Silver Nitrate

[Catwoman100780]

I think silver nitrate has received a bad name on this site. I have talked to someone from this site and they were dead set that silver nitrate was the worst thing in the world, and they would never do it. I am currently receiving silver nitrate treatments. I know they haven't been used for awhile, but I have had many other treatment and they haven't worked. Once in awhile the treatments will take up to 9 days for me to recover, that's the longest. Normally it takes me about 3-4 days to recover. I feel the best I have felt in a long time. I have more good days then bad, and I'm actually able to get out and do things!
The other thing I wanted to address, is the person I talked to was under the impression that the silver nitrate striped the bladder of its lining. What the silver nitrate does, according to my urologist it is used to kill the nerve endings in my bladder. He didn't say anything about striping the bladder lining. He's killing the nerve endings so that my bladder will not hurt as much and I will have some relief.
This treatment is actually working. I've had 15 surgeries in the last 4 years, and I finally have a treatment that's working! I don't know where this woman got this information on this site because I can't find it on here, I just want people to keep an open mind about the silver nitrate treatments. Because it might actually work for someone. It's working for me!

[ICNDonna]

When I was first diagnosed back in 1975 I was treated with silver nitrate following hydrodistention. I actually spent several days in the hospital for gradually increasing strengths. It was very painful, but did help once I had recovered. I also had instillations of the same substance after the hospitalization. If there were no other treatment available, or if other treatment options had failed for me, I would go back to the silver nitrate, but it's definitely not my first choice.

I'm glad it's working for you.

Donna

[dyno]

I was diagnosed the same time Donna was and my expericence was exactly like hers. I also would not choose it for treatment unless I absolutely had to. There are many other treatment options that are available now that weren't back then.

[Linda May]

Ic

The way I see it if its working for you that is wonderful stick with what works because every icer is different in treatment plans. I wish you good health and pray they will find a miracle cure one day.

[Catwoman100780]

Thank you

I'm glad I had a good response to this. What my uro did now was the first treatment was through a cystoscopy w/ hydro distension. He also expanded my bladder because it's shrinking due to the fact I don't use it anymore. He then put in my first dosage of silver nitrate. I ended up staying in the hospital overnight because of the pain. It seemed horrible the first time but I decided let me give it another try. So the 2nd time was in the office and they did it as a bladder instillation. It hurt but only did so for about a week and then I started feeling great! So the 3rd treatment had even better results and I only hurt after it for about 2 days. But I had been feeling better then I have in 5 years! So we have increased the dosage since then and it's like every other time I have problems with one time, my np and I had been talking and we both forgot that I needed to be rinsed out, so we didn't. Everytime I'm done with a treatment I feel like I have to urinate so bad! Sometimes I can hardly get my pants on before I'm running out the door. It makes my urethra and bladder feel like it's so full! So needless to say I urinated out some nitrate and it burned my skin around urethra and the whole area pretty bad. But I've recovered from that and am now ok. But the reason I wanted to write on here is because there was this woman who was so misguided about the silver nitrate treatments. And she had gotten some information off of here. I tried talking to her about it and she had some not so nice words about it. The treatments are different for everyone. I know what my doctor told me about it killing the nerve endings in my bladder, but this is what she wrote and I can't figure out where she got this information and I can't find it at all on this site so maybe you can show me where she got it from.
"Silver nitrate is an "antiseptic" bladder wash that is now rarely, if ever, used for IC. Why? When silver nitrate first became popular, doctors believed that it would destroy any bacteria or infection that could be triggering IC. However, we now know that IC is not bacterial in nature. Rather, IC is much more like a wound struggling to heal. Our goal in therapy is to soothe the bladder, not irritate it further. If your physician is suggesting silver nitrate, we strongly encourage you discuss the use of a "rescue instillation" and/or various oral medications first.
One of the most caustic medications placed in the bladder, silver nitrate actually damages (and/or strips off) the bladder lining. One of the most painful bladder instillations available, it is usually administered in a manner similar to that of DMSO or heparin, but under general anesthesia. "
"Silver nitrate was thought to work by first attacking or stripping the bladder lining. It was believed to trigger the body's immune system to step in and start the healing process. These antiseptic chemicals are also antibacterial in that they kill organisms present in the bladder.
Some patients have been successfully treated with these drugs but the frequent, painful treatments usually must be done under general anesthesia-- which carries some risk. This cannot be used in people who have urinary reflux, a condition in which urine flows backward up the ureters and into the kidneys. With the recent increase in the number and variety of other IC treatments available, this is now rarely used. "
She said she quoted it directly from this site. I'd like to read where it is because I can't find it at all. I've tried helping this girl understand what it's actually doing for me and how much it's helping me. If you read all the treatments that are out there for Ic I've done them. I've done all the pills and all the surgeries. So my doctor had to go "old school" with me. I have felt the greatest I have in 5 years. I was trying to help her and she didn't want the help. But guess there's people out there that don't want to listen, which is really too bad.