morning is always better for me, too. it's around 10ish to 3ish when my flare seems worse and then it tapers off early evening for couple of hrs. yes, i still have flare ups being on the diet especially during my period. i do my best to follow the diet, but once in awhile i do eat out - i try my best to change it to fit the diet. i don't know what's happening, but two days ago i felt bloated and i haven't eaten anything unusual.  something i have to let dr. b know.

Hi All,
        As I've kept better track of my symptoms, I've definitely noticed I have the same ovulation side effects as Tinkerbell.  I used to find that I flared around 2 pm in the afternoon, but I think it may have been that I was eating something for lunch that bugged me and then I'd manage to recover by later in the day.  Now it doesn't seem to be as consistent. Like today I'm flaring terribly and there's no apparent reason why.  Argh!  So frustrating!
        Katie, I also don't do eggs, to my dismay, am gluten free and don't eat broccoli as well!  I've also steered clear of cheese, mostly because I crave it and think that's a bad sign.  Do you eat meat with every meal?  I find that it gets expensive and I'm so tired of cooking meat!
        I find it hard to judge whether or not a new food is making my symptoms worse or not.  It sounds so scientific when I read about how to test a new food, but with all the ups and downs, it's hard to tell.  Sometimes I wonder if there are some things that I'm eating that are bothering me and I'm just not aware of them.  I think the bigger issue is how to combine foods and to pay close attention to proportions. 
        Oh, I asked Matia yesterday about raw versus cooked vegetables and she said that to try and do a 50/50 split was best but it isn't that big of a deal either way. 

I never know how to judge the food issues!! Very frustrating. I am so unstable and I pretty much ate all teh same things for a very long time. I also had good periods within those times too so I don't think the instability is due tofood. Now I am finally moving along on list 2 after 7 months and honestly I have no clue if anything is bugging me because almost everday i get worse as the day goes on. I do have the occasional good day too. Who knows?
Before IC I never had food issues like intolerances or allergies.

Yes, I do see somewhat of a pattern.  Here goes...  I have been pretty much sticking to Diet 1 and 2 the past 11 weeks, with the exception to Lays Lightly Salted Potato Chips.  I crave salt and I have noticed (or at last I have finally got it through my thick stubborn head that I cant eat this and expect to feel good).  To top it off...  when I get up in the middle of the night, I crave salt so I go to the cabinet and I eat the chips.  During the holidays, I did not have chips, had no work related stress and felt normal.  I had about 5 days of bliss and no pain.  I actually had forgotten about the chips, until I went looking for them at the store last weekend.  I decided I needed chips and ate them sparingly trhoughout the week.  Until last night.  Around 5am, I can feel the tingling coming again and then the BMs are out of whack and now, then I get the burning feeling down there, then the frequency (2-3 times/hour all day)., depressed as to why I do this to myself.  I did so well all week, great mood, level 1 minimal pain but some frequency (bearable).  I know my pattern.  But being deprived of other foods, I dont know how to move away from salty chips.  Dr. B and I spoke this past Wednsday and she had approved me to List 3 (I didnt tell her about the chips).  I'm now doubting myself since I have hardly touched List 2 for fear of flaring..  I'm going to TRY and take it slow and wait for this flare to stop.  If the chips are not the culprit, then I dont know what else it could be.  I've been really careful about what I eat (aside from those pesky salty chips, lol). 

I know where you are coming from! I get so frustrated trying to figure out what causes my flares! One day I think I got it figured out, and the next not so much! Makes me want to scream! Being on the same diet for 10 months can make one go crazy!:( Can't seem to get enough salt either, and those pesky potato chips are my downfall as well!:( Just so hard to give them up! Dr B said the craving for salt  was b/c our intestines are not absorbing nutrients correctly, if I remember right, was several months ago when I asked. She was fine with eating salt as long as I was using sea salt or himalayan salt.

I think one of the issues with the chips is that as with any snack fried in vegetable oil at hight heat, they can be inflmmatory. I think it has to do with the omega 3-6-9 balance and also vegetable oil at high heat can become oxidized.  I actually think frying in lard would be better but since pork is a suspect food for us, I am assuming lard wouldn't be great either.SO I still eat them but it isn't the BEST snack. (although it tastes the best!)
 
BTW- this is informatin I've gained from many sources but not particualrly Dr B so take it with a grain of salt (no pun intended)

I notice a tiny bit of bloating and increased frequency when I eat salt whether it is the pink hymialyan salt or the real salt .I asked dr b about it and she said that some people don't tolerate it well so if you feel like you don't, don't push it :) You are not the only one :) It is so hard though because salty things taste so freaking good!

