You are here: Interstitial Cystitis Network : Patient Stories : Kristen
"I Have My Life Back"
By Kristen (Submitted December, 2005)
I started with 3 UTI's in one month during December 1993. During the next 2 years I had increased pelvic pain during my periods but my doctor couldn't find anything causing the pain. Being on birth control pills helped. It made my period only 3-4 days and it was much lighter than when I wasn't on it.
In 1998 I was sent to a urologist due to 3 times calling my primary care Doctor for UTI's that never showed any infection. I went through several tests and procedures and then was diagnosed with overactive bladder and put on ditropan. This helped for 3 years. Then the pelvic pain began to get worse and the bladder spasms were unreal. My hourly trips to the bathroom were just thought to be normal. Then it began to be every 20 minutes which really caused problems during the night with sleeping.
In March of 2002 I had surgery to remove the endometriosis and they over extended my bladder and took pictures. I was then told I had IC and it was a pretty bad case. I followed the diet about no spicy foods and no acid. I started on a product called Reliv which is an all natural vitamin. It comes in a powered form and you can mix it with any liquid. Within one month I was doing great. I continued to take ditropan and ultracet when spasm are real bad. I have occasional periods of times that the urgency and frequency is still bad but all in all I have my life back.
Kristen