How long to give IC diet time to work?

[Jill L.]

Hello,

I haven't posted much here in so long! I've had IC for about 4 years and never have really stuck with the IC diet long enough to see if it helps. Not too smart, I know. Anyway, how long did it take you to see a difference if it was helping or not? I've been good for only 3 days and am wondering how long to really give before deciding if food has a real effect on me or not....My bladder still feels a bit angry

Thanks in advance,

Jill:):confused:

[kadi]

Took me about 3-4 weeks in the left-hand column of the ICN diet to see a difference. Hope it helps you!

(It's a no-cost, no-side effect treatment anyhow, and as a bonus, I found my doctors took my complaints more seriously when I told them how strictly I follow the diet.)

Hugs & wishing you better days soon...

[Jill L.]

Thanks Kadi for the feedback. Not trying to sound totally dumb, but how were you able to tell that it made a difference? I was just curious if your overall level of symptoms decreased or did you have less flares?

Thanks again,

Jill:)

[blue]

I noticed right away. I basically cut my food down to meat and water. As I eat different foods, if I'm in pain afterwords, it becomes a NO, NO food for me!

[jala]

I had to find a food that I could eat that I knew was not a trigger. For me, it was chicken and rice with no seasoning (except butter and salt). After I ate that for a few days, I became regular and could see an immediate result. I then added foods back in one at a time to see what else I could eat.

I could usually identify a trigger food by whether or not I was regular after eating it. If I ate a problem food, I would lock up immediately. I was surprised by what foods were a problem - wheat, dairy, soy. I am now being tested (tomorrow) for food allergies/intolerances.

I use the Dr. Phil food diary on his weight loss website to track my foods. Jala.

[kadi]

My bladder pain dropped dramatically (still had pain, but way less). At first I wasn't sure if it was the diet or the 2 meds I started 2 weeks after I went on the diet...

But, I knew the diet was working the day I had a cup of tea (thinking mistakenly that decaf would be okay) - yeoow. There was such a difference before & after tea (20 minutes after to be exact) that I knew that diet mattered -a lot! :toilet:

A few months later I tested the diet with a potato with sour cream. In spite of prelief, did I pay for that 2T of sour cream - 6 hours of burning pain & back to peeing every 10 minutes! Yep, the diet still works... :headbang:

Hope it helps you too :pray:

[MarcieL]

For me, the diet is what I always go back to when the pain hits. I get comfortable and stop and then when the pain starts to get bad I head straight back to it. It makes the pain tolerable again for me. I can only tell you that it is worth the relief and I am grateful that it is something that I can control myself.

Feel better soon,

Marcie

[Donna L]

If you keep a journal, you may be surprised what foods you CAN eat. Tea and coffee kill me, but I can get away with an occasional pizza, or lasagna..........Dairy is a NO NO, as is orange juice. I can sneak in ONE piece of chocolate as a treat, without too much suffering. I do rely on prelief to help me with anything acid. Worth the work...........Donna L

[Kiki42]

Hi everyone. I tried the IC diet for awhile. It really helped. I now cook with trigger foods in mind. I can tolerate a lot of things if I take 2 Prelief before eating.

If I am cooking chicken, I always season the skin part and then take it off and eat only the meat. I find that some seasonings really make my bladder angry.:mad:

Low acid apple juice is a staple for me and I have it daily. Some times I sneak in a glass of OJ and suffer later.

Coffee is entirely out of my diet, even though I can, sometimes tolerate a decaf. The same is for tea.

Like everyone, it is a trial and error (suffer) thing. I hope this helps. After a while, you can just look at a food and know it is bad news.

[Jill L.]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'll definitely give it awhile to see what happens!

Jill:)

[PikkuMyy]

I've also had IC for several years and only recently started the diet (DOH!!! We need a Homer Simpson smiley)

Anyway, I started by almost following it and then really following it after a few days. Although I find I don't have to be as strict as some people here, I found relief fairly soon after starting. It's now been about 5 weeks and I find that if I eat something and forget to take Prelief with it or even if I do and it is a nono (citric acid as a preservative, etc.) I find that several hours later to the next day I experience frequency and feel "aware" of my bladder in a way that I hadn't before the bad food.

I'm still figuring it out but I'm trying to eat Prelief with each meal so that if I still flare I KNOW that food is bad for me. Thank goodness I haven't had a bad flare since starting the diet.

I'd keep going with it for several weeks and try to stick to it as faithfully as possible.

Emily

[gloriabono68]

I am so frustrated because i have no idea what to eat and what not to eat. I figure meat and water ............so i dont know where to go to find or figure out what to eat........i am possibly eating things that are setting it off and i have no idea what to do anymore. The doctor gave me a list which doesnt help a whole lot.
so i need some mega advice.............or something............
HELP

gloriabono@yahoo.com

[Rita_Lorraine]

Gloria, go to the ICN patient handbook on the homepage and you will find the IC diet. It has helped me alot! I also take Prelief before every meal just in case. Hope the diet helps you! Hugs, Rita_Lorraine :hi:

[kadi]

Here's the diet link for you! I posted the 3-column chart on my fridge & marked things off as I tried them:)

www.ic-network.com/handbook/diet.html

Hope that helps!

[gloriabono68]

Thanks a bunch.........i will check into that and into getting some prelief maybe that will help as well.......havent tried that yet. but i keep reading where everyone else is taking it.......so maybe i had better get some and try that as well.
Lord knows i need to be trying something to get some relief and soon.
thanks again
gloriabono68