Almost Symptom Free And Still Healing

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I was emailing with another patient the other day telling her of my progress and she suggested I post about it . I remember when I first started treatment I would spend hours reading and re-reading the success story testimonial emails to convince myself that there was hope I would be healed and they made me feel so much better so I figure I'd check in again and do a little post about where I'm at.

I'm just on the cusp of my 7 month anniversary of treatment with Dr B after flying from Australia to LA for treatment. I've been a fairly moderate case - when I left for LA I was peeing around once every 45 minutes, pressure, pain... it felt like sand paper was grinding the inside of my bladder. 

The healing path hasn't been linear for me as some of you will know. Often I thought I was improving and then out of nowhere would be hit with a big flare and feel like I was back at square one. I'm still not 100% and I know that if I'm not careful with the diet right now I can still flare BUT after 7 months of treatment I am now in a place where I don't deal with symptoms 95% of the time!! I spend almost every day feeling like a normal person again.... I pee every few hours like a normal person most of the time and I rarely experience pain in my bladder. Occasionally I get a twinge of pain or will get a couple of random hours where I feel I do need to pee a little more than usual but I've pretty much gone the last month with barely a symptom.

Sex is still somewhat of an issue but that too is getting better and better. It no longer hurts at all during the process but I do experience a couple of hours of frequency after. Dr B says it could be because the vigurousness possibly shakes up my lymph nodes which still have some toxins that are released that irritate my bladder.

I'm on list 3-4 on the diet and think Dr B will probably make me stick to it for a while. As some of you might remember I thought I was getting tons better a few months ago and started being lazy about things like bread and got smacked with a big flare. Learned my lesson big time!!

Some things which I think have really helped me along the process - eating lots of green veggies. I've mentioned before I eat a TON of celery, cucumber. I bring a little bag of celery and cucumber sticks to work almost every day after reading celery is anti-inflammatory and cucumber is alkalising and they're so convenient to eat. I also eat a ton of avocado (almost half an avocado every day). The good fats and oils are super good for you and avocados are packed with pottassium which is good for you too. I wasn't a big meat eater before treatment but I also found eating some good red meat regularly really helped! 

Drinking LOTS of water!! I know it feels like the last thing you want to do when you're constantly peeing but halfway through treatment I realised I wasn't drinking enough water and even think one of my big flares was brought on one day when I was slightly dehydrated. I keep a big 1 litre water bottle with me and try and make sure I drink at least 2 litres a day to constantly keep the tissues in my body hydrated.

Anyway that's just a little look into my IC journey.... I have to say I feel like things really started improving when I got into the bifido. It really started to do something magic for me when I was able to start tolerating it.

Sometimes I still think this is something I will have to live with the minor symptoms of forever and then I realise how far I've come and think... well if I've healed this much surely I can get to 100%! This page has been so wonderful to have and has made such a difference to the healing process. It's nice to feel you're not alone and share stories.

Anyway I hope if anything my story helps to reassure that the treatment really works. like I said - still not 100% but getting there :)

 

deir's picture
deir

Wow! You are very lucky!
I am so glad for you.
 
We are all so different- I also ate a ton of celery but now have had to take it out of my diet for a while. So, celery itself is not necessarily a good thing in excess. The potassium is one of the issues I believe. Just a note for others. I never suspected clerey until Dr B suggested I take it out for a while.
 
 

Pico's picture
Pico

MissCC,
Thank you for taking the time to write your inspirational posting. It meant   a lot.  Really glad to know you are doing so well. 
 
Sue 

cathy's picture
cathy

Thank you for posting your success, it really helps to read posts like this, I am only 4 months in treatment and reading posts like this keeps me going knowing that one day I will be writing my own success story. Glad you are doing so well after only 7 months.

cprince's picture
cprince

Awesome update MissCC! Thanks for the positive update! I am with Deir though on the celery Dr. B doesn't seem to want me to eat this everyday either! Who would have thought?! Keep up all your hard work, it is definitely paying off!

Mimij67's picture
Mimij67

Wow! Fantastic! Keep up the great work and let us know when Dr. B allows you to eat bread!!!! ;)

If we don't excel at health, the only other option is disease.

MissCC's picture
MissCC

Haha thanks Mimi. I will! Gosh I can't tell you how much I just want to dive into a big blueberry muffin sometimes!! I miss that sort of stuff tremendously.
Interesting about celery not being good for a lot of people! I guess we all are really different. Might be that it's so fibrous and hard to digest!
Anyway - keep on truckin' guys!! We're all getting there!

Mariposa's picture
Mariposa

YYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY! This makes me so happy. Thanks for checking in. How wonderful! You came all the way from Australia? I'm glad it's paying off! I'm a brand new patient and full of uncertainty... this post made me soooooooooo hopeful. Thank you for sharing your light :)
 
Hannah

MissCC's picture
MissCC

Hi Hannah,
I'm so glad I could help you with this. As you can imagine I felt the same way worrying I would be wasting all this money on travel for something I wasn't sure of! You just have to stick at it. You'll have so many moments where you might fall back a few steps and start doubting but like I said my healing process hasn't been linear and a lot of people will say the same thing. Don't let a bad flare discourage you from sticking to the diet and protocol because that sort of thing really made me fall back a couple of months ago when I thought I was good to eat things I shouldn't have! I really think the diet and the probiotics have been the most important things for my case.
Feel free to email anytime if you have questions! :)

CO's picture
CO

Hi MissCC
Thank you for taking the time to post! It is so encouraging to read about your progress. I believe you will feel 100% in time. A recent post from Dr. B read; we don't get 'cured', we will have to look after our body for life, so symptoms won't return. For me, that is also a process of acceptance, to realize we will always be eating healthy. I try to remember that this is a good thing!! I am on list 3 and have made delicious sugar free banana bread; dr. b says to be very careful with banana, but because you're a bit along, you might want to try it. Because it really satisfies those cake cravings! I will be making it once a month. Let me know if you would like the recipe.
xxC

livandlex's picture
livandlex

Thank you for sharing your great progress!!! It means a lot to us all :)
Congratulations!