Interstitial cystitis

[oceanhotel.livejournal.com]

Anyone have this? I am positive that I have this. If you have it, how did you get better? I am scared that I won't get better and will have it for the rest of my life. I am only 22 :(

Comments

[jillirific.livejournal.com]

i started taking venlafaxine (37.5mg, then bumped to 75mg) - now i take pristiq (desvenlafaxine; 50mg and now 100mg)

my symptoms were a full bladder feeling, needing to go but little to nothing coming out, random sharp stabbing pains in my bladder, the bladder just feeling 'tight'...i had read that anxiety can worsen/cause the symptoms (being tense, thus tensing everything up - also why sex irritated my symptoms as an orgasm would tighten everything up) so i think the medication has helped me not be so tense all the time.

i can't pinpoint when my symptoms relieved, but it was probably a few months when i started noticing that my flare ups weren't as common as they had been. i would go quite a while with nothing and then maybe have a week or two where my bladder had that full feeling with no relief...now i might have a few days where i notice my bladder doesn't feel 'right' and i still get the shooting pains if i bend down too quickly sometimes, but i feel as though i'm living a normal life again.

i do still have intense anxiety over the thought of getting another UTI as i fear it will make everything worse again :( i hope you find something that can help you. i bought a bunch of the OTC pills for UTIs that dull the pain (AZO i think is the brand), and i know that's something that many IC sufferers use when their symptoms flare up, but i never ended up taking any...though it does calm me down knowing i have them just in case. they also sell test strips which ease my mind when i think a flare up might be an infection.

good luck with everything!!

[oceanhotel.livejournal.com]

thank you for your detailed replies. did you notice that certain foods you ate or your menstrual cycle changed or worsened your symptoms? do you think the antidepressant is what made it get better over time? and one last question, (lol) what does your friend do to help her ic?

[jillirific.livejournal.com]

foods, the only thing i found (and still find) to irritate is caffeine, particularly coffee/espresso based drinks (not so much canned iced tea like brisk/nestea, which i do love to drink!). i'm a student so it sucks that i have to choose between likely discomfort and coffee to get through those early morning classes. but i know many people are different with their triggers!

i can't say for sure about the menstrual cycle, but sometimes it does flare up when i get bad cramps from my period (again, probably the tightening of muscles down there)

i'm hoping it's the antidepressants that are helping and it's not just a random lessening of symptoms...i want to know that i'm able to control these things and that i've just found a good treatment for me!

as for my friend, she's had IC for much, much longer than me and she's the one who told me it gets better over time as you learn to cope. i think she's just been able to pinpoint her triggers (i'm not sure what they are, we haven't spoken about IC for a while) and she seems to just deal with it. she takes a long time to pee (feels like she has to go, tries, takes a while for it all to come out/not a lot comes out) but that seems to be the worst of it for her now, as she doesn't complain about pain or discomfort.

i hope i've been at least a little bit of help for you. feel free to ask anything if you have any more questions and i'll do my best to answer :) i feel like i know what you're going through and it's really awful. xo