<<
back to treatment/management
Cystitis, a nonspecific term meaning inflammation of the bladder. When most people think about cystitis, infection of the bladder comes to mind. That’s because by far the most common form of cystitis is caused by bacteria and is appropriately called bacterial cystitis. Interstitial cystitis (IC), on the other hand, does not appear to be related to infection.
Symptoms of Interstitial Cystitis. There are no specific blood or urine test that definitely indicate if IC is present or not. The diagnosis is made on a clinical basis. After reviewing your medical history, your physical exam, and other tests, a final diagnosis can be made.
The average IC patient’s symptoms begin between 30 and 50 years of age. However, IC has been reported both in early childhood and in later adult life. Usually the symptoms appear suddenly and initially are often confused with a bladder infection. Spontaneous remissions may occur, but symptoms often return weeks or months later. Urinary incontinence is rarely associated with IC.
The three most common symptoms of IC are:
- Frequency of urination
- Urgency of urination
- Pelvic pain; often worsening with the bladder filling and lessening with the bladder emptying
Other commonly reported symptoms of IC include:
- Pelvic pain worsening one week prior to the menstrual cycle
- Constipation or irritable bowel syndrome
- Slow urinary stream
- Pain with intercourse or increased pelvic pain occurring twelve to twenty-four hours after sexual intercourse
- Depression
- Worsening of the symptoms with certain foods or beverages
- Urethral burning (the urethra is the tube that carries urine out of the body)
IC can be generally defined as an oversensitivity of the bladder, with a wide range of symptom severity. Some patients with the mildest forms of IC probably don’t even mention this to their health care providers. They live with their symptoms and make changes in their lifestyles to deal with the discomfort. On the other hand, there exists a huge number of afflicted individuals whose lives revolve around their bladders. IC has reduced their quality of life considerably.
Treatment of IC. While there is no cure for Interstitial Cystitis, there are a number of treatment options that can significantly help reduce the symptoms. Since IC is a complex disorder, there is not a definitive treatment that will handle all cases. While one form of treatment may help one individual, it may not help in the treatment of another individual. With a reasonable course of treatment, some women will enter long periods of remission from the symptoms; other women will have periodic disease flare-ups.
Among the conservative treatment approaches are:
- Dietary changes, including fluid management
- Physical therapy and exercise
- Oral medications
- Changes in clothing
- Changes in personal hygiene practices
- Application of heat or ice
- Various stress-reducing strategies
Two of the more invasive methods of treatment are:
- Cystoscopy with Bladder Distention (which is a mechanical stretching of the bladder mucosa)
- Intravisical Therapy (where high concentration of medication is delivered directly into the bladder)
What do I do now? To determine if your symptoms do indeed reflect you having IC, your health care provider will need to do more testing to establish this diagnosis. To help this process along, please click and download the PATIENT ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE. You will need a copy of ADOBE (click here for a copy ) to download the questionnaire. Bring this completed questionnaire to your next appointment, or to your next annual exam so that your provider can review it with you. |
