diet progress

[shaun10]

Ive been on this IC diet for a week and still taking meds and I havent noticed any improvement. All I drink is water and chamomile tea. All I eat is turkey chicken and rice, cheerios or a buttered roll. My only indulgence is nilla wafers which seem harmless. Im getting depressed and sick of this battle. Have an appointment Wednesday and Im not ready for interstim like he suggested. Im starting to feel like im in the percentage where nothing will help me. If I can get over my fear of catheters I guess instills are my next option. Feeling so hopeless and detached from everything.

[Briza]

hi shaun
i'm not surprised you haven't seen improvement yet. just one week on the diet is not enough for most people to see results. if your bladder is very inflamed it may take a month or two on a strict IC diet to calm things down enough for you to be able to see any improvement and to determine which foods are your triggers.
i'm concerned you are not eating a well balanced diet. have you printed out the diet choices from here on the ICN? if you do, you will see that there are MANY more things you can eat in addition to what you have listed. restricting yourself to those few things could be adding to your depression.

When were you diagnosed?
What meds and treatments have you tried up to this point? What has worked? what hasn't?
What are your symptoms?

Please hang in there and please expand your diet to include more of the usually safe foods from the ICN diet. Give it a couple of months before you throw in the towel. Here's a link to info on the diet.

http://www.ic-network.com/diet/

I know the diet is a huge commitment! I struggled with it myself. At one point I got cleared my fridge and kitchen cabinets of anything that was not on the usually OK list! I cried!

For those who love to cook (and eat) it can be even more depressing. But I had to make a commitment to myself to do what I could to reduce my levels of pain. And when I finally felt the results of the months of strict diet I knew it was worth it. And then I was able to add more foods back in. And eventually there were times that I didn't have to take any meds--I was able to manage my bladder symptoms with diet alone. That was liberating. (i hate taking meds).

Keep us posted

[cmclien]

Hey Shaun,

I agree with Briza! The diet has lots of options for you. I mean we all hate giving up one or two things that we love on that list but there is certainly lots of other things to eat. I would feel really down and bored to death if I was eating chicken, turkey, rice and the occasional roll! Expand your diet to the whole "usually ok" list. Thats whats so great about that list, someone else has already figured it out for us.
Hope you're feeling better and give it some time.

[ICNDonna]

I agree that one week is not a fair trial of the diet. I would give it at least two months before giving up on it. You'll find the link to the latest food list in my signature below --- there are lots of foods you can eat.

Donna

[QueenieLady]

Ive been on this IC diet for a week and still taking meds and I havent noticed any improvement.

I can relate to this, one week with the pain we have is more like 2 months in normal land.

Ive just gone into the tears mode at the moment, so distressed so I'm off to the docs again tomorrow.

Ive not been on this board long but it has really helped knowing you can share experiences and gain support from ladies/men that are going through the same thing

Good luck
*hugs*

[shaun10]

I was diagnosed in 08 by hydrodistension. I have been on elmiron since then and have recently (september) been on elavil. Additionally, since december I have been on hydroxyzine and ativan. So far none of it has worked. The diet, only about a week as Ive said. My main symptoms are frequency, sometimes as often as every 20-30 minutes but mostly the pressure like I have to pee but dont. I dont have too much pain, more so discomfort that 90% of time goes away if i lay down with heat pack. I have young chidren beginning to play is sports, concerts, school plays etc and I myself teach physical education so its been hard when you may have to get to bathroom every 30 minutes. Im disheartened but i appreciate all the support here.

[cmclien]

Shaun,

You didn't say if you've tried an anticholinergenic, I didn't see one on your list. They work by relaxing the bladder muscle so it doesn't contract/spasm all the time. They don't work for every single person but they sure work for me. Some of the names are ditropan (oxybutynin), vesicare, detrol, oxytrol patch and others. Worth mentioning to your doctor. I use the patch as the oral meds do cause dry mouth like so many other meds.

[passion4life]

I so understand exactly where you are! At first, I was devasted about the diet. I am a fast food/pre-packaged kinda of woman. After months of "fighting" I decided to see a counselor. This has proven to be a very good move. I had to grieve the loss of life as I knew it. This process led me to a place of acceptance.


There are some really great and easy recipes on this site. You might want to read through some and see if any peak your interest.


I know how difficult it can be to have this horrible disease and have to restrict your diet. In the beginning my only thoughts were that I cannot live this way.

Over time, my outlook has improved. Don't get me wrong, I still have those days were I wish I could rip out my bladder and enjoy a big plate of Mexican food. But, fortunately or unfortunately, that is not the hand I have been dealt.


Please hang in there Things will get better


Have the best day you possibly can!


Praying for the cure

[shaun10]

how long

how long does it (did it) normally take to see a difference from the IC diet. I am just trying to put off the interstim. I think my doc wants to do instillations 1st. I see him tommorow. I wanna see what he says about the diet. I also probably need pelvic floor therapy. I wanna give those 3 things, diet, pelvic therapy, and instillations along with my meds a try before I even consider interstim. This site gives me hope and right now I need that. Thanks to everyone on here.

[jvr]

Hi Shaun,

Have you tried pelvic floor therapy or at least been checked for it? I think that can be an important component for many....

Jill