Answer by Jill Osborne for Please hack Interstitial Cystitis (IC)

2012-01-16T20:33:13Z

Great question and it's important to understand that we now believe that there are several "subsets" or "phenotypes" with a diagnosis of IC. Some patients have "Hunner's Ulcers" while others have no visible bladder wall damage. Some patients have pain, while others just struggle with frequency/urgency. Some patients have concomitant pelvic floor muscle tension and dysfunction that contributes to pelvic pain, while others don't. Quite a few patients have IC, IBS, vulvodynia (or prostatodynia) and other related conditions... while others simply have just bladder symptoms. Thus, we now strongly suspect that IC is indeed probably a couple of different conditions.

In the case of your response to diet, that strongly suggests that you have the dominant "bladder wall" trauma/wounding/irritation form of IC... because when you stop irritating the wounds in the bladder through diet, symptoms improve. Diet modification, on the otherhand, would not be helpful to someone whose primary problem is muscle tension.

So glad to hear that you are doing better. I, too, respond very well to diet and want to add to your list that multivitamins, VitaminC and Vitamin B6 are notorious for causing bladder wall irritation. The same is true for drinking overly filtered water, such as through a Brita water filter, that produces more acidic, thus irritating, water.

The IC Network will be releasing their new 2012 IC Food List next month, along with a new iphone app that you might find helpful.

As to books, a couple of recommendations

For overall IC info and insight into traditional treatments - IC Survival Guide (Robert Moldwin MD)

For pelvic floor dysfunction patients - Ending Female Pain (Isa Herrera) or Help Pelvic Pain (Amy Stein)

For alternative strategies - The Better Bladder Book (Wendy Cohen RN) or IC Naturally (Diana Brady CNC)

For IC diet information - A Taste of the Good Life: A Cookbook for an IC Diet (B Laumann), Confident Choices: Customizing the IC Diet (J. Beyer RD). Confident Choices: A Cookbook for an IC Diet (J Beyer RD), The Happy Bladder Cookbook (Mia Eliot), The Happy Bladder Christmas Cookbook (Mia Eliot)

You can also find much more information on diet, treatments, pain care, as well as some nice videos on the IC Network website - http://www.ic-network.com

User jill osborne - PaleoHacks.com

Answer by Jill Osborne for Please hack Interstitial Cystitis (IC)