What are the typical IC symptoms found in men?

[Lindsay K.]

Hello. I am a female that has had IC for 10+ years, my mom was diagnosed last year and now my 8 year old son is having symptoms consisting of frequency/urgency and stinging/burning with and after urination, urinalysis negative x 2 and no growth on culture. This has been going on for a week now. Last year about this time he had a uti that recurred a month later but then no more symptoms after the second course of antibiotics. At that time a pediatric urologist ordered an ultrasound that was normal. Now he is going to see the specialist again and have a voiding cystogram done to rule out structural problems.

Does any male IC'ers have this stinging/burning with and after urination? He is having this discomfort with every void. For me that was usually a sign that a real infection was brewing, but on rare occasions I will have an unpleasant discomfort immediately following a void or bowel movement which I attribute to a bladder or pelvic floor spasm. When my IC symptoms are not controlled, I usually have the pressure and then pain increases as my bladder fills and then get some relief with voiding and of course the frequency/urgency. There seems to be this epidemic of bladder issues going on in my family, never thought anyone else would have to go through this too, especially my child. Very puzzling and frustrating.

[Linda May]

I would have him checked for IC, they can do this under anestisics. He needs to have that test to rule out other problems.

[Justaluckyguy]

advice from a newbie!

Let me start by saying that I am a real IC newbie as I have only been recently diagnosed (early 2011!) so I certainly won't have the experience that others on this site would.

Having said that I definitely had a strong burning sensation during and after urination. I found that a simple solution to the problem was to sit down all the time when going to the can so I could use the toilet paper to be 100% dry afterwards. This made a huge improvement in the pain and was also a big help for my doctor in determining that it was the high acidity in the stream and not a problem directly with something else. I can't be certain if this was the only reason but after I mentioned this too him I was immediately scheduled for IC testing.

I would recommend your son do this but also get tested for IC as this is just a way to get around symptoms but no treating any cause! Since I've started the instilations I've found that I can finally stand again for the first few days without the burning sensation.

I hope this helps!

Stephen