Articles Written By Jill Osborne, The Founder Of The ICN

The Interstitial Cystitis Diet Simplified

What You Can Eat When You Have Interstitial Cystitis, Bladder Pain Syndrome or a Sensitive Bladder The IC Diet is a very healthy, simple, natural diet. If you're addicted to junk food, this is going to be a big change. Rather than buying pre-made foods, we suggest making homemade meals so that you know exactly [...]

By Jill Osborne|2017-01-31T12:43:31-08:00July 2nd, 2014|Diet & Food, Jill's Journal, Our Blog, Self-Help Tips for IC, Bladder & Pelvic Pain|1 Comment

Anxiety and Interstitial Cystitis Often Co-Exist

By Jill H. Osborne MA, ICN President (June 19, 2014) It might surprise you to learn that anxiety is a strongly related condition to IC and pelvic pain. It was the human genome project which made the connection. Researchers trying to determine which section of the human genome correlated with anxiety discovered that a large, [...]

By Jill Osborne|2017-01-31T12:47:44-08:00June 19th, 2014|Jill's Journal, Men's Health, Our Blog, Related Conditions, Self Care, Self-Help Tips for IC, Bladder & Pelvic Pain|1 Comment

Swimming and Interstitial Cystitis – Is it safe?

With summer quickly approaching, interstitial cystitis patients are asking "Is it safe to swim?" The answer is complex. Swimming is an ideal exercise for patients struggling with chronic bladder or pelvic pain. It's gentle, non weight-bearing and minimizes trauma to the pelvic floor. Sounds great, right? The challenge, unfortunately, are the chemicals (specifically the chlorine [...]

By Jill Osborne|2017-01-31T12:52:33-08:00June 4th, 2014|Exercise & Fitness, Jill's Journal, Our Blog, Self Care, Self-Help Tips for IC, Bladder & Pelvic Pain|7 Comments

Allergies, Hayfever and Interstitial Cystitis

Got killer allergies this year? Is your IC unusually active and flaring? You can blame it on the "pollen vortex." As if winter's "polar vortex" wasn't bad enough, now many of the trees, grasses, weeds and molds are blooming simultaneously creating one of the worst allergy seasons on record. According to the Weather Channel, the [...]

By Jill Osborne|2017-01-31T12:53:45-08:00May 29th, 2014|Jill's Journal, Our Blog, Self-Help Tips for IC, Bladder & Pelvic Pain|2 Comments

IC Strongly Associated With Vulvodynia, Endometriosis and Pelvic Floor Dysfunction

Do you have vulvar pain in addition to your IC? How about a history of endometriosis? Struggling with tight pelvic floor muscles? You are certainly not alone. We've long known that there was a connection between IC and other conditions of the pelvis. Researchers in Italy gathered the essential incidence data demonstrating that a diagnosis [...]

By Jill Osborne|2018-04-18T13:22:50-07:00May 28th, 2014|Awareness, Endometriosis, Jill's Journal, Our Blog, Pelvic Floor Dysfunction, Pelvic Pain, Related Conditions, Research, vulvodynia|1 Comment

Bladder Rape by Silver Nitrate

How One Patient Was Forced To Have A Treatment Without Her Consent (Author: Jill H. Osborne MA, President, IC Network) There is no excuse for what happened to a female IC patient THIS YEAR. Her primary care provider suspected that she had interstitial cystitis and referred her to a urologist in her community. She made [...]

By Jill Osborne|2017-01-31T13:11:43-08:00April 7th, 2014|Awareness, Consumer Alerts, Editorial, Jill's Journal, Must Reads, News, Our Blog, Patient Stories|Comments Off

For Linda “Sunny” Roper

(Linda Roper was one of the earliest members of the IC-Redwood Empire support group that eventually morphed into the IC Network as it is today. Like many patients diagnosed years ago, she suffered greatly in a medical system that wasn't particularly kind or compassionate. She passed late February of causes unrelated to her IC and [...]

By Jill Osborne|2017-01-31T13:14:40-08:00March 4th, 2014|Jill's Journal, Our Blog|Comments Off

ABOG Reverses Decision – Gynecologists Can Treat Men

If you're a man struggling with a hormone dysfunction, which medical care provider should you go to for treatment? Well, it might surprise you to learn that most men seek care from gynecologists who, by far, have the most experience treating hormone dysfunctions. Last year, however, the American Board of OB-GYN passed a new rule [...]

By Jill Osborne|2019-01-31T00:41:57-08:00February 5th, 2014|Editorial, Industry News, Jill's Journal, News, Our Blog|Comments Off

Sam Berns Philosophy For Happiness

How A 17 Year Old Can Teach Us All How To Live Despite The Presence of Illness and Pain If you’ve never heard of Sam Berns, you’ve missed an amazing young man. Sam was one of the most inspirational role models for children and adults suffering with a challenging medical condition, in his case progeria. [...]

By Jill Osborne|2017-01-31T13:24:52-08:00January 15th, 2014|Editorial, Jill's Journal, Our Blog, Self Care, Self-Help Tips for IC, Bladder & Pelvic Pain|Comments Off

US Army Thanks ICN Founder Jill Osborne for Serving On Interstitial Cystitis Research Panel

Just received this fabulous letter from the US Army! It was an honor to serve, for the third year, as the consumer reviewer for the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) sponsored by the US Department of Defense. Each year, prominent scientists and consumer reviewers gather to evaluate hundreds of research applications to determine how [...]

By Jill Osborne|2017-01-31T13:25:48-08:00January 7th, 2014|Awareness, Jill's Journal, News, Our Blog, Research|Comments Off

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