I am so glad that you found out the cause of your IC. How did you find out that yours was caused by candida yeast? I had symptoms of bladder infections as a child but these symptoms disappeared. I had a normal sex life for a few years until I started having sex with my husband. Then the pain was intolerabe and wouldn't go away and that was over 5 years ago. I also just found out that my great aunt had symptoms of IC for over 20 years and it went away or is in remission. So, mine might be hereditary. I do wonder if you can be born with this disease but not have symptoms until years later. When did you first start experiencing symptoms of IC? I'm so glad that you are feeling better. It's great to find out a background of your IC so hopefully, I can get mine under control too. Have a great day! - Laura

Hi Laura,
That is interesting that your great aunt had IC symptoms. My aunt also had frequent bladder infections. I'm wondering if IC is in fact hereditary. I would be curious to know if others on here also had family members that have IC.

I realized that my IC was caused by candida because candida causes all sorts of things to go wrong with the body. I first starting having symptoms of IC and candida when I was 15.

Does your urine culture come back normal? Are symptoms worse for you at certain times than others? Like before your period? Let's get to the bottom of this Laura!

Tina

Hi Tina, thanks for the response! I think in some cases, IC may be hereditary. I was shocked to find out that my great aunt had this but was never diagnosed with it. She said she struggled for so long but has been in remission for years. It's so sad that she struggled with this, not knowing what it was. My urine cultures always come back normal. I have symptoms of a bladder infection all the time but it's never an infection. They test my urine every time I go to the doctor, which is quite often. My symptoms get worse the week before my period and during it. Also, when I feel stressed out, it's the worst. Sometimes, even if I eat the right foods and follow the IC diet, I still flare. I'm going through a set of installations right now so I'm hoping these will help me. I hope you are doing well today. Take care. :) - Laura

Laura,
I have found my IC is worse during my period, but have figured out its cause by the feminine products! Just sharing that info with you in hopes that it can help you maybe...

Thanks Kattday! I noticed that also. I don't use soap anymore because that makes things worse and I avoid using femine products. I cannot tolerate tampons either.

Research has shown that women with IC typically experience a worsening of symptoms just before and during their period. The change in hormones affects the urine acidity, which equals disaster for an IC patient. If you test your urine with a ph strip during a flare, you will see that your urine is most acidic at this time (menses). I have found in the past that alkalizing the urine during a flare helps lessen the burning. It may be beneficial also to use herbs or natural progesterone cream to balance out the hormones so that the hormonal imbalances don't cause a worsening of IC symptoms. I've noticed that when my emotions flare up at that time of the month (mostly anger)so do my IC symptoms. This tells me that there is truly a correlation between what I am feeling emotionally and what I am experiencing physically. When I get angry, so does my bladder. Being "pissed off" is therefore what needs to be addressed in order for the rest of me to begin "cooling off". I've done three years of personal process work around the anger and getting to the bottom of it in order to heal the end result of being so angry-IC. I hope this helps.

This is very interesting to me as I have always had problems with Candida. I ordered THe Ecology Diet book you memtioned. This really seems to make a lot of sense. Even the "bladder friendly" food list are foods that feed candida.
And also, right before my cycle - I will frequently get a yeast infection.

Hi Starlight,
The link between candida and IC is very interesting. A decade ago, an alternative doctor diagnosed me with candida because I was nauseous 24/7; he said that candida can affect a person anywhere along the digestive track. After following his restrictive diet, my nausea went away. A year ago, when I started experiencing IC symptoms for the first time, I also had the same onset of nausea, and I have been almost unceasingly nauseous for the entire year. I wondered if the candida had returned and whether the two problems were connected. The only thing is, my old candida diet didn't help this time. I should definitely look into the book you mentioned!

I'm curious -- have you come across any resources that mention a connection between IC and candida? Also, I was wondering if you had persistent nausea in your stomach or esophagus when your symptoms were at their worst. Most doctors apparently don't believe that candida can exist in the stomach, but my experience makes me suspect otherwise.

Thanks so much for sharing! I'm really hoping for an alternative solution because right now I am scheduled to have botox injections in my pelvis, and I REALLY don't want to put one of the most toxic chemicals in my body! Your story gives me hope. :)

DellaGrazia

Starlight I was so excited to read your post. I believe my ICis caused by Candida also. I have been on a diet called The Biblical Cure for Candida by Dr Don Colbert, and have found some relief, but only about 50% so far. I have prayed and prayed and PRAYED! that God help me beat this and show me what is going on and several times I have had dreams that I need to eat yogurt and or ingest anti Fungal meds, like Diflucan. I am going on 10 months with this. For the first 8 I had no idea what was going on and just kept thinking it was UTI's I really hope and pray this treatment works.

