Please Help

[jreed07]

I was diagnosed with IC 6 months ago. What a nightmare. As I write, I cannot even find words to describe the physical, mental and emotional pain i am in.
I am overwhelmed by the products out there. Where do I start? I have seen 2 doctors that will absolutely not give me pain meds. I am in constant pain, never leave the house and extremely depressed. And just what do i eat besides water and cereal?????? If anyone out there can give me some basics to start with, I would be extremely grateful. Books are needed too. Is there any book out there for diet that has BASIC SIMPLE foods. I am not one to cook rutabegas with wheat grass and millet, if you know what I mean. Thank you so very much.

[KatieB]

Hi J

I'm SO sorry you're suffering so badly. I can tell you that if you hit the tab at the top of the page "Patients" and go down to "Self Help Strategies" there is the IC diet. I'm doing it very strictly right now because if I don't, it makes the pain I have even worse. It seems limited but it's really not as bad as you might think, once you get used to it, of course.
As far as your uro not prescribing pain meds, that's not unusual. They just aren't trained/don't want to be responsible for prescribing pain meds. I had to get a referral to a pain management clinic. If your uro won't do it then you should ask your GP or your gyno for the referral. (Also, I'll say that if you are uncomfortable with your uro you should look around/call around and see if there is another doc in your area who is experienced in IC). I thank God everyday for my pain doc. I still have pain, but I can't even imagine how bad it would be without my medications. I struggle with it because I'm SO afraid of addiction/dependence but he has promised me that when I don't need it anymore "we" will get me off of it. I trust him. Good luck to you and I hope you find relief soon. Try the diet and try to stay with it because it sometimes takes a while to get the relief your looking for.