Wellness Coaching
Helping you understand testing, treatments, flares, diet, pain care, intimacy, pain mgt & more!Need Personal Support?
The ICN offers wellness coaching to help you understand diagnostic tests, treatment options, flare management, diet, intimacy, workplace issues, pain management and more. LEARN MORE!
The Best Books
Our starter info kit covers all the basic information on diagnosis, treatments, flares, diet & more!We carry the best books!
We offer the best books on IC/BPS, pelvic floor dysfunction, pelvic pain, diet & more! We want to help you make more informed decisions about your diagnostic tests, treatment, diet and flare management tips. LEARN MORE!
Join the ICN
You may have suffered for years. You are absolutely not alone!ICN Memberships Help Others Too
We offer three memberships for patients who want to stay up to date with the latest IC news! Our quarterly magazine, the IC Optimist, brings the latest news right to your doorstep! LEARN MORE
Living with IC Video Series
Videos designed especially for patients and family members on all things ICWatch Our Videos Today!
If you prefer to watch videos rather than read text, our Living With IC Video series will help. We discuss the IC subtypes, the AUA six steps of treatment, flares, diet, working with doctors and more. Learn more!
How the Interstitial Cystitis Network Can Help
Learn About IC/BPS
Newly diagnosed with IC/BPS? Using videos, text and apps, we’ll teach you how IC is diagnosed, symptoms, natural & conventional treatments, subtypes, the role of the pelvic floor muscles, how to prevent and manage flares, the IC diet, how to find an IC specialist, related conditions and more!
Get Support
The ICN has the oldest and most trusted on-line patient support community where millions of patients have asked questions, made friends and found hope. It’s entirely free. You’ll find discussions on diagnosis, treatments, flare management, pain control, success stories, pregnancy and much more!
Find A Specialist
If you’ve struggled to find medical care providers knowledgeable about IC, you are not alone. The ICN Find A Specialist Database lists urologists, urogynecologists, physical therapists and dietitians who work with IC and pelvic pain patients. Search by State, Town or Zip Code.
ICN Research
With devastating new research suggesting a connection between long-term pentosan (Elmiron) use and eye disease, we have developed a survey which asks patients about their IC, medication use and eye conditions. Please help us understand this more fully by participating.
Next Generation DNA Urine Testing Can Identify Chronic Infection
Research & Clinical Trials
Long-Term Pentosan (Elmiron) Use May Be Linked to Eye Disease
As a health publishing company dedicated to interstitial cystitis, it is our duty to share news which can impact you, the IC patient. Unfortunately, we must share some distressing news. If you have or are [...]
The History of IC Subtypes (Phenotypes)
Earlier this summer, there were some patients on Facebook who suggested that IC subtypes were not real. Here is the history of the four subtyping systems proposed for IC/BPS to date. This is a REAL [...]
New Urine Test Shows High Confidence in Correctly Diagnosing IC
Researchers around the world have pursued the holy grail of diagnostic testing for IC/BPS - a simple, non-invasive urine test. Researchers at Beaumont Hospital, the nations leading IC research center, have developed a urine test [...]
News & Feature Stories
Tips for Managing Marriage and IC
Back in August of 1999, I was a 20-year-old college student excited to marry my high school sweetheart. I had bladder issues from the time I was 3. I was diagnosed with IC when I [...]
IC Awareness Month Kicks Off – It’s time to tell our IC stories and speak our truth!
September is the most important month for the IC movement. This is the time that we gather together, share our stories, educate our communities, seek out patients who are suffering in silence and work, as [...]
Back To School Strategies For Kids With IC
(By Jill Osborne) School has started here in California and for children and teens with IC it can create a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. Will they be given restroom access? Will they have teachers [...]
Diet and Nutrition Tips
New IC Diet Cards Now Available
New in Summer 2018! The ICN Diet card is a handy reminder of those foods to avoid and those foods that are usually bladder friendly. The same size as a business card, you can carry [...]
Bladder Friendly Summer Drinks
With the start of hot weather, it's time to focus on cool, refreshing drinks that won't trigger IC/BPS or chronic prostatitis flares. This means that we have to avoid the typical acidic drinks of summer: [...]
EWG Finds Alarming Levels of Pesticides In Pears, Apples and Potatoes
Everyone should eat more fruits and vegetables but when you have IC this can be challenging. Thankfully, the produce aisle is usually our friend. The vast majority of vegetables are IC friendly with the exception [...]
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Testimonials
Thank you for being there for me during such a rough time in my life!!!
Your 1-800 number is priceless.
Keep helping people!
Not only do I want to thank you & your team for everything that you do but I wanted to thank you personally. You took the time to talk to me for over an hour. You brightened my day when I was feeling hopeless. It’s such a comfort to know you & the ICN are there for support.
I suffered with IC and PFD for about 8 years before I found a doctor who believed me and is treating me. Over those 8 years you and the IC Network were my life line and an amazing source of strength and hope and continue to be. Thank you so much for all you did and continue to do.
I firmly believe that the Interstitial Cystitis Network has educated me more than any doctor or nurse. At times I think I’ve intimidated my doctors by the knowledge I’ve gained from the site. Your site definitely empowers all of us who suffer with this horrible disease.
I honestly don’t know what I would have done without the ICN and you over 12 years ago when I finally found out what was wrong with me!! I think you are doing Gods work for so many!
The ICN videos are EXTREMELY helpful, if not LIFE CHANGING. Extremely smart, well researched information. EVERY urologist office should have a big flyer advertising this website. Thank you so much for what you do!!”
I really wanted to let you know how helpful the ICN website is. Having IC has been rough, but I have learned so much from your site (good tips, info, coping strategies). Way more than I ever learned from my uro! I know my symptoms have improved partly due to things I have learned from your site. Keep up the good work!
I watched a few of your videos on YouTube – on behalf of a friend who says he has suffered excruciating pain and discomfort for years. We’ve gained from your references. I just wanted to thank you for your such consummately sensible, humane help to so many others…. You are producing guidance that is clear, relevant, down-to-earth, useful and good-hearted.
I will never be able to thank you enough for getting me through so many horrible times. I go into remission for years at a time so I guess I’m one of the lucky ones. However, I’ve had a few flares in the past couple of months and I always know who to turn to in the middle of the night.Your site is better than a heating pad.
I don’t know how I would have made it thus far without all of you wonderful people. Just knowing I am not alone is the best relief I could have ever asked for. If I get scared, am hurting, or just need comfort, I know you are always there.
I’m SO excited about the information in your food app. I am encouraged now I can live a normal life and eat again.. Thank you for your website. – September 2015
I want to thank you for that day you gave me hope ….the day we spoke I had been in constant pain for so long and taking such strong pain meds I was ready to end my life. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t taken the time to guide me through the next step in my journey to find a solution to the suffering…
Fabulous, amazingly helpful website, I’m so grateful it exists. Thanks for all the hard work that went into it.
