One of my patients sent this this am, and I thought how interesting it is. It is her thoughts from 8 months of treatment. IT did not edit it, except for the one word I am not allowed to post, I replaced it with a like word:

 

Things I learned on the diet (months 1-8)

My personal experience only.

 

Dr. B exemplifies what it means to truly show up and give of oneself

 

Vegetables at every meal is the new norm. Breakfast without them came to seem weird.

 

The diet is slow, very slow.

 

Goat butter is excellent and organic brown rice is very fine, too.

 

Thank you to my husband for eating List 2 with me.  (You look sexy 15 lbs thinner)

 

It goes faster if you don't cheat and it is easier just to never touch the stuff than have it be an open question as to whether you are going to have some sugar sometime.

 

Each time I am symptomatic, I doubt again.

 

You don't have to weigh out the ratios of portions. Eyeballing isgood enough.

 

Cheese is the new dessert.

 

French Meadows has wonderful special order spelt bread.

 

Not everyone can tolerate tea or coffee or chamomile tea

 

Stay away from peppermint!

 

Constipation went away within 24 hours of starting the diet

 

Food allergies improved greatly within first two months of diets

 

When Dr. B says to stop something stop it.

 

Don't drink tap water ever and Evian burns

 

Panic attacks will occur and can be dissipated with CBT or advicefrom Dr. B or another member of ICAMA who is further along

 

"Keep calm and carry on is an essential motto." (Thank you Sarah C.)

 

Getting busy at work is distracting whereas focusing on the pain makes it worse.

 

A heating pad between the legs is an essential tool.

 

Dr. B knows how to manage menopause without HRT!

Sitting for a long period of time is irritating.

 

So is a bicycle seat (although not anymore)

 

Sex hurts but it helps, too and it did not stop hurting til month 7.

 

Yoga makes the pain go away for two hours afterwards

 

Impulsivity is the enemy, whether it is a bite of something or

the hand lotion in the hotel. It isn't worth it.

 

Minute quantities of substances ingested or placed on the skin can cause big pain.

 

Gel caps can cause flares.

S

o can 1/8 of a bifido dissolved in a cup of water and ingesting only 1 teaspoon of the dilution. Amazing how sensitive the bladder is.

 

The diet is based on Dr. B's work of 15 years observing multiple patients and it removes irritants which are often healthy vitamins and minerals that IC patients cannot tolerate temporarily. Conventional diets for IC leave in many irritants.

 

Herbs are necessary to get the bladder healthy again.

Diet alone is not enough

 

There are different kinds of IC and so Dr. B's treatment is different for each person.

 

Dr. B has an amazing memory for each person's history and how they are doing at any given time.

 

Dr. B is corresponding with many patients at all times and so herresponses will be brief but you always get the essential information that you need.

I needed a lot of support and spoke with her twice a month until

8th month

 

I can feel energetic and healthy without HRT

 

Allergy shots interfere with getting well

 

Do not drink the water from left over vegetables! You will flare.

 

Always read ingredients

 

Lynn can give you a letter so you can take your water on the plane

 

Put a big dispenser of spring water in the trunk of your car

 

Time is our friend on this diet. We get used to a new way of eating and come to value it and our incredible gift of emerging health

 

The western drugs I took over 20 years made me sick

Alcohol made me sick

Sugar made me sick

Stress made me sick

Elmiron was a bandaid only

 

Reading the Dissertation helped me to understand many of the circumstances that led to IC.

 

I cannot outsource my health to others. I must make it my foremost responsibility.

 

My body is my temple.

 

Traveling is invigorating but hard. Stay somewhere with a kitchen and travel with your own food. A car is easier than a plane because you can carry a cooler and water and have control over when you stop.

 

Thinking that you are not healing does not mean that you are not getting well.

 

Being told by a doctor that a condition is untreatable means that he doesn't know how to treat it yet,not that it is untreatable.

 

Pets help.

I have a "mild case" of IC and tremendous effort was required to get better.

 

The people on the site are real people and their stories are not made up.

 

It is normal to be very afraid and need a ton of support and people on the site will provide it. Family may have a harder time understanding and doing so.

 

Don't put anything on your skin except Dr Bs products and oil olive and jojoba oil. Muscle liniment is a very bad idea.

 

Sometimes, in terms of herbs, less is more.

 

One can become perfectly adjusted to drinking nothing except hot and cold spring water.

 

There are more choices of vegetables at the Farmer's markets

 

Don't feel guilty buying the best food you can. You will save a lot of money by never eating out.

 

Do not use cleaning chemicals without gloves

 

Acupuncture and excessive exercise can be dangerous.

 

Notice the innate goodness in others

 

The diet gets the leaky gut better and then the bladder can become healthy again.

 

IC faded in and it fades out. The getting well process is gradual.

 

Believe that you can be healthy again!

 

Listen to Dr. B when she says not to do things even if the rationale seems "implausible".

 

Trust Dr. B, she is an amazing guide.

 

 

Sent from my iPad