Would LOVE advice, please!

[redskins21]

Hey everyone! I am new to this board and haven't officially been diagnosed with IC yet. I am about 99% sure that I have it. Here is my story: For the past 2 months I have had urethral pain, it hurts especially after I urinate and is the most painful in the morning after my first void of the day.

I have been on four antibiotics with no avail and have had three urine tests, one of which was a urine culture--all negative. I was tested for STDs and again, negative. I haven't had a single day where I haven't had some sort of pain. Some days are worst than others. Often times, I don't notice it much during the day.

I have a cystoscopy scheduled in 2 weeks but my urologist really hasn't been any help. He just gives me prosed and tells me to drink water. I do not really have much frequency, maybe like 3 times more than I used to.

My question is, does this sound like IC? I know you can't diagnose me but based on your experiences, what is your opinion? Any advice would be much appreciated.

[ICNDonna]

It's possible that what you have is interstitial cystitis, but not necessarily so. One thing you can do while you're waiting for a diagnosis is to give the IC diet a try. You'll find a link to the latest food list in my signature below.

The fact that your doctor is scheduling you for testing tells me that he/she is looking for a diagnosis. It can take a while to be diagnosed. An IC diagnosis is made at least partially based on ruling out other possible problems.

Another thing you can do is to keep a voiding diary for a week or so before your appointment so you can let your doctor know how frequently you are urinating and how much each time. I hope you get an answer soon. For me the time before diagnosis was the worst.

Warm hugs,
Donna

[Dees1977]

You might try to eliminate like known irritants like Soda and Coffee and see if the pain gets better.. Hope you feel better soon

[NancyB]

Urethral Pain

Hi -

You might want to go and read the posts on the Board under Urethral Pain to see what others are doing for that problem.

Hope this is helpful to you.

NancyB

[soymilk]

Your symptoms are pretty much the same as mine, hopefully you will get a diagnosis (of something!) soon. It took me a while, because the first urologists didn't believe urethral pain was a serious problem! But I was diagnosed as soon as I had the cystoscopy.

It can't hurt to eliminate the big bladder triggers: tomatoes, citrus, coffee, soda, alcohol, chocolate, and caffeine. Cutting out caffeine was REALLY hard for me, but it has helped.