Help Me Understand...

**born2swim** · 04-09-2007, 10:17 AM

Where does the IC diet come from? Did someone gather information from patients to find out what irritates IC bladders? I understand that bodies metabolize things differently, but there seems to be a lot of variation. I do notice that citrus fruits, chocolate, tea, coffee, tomatoes, and salad dressing seem to bother more people. I have been trying to follow the IC diet and stick to it most days. I do notice that caffeine upsets me, but that acts as a diuretic (not a irritant)... so upping the volume makes my frequency 10X worse.

Anyways, I was just wondering how the IC diet was developed or why it is supposed to work for some people. Why is watermelon ok but cantaloupe is bad?

Thanks!

**born2swim** · 04-09-2007, 10:32 AM

Another thing... why is cheese supposed to be bad?

**jen74** · 04-09-2007, 11:43 AM

Hi There,
I also wondered about the IC diet myself. What I honestly think is that everyone is different and will react to the foods on the IC diet diferently. I mean some people can eat an apple or some fruit, where there are some that cannot eat any. I am thinking the cheese restriction could be more so for people with lactose intolerance, but I am not sure.
I think the only diet to stick to is the one that you can tolerate, and that takes trial and error. For me diet is hard because I can get bothered by any one thing on any given day, but then eat that same thing an some days and be fine. Our bodies are different in how we will react to certain things. They put all those foods on the IC diet because there are people who have been bothered by these foods, but that does not mean that all of those foods bother every person. Like I said, I think it takes alot of trial and error.
Jen

**tigger_gal** · 04-09-2007, 11:50 AM

I would think that a stdy had taken place to be able to discover the trigger foods. I am one that nearly everything bothers me.

**sami4** · 04-09-2007, 02:20 PM

What ever hurts is what is "bad" for you. I am not very food sensitive myself and eat and drink a lot of stuff that seems to put the more sensitive into a fit. You just cant expect everyone to react the same and you can keep a food diary and see after you eat something how long and how much it has or has not irritated you?
Sammi

***ICNDonna*** · 04-09-2007, 04:19 PM

It's my understanding that the IC diet was developed from the experience of thousands of people with IC. At the time I was diagnosed (1975) not much thought had been given to a food connection so I discovered my personal triggers through my own experience. The first thing I suspected was either coffee or cranberry juice (I frankly can't remember which) and from there I found other triggers by recording food and drink intake. I had one child with severe food allergies so I knew about elimination diets to find problem foods and drinks.

I found it very interesting when I saw a printed "IC diet" and found that every one of my personal trigger foods and drinks were listed as problems.

Donna

**born2swim** · 04-09-2007, 04:57 PM

Thanks guys for the feedback! I was just curious about it.

Another question: When you eat a trigger food, does it increase the pain, frequency/urgency, bleeding?

This is all new to me... and hopefully I will have a clear diagnosis soon!

**Roxie2007** · 04-09-2007, 11:45 PM

HI Depending on the food ..citric acid causes major bladder pain, urgency/frequency. Some foods just cause the bladder discomfort. It's a trial and error process to figure out what causes your pain......and it can be a real headache in the mean time!
Most Night Shade foods bother me. Choc., caffeine, spicy food, acidics.......are big time triggers.
Good luck to you! Roxie

**mellusk** · 04-10-2007, 10:29 AM

I agree that the list is so huge because the variety of things that can be harmful is so wide depending on the person. I think the reason some things bother some people and not others is because what causes our individual conditions are so different. The way my urologist explained it, IC isn't always a disease on it's own, but it can be a "constellation" of symptoms created from numerous conditions existing at the same time. It can be like a back injury that has multiple irritants, like poor posture, improper lifting, and a bad mattress. All of those factors will make your back hurt, and together, they make it hurt in a very specific way. This is why I think that if you have an IC diagnosis, then you should pay attention to the rest of your body and start trying to deal with whatever problems you have. It's rare on this site to see someone who only has IC and nothing else.

**Roxie2007** · 04-10-2007, 11:20 AM

Mullusk, You are SO right! I have SO many other issues I'm dealing with and they all have some relationship to IC in one way or another! I have to be really careful with other medications because they bother my bladder. It really sucks to have IC! Roxie