It's Not All in Your Head...It's Actually in Your Bladder!

The symptoms are often confused with other ailments. Misdiagnosis initially occurs, more than once in most cases. Ninety percent of the sufferers are women, and many of them have been told their problem is in their head. Is this some form of mental illness? Is it Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? No. It's Interstitial Cystitis, known by sufferers, their families and friends, and those in the medical field as IC.

This debilitating disease severely limits activities once considered routine in many IC patients. Most must be within reasonable proximity to a bathroom at all times. Urination is urgent, frequent, and painful. Symptoms mirror that of a bladder infection. The chronic pain is exhausting and may lead to clinical depression. Some patients develop suicidal tendencies.

Accurate diagnosis is reached through a procedure called Cystoscopy/Bladder Hydrodilatation. Local or general anesthesia is used and the bladder is filled to distention with a saline solution. A camera is then inserted through the urethra and images of the bladder's lining are filmed. Pinpoint hemorrhages indicate the presence of classic IC. A biopsy of bladder tissue is done at the time of the cystoscopy to rule out cancer of the bladder.

Initial treatment of the disease may begin with antihistamines such as Atarax. Often times tricyclic anti-depressants like Elavil are prescribed for pain relief. The drug Elmiron is a bladder coating drug. Its purpose is to stimulate re-growth of the bladder lining. This is missing in IC patients.

In cases where the initial treatments fail other options are available. A method of instilling medications directly into the bladder via catheterization is known as Bladder Instillations. One solution used is dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO).Even though it is FDA approved, DMSO was previously used as an industrial solvent and a horse liniment. Other options include DMSO with Silver Nitrate and DMSO with Heparin.