Today I’d like to share with you Sandra’s inspiring story of recovery from Interstitial Cystitis.
After 30 years of suffering, Sandra has finally found a way to be symptom free and is enjoying life again.
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As you might know from my previous post on the most effective natural therapies for interstitial cystitis, physical therapy is up there on the list of the top 3 most effective non-invasive and natural therapies.
As I know very little on the subject I thought it might be a good idea to get the view of an expert in the field. Therefore I got in touch with the wonderful Nicole Cozean, author of the book The Interstitial Cystitis Solution Physiotherapist over at Pelvic Sanity, who was so kind to share her knowledge and experience with us!
Many IC sufferers I have spoken to are either interested in trying alternative natural therapies, or have already tried some.
There are a variety of natural therapies and remedies out there, and often it is hard to know what is effective. In my experience, this is highly individual. We do, however, have some data on what seems to help the most people.
I never had a bladder instillation when I suffered from ‘interstitial cystitis’ – my doctor at the time couldn’t even diagnose me, so I didn’t get to try any conventional treatment for IC. In my desperation, I very quickly turned to natural interventions… and the rest is history.
We often speak of orthodox medicine as being ‘evidence based’ and anything ‘alternative’ as being ‘quackery’. I have long come to understand that a lot of ‘alternative’ interventions are in fact very much following the newest evidence but also that ‘quackery’ (and maybe more importantly ego) can be found in all walks of medicine.
So far, I’ve mostly stayed away from writing about conventional treatments and it’s not my intention to slag anything off. But after hearing from so many sufferers I’ve spoken to that instillations have not helped them, I wanted to see if their use is actually evidence-based.
Yoga is a type of mental and physical exercise that has been used in traditional Indian medicine since ancient times.
In recent years it has become more and more popular as a form of exercise and relaxation technique in the Western world.
Its use as a therapeutic intervention to accompany other forms of medicine has also grown in the West.
Today I would like to take a look at how yoga can be used as a therapy for chronic urologic conditions such as interstitial cystitis and chronic UTIs and chronic illness in general.
Last week I talked about the theory that some cases of interstitial cystitis may not be IC per se, but rather a mast cell activation disorder affecting different systems in the body.
Today I would like to offer a couple of natural options that may help to reduce mast cells or at least their effects in the body.
In this post I’d like to get a bit more personal rather than practical. I would like to talk about how I healed from interstitial cystitis.
Contrary to common belief, I have experienced on myself that it is possible to recover from this condition. I believe that this is possible for each of us but that the journey might be a different one.
In my last blog post I looked at the ‘bladder-back-connection’. ‘Fix your Back, Fix your Bladder’ is part 2, in which I’m going to look at potential causes for back problems that affect the bladder and possible solutions.
To recap on the last post, I explained how the nerves connecting the bladder to the brain pass through the spine and that an injury to the spine can lead to damage or compression of these nerves.
The result can be bladder issues such as UTIs and interstitial cystitis.
Simply having a list of foods to avoid can be overwhelming and disheartening. But some level of restriction will most likely be necessary if we want to see serious improvement in the symptoms of interstitial cystitis. Therefore I would like to share with you some steps to take to customize your interstitial cystitis diet.
Here is a list of supplements for interstitial cystitis that could be helpful for reducing pain, inflammation and aiding recovery. This list is not extensive and may be updated as research into this condition is ongoing. Personally, I always prefer getting nutrients from real food rather than supplements. This is because I’ve had more adverse effects from supplements than positive ones. Strive to get the following nutrients from real food sources. When diet has been inadequate or additional relief is needed, the following supplements could be helpful.