Could I have IC?

[RachelPage]

Hello lovely ladys of the forum, was wondering if you had any advice or experiences to share with me, first of all I'll start by giving you a brief summary of my symtoms.
I'm an 18 year old woman.
Orignally diagnosed as having a UTI, standard symptoms, cloudy urine, constant urgency, dark urine, pain etc...
After a while of getting reoccuring ones antibiotics stopped helping...
A year down the line these are my symptoms:
Constant urethal pain, constant urgency, pain is worst after urinating, urine is cloudy, foul smelling, dark and when tested it has white blood cells, red blood cells and all the other standard things that come up with a UTI, however when they send the urine away no bacteria grows...
I feel so stuck, I can't work and am doing terribly at University. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Rachel.

[RachelPage]

Forgot to add, have had ultrasounds, which are clear, and a flexiable and rigid cystoscopy which were both clear

[ICNDonna]

I wish I could give you an answer, but I don't have any idea what might be going on with your urinary system. I do know that a cystoscopy done in the doctor's office will not usually diagnose IC. You might want to give the IC diet a try to see if that helps. And be sure you are drinking six to eight cups of water daily.

Warm healing thoughts,
Donna

[Julie B]

No one here can really give you an answer without you going to the doctor. You might need to go to a urologist that specializes in bladder diseases. You can find that information here: http://www.ic-network.com/md/

You may have IC, but you also may have an infection that isn't being picked up by the cultures. It is very hard to say.

What happens when you drink cranberry juice?

I know it is hard to be in such pain when you are in school. It would be a good idea to talk to your Student Services department. You can probably qualify for a temporary or permanent disability accommodation which will allow you to negotiate longer due dates and other help from your professors. This can be much easier than trying to talk to your professors individually because most of the time the university sends out an email to the instructors and you don't have to "talk" about your personal issues. Just a thought anyway........

Sending you understanding hugs..............

[Eline]

I'm not a doctor, not even a diagnosed IC patient, so I can't tell you what the problem is, but it sure sounds agonizing. It's so frustating not to know what's wrong... Good luck with finding help!