Hi Callie. I'm so sorry you have this awful disease! I've had it for 5 yrs but I'm 58 yrs old so I am grateful I didn't get it in my younger years. You should have been given an IC diet (if not check online at the IC network) while everyone with this disease is able to eat some things on the "avoid" list I would stick with it and once you are out of your current flare try any new foods one at a time. A food journal is a very good idea while you are figuring out what you can eat. Some people take 3 months to see if the Elmiron will help them. I also take pumpkin seed oil pills available in health food stores or online.I hope this is not true for you since you are so young but I found sex is out of the question for me.

Hello I don't know how to make a topic so I am going to add mine to this because I am also new to the IC. IC symptoms started for me after I was prescribed an acne medicine. The Doctor swore that it was not a side effect but I stopped taking the medicine and hoped the IC would go away. It has not. Basically I have symptoms of a UTI with no UTI, I have a constant throbbing feeling in my pelvic area and a stabbing feeling in my urethra. This has been going on since October with little to no relief. My OBGYN gave me an IC diet which started to seem to help at first but symptoms went away for about a week and came back worse than before with a new symptom. My newest symptom is loss of appetite, when I eat I can't seem to eat a big meal I have to eat and take small bites or i feel like the food is going to come back up. For instance I took a big sip of water and it felt like my stomach was full to capacity. I have noticed I've lost some weight but wonder if this is an IC symptom as well.....:( i feel so uncomfortable some days I just want to sit in my bed.

I do realize the thread was started last month. OK. I am a dude, but I was still diagnosed with IC back in September of 1997. Of course, it was still being called a women's disease back then, too. Regardless, none of us enjoy having IC, or any chronic illness, but I can state we don't know the cause of IC so far. It seems that I happen to be one of the ones that has not improved a whole bunch, but I have tried this and that by now.(and got Elmiron and Toviaz now) (and still not real impressed) I am good at finding bathrooms, but I don't go out of town much any longer. Oh! I did go out of town yesterday, because of a urologist appointment up in Augusta, GA., but road trips always take longer for me. I have had 2 neck surgeries and 1 back surgery as well.(pluss being tired more often) I don't have loss of appetite, but we are all different with our IC. Of course, what works for one person may do nothing for another person. Also, weight loss is not an IC symptom, but the loss of a good appetite may be the reason for that. (which could be a different medical condition) OK. I have never had a weight problem at all.(123 on the scale yesterday) I don';t think acne medicine would cause IC. Anyhow, I might not be helping much. That will be all now.

Do you take any medications containing Sudafed for your allergies? I avoid anything with Sudafed as it definitely causes bladder spasms. I find that Benadryl helps relax it.

You may have a yeast problem, which I have off and on due to being on a lot of antibiotics. I found that baking soda 1 tsp. in a glass of water gives me relief in an hour. Also Biobest yogurt helps or cutting back on sugar and citrus. My IC was less when my period was on. It could be affected by your hormone levels. Hope this helps. Keep trying, there is a lot of help here.

My hormonal levels greatly affected the IC. Now that I am post menopausal, the symptoms are less. What helped me was no citrus, avoid tight clothing around abdomen, baking soda and hot foot soaksTylenol #1 cut the edge of the pain, when the other methods failed. Hope this helps.