestion is to begin trying some foods in small amounts. And by all means see a doctor about your eating problems --- I know when I was first diagnosed stress made me lose lots of pounds. I just didn't want to eat.

Donna

[Glenda2]

I have to be really carefull what I eat because Not only do I have IC , I also have IBS "D" version.

And without a Gall Bladder any food that has a good fat content to it , is really bad for IBS and it can cause more diarrhea then usual.

I enjoy fresh picked Corn on the Cobb , but it is not good for IBS and is very hard to digest.

I don't drink anything but water. Mine is Private Well Water and it is from a Deep Glacier Water Source. Some of the Purest Water around.
Every so often on a cold day, I will have 1/2 a mug of Decaff Constant Comment Tea.

Keep a record of the food and beverages you eat and drink.
Then you can see what foods and drinks are a trigger for you.
Then avoid the stuff that sets it off.

[kadi]

Hi Glenda,
Are you ok with the Constant Comment decaf Tea? Even a half cup of that will send me into a 3 day flare...

[valerie michele]

Hey Baaaby,

Can I use canned chickpeas for the hummus? Thank you for your ideas. I am going to gather some courage and try some other foods soon. Thank you everyone.

[baaaby11]

Yes, you can use canned. Just read the ingredients. Some canned vegetables have added ingredients but some don't. Most organic brands are the best. They often just contain water and the ingredient or sometimes the ingredient, water, and salt.

I'd also pick up some quinoa. It is VERY healthy for you and pretty mild tasting.

[DawnR]

Hi girls, I was just reading your threads and I can totally relate, I am afraid to eat anything. Lately I have been putting cream cheese on celery sticks, its yummy!! Just something new to add to the limited diet. :)

[baaaby11]

Oh yeah. I forgot something. When making traditiona hummus, you usually use tahini. It's in the try it (middle) column though so I might refrain for now, especially since you are looking for mild flavors right now.

[NKC]

Hi Valerie Michele:
Another thing to consider is that ingredients in medications can cause a flare - I've found that generics can be a problem. The generic anti-histamine I was given with I first was diagnosed gave me big time flares, but now I take Zyrtec and it's fine. The first thing you want to be sure of is that a generic IC medicine isn't causing the flare! I'd suggest replacing any generics you're taking with the non-generic.

I also use only sea salt. I noticed that Morton's salt has added potassium. I can eat some foods high in potassium like potatoes, but when it's an added ingredient, it's a problem.

Also, sometimes foods are okay cooked but not raw. I flare on raw blueberries, but homemade blueberry jam is okay.

It's strange and frustrating how different we are what foods we can tolerate. I wish there was more study of foods and why they can be problematic.

I've had IC for about 6 years, and it did take me about a year and a half before I felt pretty good most of the time. But you will get there!

[carol5555]

I was wondering typically how long it takes for the food to effect your bladder. I was fine this morning, now this evening- all hell is breaking loose.
Wondering if it is what I ate yesterday or this morning?

thanks

Carol

[loveslife]

Carole, my doctor just told me this week that it can take up to 72 hours for some foods to affect you.

Cynthia

[carol5555]

wow its going to be a challenge then to figure out what foods are agreeable to eat if thats the case, ugh

C

[andiejean66]

[QUOTE= May day usually consists of water and pills up to about six pm, then I try some food, feel worse, and eat more pills[/QUOTE]

Valerie...just a few thoughts and this is based only on my very limited experience (and i am new to this and also still really struggling with finding foods i can eat)....i always get worse at night, so i try to eat in the morning as i generally feel better then. Also i drink alot of water while eating as in my head i at least think it is diluting the food..????
Some suggestions as to what i have been able to eat for protein...peanut butter, hard cheese (nothing at all processed the real stuff only), eggs poached. Just take it slow and little portions. Also maybe try some baby foods, or organic foods...that is where i am with drinks...i drink baby pear juice and organic blueberry juice, about an ounce a day just for something different as water is all i can drink!!
As for bagels. I can eat one kind and be fine and then another and have a terrible flare! So if you find a brand that works stick with it.
I am not really a vegatarian but i never liked meat...guess what...beef and chicken are two foods i can tolerate! yahoo!! lol

As a side note, I also have an eating disorder and spent 4 months as an inpatint in hospital in 2008. Finally after years of suffering as an anorexic, was starting to get a hold of things and this hit me. I wish you luck in finding some foods that can give you the nutrients you need.

Try not to stress...the answers will come, and if you are like me i can almost feel the pain level go up as my stress level does.

Best of luck...you can do it!

[loveslife]

wow its going to be a challenge then to figure out what foods are agreeable to eat if thats the case, ugh

C

It is a challenge but it just means that you add your food one at a time and keep a food diary (what you ate and pain level). I know it seems overwhelming at first (it did for me too) but after awhile it becomes second nature. My diet has slowly expanded to the point now that I don't bother trying something new every week as I have enough of a variation and can enjoy my meals.

I tried adding too many foods at first and there was no way I knew what was bothering me and what wasn't.

Cynthia

[Talula]

sorry if someone already suggested this:
type of water you consume can make a big difference, it did for me. I try to at least drink distilled and if I am flaring really bad, a high PH water.
Stress is a major major major trigger for me, and lack of sleep.
Also, there is no evidence that diet even affects all IC, so, you know, it could be that you're going to be in pain no matter what you eat.
I also know from experience that enjoying food is impossible when you are in mind altering pain.
IC is not at all the same thing for everyone, from what Ive seen.
I hope you find a regimine that works for you.
Ive heard raw food is a healthy way to gain weight, but youd have to be very careful, cause of the IC.
Also, a naturopathic doctor could greatly help you with diet planning.