Coping with Interstitial Cystitis

When I was younger, I had no problems in this area whatsoever and I can only think that age and childbirth has aggravated the condition to the 9th degree.

Here I will be publishing my experiences with IC and continual attacks of Cystitis in the hope that I may help others with the same condition.

Please do leave your own personal stories in the feedback section at the bottom of this lens. I would love to hear from you!

Women's Health At InfoZED

For the early part of my life, I did everything I knew I had to do to avoid Cystitis and it worked:
- I urinated before and after sex, in fact, this was a must for me. I couldn't consider having sex with anything less than an empty bladder.
- I wiped from front to back.
- I avoided tight, restrictive clothing.
- I washed myself with non-perfumed soaps and hypo-allergenic body washes.

But, when I hit 30+ then my troubles began.

I suddenly started to experience continual attacks of Cystitis. So, what had changed?

Apart from growing older nothing had altered in my life:

- I was not under any stress
- I still followed the above rules to keep myself clean and clear from infection.

But I was experiencing more and more attacks of cystitis than ever before. It was miserable; I was miserable. That endless cycle of pain, antibiotics, thrush and then anti-fungal treatment knocked me out for weeks at a time. No sex, no pleasure. Nothing. As soon as I finished one cycle, it would start all over again. Until it turned out I wasn't always infected...

But the symptoms were the same! How could I not be?

Interstitial Cystitis is just that: Non-infectious Cystitis or Painful Bladder Syndrome.

However, antibiotics were no good here for treatment. It wouldn't help with the pain, the inconvenience or the misery

Basically, a Urodynamic Study is designed to test to see how the bladder behaves as it fills and empties. Questions are asked about any problems with the bladder, then the test will be explained in detail and you will be asked if you have any questions.

Before they start this test, you will need to have a full bladder. You will then need to pass urine in a special toilet so that the flow of urine can be recorded. You will then need to undress from the waist down and lie down on a couch.

The Doctor will then pass a fine tube into the bladder and another into the rectum. These tubes are then connected to a special machine which will measure the pressure in the bladder. The bladder will then be filled with sterile saline solution and you will need to say what you feel when my bladder is full.

You will be in complete control. With a full bladder, you will then be asked to stand up and cough. Then you can empty the bladder and get dressed when the test results will be explained to you.

Women are not designed to urinate sitting down. Did you know this?

So, why is this and how are women supposed to urinate?

When we (women) sit down to urinate, the urethra (the tube running from the kidney and through which urine is expelled from the body) forms a kink. When we urinate, urine collects in this kink and is unable to pass out through the bladder. So, we stand up, wipe, wash our hands and go on our way.

But, do you ever stand up and think, "I don't feel I've finished!"?

Do you stand up and feel that your bladder isn't quite empty? Well, you'd be right!

You can imagine the problems that the urine that has collected in the kink can cause. It can stagnate. It can collect bacteria. It can cause repeated infections. So what can we do to stop it?

The answer is: Double Voidance or Voiding.

When you stand up thinking you've finished peeing, see if you can, again, empty your bladder. I bet you can! Careful you don't miss the toilet bowl, though! If you do this every time you urinate, you will help prevent cystitis and any other urinary tract infections! Great, eh? So, to urinate, women must stand with their knees bent and aim!

To avoid repeated attacks of cystitis, why not try out these wonderful inventions?

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1} Scented pantyliners
2} Constipation

I didn't have a full bladder although I drank enough beforehand. It was enough, however, to discover that during an ultrascan, I am not emptying my bladder completely when I urinate. This is the cause of the continual cystitis problems I have been suffering from. Pooling urine = non-adequate voidance = not flushing out toxins or stale urine.

On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the strongest), my muscle strength is a 2.

However, it doesn't explain why I am suffering from continual bouts of IC.

I will be sent an appointment for Pelvic Floor Exercises and another appointment to have a check up whereas this time I have to make sure I have a full bladder so that they can measure my flow.

Pelvic Floor Exercises:

Whilst standing, preferably, contract and relax pelvic floor muscle, 10 short and 10 long, 3 times a day.

I must build on this as much as I can. Note to self: I will have to get back to clenching as personal circumstances interrupted my routine and I'm now back to square one with my exercises.

Botox - By freezing the bladder muscles the constant need to pee is reduced. Or surgery to remove the bladder completely.
Surgery - Bladder stretching: You are placed under general anaesthetic, your bladder is filled with fluid and you are examined under a tiny telescope. It helps to make the bladder temporarily bigger and stretches the nerve endings to make them less sensitive.
Natural Methods - A change in your diet. Avoid caffeine, alcohol and spicy foods. Try bladder training: Only go to the toilet when you really need to. Increase the time between urination by 5 minutes every day.
Pain Relief - Anti-inflammatories, medication to relax the bladder wall and painkillers. Antacid to make the urine less acidic. Drugs known to help are Cimetidine and Amitriptyline.

1 - Drink a lot of fluids:

This is something I admit to having a lot of trouble doing. Sometimes I have difficulty shaking off an infection because I don't drink enough to flush the toxins out. For Cystitis drink Cranberry juice or plain water.

2 - When the pain is really intolerable, do take painkillers:

I take Paracetamol or Solphadeine Max to ease the pain. They help a lot.

3- Use heatpads:

I have a Handwarmer which can be used for aches and pains and a herbal heatpad which can be heated up in the Microwave. The Handwarmer has to be boiled.

4 - Read success stories from other female sufferers.

They could give you hope and they may provide additional resources you can try to help relieve or cure this condition.

5 - I know it sounds funny but what does help a lot with the pain is sitting on the toilet or a bowl.

I've even contemplated buying a potty...It keeps the urethra open thereby relieving the discomfort. This is especially good if your IC is caused by the walls of the urethra sticking together.