Flares

OUCH! The pain can be so overwhelming at times. How do you stop your bladder from hurting? Well I could take a pain medication if I was given one, but the doctor won't allow that. I have to learn to work through the pain as bad as it may be. Today I honestly feel like someone has stabbed me in the back and are pouring acid in my bladder. The pain is just everywhere and I can't stop it. I have to think of something else get my mind off of it before I can call it quits. I can't help but wonder how people deal with it. I want to get better I do, but there are so many things an always have to worry about with IC. I mean who would want a bladder that looked like this:

I really don't want mine to look like that but it does. I have one of the worst cases my doctor has ever seen. I take my medication everyday every 8 hours that way I’m on a schedule and don't forget to take it. But when the pain is like it is, all I want to do is curl up in a ball and cry. There have been some times when I wanted to go to the hospital because the pain was so bad. At times I just don’t know what to do. This pain is something no one should go through. I would rather me breaking my arm compared to this pain. With the flares that I get it also makes me feel like I have to use the restroom a lot more. It’s just that feeling that is there, like you just drank a gallon of water. Because I constantly feel like I have to “Pee” I miss out of a lot of things. Like the teacher talking in class about a project or being at work and saying you’ll be right back when really you don’t have to use the restroom. Everything about IC is not fun in general, but it’s the way my life is now, and it’s something I have to work through every day and for the rest of my life.

Support of Friends

Taking it day to day…

Everyone has had their ups and their downs with IC, and I now for a fact we all wish things wouldn’t be so hard at times. It is really hard having, to follow a diet everyday and take different medications. As a person it starts to take effect on you. I know it has for me. I would not wish then on anyone and if by chance you ever are told you have IC make sure you have a strong support team. It’s nice to have people who encourage you every day and tell you that your one day closer to being off your medications and then there’s those days where you really just don’t want to deal with whets going on. I know there have been days where I just lay in my bed because I am in so much pain, and I know laying there isn’t helping because I need to be active to lessen the pain. I’m glad my friend Amanda and Nick (my boyfriend) are there for me. They have been with me since the beginning, well since the time I started having problems to finding out I had IC. I don’t know what I would do without either one of them here to support me.

Amanda has been understanding out this. Her and I have been friends since high school and it is so easier for her to know when I’m not feeling good and could just a little bit of me time. She’s been a rock in all of my hard times dealing with all of this and without her I think I would stress out over all of this. Nick on the other hand, didn’t really understand at first everything that was going on. Just like me he was learning something new, but through it all he has been there. He’s made sure I’ve taken all my medications when I need to take them, to insure I get better. No matter what kind of pain I am in Nick has a way of calming me down so I don’t worry about the pain and worry about something else, like doing my homework. I also have to give Nick credit because if it wasn’t for him I don’t think I would have much courage to face up to my own fears about having IC. He has always told me that things will be okay and thing will turn out fine, I just had to give them time. I know that it will take time to fix my IC I just have a hard time knowing that I will have this, the rest of my life, because  there is no cure for it yet. All and all I would say that without the support of Amanda and Nick dealing with IC would be much harder for me then it is.

Urologist visit

Check ups…. The joy I could go without. I really hate going into the urologist. He always has something bad to tell me. This time it was about my blood work that I had done before I had my cystoscope done. My urologist wanted to make sure that my hormone levels were fine. Well that’s all fine and dandy but when the nurses at his office didn’t call me to tell me that my thyroid levels we below half of what they should have been, I got worried. No actually I don’t think worried is the word. More like what the hell is going to happen now. I seriously thought it was the end of the world, I mean was he going to tell me I was going to die next. There were just so many possibilities running through my head and it drove me crazy. Now I don’t know how many of you out there have gone through something like this, but it’s not fun. Nothing ever is fun when you find out something else could be wrong with you, besides what’s already going on.

IC I tell you, is enough for me to deal with, not considering my other health problems I have that don’t pertain to IC. On the other hand I did hear good news from the urologist that day. He said as long as I stay on track and continue to take all my medications my bladder will heal at a faster rate. That’s the one thing I have been waiting to hear. It’s almost overwhelming because of everything you have to go through just to make yourself better. I mean no one asked for this so it really isn’t’ fair but then again it is life. Life is a challenge all on its own, but it loves to throw obstacles in the way to see if we can get over them. IC just happens to be an obstacle for most of us, and we all have our own way of getting over it, and with the help of your medical care provider you can work to get over your obstacle so it won’t take over your life.

Diet

One of my least favorite parts about having IC is being on this diet. I seriously can't live like this. I am a person who loves food, and when you tell me i can't have my favorite foods it upsets me. Seriously what’s a girl to do when she can't eat 90% of the foods that are in a regular person’s diet?


This diet as me worried about my nutrition. I’m lacking in my vitamins so now I’m taking vitamins. It’s hard to keep your body healthy when you have to always watch what you eat. This whole no acidic foods are really hard. My doctor also has me on a low sodium diet. Oh how this makes things so much harder for me.

There are only so many things I can have to eat and after a while the same foods eat boring. I know that I can take my Prelief (supplement take before each meal and drink to reduce 90% of acid in foods) before I eat, but still certain foods bother me. I can’t enjoy a normal meal like my mom’s homemade spaghetti without having any problems. I’ve had to change all of my eating habits and at times it hard to find something to eat that won’t bother me. Since I have one of the worse cases of IC that my doctor seen, eating becomes a chore to me. Trying to find out which foods are fine and then finding foods that don’t work at all. At times I feel like a test dummy, because foods I haven’t tried yet make me wonder how my body is going to react to it.

I don’t know how many of you with IC have the same problems as me. Let me tell you it isn’t easy. There are some many things that we have to take into account in our lives. None of us wanted this, it is just something that we inherited, formed from allergies, and so many different things play a huge role in our IC. Living with it is hard, but also not doing anything about it would be even harder. Just watch yourself and everything you do. Be careful of the foods you eat, and if you’re having problems talk to your doctor and ask them questions. They are there to help you and make things easier for you, so you don’t have to worry.