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Bladder Pain Syndrome and Interstitial Cystitis and

Denice Moffat

Bladder Pain Syndrome, Interstitial Cystitis (IC), Painful Bladder Syndrome (PBS)  

Statistics:

If you know of someone with this condition, you can be sure that their lives are totally centered around where all the toilets are—even when taking short trips.

Interstitial cystitis (in-tur-STISH-ul sis-TIE-tis) is defined as recurring pain or discomfort in the bladder and surrounding pelvic (perianal) regions in both men but mostly women over the age of 30. This condition is a sign of a toxic body and is often associated with other inflammatory conditions such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Interstitial Cystitis causes scarring and stiffness of the bladder which affects the nerves in that area that signal the need to urinate. Some people with this condition have been known to need to use the bathroom up to 60 times within a 24 hour period—as you can imagine this interferes greatly with any social, work and sexual intimacy situations.

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Natural medicine can greatly help many of these cases which is why I’m writing about it for the Featured Case this month.

Symptoms Associated with Interstitial Cystitis include (IC):

What Causes Interstitial Cystitis?

By performing a urinalysis on these cases, the medical community has not associated Interstitial Cystitis (IC) with any type of bacterial infection within the bladder. These cases do not respond to antibiotics, so we need to look at the different core causes and learn how to manage them on an individual basis.

When an area of the body is not happy and not able to move stagnated toxins, the tissues attract water to that area making it look larger. Knowing this, one can see why some people have big hips and thighs or carry more weight below the belly button with bladder issues. One symptom of chronic bladder issues is stinky feet. Even tiny little clues add together to reveal a health plan that will assist in optimizing all body functions.

Some suspected core causes include:

Diagnosis of Interstitial Cystitis:

There are no definitive tests for the diagnosis of Interstitial Cystitis but some tests will rule out urinary tract infection, kidney disease and cancer of the bladder, so don’t be discouraged if tests come back negative for IC. Other treatable conditions should be addressed if they come up. Tests for IC include the urinalysis, urine culture, cystoscopy, biopsy of the urethra/bladder and bladder capacity tests. Sometimes by distending the bladder with water, air or potassium iodide, the bladder tissue will be stretched enough so that the pain will go away for several weeks.

The Potassium Sensitivity test is when water followed by potassium iodide is instilled into the bladder. If you don’t have IC (Interstitial Cystitis) then you should feel no pain with either the water or the potassium inside your bladder. If you have IC, then the potassium will definitely hurt and that may give a definitive diagnosis of IC.

How to Prepare for Your Appointment: You’ll need to gather a few things together before talking to your health care provider (of any type).

Other preparation that will be very important for a naturopathic practitioner like myself will be to:

Finding a practitioner that will take your concerns seriously–one who will listen to you and attend to your concerns—is where you want to place your time and dollars. Don’t give up! We’re out here and willing to help.

Medical Treatments and Management of Interstitial Cystitis: Let’s attend to the medical (allopathic) treatments first and then I’ll list possible alternative therapies. There is no cure for Interstitial Cystitis so most people say, but the medical community is using several techniques and drugs to attend to the symptoms.

Note: Pregnancy has no effect on IC. Some women find they go into remission with pregnancy yet in other women the symptoms get worse.

Alternative Medicine Treatments for Interstitial Cystitis:

Note: Some of these products are bundled and sold as “Support Packs” but this is often just an overpriced shotgun approach which is fine IF it works, but I believe getting to the core cause of the issue and only taking the supplements your body wants is the safest, most efficient and economical way to handle any disease—especially this one because allergies to supplements may be a core cause of Interstitial Cystitis.

Foods Known To Be Helpful For Overall Bladder Health:

Helpful Links and References for Interstitial Cystitis:

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