Interstitial Cystitis, Protocols

The Most Effective Natural Therapies For IC (According To Science)

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.

Types of Natural Therapies

There are a variety of complementary natural therapies for those suffering from IC, but unfortunately there is pretty limited research into them and most research that has been done has included only a small sample size of patients. Here are the types of therapies that do have some research behind them:

Diet and Lifestyle

  • The ‘IC Diet’
  • Elimination Diet
  • Hydrogen-rich water
  • Regular Exercise
  • Relaxation
  • Stress-reduction
  • Good Sleep ‘Hygiene’

Remedies

  • pH Buffers
  • Calcium Glycerophosphate
  • Sodium Bicarbonate
  • L-Arginine
  • Fish Oil
  • Probiotics
  • Vitamin D
  • Antifungal Treatment
  • Glucosamine/Chondroitin
  • Marshmallow Root Tea
  • Grape Seed Extract
  • MSM
  • Liquorice root
  • Corn Silk
  • Turmeric
  • Colostrum
  • Aloe Vera
  • Chinese Herbs
  • Quercetin
  • Turmeric

Manual Therapy

  • Myofascial Physical Therapy
  • Transvaginal Biofeedback (TVBF)
  • Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
  • Global Therapeutic Massage
  • Massage Therapy
  • Hot/Cold Therapy
  • Chiropractic
  • Osteopathic Manipulation
  • Biofeedback

Body and Mind Therapies

The Most Effective Therapies

Knowing what seems to work for the most people can give us a good reference point on where to focus our attention first.

We have a meta-analysis of clinical evidence [1] and also data collected from over 2000 IC sufferers by the Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA) [2].

The number 1 intervention from both of them is (drumroll): Diet!

This was listed as either the ‘IC Diet’ (which mostly avoids acidic foods and drinks), an individualized elimination diet (avoiding personal trigger foods) or a diet that included ‘calming’ foods or drinks.

This fits well with my own experience: I recovered fully after following a strict elimination diet (the GAPS diet).

The meta-analysis concluded that the other most effective therapies were:

The ICA survey identified additional therapies that seemed to be beneficial, namely:

  • Regular Exercise
  • Hot/Cold Therapy
  • Relaxation, Stress-Reduction, Music, Yoga, Meditation, Guided Imagery (basically anything that helps reduce stress!)
  • Good Sleep ‘Hygiene’
  • Calcium Glycerophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, pH Buffers
  • Fish Oil
  • Probiotics
  • Vitamin D
  • Antifungal Treatment
  • Chiropractic

Therapies that seem to work for some, but not others

We’re all individuals and therefore one-size never fits all! There seem to be some people for whom most things work and others who don’t have much success with anything (me!). One thing I have learned is that there is no golden bullet (but diet is key!).

So here are the therapies that seem to have about a 50:50 success rate:

  • Biofeedback
  • Aloe Vera
  • Quercetin
  • Chinese Herbs

Therapies that seem to be ineffective

Please note that therapies rated ineffective may still work for some people, but not the majority. Studies don’t really take the individual experience into account. But the chances that these will work for you seem to be slimmer:

  • Glucosamine/Chondroitin
  • Marshmallow Root Tea
  • Glucosamine
  • L -arginine
  • Grape Seed Extract
  • MSM
  • Liquorice Root
  • Corn silk
  • Turmeric
  • Colostrum
  • Osteopathic Manipulation
  • Hydrogen-rich Water
  • Global Therapeutic Massage
  • Transvaginal Biofeedback (TVBF)
  • Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

 

We should also take into account that complementary therapies seem to work better when started close to an IC diagnosis. The longer someone has been sick, the slimmer are the chances of these working overall (In my opinion, this doesn’t mean one shouldn’t address diet and lifestyle though!).

