How soon do you feel pain after eating something bad?

[NikkiK]

How soon after you eat something, do you notice that it is bothersome? I just ordered the recipe book for IC and can't wait til it gets here. It seems like this diet is going to be quite expensive to do. Any ideas on how to cut costs?

[Julie B]

Hi dogbite5,

Most of us would agree it depend on the food. Something like caffeine, alcohol, or msg will probably bother you within a half hour or so. They have a chemical reaction on the nerves, so just like you feel a buzz on caffeine in a short period of time, they will aggrivate the bladder that fast.

Other foods bother the bladder after they are digested. That can take a few hours or even a couple of days.

The foods on an IC safe diet shouldn't be any more expensive than a regular diet. It is normal foods. Do you have some specific questions?

[NikkiK]

I guess just from the little pamplet that my Dr gave me, it seem slike I will have to find special bread, spices, everything that I have at my house seems to have a lot of preservatives and aditional things added to it. I guess I am just a bit overwhelmed. Thank you for your help.

[ICNDonna]

The Patient Handbook at http://www.ic-network.com/handbook has some helpful diet information. I don't buy special bread or special spices. There are a few "treats" that I buy sometimes that are expensive, but most of the foods I eat are from Costco.

Donna

[Julie B]

Hi there.......I agree with Donna. Most people don't have to go to those extremes. You are right, it can be so overwhelming especially the diet modifications. The big thing is that very few people have to live with a super restrictive diet. In fact, it don't think any two ICers are alike when it comes to food. Through trial and error, you will find out what works for you.

Gentle Hugs.........Julie

[Want2BPainFree]

I also felt the financial burden when I started the IC diet in February because I had just shopped and did a big one and then cut out all those foods, so I had to shop again. It is leveling out now. And I'm not putting a bunch of artificial stuff into my body. I am eating much fresher food.

Also, I avoid MSG in all forms, including it's hidden names. You can find lists online of all the clever ways manufacturers disguise MSG.

Hope this helps ease your fears.

[ABliske]

I think it's cheaper to make your own bread, cookies, and things. I don't have a big budget for food at all. I eat pastas, raviolie, veggies, turkey burgers, chicken, potatoes, pears, and bagels a lot. I hope you are able to find a lot of foods you can have!!! The pure blueberry juice is one thing I have splurged on. There are other things too, but I do okay with "normal" foods. Oh, and I buy coffee substitutes.

[NikkiK]

Thank you all for your input. abliske where did you find the recipes to make your own bread and that type of stuff? I just ordered the cookbok for IC in hopes that will help. I too am on a very tight budget. Everything that I look at seems to have so many ingredients that I have never heard of that I don't know are bad or not. Once I get the cookbook, I will be eating just the things listed on the okay list to start with. Then do I just add 1 new thing in per week? Thank you again.

[ABliske]

The IC Cookbook has a lot of bread and dessert recipies. I haven't made many of them though because a lot of them call for cream of tartar. I just recently picked some up so maybe I'll get baking.
My sister sent me the yummiest pumpin bread recipe. I'll pass it along to you if you want. Have you been able to detect any trigger foods yet? Tomatoes are my worst I think. I do have daily pain no matter what I eat, but I think the diet is helping with it. I've been on it for close to a year. White chocolate chip and butterscotch chip cookies are my favorite!
I don't avoid parmesan any longer. I don't feel like it makes me hurt more, but I try to use it in small quantities. At first, I avoided all nuts, but now I have almonds and cashews because they are supposed to be less harmfull. I aslo eat vanilla yogurt without noticible worsening of pain.
Good luck with figuring things out!

[NikkiK]

I would love that recipe thank you. As well as any others that you really like. I have noticed that tomatoes are bad. I had some homemade salsa and noticed that I had much nore pain. So you said that you have consistant pain and some things just make it worse. Does this mean there is a chance that the pain may never go away completely?

[ABliske]

Okay, I'll write it up tomorrow. I'm at work right now. I take MS Contin to manage my pain. I'm trying to stay positive and think the pain will fade in time. It can take years. My doctor told me this is something I am always going to be dealing with. I really hope, in time, the bad foods are all that bring on symptoms. There was a sample give away of the Cysta Q on this site and that seemed to help, but I haven't reordered yet. I should probably get on that. Another thing I want to try is prelief. I haven't found it in any drug stores yet.
I'll see if there are any other good recipies I can give you. One that I like is chow mein if you can tolerate soy sauce. I put a lot less in than the recipie calls for and it was still good. Low sodium soy sauce is okay for some people.

[Sharyn]

Prelief

Order it from Costco. I use it all the time. I don't have frequency and I think it's because I use Prelief. It is a little pricey but worth it.