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.
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.
MSM
Posted by Pooky (San Diego, Ca) on 07/01/2009
buffered C but be careful. try a little first to see how you handle it.
MSM
Posted by Elizabeth (Nashville, TN) on 05/03/2009
★★★★★
I am taking the supplement MSM for IC, asmtha, IBS among other things. The problem is that I cannot take Vitamin C due to my bladder problem...Is there another form of Vitamin C that would not aggravate my IC? I'm asking because I have read that Vitamin C helps the absorption of MSM tremendously.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Elizabeth (Nashville, TN) on 05/03/2009
This is for Les from WA regarding my IC post....thank you for your comment...They'll be more posts to come...I am always looking for new treatments and supplements so I will definetely keep EC updated...
Best to you all!!!
Alkaline pH
Posted by Elizabeth (Nashville, TN) on 05/03/2009
This is for Angie from Goodlettsville, TN that suffers from IC...if you had pus in your urine than it sounds like an infection to me. My urologist said that the does not rely on the urinalysis done in the office because they can be unreliable. He always sends them out to be cultured. I would definitely get a second opinion if I were you. I would much rather have UTI's which can be cleared up rather than IC which is a chronic condition. Best of luck to you.
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Les (Federal Way, Wa) on 04/29/2009
I am replying to a post by one who excused herself for being long winded. Please keep it up. It was great reading.
From a sufferer of IC
Multiple Remedies
Posted by Elizabeth (Nashville, TN) on 04/28/2009
★★★★☆
Interstitial Cystitis: I was just diagnosed with this awful condition yesterday. I had noticed for the past couple of years that about half of the urine tests the doctors performed for supposed UTI came up negative for bacteria..and I was in pain!!! I had researched IC online and basically self diagnosed myself but I wanted to go to a urologist to be for sure. I do have a couple suggestions for managing the flare ups associated with IC...
1) alkalize your body...I drink 1/4 tspn of baking soda in 4oz of water daily...sometimes 2x daily if I have more pain. I've noticed this keeps the awful urethra burning at bay most of the time. I tried the ACV w/BS and it HURT. This made me sad because alot of people report great results with ACV but my body does not like it.
2) Marshmellow Root in the liquid form (non-alchohol)...I had a flare up about a week ago and took a dropper full in 4 oz of water 4-5 times a day. The pain subsided drastically within 24 hrs. I take a maintenance dose (1-2 droppers full) a day.
3) D-mannose...I use 1/2 tspn daily in 4 oz water..just for overall urinary tract health. It's also good to take it before and after sex to keep from getting UTI's.
4) I know that we IC sufferers are supposed to stay away from alot of spicy and acidic foods (hence I cannot take Vitamin C to save my life...talk about pain!)....BUT I do enjoy my one cup of coffee every morning..the rest of the day I drink bottled water. Also, when I have acidic foods like pasta with tomato sauce or mexican I take an extra dose of BS just as a safe guard and I have to say it usually does the trick.
5) There is a product you can buy at drugstores...I haven't tried it yet but I plan on it. Basically, you take it before you eat anything acidic and it's supposed to neutralize the acids...I know we are not supposed to mention product names but if anybody wants to know you can email me.
Sorry to be long winded but I noticed there is not alot of feedback on IC....I will let everyone know if I come across any more remedies.
Take care!
Alkaline pH
Posted by Anjie (Goodlettsville, TN) on 04/16/2009
Please help me understand this. I was told 3 weeks ago that I probably had I.C. UGH!!!!! My Dr. gave me Enanblex and the run down on this disease and told me to check several websites and support groups on how to deal with this. His nurse said it all to do with what I ate and if I ate something acidic to do the baking soda trick. It didn't help as a matter of fact it seem to get worse and my urine then had a foul odor with some pus in it. I finally convinced my Neurologist not my gyno to put me on antibiotics (even though the urinalysis was negative)and it seem to start getting better right away. Does any body else have this problem? I did find that you can use _____ to remove the acid from foods and it comes in a oral tablet & a granule formula to put in foods that you are cooking.I feel like I need to find a different Dr. because he wasn't very helpful and basically told me to talk to the internet if I had a problem. Any feed back would be so helpful.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Posted by Nancy (Charlotte, North Carolina) on 01/11/2009
★★★☆☆WORKED TEMPORARILY
i have suffered from IC for the past 10 years. it has caused extreme, constant pain bringing on bouts of depression i never had. i had read about apple cider vinegar and its benefits. over holidays, tried it, two tablespoons in an 8 ounce glass of water twice a week. for a week i was virtually pain free and realized it had to be the vinegar. walked today and am hurting. does anyone else hurt after walking? took baking soda, 1/2 tablespoon to 8 ounces of water for relief. this seems to help for a "quickie relief". IC is a horrible disease that gives you pain 24 hours a day. have seen four urologists in four states. elmiron did not help. when pain is really bad lasts too long i do have percoset for my migraines that is a last resort. it gives me a day of relief. working and just living are difficult with this constant pain. hoping the vinegar will continue to help. any other folks finding that vinegar relieves? doctors send me in the same circle, cystoscopes, CT scans, cultures, different meds like Urelle. i've spent a fortune.