If you tolerate it, I've found a good chips alternative is taking a sheet of nori (seaweed) and toasting it in a pan for a minute or so and then eating it.  It's salty but not in the same way that salt is, and it can satisfy that need for something crunchy. 

that sounds really really good! When is seaweed allowed, which stage? Looking forward to that :)

Hi Katie! I actually started treatment in April, just took me awhile to get the nerve up to post. Still not too far ahead of you in treatment. I too never really had craving for sweets, more of the idea I want it because I can't have it!:)
At 10 months in starting to finally see some improvements and hope I will be cleared to try things on list 2 soon!:) Have had difficult time tolerating food. Everything irritates my stomach!:( Getting so tired of the same food, and my husband is also looking forward to me moving up to next list. I am so tired of having to make two seperate meals, he got tired of list 1 very quickly, as found out I do not tolerate garlic, so everything I made I added salt. Oh how I crave salt!:) The nori does sound good, so hope I will be able to try it soon!

Ladies- WHen you say "flare" do you mean it gets worse? Or do you mean you feel normal most of the time until you"flare"

Great question.  And here I really thought we all felt the same symptoms of  'flaring'.  For me, I literally feel like I'm on fire inside!  Its horribly painful and I am noticing its related to work stress.  I urinate burning, have frequency (every 5-10 minutes), my intestines are burning.  My IBS acts up and then I'm freezing constantly w pain down the inside of my inner left leg.  This is all day and now I'm seeing that once I go to sleep, I wake up with less symtoms.  Its just miserable as you all know. 
My flare (I'm finding and accepting) is stress triggered.  The food part, since this week I have been keeping to Diet 1 and 2 since I knew it would be a stressful week at work, I have pruprosely not tried List 3 (aside actually from small qty of milk in mashed potato this morning (didnt flare, yay!). 
Question:  we all know that living with IC is hard.  But I would like to know... how do you all deal with stress?  I need any advice on how to better deal with it.  

I guess I am a little different. I am perfectly fine when im not "flaring", I can eat anything and it doesn't seem to bother me. (Although I don't just eat "anything" anymore now that i'm on the diet). However, when i'm flaring it's torture, constant 24/7 frequency and usually burning. It never lasts a short time, it always several days/weeks. But then once it's under control i'm back to normal. I was also curious how you are doing deir? I wanted to email you to talk since our symptoms are so similar, but your email isn't listed. Do you mind emailing me?

I have not had a day without pain, so when I say flare I also mean from hour to hour. Lately I have been having pain every time I eat no matter what I eat, and if I don't eat often enough I also get pain or feel nauseous or getting stabbing pains in stomach and intestines. Boo, it's a lose lose situation! Currently in a flare of needing to pee all the time with burning. Probably also related to long stressful days at work.

Thought I posted as reply but I guess i didn't!
 
I have been....drumroll....doing so good. Oh I am thrilled. Now it has only been since Sunday and Tuesday wasn't even great but for me that is fantastick. Not only that but Wed and Thursday I was good ALL DAY. I finally started adding list 2 with more confidens and I *think* I am ok! I was so bad at Christmas maybe it was pushing me to a new level? I have been having some die-off stuff but I can handle that.
 
Mel bel- don't know why my email isn't there. I will send you one.
 
Thanks for the clarification about flaring- katie sounds like I am like you.
 
Adriane- avoiding stress is the million dolar issue. I try to exercise as much as I can, pray and do guided meditations. Break things down into manageable chunks. It is so hard. (((hug))))

Deir I'm so glad to hear you're doing well right now!  It's so good to have an encouraging stretch.  Yay! 
         This was such an interesting thread to read for me.  I was really wondering how other people define flaring as well.  I feel like there are flares and then there are FLARES.  Adriane, you described one of my FLARES perfectly!  As I said in my panicky "big flare" thread,  I had a heck of a rough week and was ready to ask anyone who would listen to take me out back and "put me down". Things have finally levelled off a bit.  I went on a little excursion today and didn't have to pee for like 3 hours after being glued to the toilet a few days ago.  One of the encouraging things I guess is realizing your body can pull itself out of a bad spell with more resilience as time goes on. 
         the small f flares are just like days on end of feeling not good that just wear away at me with pressure, a little burning, a flip-flopping feeling, or strong painful twinges.  I mean, I get those every day but do have spells where I feel quite normal.  Small flares are when I don't have those breaks of normalcy in between and feeling "off" is a relentless condition. 
         It's also so hard to know what to do about eating when having a flare.  I find eating nothing is best for my bladder but then I get dizzy and so fatigued and feel like I'm not giving my body anything to restore itself when it's in that state of strife.  Steering clear of grains seems to be helping a lot at the moment. 
         I hope everyone is feeling flare-free this evening!

