Have you tried the IC diet--no citrus-oranges, tomatoes,lemons? Have you tried baking soda to ease the pain? (1 tsp in a glass of water, takes about an hour to give relief, but it works)isabelle1954

you have many admirable quailities! Read your list agin, and pretend it is someone else. Perfectionist are great at doing work which requires very careful attentiveness. Controlling can mean that you want things to be a certain way, which can also be a beneficial trait, in face all of your "symptoms" show me a person who is careful in their work and life, who is responsible, and kind to others, who looks out for others, and what they would be happy with.
Serverist critic: Ok, so this one could maybe improved. It is important that you judge yourself and your life, work family, play, everything that make you "you", but please try to look at yourself fairly. Would you judge another so harshly? When you do a good job, tell yourself, hey, I am good at this! When you do something you don't like as much, tell yourself, hey, I'm not so great with that, so I can either practice, or I can decided I don't care about practicing that, so that is something I won't be so good at.
Feelings of Inferiority, I am so sorry that you feel this way. You do not sound like you are inferior, you sound like you have been critisized in the past, and think those comments, or comments that were hurtful in some way, and they keep bouncing around in your head. I still say you sound like a good, kind, faithful person.
All that said, I hope that you will talk to your doctor about these feeling, or seek a therapist of some sort. I have seen a counselor, and found it a good experience, that openned my mind to different ways of looking at things.

Do you find yourself easily distracted, not always completing tasks, even though you knew what you wanted to do, always starting new projects (and rarely finishing), or anger at being interrupted? My psychiatrist gave me a book about ADHD today, and the things you have said seem like characteristics that many people with ADHD have. I am not diagnosing you!!!! I certainly don't know enough for that! It is just a suggestion of something yu may want to look at, because they can actually treat issues like this now. If you hate being this way, is it time to look for a fresh perspective?

As for IC, I completely understand how awful this disease is. I am so sorry that you have this, and I wish there was an easy treatment. I am seeking something that actually works..at this time my expectations are not too high, but somehow we press on. I hope you find some relief! Hugs

The book "the Divided Mind" describes me in perfect detail. They somehow interviewed me for this book. All my life I have been driven driven to be perfect and good resulting in numerous health problems over the years I.e. acid reflux, low back pain, neck pain, depression, now, IC and pelvic pain.

But I am going to get better with time now that I understand me.

WOW you described me to a T. Do our personality traits (I was also diagnosed with ADHD but since I was a straight A student I never had issues in school) lead to IC? I am trying to learn more about this nasty thing that I may or may not have.

This is so cool! I feel like you wrote about me! I have been studying Louise Hay on how to heal yourself. I admire how personality traits can reflect certain illnesses. Louise Hay suggests bladder problems arise from excess anxiety, fear of letting go, being pissed off, and incontinence to emotional overflow and years of controlling the emotions.

I have had a very emotional last few weeks. I read The Divided Mind which described me perfectly. Dr. Sarno had gotten in my head to write this book.

I looked at the internet site www.tmswiki.org and participated in a chat room with a trained moderator. I could not figure out why I had these extreme personality traits all my life. Dr. Sarno said to look at your life as a child, verbally abused, physically abused, sexually abused, difficult hard parents. I could not relate to any of these.

The only thing was a brother 14 months old who passed away when I was 5 years old. My sister was 7. So I asked the moderator in the chat room. She said, absolutely this would cause my pain and many other physical problems over the years. Low back pain, neck pain, tailbone pain, restless leg, depression. She said I would have felt abandoned at the conscious level and unconscious level.

The moderator asked if I had every cried, "No, never" My brother cried inconsolable for weeks/months before he died. He had pancreatic cancer. This was 55 years ago. Well, permission to cry from the moderator started the grief and crying all the time now. My Mother put her arms around us and said "we have to be strong". I was 5 years old.

We moved from that house where he died. No pictures were ever in any room. He was never discussed. It was like he didn't exist. The pain was beyond imagine for my Mom and Dad and my sister and me. But it was never shown or discussed.

My pelvic cramping is easing. Every time I discuss this with friends I feel slightly better. The flood gates have been opened.

I still have lots of work to do journaling. It is painful but necessary. The internet site is fascinating. I feel like a window has opened into my mind. I understand myself for the first time in my life.

I have talked to my parents and cried with them. They are from The Greatest Generation. They had to be strong. No one new that much about grief.

Work continues. Sandy