Sex and Interstitial Cystitis: a Guide for Women

This Disease Does Not Mean the End of Your Sex Life

Interstitial Cystitis is a bladder disease that causes mild to severe discomfort and pain in the bladder area and vaginal area. People with Interstitial Cystitis (or IC Disease) will suffer from pain, urinary frequency, urgency, vaginal bleeding, and pressure in the lower abdomen and pelvic region. The pain and other symptoms for some are so severe that they are bedridden. Interstitial Cystitis is also referred to as Painful Bladder Syndrome because it falls under a set of urinary disorders that cannot be attributed to one cause. People with Interstitial Cystitis will have bladder hemorrhages. This is where the vaginal bleeding comes from.

Women with Interstitial Cystitis often find that their symptoms worsen after having sexual intercourse with their partner. I have known a few women with Interstitial Cystitis to completely give up sex because the pain, pressure, and urinary frequency and urgency increase dramatically after sex. This illness can be devastating and severe enough that even sex is no longer an enjoyable part of life.

There are ways to still have a sexual relationship with your spouse while having Interstitial Cystitis. Both you and your partner have to be willing to do the work involved, but it is worth it if you can still enjoy a healthy sex life. I am not a physician so always talk to your doctor about any tips you read online. What I write about comes from years of being ill and from personal experience.

Communicate your feelings and explain your illness in detail to your spouse. Men commonly just want to fix things. If you tell them you are sick or that there is a problem, their first instinct is to say, "How do I fix it"? Unfortunately with a chronic illness like Interstitial Cystitis, they can't fix it. They need to listen and to try and understand how painful the illness is and how it has changed your life. Your spouse almost might feel like a flare after sex is their fault and they may be the one to avoid intimacy with you. Explain to your spouse that what is happening to you is not their fault. Work together and communicate.