Last summer, an ICN member asked a question that we hadn’t heard before. Can an outbreak of genital herpes (HSV-2) trigger an IC flare? In her case, it did. We launched an informal survey in the ICN Survey Center which revealed that she is not alone. A total of 42 patients diagnosed with both conditions [...]
In the thousands of patients who have contacted the Interstitial Cystitis Network in the past twenty years, there are several who have created indelible memories. I met Bard more than a decade ago when he called for help with his disability discrimination claims against his employer, Verizon. Bard faced outrageous discrimination at his job, often by female superiors. [...]
The American Urological Association annual meeting is often the highlight of the year for researchers and clinicians working with interstitial cystitis. This year the conversations/lectures/research focused to a great degree on pelvic pain syndrome. One highlight was Drs. J. Curtis Nickel, Dan Shoskes and Michel Pontari who presented the cases of two men struggling with pelvic [...]
One of the easiest ways for patients to try to reduce their bladder and prostate discomfort is by removing foods which are high in acid, alcohol or hot spices. Even one cup of coffee day, one green tea or one soda can trigger severe bladder irritation and discomfort. Worse, that daily acid wash may prevent [...]
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, [...]
