Interstitial Cystitis
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Top Natural Remedies for Interstitial Cystitis Relief

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
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Turmeric
Posted by Susan (Lake Charles, La) on 02/17/2025
 ★★★★★

Many thanks to Amanda for posting the information regarding what helped her. I too was struggling with what I thought was a UTI. When I first woke up in the morning, I could urinate normally however once I was up and moving around, the pain would increase throughout the day along with a constant, unrelenting sense of an urgency to urinate. At night, I could sleep without pain or having to get up to urinate. I went to an urgent care and they found blood in my urine but no bacteria. They sent the urine sample to the lab for further testing. In the meantime, I was prescribed phenazopyridine but it provided no relief. A couple of days later, I called them back to see if they had received the lab results for the urine sample yet because I was in severe pain and the prescription they gave me was not helping. They had not heard back yet from the lab but they did prescribed an antibiotic, however that did not help either. I continued to drink a lot of water with unsweetened cranberry juice and take D-Mannose throughout the day but it was not helping. I continued the antibiotics on the outside chance they may begin to help but they never did. I went to the ER and they also found blood in my urine with no bacteria. They ran a CT scan and Ultrasound and ruled out kidney stones or other possible serious issues and diagnosed me with Interstitial Cystitis, (IC). They sent me home with pain medicine and advised me that I may want to make a follow-up appointment with a urologist, which I did. Since my appointment with the urologist was in about 6 weeks, and I was in constant pain and willing to try anything. I started reading everything I could about IC and stumbled across Amanda's post on this website. What she wrote about it being related to inflammation resonated with me as logical and I also began drinking 8 ounces of water with 1/4 teaspoon of organic powdered turmeric with a small pinch of organic black pepper - 3 times a day. I also drank 2-4 ounces of distilled Aloe Vera juice twice a day and took an organic, raw, live probiotic specifically tailored for vaginal care. I cut out any spicy or acidic foods and began to eat a bland diet. I substituted Turmeric & Ginger tea in the morning in place of coffee. I purchased some organic Turmeric supplements for the times when I am away from home and do not have access to the Turmeric powder and water. The pain did gradually improved each day. I began to have ‘good' days alternate with ‘bad' days. On the ‘good' days, I could go a whole day without pain. About 10 days after my trip to the ER, the symptoms subsided and I returned to normal. No constant sense of urgency to urinate and a normal feeling of emptying my bladder completely without pain. I did read that cranberry juice was one of the worst things you can drink if you have IC because it is so acidic. I hope this information can be of help to someone.

Turmeric
Posted by Hilary (Uk) on 11/02/2018
 ★★★★★

So utterly grateful to you for the measurements of turmeric. I've just tried this and I swear already I can feel a settling of my bladder. I shall keep on with this - positive thinking, no doubt, will help. Utterly fed up of these ‘bees in my bladder and other parts'. Hopefully my low grade fever will improve too as I'm shattered.

Turmeric
Posted by Amanda (Madison Heights, Mi) on 06/20/2016
 ★★★★★

Editor's Choice

I started taking turmeric the day I first suspected interstitial cystitis. I had been struggling with what I thought was an extremely stubborn UTI for about 2 weeks, off and on. Every night my sleep was interrupted about 7 to 8 times with the desperate urge to pee. On this particular afternoon the pain and urgency became so beyond ridiculous that I couldn't function. I was exhausted, peeing every 5 minutes, hurting every second of the day, so much that I could not focus on anything. None of the usual treatments had worked (D-Mannose, baking soda, cranberry, cherry). I had recently been to the doctor for another UTI but the bacterial culture came back negative.

Having done some reading about IC and noted that it is an inflammatory condition, I drank one glass of about 8oz water with about 1/2 tsp turmeric and a small pinch of black pepper. Then I lay down in the only position that offered a shred of relief, on my back with my knees out. I felt somewhat better within a half hour and was able to fall asleep shortly after. I woke up 2 times to pee, and did again when my alarm went off for work. Each time the burning and urgency were further lessened. The following day I felt almost normal again. I continued to take turmeric and it has not lost its effectiveness for me.

