A persistent, urgent need to urinate. Frequent urination, often of small amounts, throughout the day and night (up to 60 times a day) Pain or discomfort while the bladder fills and relief after urinating. Pain during sex.
IC flares are not the same for every patient. Symptoms such as pain in the pelvic area, needing to pee frequently, and the burning sensation when urinating are common in most patients, however, the intensity and duration of IC flares can vary from person to person.
In the early phase of IC the symptom flares are intermittent in most patients. Over time symptoms increase and pain cycles may appear and last for 3-14 days. When these cycles become more frequent and last longer they are likely to be referred to a specialist.
Coffee, soda, alcohol, tomatoes, hot and spicy foods, chocolate, caffeinated beverages, citrus juices and drinks, MSG, and high-acid foods can trigger IC symptoms or make them worse.
Patients with interstitial cystitis had higher scores than controls for 2 reference symptoms, including other pelvic discomfort, backache, dizziness, chest pain, aches in joints, abdominal cramps, nausea, heart pounding and headache (p <0.01).
Amitriptyline is the medication most commonly prescribed for interstitial cystitis. Elmiron is the only oral drug approved by the FDA specifically for interstitial cystitis. It improves the bladder lining, making it less leaky and therefore less inflamed and painful.
As your bladder starts to fill, you may feel pain—rather than just discomfort—that gets worse until you urinate. The pain usually improves for a while once you empty your bladder. People with IC rarely have constant bladder pain. The pain may go away for weeks or months and then return.
Signs You Should Get Help for Interstitial Cystitis
Pressure and tenderness in your bladder and pelvic area. Urgent need to urinate or frequent urination (often small amounts) Pain intensity that changes as your bladder fills or empties. Pain during sex.
The exact cause of interstitial cystitis isn't known, but it's likely that many factors contribute. For instance, people with interstitial cystitis may also have a defect in the protective lining (epithelium) of the bladder. A leak in the epithelium may allow toxic substances in urine to irritate your bladder wall.
Stress does not cause IC, but if you have IC, stress can cause a flare. Physical stress and mental stress can lead to flares. Remember, every flare will settle down and worrying about it only prolongs the discomfort. Understanding stress and how to minimize it is the best way to limit the intensity of your flares.
Cystoscopy. Doctors may use cystoscopy to look inside the urethra and bladder. Doctors use a cystoscope, a tubelike instrument, to look for bladder ulcers, cancer, swelling, redness, and signs of infection. A doctor may perform a cystoscopy to diagnose interstitial cystitis (IC).
Although BPS (interstitial cystitis) can affect people of all ages, it's much more common in women than men, usually over the age of 30. The symptoms will often come and go over time. There may be times lasting days, weeks or months where your symptoms improve, followed by flare-ups when they're worse.
Symptoms of IC may be different from person to person. For example, some people feel mild discomfort, pressure, or tenderness in the pelvic area. Other people may have intense pain in the bladder or struggle with urinary urgency, the sudden need to urinate, or frequency, the need to urinate more often.
There is no definitive test to make the diagnosis of IC. It is a diagnosis of exclusion. Evaluation usually involves a detailed history, review of old medical records/ urine culture results, physical exam, urine tests, and voiding diary. Abdominal/pelvic imaging studies such as ultrasound or CT may be used.
Dimethylsulfoxide — Dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) is a liquid medication that has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS). DMSO is put into the bladder through a temporary catheter and is held in place for approximately 20 minutes, if possible.
Foods to eat
Fruits: bananas, apricots, blueberries, dates, melons, prunes, pears, raisins. Vegetables: avocados, asparagus, broccoli, beets, eggplant, peas, mushrooms, spinach. Grains: oats, rice. Proteins: beef, lamb, pork, poultry, fish, eggs.
What is the outlook for interstitial cystitis? IC is a chronic disease. Patients may find some comfort in the fact that it is not life-threatening and it does not lead to cancer. However, because the symptoms are always present, patients need to develop coping skills to deal with them.
Magnesium - Magnesium has a variety of effects in the body. It can help relieve constipation, reduces inflammation, supports muscle health and can help reduce anxiety in some studies. Obviously all of these are potentially beneficial to patients with IC!
Though the most widely used antihistamine to treat IC/BPS is hydroxyzine, some people with IC/BPS find relieve from Claritin, Benadryl, and Singulair.
There's no known cure for interstitial cystitis (IC), but there are ways that we can help you manage your pain during a flare-up. For example, spot medications like ibuprofen can help with the inflammation in your bladder.
One of the greatest challenges to diagnosing IC/BPS is the significant overlap in symptoms between IC/BPS and other conditions such as urinary tract infection, vulvodynia and endometriosis in women, and chronic prostatitis and chronic orchialgia in men.