From what my urologist told me and from what I've found on the almighty interwebs, I've come to the understanding that IC is an auto immune disorder characterized by the immune system attacking the lining of the bladder when the body is under intense stress. Physical, emotional, mental stress alike. Symptoms include pain in the lower abdomin, back and shoulders; frequency and urgency of urination especially at night, occassionally uncontrolable; blood in the urine (which is fucking painful); difficulty urinating so on and so forth to the point where a piss satchel round mah hip looks slightly appealing. It can also make sexual intercourse uncomfortable and since everything down there is all connected and buddy buddy, when my bladder's out of wack so's my vag and I've been blessed with frequent yeast infections. Either that or my bf's been cheating on me with a total slag and gave me an std since I last got tested but that's not the rational explination so I shouldn't even put it out there.

I was diagnosed with this beast about six months ago, have been on medication for it ever since, and have yet to have complete symptom relief. Heating pads don't do much, and moderate exercise helps but I had to give up my gym membership because I'm out of a job and I can't run because that makes everything worse. Some people get migranes or ulcers when they're stressed but I guess I lucked out. SOOOOs I was hoping maybe possibly one of you has it and can share some wisdom. Or. Sympothy. Y'know. OR. Maybe one of you has been suffering from it and have been misdiagnosed and I just saved you from some trouble! I read some statistic that a lot of women get hysterectomies to fix a mystery problem they think they have with their uterus, when really it was IC all along.

i have some sort of urinary issue
sounds very similar to yours
i have to go all the time
i've had microhematuria for about 3 years now
and last month after holding my pee a couple of times while stuck in a car for longer trips than usual i had visable blood with a urinary tract infection for the entire month that took 3 courses of antibiotics to finally clear up
and in the time since that has happened i have had the other symptoms you mentioned where it overlaps w. other stuff and intense cramping that seemed more pelvic area , vag than bladder but its hard to tell with everything right next to each other
i have also been tested for stds though i havent been w./ anyone in like a year and that came back negative

in any event i tend to not have conclusive results w. testing for any medical issues i may have
so when the ivp thing came back fine and they wanted to cram a camera up my pee hole i said no thanks because i dont think it will show anything either
it didn't help that my urologist was a male and that i also am opposed to any procedures that involve putting me to sleep

i am curious what the procedures/tests were they used to diagnose you
and also what the med is they put you on?
i dont have a lot of faith in drs managing my health
that sucks you don't seem to be getting releif even w. the diagnosis and meds

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should i choose a noble occupation
if i did i'd only show up late and sick
and they would stare at me with hatred
plus my only natural talent's wasted

Well at first I went to my mom and was like, gimme a check for the doctor I think I have a UTI and a yeast infection.
And she basically called me out as a slut and told me to go to the gyno and get tested.
And my gyno was like, "You probably have an STD. And if you do it's your fault. You chose to have unprotected sex with those boys and you can't go blaming them."
And THEN all the test came back negative. No uti. Slight yeast infection. And she said there was elevated levels of protein in my urine, but that's been the case my whole life.

So I went and I bragged to my mom about how clean I am and she told me that I probably should see her urologist, because it's sounded a lot like the same thing she has, which is the interstitial. So I went and told this guy my symptoms. He poked around inside me to put pressure on my bladder and was like yep you probs have IC and prescribed me Elmiron, which encourages regrowth of the lining, Elavil, which is actually an antidepressant but is used for the stress, and a bladder soother that turned my piss bright fucking blue.

But it wasn't until a month later when I had to make another appointment to have them stick a camera in my bladder and actually see the sores before I got an official diagnosis. So it was a combo of that and I have a history of it in my family.

And I have had relief from most of the symptoms. All the annoying ones anyway. Now it just feels like I have really bad period cramps every day. And my dr says it's because I don't manage my stress properly.

Oh man.
I just followed a link to an old thread about this same thing but the girl was going on an elimination diet to find out what makes it bad.

But my doctor told me foods and drinks can irritate it but not cause it.
Like. If you're fine, and you have some orange juice, it's not going to effect you.
But if you're showing active symptoms, something like orange juice will make it worse.
The true factor in all of it is STRESS and people put so much focus on the food which just leads to more stress.

I've given up coffee. Which I don't mind. And I've had one beer in the past three months, which kind of sucks because I used to relax by chilling with my friends and have a few drinks, but it wasn't too hard to give up. I can drink occassionally. It was actually tequila that set off the hematuria but I drank like half a pitcher of super strong margueritas so at least now I can't be an alchie

But I drink fruit juice all the time and it doesn't bother me. Same with tomato sauce.

i have ulcerative colitis, which is essentially the same thing, except instead of cysts, my body makes nasty ulcers.

i've been on a bunch of different medications and nothing worked.
i just gave up and learned to be good and nice to my body when i have a flare up.

i also got a medical marijuana card.
because i wasn't eating at all during flares, which can be like 2 weeks. and it helped. it also helped me poo during flares and sleep, and cope in general.

it doesnt fix anything, but atleast it shuts up the pain long enough for me to get a little break.

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