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Hello! I just joined the blog recently although I have been reading for a few months. I have not been diagnosed with IC but have some symptoms. I thankfully do not have the bladder pain that most of you do. My symptoms are more vaginal burning/irritation and frequency/urgency. My urologist doesn't believe I have IC because I do not have bladder pain. Could my symptoms still be related? I have been dealing with this since the end of July 2012. I am ready to make an appointment with Dr. B because I know that something is wrong and I can't continue to feel this way. My question is, do you think my symptoms are something that she would treat or help with? Are there other patients that have my symptoms but not the IC bladder pain? Thanks for listening! J
HI and welcome.
HI and welcome.
I think sometimes it is hard to get a sense of exactly what symptoms each of us have. Our symptoms change throughout treatment. I rarely have bladder pain. My worst symptoms at the start of treatment were urgency and frequency. This is not normal, and means that your gut flora is out of balance. I highly recommend you read Dr. Brizman's dissertation as it explains this well. You can get it on the Bomamed website in their on-line store, or I think you can get it on Amazon.
I would say that you are absolutely on the IC spectrum, and that it is not normal to have urgency and frequency and vaginal discomfort like you describe and Dr. Brizman can treat all of it.
I am quite surprised that your urologist does not think you have IC, if you have urgency and frequency with the absence of a positive urine test? I will tell you that my urologist said to me that she would not diagnose me with IC until I had symtoms for 6 months. Well, actually if you look in the guidelines for diagnosing and treating IC, created by the American Urological Association (AUA), the time period with symptoms before diagnosis is six WEEKS. So obviously, my uro just quickly scanned the guidelines and boy did she get that number wrong. Meaning, she is not perfect, and even good urologists are often not really up on IC information, nor do they understand the best ways to treat it. My uro said to me that at medical conventions she asks all of the other uros what they are doing to treat IC (She said they all say amitriptylin-the antidepressant....) She practicies in the San Francisco Bay Area, so there are lots of uros here that are up to date on the latest western take on diagnosing and treating IC) and most of them are having so-so results and scratching their heads and asking eachother what the other is doing!! So this is not an easy fix in western terms. Dr. Brizman's approach re-balances your whole body. There are things in your health history that have led to your symptoms. I pray you don't ignore them, as that could make things worse. Treating IC with this approach is a challenging road (as you know from reading, you have to give up sugar and alcohol and some other foods during treatment and limit afterwards). But it is rewarding.
If we don't excel at health, the only other option is disease.
Hi Mimi!
Hi Mimi!
Thank you for your quick response. It is so reassuring to actually have people that understand and care. This blog has helped me already!
I know that my body is unbalanced...hypothiroid, skipped menstrual cycles and now this. In my heart I believe that this treatment is the only way to feel better. I am not willing to go on Western medicine to cover up the symptoms. I want to feel better again and love every minute of the day. When I left the urologists office I was completely frustrated, as you can imagine. She diagnosed me with over active bladder and sent me away to track my level of symptoms for 2.5 months. My vaginal irritation had her stumped. Even doing an internal exam she thought all was fine because I didn't have a lot of pain points. My symptoms were not that bad the day that I was with her so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it. Long story short, something is not right! My worst symptom is the vaginal burning.
I am aware of the diet on the treatment and have been following it for the past few weeks. When you don't feel good it is amazing how you will try just about anything to feel better.
I have tried to call the office the past couple of days but no answer. I will try back on Monday.
Enjoy your weekend and again thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
JCM, I just was thinking about it today. I had vaginal discomfort and on and off itching some years before IC pain struck, actually the pain became bad after doctors treatments. Nevertheless, vaginal symptoms slowly grew into digestive issues and bladder discomforts. I remember when gynecologist was testing me for UTI and yeast with negative results. He could not explain why I was itching.
Perhaps you are in beginning stages of IC. Something is out of balance and you may want to fix it.
Hi there,
Hi there,
I had a lot of vaginal itching and burning during 4 months and the gyn couldn´t find anything. My ph-test was normal. No yeast infection.Then I ended up in hospital with sudden pain in the uterus area. Doctors gave me 2 types of antibiotics at one time because they suspected a fallopian tube infection. The vaginal discomfort was gone immediately but 5 days later I came down with IC. If I were you I would very quickly make an appointment with Dr. Brizman. I was trying to self treat the VV with all kinds of natural meds/ supplements/viatmins and I think I just made it worse this way. Don´t make the same mistake please.
There is nobody in the office
There is nobody in the office until April 30 as they are on vacation.
Thanks for Both of your
Thanks for both of your responses. I am going to call the office first thing on Monday morning. Unfortunately I have tried to do somethings on my own, hopefully this won't set me back. In July I was on two antibiotics because they assumed I had an infection but of course I didn't! I have not taken any of the other Western medications for IC. When this all stared for me I had the Mirena. I had it removed thinking it was the only thing I was using that was different. Within two days I was myself again and this lasted for 2.5 months. I started back on the pill (had been on it before) and at the end of the first pack my symptoms came back. Needless to say I never took another bc. Since then I have researched and found all of you. I haven't made the phone call for my appointment because I was scared...thinking that Dr. B can't help me. In getting some feedback from all of you I am beyond ready to start this treatment! I will keep you posted as to when I get my appointment. How long does it usually take to get one?
Great that you stopped the
Great that you stopped the pill. That is a major trigger for many with IC. That alone may make a huge difference for you.
If we don't excel at health, the only other option is disease.
I think you are in the right
I think you are in the right place!!! It didn't take long for me to get an appointment. Best of luck