Terrible food flare -- What now?!?!

[phoenixgirl]

I am not usually affected much by foods one way or another but nevertheless, I have stuck pretty closely to the IC diet for the past 3 months. I'll try a food every week or two in small quantities but I still avoid all the big "no-no's." That is, until last night. I did something really, really stupid and had a tiny bit of salsa on my plain chicken quesadilla. I thought because tomatoes hadn't given me problems before in small quantities and because it was mild and I was only having a little, I could get away with it. WRONG. So, so stupid but I guess now I know I just can't have anything spicy like that.

What I'm worried about is that I've totally set my progress back by a lot. With my meds and instills I'd gotten to a point where I was having more good days than bad. I felt like I was getting to a place where my symptoms were manageable and I could leave the house again. After all the time, work, meds and emotions that got me to that point, have I ruined it all by this one mistake? My frequency is back with a vengeance now and I am so scared that I am totally back to square one. I've been drinking tons of water today and took some tums but it's not really helping any. Is it possible that I can sort of "flush out" the irritant or now that I've eaten that has it re-triggered everything full force that it took me months to get under control?

:

[kadi]

If you don't have high blood pressure, sometimes drinking a half teaspoon of baking soda in water can calm down a food flare. I'll do this and follow it up with TUMS a couple hours later.

If you were feeling good before, you'll feel better again - it just might take a couple of days. I ate a 2 inch piece of banana on my cereal last summer - the flare lasted 3 days. I was so mad, it looked like such an innocent little food experiment. I'm really glad I didn't eat the whole thing!

So, as much as possible, hang in there, use comfort measures like ice or heating pad, eat extra bland foods from the "safe" list. If you have pain meds - this might be a good time to take them. You might call the doctor's office and ask for a rescue instillation tomorrow. And remember to be very kind to yourself, we all do this from time to time!

Wishing you relief soon,

[phoenixgirl]

Thanks so much, kadi. I don't have any burning today, just horrible frequency. Will the baking soda help with frequency, too? I have a rescue instillation scheduled for Friday. If things aren't better tomorrow maybe I'll see if I can get in before the end of the week.

You're so right about things seeming innocent. I've had such good luck with pacing myself and only trying little bits of different things. I had no idea that a couple of teaspoons of something would set things off so badly in my bladder. Thank you very much for the encouragement. When you said, "If you were feeling good before, you'll feel better again - it just might take a couple of days," that's exactly what I was hoping to hear. I know it's my fault that this happened but I was just so fearful that I may have erased all my progress in one fell swoop. Good to know that it probably is just temporary and now I put salsa on my "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" list.

[kadi]

Yes, the baking soda has helped me with frequency after a food "mistake".
Hang in there, we've all done this (and said a few bad words afterwards!)

[meResque]

I'll chime in and agree with kadi... when I eat or drink something I shouldn't, my flares do tend to subside in a few hours or days, and I do get back to where I was before... which is a good place to be, these days! My last "oops I should NOT have tried that" was low-acid orange juice!

For me, over the counter AZO helps set me straight.

[phoenixgirl]

Thanks for your post, meResque. The encouragement really helps right now. I'm still feeling horrible today but am hopeful that I'll be better in a few days.