Turmeric and Lemon Juice
Posted by Annee (Niagara Falls, Canada) on 08/26/2008
★★★★★
Hi to everyone who suffers from chronic disease.. I suffer from a lot of pain, from interstitial cystitis to a severe degenerating disk of my spine. I am only 48. I have severe arthritis as well. i have been taking baking soda twice a day but found out that this cheap remedy is very good and will reduce the acid by far..and is good for a lot of ailments:
I take 1/4tsp of turmeric spice from the grocery store..and a squeezed lemon juice with hot water, about one cup... before breakfast and dinner.. read about information on the web, its amazing.. a specialist who I saw at the spinal decompression clinic told me that.. my faith is in that DR... take care..
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Trudy (Netherlands) on 10/09/2006
★★★★★
I tried everything for bladder disease. The regular doctor prescribed Nitrofurantoin... so bad.. it causes even bladder disease... so I became very very ill ONLY COLLOIDAL SILVERWATER was THE REMEDY( for E-coli). Bladder disease was gone. Afterwords I took DMannose...very good..no pain anymore...also good for interstitial cystitis...really true. I have to tell this for the doctor did not know that Nitrofurantoin causes bladder disease. read: Natural Medicine Encyclopedia C.Norman Shealy.
Alkaline pH
Posted by Deborah (Riverview, Fl) on 08/02/2008
★★★★☆
For your IC, please get some Ph paper and test your urine. You want it alkaline, not acidic. Check it all day long. I think you might have a fungal growth. To kill it and get alkaline take 400mg of potassium citrate 3 times a day. Also take 1/4 tsp. borax, 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. baking soda and 1 to 2 tbls apple cider vinegar in a little water. Take it 3 times a day. You can drink some plain water after it to wash it down. The fungus won't like this and you may feel worse, before you get better, please stick with it and stay away from all sugars. I can now go 2 to 3 hours without going to the bathroom and only get up 3 times at night, it use to be every 20 minutes. Good luck and I will pray for you.
DMSO
Posted by Bret (Phoenix, Arizona) on 06/28/2008
★★★★★
You know, DMSO is approved by FDA for treatment of hemorragic cystitis. I about died when I confirmed this, as DMSO has be characterized as quackery by the medical powers that be. I don't understand why lesser forms of cystitis are not being catagorized as treatable with DMSO. My suspicion is that the hemoragic cystitis is so crippling and so evil that somebody with a heart at the FDA couldn't igonore the clinical research suggesting efficacy for this horrific illness. Cystitis has been called "autoimmune," naturally! By now many people reading this can predict that I will associate it with a virus or elusive infection.
How does DMSO work? Many, many theories but very few pertaining to viruses. It would be too simple and easy to say that DMSO best known as oxygen donor, attacks anaerobic viruses by depriving them of their anaerobic environment. This would be too easy! Too cheap!
Baking soda, I was skeptical at first about this broad range therapy. But, after reading so many,many testimonials from people not promoting themselves or selling anything, hell, I am about to write something about this cheap, simple remedy on my own research website. I will of course try it myself as I too am battling a chronic illness, a confirmed infection of the prostate.
Ted, in this regard has been benificial by taking the time a providing the chemistry to me which explains Baking soda's relationship to CO2.
Baking soda, higher urine ph, is in fact anti viral as viruses just love slightly acidic environments. Alkaline ph actually prevents viral transcription of RNA for replication. Base pair matching cannot happen at certain ph levels. Even in cancer. Whatever we believe causes cystitis one thing is for certain, once again, higher oxygen and higher ph are god sent remedies.
Baking Soda
Posted by Elizabeth (Memphis, TN) on 02/08/2008
★★★★★
I have chronic bladder problems (Interstitial Cystitis) and am always looking for something to make it better. I drank 1/2 tsp of baking soda in some water during the worst possible bladder pain ever. In 15 minutes the pain was gone. I feel that the baking soda made the urine less acidic and that let my bladder be less irritated. Anyway, baking soda did what hundreds of dollars of meds could not do--make me feel better! Elizabeth
