new 2 ic diet having trouble !

[hope4eva]

hey i stopd drinking coffee 2 days ago & switchd 2 herbal tea i also stopd my multi vitamin & foods with high acid as well as drinks im only drinking water & the herbal tea which is caffeine & acid free i cant complety eliminate sugar or preserves do u think that what im doin now will help ? this is all very hard my husband makes the best pizza & we often eat lasagna i am refraining from eating tomato sauce for a month 2 c how i feel im wondering about preserves i just dont have the money 2 buy all organic food & sugar i can cut back on but with all these limitations i feel deprived as is im not feeling better yet but heard it could take awhile also ive been havin sex even though it hurts & burns afterward because i dont want to leave my husband down & out i keep praying ill get better its been 3 months !

[greeneyes]

The diet does take awhile to start working, look at the recipe section and see if you can find a pizza with white sauce. To make the diet easier just look at all the good things you can eat vs what you can't. I'm wonder if your on any meds for IC.

[hope4eva]

no im not currently taking any meds i have been tested for every infection the docs could think of & done cystocopy normal but still have 2 do one with hydro ive done ultra sound also for stone & nothing found . im at my breaking point its been so long the urge to pee never goes away even after voiding ! i have burning in urethra as well as vaginal to this comes and goes but has been every day i work full time and have a 4 month old daughter i cant feel like this and keep up trying to stay strong im mainly worried about processed food or preservatives its impossible to eliminate completey but i figure if i do what ive been for long enough i should feel better if thats whats bothering me right ? im going to eat salad instead on days my husband wants tomato sauce i have baby wt 2 lose anyway this is tough i care more about a med to help than diagnosis i need something for constant urge as well as burning & dont want pyriduim cuz not long term nor do i wish to take elmiron do to awful side affects hairloss , i cant take anything that makes me gain wt ive got 30 pds 2 lose ! thanks for listening to me

[Mothergoose]

I found when first trying the diet, I would cut out most no no foods not all, my bladder never felt any better for it.

I thought I am just not diet sensative, I had cut out most but not all restricted foods.

After a while I tried the diet again and cut out EVERYTHING for 3 mons +, this time I found my bladder settled down.

After a while I added back in foods one at a time, and found I can eat some foods other's can't and I can't eat some foods other's can.

There is no easy way to do this diet and no short cuts.

As long as your bladder is inflammed or sore etc. any foods that bother will bother it, hence cutting out most foods but not seeing results.

After it has a chance to settle down, you may find you can eat some no no foods once in a while, and some foods will only bother you for a few hours while others a days to weeks.

Sorry I am not saying what you want to hear, but the diet has helpped me ore than anything else, I've done so feel it is well worth it.

MG

[ICNDonna]

I don't have a problem with sugar other than the fact that I need to limit it due to being diabetic.

I find I do best if I concentrate on things I CAN have --- and there are many foods that are okay.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[allils]

When I was first diagnosed with IC I followed the elimination diet as closely as possible. I couldn't afford to go all organic and cut out all preservatives, but I tried to do the best I could.

For example I tried to buy things to eat that didn't have anything in the Caution list. And I pretty much ended up cutting out bread. Although I did find that the store brand of Cheerios was the safest choice with the least troublesome ingredients (although I've moved and the new store brands are not like that).

Honestly it took several months of eating only on the Bladder Friendly list before I started to feel better and I tried to eat a lot of things that are "soothing". So I ate lots of quiona, rice, milk, beef, mushrooms, parsley, peas, carrots and squashes.

I didn't use pepper or use condiments. It was severely limiting but it finally did the trick and I started feeling better.

I tried eating cheeses but found when my bladder was so inflamed I couldn't handle them at all, I kept having pain even taking Prelief.

After I was feeling fine I started adding things back, but I tried to only add back 1 or 2 things at the same time.

I found that tomatoes, cranberry, pineapple, and cantaloupe are huge triggers and I have to avoid them as much as possible.

But I can eat a lot of things - mustards, vinegar, regular salad dressing, most things on the Try It column and many on the Caution list. But I have to be careful with the things that I know cause instant flares. The first time I ate tomato sauce, I wasn't even thinking, I just sat down and ate some frozen pasta dish not even thinking. I was in pain for 3-4 days after that.

I get pizza a lot but I order it either with extra light sauce or with no sauce at all. And I found that I actually like it better that way because it's easier to taste the toppings and crust (I've actually converted a few people to eating pizza this way too).

There are options for lasagna, for example there are lots of recipes that call for bechamel (white suace) , it usually has to be made from scratch but here is a really good fast way to make it http://www.home-ec101.com/bechamel-w...-introduction/ (and to make substitution for condensed cream soups).

I also found taking Prelief really helped and I am able to "cheat" but I make sure it's something worth cheating for.