Meet IC Patients Today in our 24/7 Support Forum

Join 20,000 patients participating in our 24/7 support forum where you'll find over 100 message boards dedicated to various IC topics. From diagnostic testing to flare management strategies, treatments for mild IC as opposed to severe IC, you'll find thousands of discussions to participate in. The support forum is led by ICN Staffer Donna and is monitored by a team of IC Support group leaders who work as supermoderators and moderators.

Click Here To Enter Our Support Forum Now!

Participate in Our Live Support Chats

The ICN is proud of our role in launching the first bladder support groups on AOL and later, our website. The ICN Support Chats have been held monthly for more than a decade and are run by a team of IC support group leaders, Leslie Grinnell & Kathi Heintz. Join us for a typical support group meeting live from the comfort of your home. What could be easier?? Please note! Chats are free for all. No log in name and password are required. Just type in a user name and go!

1st & 3rd Monday of the Month, 5PM PST to 7PM PST

Click Here To Enter Our Chat Room

USA &Canada Support Groups

Can you imagine how great it would feel to walk into a room filled with others who understand exactly what you're going through?? Having IC is difficult at times... and doing it alone is unnecessary. Why recreate the wheel and try to figure this out on your own when there are dozens of independent IC groups around the country who are waiting to help you! IC Support Groups will help you learn more about IC, about resources in your area and, most of all, to make some great new friends! Don't suffer in silence at home, alone. If there is a group near you, call the group leader and introduce yourself!. Support groups are located throughout the USA, Canada and in several other countries.

Click Here For a List of Groups in the USA & Canada

Find An International Patient Organization

Since the first IC groups were started in the USA and the UK, patient groups have blossomed throughout the world and are now found on nearly every continent. From the Pacific islands to eastern europe, North to South America, a growing number of organizations and IC research efforts are now available. Click here for a current list of organizations.

Click Here For a List of International Patient Organizations

Start A Support Group

Since the first IC groups were started in the USA and the UK, patient groups have blossomed throughout the world and are now found on nearly every continent. From the Pacific islands to eastern europe, North to South America, a growing number of organizations and IC research efforts are now available. Click here for a current list of organizations.

Make no doubt about it. The Interstitial Cystitis movement began with IC patients who got involved. Nearly every national group began with the work of one patient who had a dream and put their efforts into fulfilling that dream to reach other patients in need.

• Annette & Anthony Walker founded UKICSG & COB Foundation to honor her sister with IC
• Lesley Morrison founded the Bladder Pain Society in the United Kingdom
• Florentina Ferreyra founded ACI-Mexico
• Matsako Katsurada founded Tomo No Ki - Japan
  
• Dot Milne founded the New Zealand Urology Support Group
  
• Sandy McNicol founded the British Columbia IC Association & Canada IC Society
  
• Barbara Muendner Hensen founded the German ICA
• Three IC patients in San Diego founded the original ICA (based in California)
• Vicki Ratner founded the ICA of America (based on the East Coast).
• and Jill Osborne founded the IC Network

The list goes on and on. They are no different than you. They developed interstitial cystitis at various ages. They struggled with medical care. They agonized over friendships lost and family relationships strained. Most of all, they were determined not to give up. Instead of suffering in silence at home alone, these patients poured their energy into making a difference. You can to! Margaret Mead once said "Never doubt the power of a small group of committed people to change the world." There is no better example than the IC community.

Although interstitial cystitis advocacy has come far in the past thirteen years, there is STILL much work to be done. We need patients, today, to be actively involved in the IC effort. Your job is to be an ambassador for the interstitial cystitis patients in your local communities, including: working the media to do stories on interstitial cystitis and starting support groups.

With the dissolution of both ICA-US and Canada ICS support groups in 2001, the need for support groups has become urgent throughout North America. While some groups have continued independently, many others have stopped their live saving activities. If you are interested in starting a group, we've created a guide to help you through the planning process. Guide to Starting an IC Support Group (Newly Revised) If, after reviewing the guide, you are seriously considering starting one, we would be happy help you by promoting your group, referring IC patients, sending you a donation of books for your resource library, helping you with fund raising ideas, and much more. Just send your email to: jill@ic-network.com.

More Support Resources

Sometimes support comes from talking with other patients, particularly if you have questions that you'd like a credibility check on. But, sometimes it comes from reading and listening. We offer you some suggested readings that, we hope, will help you better cope with IC and the tremendous stresses that you're currently under. Always remember that there is hope! - Jill O.

	Patient to Patient: Managing IC & Related Condition shares direct, useful and practical tips on body and self care. Written by the dynamic husband and wife team, Gaye & Andrew Sandler, it is the new 'bible' for day to day life with IC. The self help chapter offers the most useful discussion we've read on managing urgency and frequency. ($18.50) Buy Now
	Okay! Admit it! Aren't you tried of people saying that you don't look sick, this book, You Don’t Look Sick!: Living Well with Invisible Chronic Illness, chronicles a patient’s true-life accounts and her physician’s compassionate commentary as they take a journey through the three stages of chronic illness—Getting Sick, Being Sick, and Living Well. ($14.95) Buy Now
	This CD, Guided Imagery for Relaxation for IC and Pelvic Pain, was created by a Nurse Practitioner working with women with IC and pelvic pain at William Beaumont Hospital (Michigan), one of the premiere IC research & clinical care centers in the USA today. The imagery on the CD is specific for pain, frequency and urgency symptoms and will help you through those dark moments of pain and discomfort. ($15.00) Buy Now!
	Written by two dedicated, loving couples (the Sandlers & The Gliddens), Please Understand: The Interstitial Cystitis Guide For Partners offers a sensitive and empowering discussion of the issues which can affect and/or intrude upon our lives, particularly from the partners perspective. The impact of interstitial cystitis on couples and families has not received much attention until now! ($11.99) Buy Now!
	This DVD, Relaxation & Breathing for Meditation, can help you calm and collect yourself when life feels so overwhelming! It will help you breathe through your pain, breathe through the stress and recapture the control that we all, at times, feel we're losing. ($18.99) Buy Now!
	It is very normal to experience anxiety when faced with a new, confusing and/or painful condition. But, it's not normal to let it dominate our lives. This new book, Coping With Anxiety, offers ten simple ways to relief anxiety, fear and worry. Don't let anxiety dominate your life. Do something about it today! More info!