I have tried buying turmeric capsules with black pepper extract since then, and they work pretty well. I have also tried aloe, which seemed to have more effect when it was juice rather than dried in a capsule. These are all helpful, but I am still learning which foods bother me, and when I eat something that triggers an incident, the powdered turmeric spice with a little black pepper stirred into water is what helps me recover the most quickly and fully. Not sure why. I may try making my own capsules because the taste is not delicious. Totally worth it, though.

Turmeric
Posted by Shampoo (Los Angeles, Ca) on 06/07/2012
 ★★★★★

IC Symptoms and Turmeric:

Turmeric is awesome for me. I cap my own and I take about 3 capsules, three times a day, and MSM powder as well, I take about 2 capsules three times a day.

Turmeric
Posted by Kristen (San Diego, Ca) on 05/21/2011
 ★★★★★

Hello.

I was just diagnosed with IC a couple days before my 30th birthday. I grew up with Bladder infections/UTI's, and was very upset to find out I had this chronic condition.

My pain was at a 10 all week long. I couldn't get out of bed, but to urinate. When I would urinate I would have to bite on a towel, the pain was so horrendous. I've been on a strong Opiate pain killer for the past two days, just so I can take a break from the agony.

I've been researching natural cures and started taking: Prelief (8 a day) and a Wild Pollen Suppliment that is suppose to help build up the bladder walls.

My friend is Indian, and I remember her telling me that her husband disolves Turmeric root into hot milk and drinks it every night.

So, last night I decided to not take my pain medication (took my last pill at 5pm and they last about 6 hours, max) and give the Tumeric an honest try.

I took one large root, and grinded it down to a powder in my coffee grinder. Warmed organic 2% milk just to the point of a boil, then mixed in the Turmeric powder, and drank it over 20 minutes.

I did not wake up once to urinate during the night (even on the pain meds I would get up every 3 hours). I woke up naturally at 6am, and I had no physical pain. I could get out of bed and stand up straight. When I went to urinate, I had a small amount of discomfort at the very end. NOTHING compared to what I've been going through.

Just the day before, when my pain meds would be wearing off, and I would urinate, the pain was worse than this morning, after the Turmeric, with no medication.

I hope and pray this continues to give me relief, and I hope it gives others relief. This has been the most miserable 2 weeks of my life.

Turmeric
Posted by Elizabeth (Nashville, Tn) on 09/23/2010
 ★★★★★

Julie- I still take turmeric every day as a precaution (it doesn't hurt it's good for you too). I think I found a link between my vaginal issues of yeast/bv and my IC. Once I started treating the YI/BV with home remedies my IC symptoms decreased alot. I've noticed when my lady parts are happy, my IC pain is practically non-existent. Woo-hoo! Also, I use Uva Ursi as a urinary cleanser after sex and a couple times a month. This seems to help also.

Turmeric
Posted by Elizabeth (Nashville, TN) on 07/21/2009
 ★★★★★

I said I would update my IC post if I found other remedies that work and I daresay I have found something....Turmeric. I had to take a whole bottle of turmeric pills in order to start seeing a difference BUT it was totally worth it. I'm afraid to jinx it but here it goes...I am virtually pain free...no constant urethra pain and no awful urgency to pee. I do notice that if I don't drink my 8 glasses of water a day I may get a little discomfort but all I have to do is drink more water and take my turmeric and I'm good! I take anywhere between 4-6 pills a day (500 mg each). I hope and pray that I continue to stay sympton free. I was reading a report on this disease and doctors are comparing the pain (at its worst) to cancer pain. They are right. I thought I would go crazy with pain at times. It is just so darn uncomfortable (considering where the pain is located) and my pain would not let up (until I used some of the remedies from my last post). These remedies helped but did not get rid of the pain for this long a period of time. I LOVE this site!!! Thank you so much to everyone that posts their experiences on here. It helps more than you could ever imagine.


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