IC exercise

[suzannelaura]

I was just diagnosed the other day with IC though I have been suffering from symptoms for a while now. I am wondering what kind of exercise people have found most helful in controlling their symtpoms.

I once had a herniated disc and found that the only thing that helped was to do stomach and back strengthening exercises and was wondering about doing those. It makes sense to me to do them since they target the muscles around the area of the bladder, but I have read to actually avoid exercise that targets the pelvic area, I guess since it puts strain there.

This is my second flare-up. While I had been experiencing feelings of urinary urgency and frequency for over six months, all of a sudden I got intense symptoms in December that only subsided after I finally got on Enablex. Then, last week, I had another flare-up, though this time, my symptoms don't seem to want to go away. I have changed to Sanctura, but still have a terrible spasm and buzzing/tingling with extreme urgency. Do flare-ups have a duration - is there anyway to know how long this might last? I am planning on starting physical therapy/biofeedback this coming week, am trying to change my diet and am resigning from a workplace that is toxic; however, since this a brand new diagnosis to me, I am still pretty overwhelmed and inexperienced.

Any input or suggestions?

[siriuspsyclist]

Yoga for excercise

Welcome! (sad to say ...
I have had much good success with using YOGA as a mitigator for really bad flares. It may not ease the pain but it does help reduce the panic and the self loathing.

[Angeles]

What kind of yoga is more IC friedly? I'm reading a book about Kundalini Yoga and went to one session. I liked it but they focus a lot on the spine so I'm not too sure if that's ok for IC. The session I went to I did very little, almost as if I was a 80 yr old woman...it was the first time so I wanted to take it easy.
Kundalini is great for healing I heard but not sure if it is IC friendly.

[kadi]

There is a Hatha yoga video available for IC patients - it's available in the ICNshop link at the top of the page!

[siriuspsyclist]

all kinds are good

Presently I regularly practice Hatha, Kundalini and Ashtanga. But any kind is good. All yoga methods focus on breathing and freeing your mind from your body and using your postures to massage your internal organs and increase energy flow (or prana). Kundalini is great because it REALLY focuses on the breath in the body and the energy flowing UP your spine which helps to reduce tension and pain (for me) but the hatha is what I do when I am at the end of my rope and the Ashtanga is what I do most cuz it is powerful yoga that really challenges me and forces me to stop thinking about my PAIN.

Yoga has become so trendy and so "goal oriented" sometimes it is tough to go to these big classes and remember it's not about being as "good" as you can be, but about being present in the moment and following your breath, your best friend, and allowing the suffering and the day to day dregs of human conciousness to be cleansed out of your brain by your best friend, your breath. Breath in healing and the loving light of the universe, breath out negativity and pain. Often when I am breathing I visualize a warm, moist, healing breath travelling all the way down to my bladder and swirling there before releasing the breath, and then I visualize "bad bladder air" leaving my body.

crazy sounding?? Give yoga a year, focusing on it and nothing else, once or twice a week, and you may find changes in your whole self, not just your IC symptoms. Icertainly have.

Hope you're having a better day. Namaste. Sat Nam.

[suzannelaura]

yoga

I used to do yoga a lot (mostly Hatha) and would also get frustrated with how yoga has been turned into a competitive sport in so many places - quite antithetical to the realy purpose of yoga. As soon as I am done with my last 2 weeks at this job which I believe is largely responsible for my developing these horrid IC flares, I plan on going back to yoga.

Has anyone found that yoga actually helps the symptoms or is it more just helpful in learning to live with them?

Because of my experience with the spasms I had from my herniated disk, I really believe that there must be some sort of exercise that targets the muscles involved in IC and help relieve the pain. I'm planning on starting physio this week, but was hoping to get a head start if anyone knew anything helpful.

[topcop229]

Suzanne,
Typically low impact exercises that you can tolerate are good. Biking, swimming, and elliptical are possibilities. Walking outside or on a treadmill is good also, if you can tolerate it.
Yoga and pilates are both good, since they stretch and relax the muscles. Just don't do anything that puts too much pressure on the bladder.

I noticed you are having a pretty bad flare...sorry to hear that. Have you started the IC diet yet? If not, that's a great place to begin! While it's really not much fun, many see a distinct improvement in their symptoms from this. Check it out in the Patient Handbook on this site. You should eliminate all the "bad" foods for a couple weeks, then add them back in one at a time to determine your triggers. Don't get overwhelmed when you see it...most people can add back at least some of the foods on the "no" list...like exercise, it's an individual thing as to what will be okay and not okay with you.

I hope you can get past this flare very soon. They last different durations, I think. Try your best to stay hydrated with water, try to keep things as stress-free as you can, and get as much rest as you can.