I was one of those gullible people who believed their gynecologist when he said "You can stay on the pill all the way into menopause." I was on the pill for 26 years. What a mistake! I liked being on the pill and had no problems with it, but it has caused much anguish in my life for the past year and a half.  

I am one of the lucky ones in that I have a mild case of ic. I do not capitalize ic because I refuse to give it that importance. The word "I" is always capitalized and that's what is important! 

I went to three gynecologists, two urologists, one holistic doctor, and an acupuncturist after my symptoms began. Although each helped me a little in some aspect of my illness or at least eliminated other causes for my symptoms, no one knew what the problem was or how to fix it. Suffice it to say - Western medicine doctors do not have a clue how to diagnose or treat this disease. I now find their beliefs and statements about ic incorrect, uncaring, and cruel. Here's what they said to me - "You may just have to live with this problem"; "It's all psychological, there is some unhappiness in your life manifesting itself in your bladder"; and "I don't have time to help you". No wonder I went through a little depression! Matia's words to me on my first appointment were "I can get you over this fairly quickly". 

I have been Matia's patient for 8 months and my symptoms have drastically reduced. I now have a lot of days with almost no symptoms at all. My symptoms are/were burning, urethra spasms and knot feeling, funny electrical feelings, constant feeling of needing to urinate, and cold hands and feet. I never had pain or burning in my bladder nor did I have frequency. I did not have burning from the potassium test and during the hydro distension test I held a normal capacity. Due to not having these symptoms, I was continually misdiagnosed. Again, Western medicine does not understand it is different for everyone and it is not just the bladder that is ill. By comparison, it is uncanny how Matia understands this disease and can interpret your every symptom. Matia believes I will improve quickly because I have no other major problems except the ic; because I did not do many of the Western medicine treatments or taken many antibiotics in my life; and because I have always been a healthy eater. I don't have a yeast problem and Matia does not believe I have a lot of bacteria either because the burning reduced so quickly. I quit the pill over a year ago and now my cycle is about every three weeks, so we are working on getting my hormones back in balance. 

This is how the treatment is going for me. 1. It is hard to stay on the diet but I quickly realized how much better I felt, so it is worth it. Again I am lucky because I can tolerate some foods that others cannot such as potatoes, green peppers, onions, cream of wheat, coffee in the morning, etc. 2. I have learned to be patient. Chinese medicine is very slow but very healing. I tell Matia I am getting better inch by inch. 3. I have good days and bad days. After several days of feeling really good, bad days are scary and depressing. That's how this disease operates. I relish the good days and know that I will have more of them as treatment progresses. Even the bad days are great compared to how I felt before I began treatment. 4. There are days when I am tired of "the fight" and I just want to be normal again and eat normal again. On those days I try to occupy my mind with other things and not think about my illness, but it is hard. 5. I have anxious feelings. After hearing Western medicine's "We don't know what causes it and you can't get over it", I still get scared about having this disease. Matia says the anxiety will just disappear when I no longer feel symptoms. She is so right because the anxious feelings are almost gone. She is so confident about her treatment. 

I have written about my experiences and my symptoms hoping someone will say "That's exactly like me". I have written about my treatment and my food tolerances so you understand that not everyone has the same problem, the same healing time, or the same food restrictions. I have written about my feelings because it is an emotional disease and treatment and no one understands unless they too have ic (except Matia). If you are reading this website trying to decide if you should consider Matia's treatment, stop wasting time and call Boma-Med. I promise you will not regret your decision. 

I am returning to my normal life and my happiness through Matia's wonderful Chinese herbal medicine.