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Hi
I am a newly diagnosed ICer and searching for help. I have come across this site in the last month and keep coming back to it for hope. I unfortunately do not live in L.A. I live in Canada. I am seeing a Naturopath here and also using the meds from myn urologist with hopes that I will be able to cut these out. I am very interested in reading the posts from the current patients of Dr. Brizman. I often read over and over the success stories. Hope to read some posts soon.
For Kriste
Hi Kriste,I am a current patient of Matia. She is wonderful and she has helped me so much. I do not live close to California but I made the trip out to see her and it was totally worth it! Hopefully your naturopath there can help you but if not, I would strongly suggest you see Matia. If you are going the "natural" route, she is the best!! Good luck, don't give up - you CAN get better!!MR
I also thank you very much
I also thank you very much for your response. I was not sure but do you also have I.C.? It is nice to hear from someone that has been treated long distance. Are you still being treated? How long before you started to feel better. If you have I.C do you still have symptoms? How often did you have to speak with Dr. Brizman when you were being treated in the beginning? Sorry for all the questions but this is a big decision for me. I do really want to go the natural route as I am on the nasty meds that are giving me side effects and who knows if they will even work. I have changed meds three tims already in two months.Thank you again.Kriste
Hi Kriste, I have IC, live in
Hi Kriste,I have IC, live in Portland OR and have been a long distance patient of Matia's for a little over 3 years. My IC story is under "Stephanie - Los Angeles" (somehow have the wrong city listed...). Before I started with Matia I was like you and had been on several Western medications, then I switched to an acupuncturist, then a naturopathic. The diets and treatments these doctors put me on helped, but never fully treated my IC. I would still have terrible flare ups and then eventually end up as sick as I was before I started. Matia is the only doctor I know of who specializes in IC. Her treatment is specifically geared towards IC. I started having phone consults with Matia every 2 weeks, then quickly graduated to monthly then bi-monthly calls. I started feeling better within the first month. Every patient is different and that's what's so great about Matia's approach. Now my life is back to normal and I only have mild flare ups every few months or so...when I grossly go off my diet. In the beginning I was apprehensive about starting with Matia, both physically and financially, but I'm so glad I did it. It was well worth it!
Kriste,According to Matia I
Kriste,According to Matia I do have IC but the pain I experienced was mostly vulvodynia-type pain, although I did go through episodes of the classic IC symptoms as well. My pain was about a 9/10 on a scale of 10 and was pretty much bedridden. I spoke to Matia every 2 weeks at first and was in contact with her almost EVERY DAY through emails in the beginning. Ok, so you asked how long it took for me to feel better. THIS IS NOT A JOKE - I felt better within HOURS of starting her protocol! I don't know if that is typical but that was my experience. I couldn't believe it. I thought I was crazy but I kept feeling better. After a few more hours of relief, I cried my eyes out! I had thought that my life was over and that the pain would never stop and here I was FINALLY feeling relief. Lots of emotions with that relief. Joy, shock, anger that I had gone through it for so long (1 year episode that time) and that no one besides Matia was able to help me - and so fast!! That was about 3 years ago. I still work with Matia and I still have some bad days. But I live most of my life in little/no pain now. When I don't follow the diet, I hurt. When I do, I feel almost "normal." And my husband has totally changed the way he eats too. We are so much healthier and so much smarter about our health because of Matia. I found Matia on the internet and it was a huge leap of faith to start working with her. But I literally had NOTHING to lose. There was no way I could hurt anymore than I was already hurting. And there was no way I could try another medication (meds almost killed me) so I gave Matia a chance. She saved my life. I think it is worth whatever you have to do to work with her. Don't worry about the long-distance thing. It doesn't matter - her care is still fabulous. You can get better, don't give up!!!
