Interstitial Cystitis and Its Related Illnesses

Interstitial cystitis affects 900,000 people today, and is characterized by pelvic pain, ulcerated bladders, and urinary dysfunction. In the IC patient there is an inflamed and irritated bladder wall lining that leads to many bladder symptoms. The bladder wall of an IC patient will be stiff and scarred, it will have less bladder capacity as a result of the scarring, and there will be small pinpoint bleeding on the bladder (called glomerulations) and ulcers in the bladder lining (called Hunner's ulcers).

Interstitial cystitis, or IC for short, is an illness with many misdiagnoses. Typically you will see patients that will list their current conditions and you will see not just IC, but other illnesses such as endometriosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, etc. There is a sister group of five illness where the symptoms and signs will overlap. Those 5 "sister" illness are Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Lupus, Endometriosis, and Fibromyalgia.

IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome

IBS is not life threatening and is not progressive. It is a functional bowel disorder of the GI tract. It will affect 10-20% of adults in the United States, resulting in over three million visits to the doctor every year. It is predominately found in women but can affect anyone and its cause is unknown at this time.

According to the Rome II Criteria, symptoms typical to IBS include: abnormal bowel movement frequency (over three times a day or fewer than three times a week), abnormal bowel movement form (hard lumpy pellets or loose watery stools), abnormal bowel movement passage (straining, incomplete passing feeling, and urgency), mucus passing, bloating, and abdominal distention. Symptoms not typical with IBS include: fever, weight loss, blood in stool, pain and/or diarrhea that wakes/interferes with sleep patterns.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

CFS was once called the "yuppie flu" in the 1980's, and the symptoms of the disease date back to the 1800's. It typically can begin after a medical trauma or a stressful time period in one's life. It is 2-4 times likely to be found in women than in men.