I am so glad you are both feeling a bit better! Katie, too! I was praying for you all, especially when Ceb wrote in about her horrible flare this week. I could so relate. One of my worse and most long lasting flares was after a weekend away with my husband. He ate sushi that weekend with soy sauce. ( I cannot tolerate soy at all.) I was already on List 1 because I was going to see Dr, B for the first time in about 2 weeks. I asked her if there could be a correlation with what my husband is eating and with my flaring, and she said absolutely. 
I flare similar to MelBell in that I am fine until I flare, and then it's horrible and a doozy of a time for days on end. We differ in that I think my flares are caused by diet. I can even eat something that might be cross contaminated, and it would seem like such a little amount, but I will be in trouble from it for quite awhile. My IBS symptoms are like Adriane's, except I have the constipation IBS. If I'm not struggling with one end, then I am with the other. Pretty much daily. And both set off each other, so I feel like I am fighting two inflamation battles all the time. It's difficult, especially with so many food intolerances.
Adriane, on the stress issue, what really helps me is reading the Bible. I read it every morning before starting my day.When I get up every morning (usually after a rough night's sleep), I always think as I make my way to the kitchen, "I just can't do this day." But after reading and praying I feel His strength to walk another day in this body of mine. And I try to turn every worry into a prayer, so I pray a lot all day. :)
 
I hope you all are doing so well this weekend. You are on my mind and in my prayers. I am so thankful to be here with you all during this painful journey. I think you are all some of the sweetest women I have met on the internet.  
 

About the chips... I looked for the other brands everyone reccomended a week or so ago..  but I dont see this brand here is SD.  So, I decided for now to stop eating chips.  I started RP 2 weeks ago and have been at a level 1 for close to 2 weeks.  Wow!  That RP sure does work.  But just yesterday, I had a major migraine come out of nowehere and now, pain again in what I believe are my overies.  Oh well, the 2 weeks were great!  Taking the good with the bad, I suppose.

Katie,
Glad to hear that its helped you too!  Is this the 1st time you started taking it?  I can eat potatoes, just not potato chips that are processed.  Oh well, I have replaced that with the biscuits which is totally fine..  Yeah, the eye/head migraine was really bad. I dont get it but it lasted for close to 48 hours.  I ended up taking two long hot showers, one in the middle of the night and that helped.  I kept telling myself I'd rather have a migraine than burning pain but I dont know which is worse... they are both horrible.  Anyhow, I hope yu are doing well now?  The only downside is that I have had alot of discharge post BM (sorry for  the graphic) which I havent had in months.  I did also swicth the goldenseal from Natures Way to Eclectic (yuk!) but I dont know if this is causing all of the mucuous discharge post BM....  Its die off, that I know...

An average day for me is waking up with burning and needing to pee after 6-7 hours of sleep....then burning for about an hour after I pee so I can never fall back to sleep. Then I'll usually feel okay until my bladder is full and then some frequency, more burning and pressure. Once I pee, I'm better. That isn't to say I ever don't feel my bladder. I always feel it and sense this very low grade heat & discomfort. After lunch by mid afternoon I usually have a little burning, tolerable though. By dinner I feel pretty well and, as long as my food has been perfect, usually feel decent in the evening. If I have a BM that day (usually evening for me), I'll have a little tingling afterwards for a half hour and then better. Bedtime I'm usually fine, hopeful that tomorrow will be the morning when I have no burning at 6am. 3 years in and that day still has yet to come. 
I will add: when I'm at work flying all day or have any kind of emotional stress or anxiety happening, my symptoms are much worse no matter how well I eat. I have to time my water intake for when we land so that I'm not leaving the cockpit more han once per flight. If I fly 3-4 legs a day, I have to be very careful of how much I drink and when and I can't have too much before bed so that I can get my 6-7 hours. It's a challenge for sure (especially taking all my doses 3x per day at work) but after 3 years of this I've kind of got it figured out. 
Just hoping for some solid improvement over this average day soon.