Living with Interstitial Cystitis

Hello, I am 30 years old and was diagnosed with IC in 2001. I had always had bladder infections growing up. I can remember as early as 4th grade having them, but this was different. I went in for a typical UTI check and there were no proteins present in my urine but all the symptoms were there. So they set me up with the Chief of Urology to do a cystoscopy It was painful. He filled up my bladder with a solution that made you want to urinate but couldn’t. That was the worst part. Then he went in with a camera and looked at my lining, Ureter entrances, etc. to find the culprit. It seemed like forever but really only lasted a few minutes.

After I got dressed he handed me a pamphlet on IC and told me to think of my bladder wall as having a bunch of tiny pin pricks in them that when I ate acidic foods made it hurt like a cut in your mouth. He hoped filling my bladder up would stretch it out a teensy bit so when he emptied it, miniscule pieces of skin would then hang over these tiny pin pricks and would help alleviate the pain. Within a week, I had a real bladder infection but didn’t realize it at the time. I was depressed and thought I couldn’t live with that kind of pain. It felt like I was crawling out of my own skin.

I went to the hospital and they told me it was an actual infection and treated me for it. I started taking Prelief every time I ate and would down a full glass of room temperature water before every meal to help dilute my foods acids. After sex I would take a Macrobid pill just for maintenance and to keep me flushed out.

It has been seven years and I have never had a symptom since. I stopped taking Prelief a short while after; actually felt it made it worse, but that’s probably just me! I still take a Macrobid after sex just to ensure a clean pathway, but have not had a true bladder infection in years.

I have never been back to a Urologist since that initial time and am grateful to not have it any worse then I did. I do believe that stress worsens it and recommend finding an outlet if you can. I found faith and prayer helps clear my stress levels. Meditation might work too. I hope this might help you; maybe make a difference.