dana_c_83
12-18-2010, 07:24 PM
I have recently (within the last week) had my first real flare in four years which is taking a bit to control however I thought I would share with you all what has given me such relief for the past four years and helped keep me in remission all this time. I was diagnosed in 2004 with IC after suffering from recurrent UTIs which initially followed sex with a new partner. The recurrent UTIs continued for two years until finally the urgency, pain, discomfort etc just never went away one day..A cystoscopy was performed where they saw the classic IC hunner ulcers, cobblestoning etc and diagnosed IC. They cauterised the area which essentially made everything worse. The pain was constant then and excruciating and never gave me the relief it was supposed to. I have also suffered Ulcerative Colitis for most of my life and the two illnesses together was almost too much to bear and I was put on an antidepressant Axit (mirtazapine) for severe depression. Within a month of taking it my bladder had improved markedly and within two months the pain, frequency etc had resolved. I still am aware that whatever is causing my bladder pain in still there as when I get a flare of UC my bladder will tend to flare but I just take one antidepressant and it goes away. After a period of time I was able to reduce my antidepressant and stop it completely and my bladder stayed perfect, no urgency, no frequency, could eat what I wanted and wasnt even aware my bladder existed. I hope this brings some people the relief that it brought me as its such a benign, non-invasive, cheap treatment. If anyone has any questions feel free to ask