Hi Kriste
Hi KristeI am also a current patient of Matia's. No matter what you choose, I cannot tell you how important it is to have someone who thoroughly understands ic treating your symptoms. IC kind of creates a whole new ball game in the body, if you know what I mean, and even traditional natural treatments that work well for a lot of people may aggravate ic. For me it was too much to figure out on my own. Matia has given me my life back. I will say that you have to be totally sold out on her program and willing to comply with every part of it before you begin. So think it through, and good luck, no matter what you choose!icnot4me
Greetings
Thank you so much for your response. I agree that it is too much to try to figure out on your own. It is also quite scary. I am glad to hear that you have your life back. I hope that is me some day. If I saw Dr. Brizman there would be no problem sticking to her plan. I have already made so many changes in my life since January with no problem in the hopes that I can get better. I am very motivated. I have lost over 20 pounds in two months beacause I am being so faithful to the IC diet. I want to feel like a whole person again. I feel so lost because I am not able to enjoy all the things I did before this dreaded illness. My problem is frequency. I sometimes feel like I am doomed to life in a toilet. Again this site does give me hope. Thanks for responding to me. Kriste
New Patients
Hi ,my name is MJ. My daughter Rayanna and I are on the Success Stories. I have been with Matia for about 5 years. I had IC and was cured of it after about 2 years. I knew I was in the right place because I felt better almost immediately. The treatment is intense and the diet is hard but it's important so that Matia can see if her plan is working and other things are not making you feel bad. This is a big decision but if you want to get better and live a healthier life this is the route to go. Matia and her staff have changed my life and the life of my family and friends. I still go to her for advice or treatment if something comes up. My whole family went out to see her this summer ( we live in upstate NY). You will get better. She is the real deal! God Bless MJPS Just read the paper or listen to the news. Probiotics are everywhere. Matia knew years ago how important they were, well before they became the "thing to do"
Health
Hi, my name is Angela, I have been with Dr Matia for about 2 1/2 years now. I was a severe case. It took about 2 years for me to have more good days than bad days, now I have mostly good days! I am out and about, I feel healthy with so much energy! I also had severe asthma, chronic fatigue, hypoglycemia, and GERD. They all have disappeared! The IC symptoms were unbearable before I met Dr Matia, I felt there was no end to the suffering, my life was over! Because of Dr Matia I have my life back, my children have their mother back and my husband has his wife back. Dr Matia has been there for me every time when I needed her so! There is no other Doctor(Teacher) like Her! She knows this illness! She teaches people about health and how to stay healthy. Nature does the curing, but Nature needs an opportunity, Nature is slow but oh so thorough. Dr Matia is there to teach and guide while we heal. Healing from disease is not a quick fix, it is a process just like becoming ill is a process. It takes time! The good news is that we can get better from all this and our lives are only better than before. The diet was not a problem for me. These days I have added many foods back into my diet. I love my foods! I do not ever want to eat false foods again. Also my husband has good health these days because he joined me in the diet from the beginning as I started treatment with Dr Matia and he got better too(he suffered from RLS and GERD) He is now symptom free! My husband said: Because of your illness and because of Matia I am feeling better than ever before, I have so much energy again and LOVE the foods that Nature provides for us. He tells all his friends and family too! We have to get back to Nature, and learn what a good life really is....Dr Matia is there to teach us and she gives us our lives back. Trust in God and in Nature, Dr Matia is a God sent!
Better Now
Kriste,I am also a long distance patient of Matia's. I live in Raleigh, North Carolina. I began treatment with Matia in Dec. 05.. After adjusting my diet and taking her herbs I would say I was much better almost immediately. I started to become symptom free about August 06 - I am still feeling 98% better. I owe it all to Matia. She not only knew how to treat me but gave me hope all through the process. I hope you start to feel better if not I would suggest you consider talking with Matia. She works wonders.
reply to Kristie
Kristie,I am also Canadian and I have been a patient of Matia's since December 2006. I started having IC symptoms in October 2006 and was diagnosed in November 2006. I knew right away that Western medicine was not for me and I was fed up with the waitlists for specialists here (I’m sure you are too!). First I started Matia's diet and noticed a change right away. After a month I decided to start Matia's full treatment and I went to see her in L.A. She had answers to all my questions and helped to understand what was causing my discomfort. The first 8 or 9 months of treatment was very difficult for me. I was extremely sensitive to all foods and I had a lot of die-off discomfort. I have been feeling much better lately and it is such a relief. I can actually go for hours without needing to go to the washroom and my whole life isn’t governed by being near a toilet. I am even healthy enough to go to Mexico (I just booked my trip today!). I started with phone conversations every 2 weeks and just recently have started doing them once a month. Matia also answers questions that can’t wait by e-mail. Ordering the herbs is always very easy and my orders normally arrive within a day or two. This is just part of the whole story but I wanted to give you an idea of what it is like to be a Canadian patient. Matia is absolutely amazing, unbelievably understanding and patient. I was very let down and disappointed by my family doctor and by the medical system here. After waiting months for an appointment with a specialist I was fed up with doctors appointments that gave me no relief. I tried a naturopathic doctor here who tried his best but really didn’t know anything about IC. My experience with Matia has been completely different. I look forward to phone appointments which are always easy and Matia has always been available to help me in an emergency. I highly recommend begging treatment with her! If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask. A
Long time patient also
Hi Kriste,I've also been a long time patient of Matia's and am doing great. I've been with her over 5 years. You can see my story on the icaroad website, under Karla from Illinois, I also recently submitted a new update.I have added in alot of foods. I now eat fruits, veggies with sugar (ie corn, carrots, peas) almond butter and can eat out fairly Ok. I was a one time sugar holic and junk food junkie. I now LOVE to eat this way and love the diet. I will never go back to eating junk food again. A few bites here and there, maybe but that is it.. Thanksgiving, I ate a small piece of pumpkin pie and did fine. You will get there, have faith. I think the one thing I have always had was faith. As soon as I saw her website, I knew..but I trust my instincts so that helps. When I talked to her, there was nothing but pure love coming from her voice and still, to this day, that is her. Love, devotion and commitment, with no judgments or attitudes. So, all of you new patients..hang in there. This is a road, worth travelling.