Now I’d like to hear from you: What therapies have you tried and how have they worked? Let me know in the comments

Pin it for later:

Sources

  1. Verghese, T.S., Riordain, R.N., Champaneria, R. et al. Complementary therapies for bladder pain syndrome: a systematic review Int Urogynecol J (2016) 27: 1127. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-015-2886-3 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00192-015-2886-3
  2. O’Hare, P. et al Interstitial cystitis patients’ use and rating of complementary and alternative medicine therapies Int Urogynecol J (2013) 24:977–982 DOI 10.1007/s00192-012-1966-x

3 Comments

  • Reply

    Laura Links

    March 18, 2019

    Although I’m not an IC sufferer I have chronic OAB and over the past 8 years I have worked so hard with alternate therapies and to help me ( I already had an extremely healthy diet and exercise regularly)
    Although one cure does not fit all conquering and handling IC or OAB is a huge lifestyle changer !
    I have combined ; Betmiga , , DMannose , Trimethoprim , topical oestrogen , Acupuncture, Daily Kegel Exercises and now a specially programmed Neorotrac Machine !
    All these are working for me but it’s hard work I
    I am winning the fight and have recently seen major changes in my bladder as a direct result of my years of proactivity

  • Reply

    Rebecca Rust

    June 10, 2020

    Hello Layla,
    I am 51 years old and developed IC just before the lock down. I have only had a handful of UTI’s over my life so not suffered with anything traumatic like yourself and other readers. I had a UTI last October and recovered after a 7 day course of antibiotics. I then had another UTI in late February this year. Took a 3 day course of antibiotics but still had symptoms, so was given another 7 day course. I had to attend the walk in clinic for both of these appointments as my GP no longer deals with UTI’s! They told me if it still didn’t clear up, to get a urine sample sent off for culture through my GP. My sample came back with a negative result. But I still had irritation and knew things weren’t right. I did a home urine test first which showed the presence of white blood cells and so I then got an appointment with a nurse practitioner. She did a dip test and agreed to send off another sample. Meanwhile she checked me out for a prolapse and asked me questions. I told her I was post menopause and so she prescribed me topical HRT. She didn’t really talk me through this and when I got home I decided I wouldn’t be putting that into my body with all the side effects etc. Again the urine test came back negative. The lockdown had come in then so in desperation I rang and spoke to a GP. She said how I was feeling was probably my body settling down afte the antibiotics, This is when I googled ‘ symptoms of UTI with negative result. This is when thankfully, it led me to your wonderful website which confirmed I wasn’t going mad. I immediately changed my diet and cut out caffeine, alcohol, spices, acids etc. and went to the butchers and bought some bones to boil. I have been doing this now for over two months and have noticed a big improvement in symptoms. I haven’t had pain as such but sitting down for long periods is uncomfortable and also wearing clothing with low waistbands. I have had a few flares such as when I tried Manuka honey after seeing that it was on the IC diet list as a soother. This I found was too acid for me. Also I was drinking Camomile Tea in the evening which I have since found is a natural diuretic so was waking up after a couple of hours to go to the loo. I also had a flare yesterday when I was helping my husband clean the boat in a shed. I was using white spirit and a spray which claimed to be non toxic. I had to come home as it really upset my bladder and had a lot of pressure to urinate suddenly. This has really opened my eyes to how substances can enter the body through your skin and inhalation.
    I just wanted to ask you if I should try taking any Glucosamine and Chroindroitin as well as drinking the bone broth or do you think I will be ingesting enough through the broth alone?
    Also how long shall I leave it before I try consuming some of the foods on the try it list? Or am I best giving it a good six months on the safe diet to give my bladder a better chance to heal? Just need some reassurance really that I am doing the right things.

    • Reply

      Layla

      June 17, 2020

      Hi Rebecca, it’s a bit hard to say from a distance – you could give the glucosamine and chondroitin a try for a couple of weeks and see if they make a difference (it’s hard to know how much exactly will be in the broth).
      With negative testing there is a chance that there are still hidden infections present (you can test for this via a lab called MicrogenDX)- in this case, antibiotic or herbal antimicrobial therapy can be beneficial.
      Acidic foods are only avoided because they burn on an inflamed bladder wall (they don’t ’cause’ the irritation). So yo could try them once your bladder doesn’t hurt as much.

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