They have found that alkalizing your urine may increase the IC symptoms in many women, such as those that reacted to the potassium whatnot test, like me. I have to balance my acidic intake with my alkaline intake to feel somewhat normal. I really enjoyed reading you guy's post about the yeast. I never knew that. So silly question, because i'm new with this, you said you had either many bladder infections or symptoms, did you also have many yeast infections that seemed to never go away completely? Did you always have that discharge and not just when you were ovulating? Does your bladder fill with blood for a couple days when you have a major flare up? thanks!

I am so glad someone finally said that Candida and yeast is the cause of their IC symptoms! Cause not doctor would ever admit that, but I so believe that to be true in most of all cases.

I have started an anti candida diet, taking billions upon billions of acidophilus, NO SUGAR, AGED ANYTHING, PASTA, BREAD, VINEGAR, SUGAR SUBSTITUTES, CHOCOLATE, COFFEE OR TEA, ETC. strick diet, your symptoms will go away, in months, depending on your condition. I introduced sugar and caffeine back a few weeks ago, bam! pain again. My IC was diagnosed 7 years ago after me telling the doctor what I had and he was an IC specialist, so he knew how to diagnose me, but not treat me. I did the bladder installations and Elmiron, all crap, just drink filter water, get of anything that could turn into sugar, aged cheese, caffeine, for at least a year, symptoms gone!! and you look great too, loose so much weight!! Good luck my fellow sufferers, I feel your pain, big hugs!! PS, Try any Candida Diet, they are all great!

Has anyone tried Threelac or related products for eliminating candida?

i read it is good, i took it with a yeast buster suppliment, did not make a difference, but I only took it for one month, so i would say, probably needed it longer.. I am a big fan of no sugar, lots of acidophilus and symptoms will go away, but for how long, it all depents on the person. I did not have a IC flare in 7 years, now, I have had it again since June, doing better, but having a hard time with the diet, and my symptoms are coming backs since I started sugar and coffee again, so I need to stay on it for a good six months or more I am thinking....

I suspect that candida may have had something to do with my IC. I was on antibiotics every 3 or 4 weeks for just over a year due to sinus infections. The sinus infections started when I began drinking wine and coffee on a regular basis and neglecting my health. So basically I created an environment in my body that was optimal for yeast overgrowth. Then the IC symptoms began. It was a real wake-up call. I chose to do everything possible to get back the health and life I was losing.
A coworker introduced me to a nutritional cleansing system that I have followed since February and I can gladly say that I haven't had to take any pain meds for symptoms in over 3 months. It seems that, the more I cleanse, the more issues I am uprooting and having to eliminate. Last month was when the yeast became obvious. During my period my labia became inflamed, itched like crazy and the skin began peeling. It was gross but my gyn told me it was yeast. I treated it with a 7 day treatment and it went away. Now I have itching in between my fingers. Not sure if it is yeast but I'll address it with my doc this week. I'm hoping that, if yeast is indeed my root cause, that I am almost done with it and one more cleanse cycle might really help clear it all up.

Hi! I am so glad I found this website! I have not been officially diagnosed with IC, however ( not that I want to admit it) I think I do have it. I do also know (whether or not it is IC) that my bladder problem right now, was caused by CANDIDA. Before all this happend I had a HUGE yeast infection that was hard to get rid of after a ton of antibiotics. Then the bladder symptoms started. I only have frequency and urgency, and tiny pangs in my bladder but not full on pain and I hope i NEVER have pain! I am on the anti candi diet right now and have been for about 4 weeks. I am also taking Citridal (grapeseed extract) and this is an anti fungal. My symptoms have seemed to get better, not gone but they are bareable now, I am hoping that by staying on this diet they will eventually go away once the yeast is gone. I find that western doctors are useless when it comes to IC, so I have a naturopath. SHE thinks that this is ALL yeast, and that I do not have IC. She said that candida can often present itself differently in each person, whether its headaches, in your gut, bowels, skin etc, and that sometimes it does present in our bladders too. She is convinced that once the candida is gone, so will my bladder problem too. I am trying so hard to be hopeful.......sometimes i get scared that I will never be able to have kids and a life with this bladder problem... even though I know there are many who suffer I still feel very alone. It does not hurt to have sex, (unless I eat somethinglike white bread) which feed the yeast and causes my bladder to go nuts. I did that 2 weeks ago, not knowing for sure yet that this was all yeast related and ate a hamburger. Big mistake. I am feeling better now though since I have been taking oil of oregano and anti fungals along with the STRICT diet. My question is I figured all this was related to yeast by over dosing on probiotics, my bladder felt way better! Could this all JUST be candida that is inflaming our bladders and not nessescarily IC that is chronic? Any help would be appreciated!!!