I knew what tipped me over into IC, Vin. I was never a vegetarian, didn't take birth control pills, rarely an antibiotic or tylenol, don't drink or smoke, but I developed IC by the time I was 50. I thought it might have been from a blood transfusion when I had my hysterctomy three years ago, but Dr. B said that wasn't it. It orginated in my lower intestines, she said. My goal is to help my daughter to avoid it. She has been having some health difficulties, and I sure don't want her to suffer with this down the road. I want to ask Dr. B about preventative measures at my next appointment. 

HI!
I wrote about htis in another thread- I forget but I think it was one of yours;) The main trigger for em was eating too much antifungal food- apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, kombucha, other sermented foods because my daughter's ped suggested I might have had a Candida issue that I passed down to her. Dr B feels that I out myself into a harsh cleanse of sorts and it is what tipped the balance completely over. I also had a lot of stress leading up to IC but I am uunsure as to whether that is the chicken or the egg.
 
I think all those other people who seem unfazed by their Pill use/abx/veg diet ehatever- really aren't -in most cases. I know so many people with chronic allerrgies, excema, anxiety, insomnia, depression, thyroid issues- you name it. I've said this before on here- IC is something you can't ignore- and it an intense disease manifestation but I believe many many people have other more "ignorable' diseases as a result of the things you listed.

I honestly think it is the antibiotics that do it. I think just about everyone with IC has taken them at least once. I know bad diet, birth control, etc are also causes... but I think those alone are not enough to throw you that off balance. Antibiotics are just so harsh, and it's funny how IC has only really become a problem around the same time antibiotics started being used. The same goes for all automimmune/degenerative diseases, they seemed to pop up around the time of the great "antibiotic age". But you know, that's just my theory. I think we are just the lucky ones whose weak link is the bladder, and so we are forced to deal with the aftermath. Deir, I am curious, did you ever take antibiotics? I am assuming if it was around the time of your child's birth maybe they gave you antibiotics during that time? I swear, I was never sick in my life until I recieved antibiotics for a UTI at age 24 (and I think the UTI was caused by the partner, not anything I did). After that it was all downhill. I know Dr. B says you should be able to handle a round of antibiotics once your better, but I will have to be on death's bed to ever take them again. And even at death's bed, I would ask for an antifungal to be given with the antibiotic...  I swear.

vin43, you've summed your thoughts so well! i often think about this, too.