1. Control Interstitial Cystitis Through Lifestyle Changes
While there is no known cure for interstitial cystitis (IC), the recurring discomfort or pain you may feel in your bladder area can be controlled and modified through certain lifestyle changes. Perhaps the most important of these changes is dietary. If you suffer from IC, you should try to avoid highly acidic foods like citrus fruits, tomatoes, alcohol, spicy foods, chocolate, caffeinated beverages and artificial sweeteners. You should also refrain from smoking, as tobacco may also be an IC irritant as well as a leading cause of bladder cancer. An exercise regime may help to reduce your IC symptoms, particularly such things as gentle stretching and Kegel exercises. Finally, bladder-training techniques, which involve trying to stick to a schedule for urination and increase the length of time between bathroom trips, may help to decrease the frequency of urination.
2. Use Oral Medications to Treat IC Symptoms
Over-the-counter (OTC) pain medications like aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen have long been used to treat the pain caused by interstitial cystitis, and some tricyclic antidepressants, particularly amitriptyline (Elavil), have been known to reduce pain, increase bladder capacity and decrease urinary frequency and nocturia (nighttime urination). One medication, pentosan polysulfate sodium (Elmiron), has been specifically developed to treat IC, although it has only tested effective in 30 percent of the IC sufferers treated with it. The recommended dosage is 100 mg, which you take three times a day, and it may take from 4 to 6 months for the drug to take effect.
3. Try a TENS Treatment
TENS, or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, involves using mild electrical pulses to stimulate the nerves to your bladder through your skin. These mild electric pulses would be administered through wires placed on your lower back or just above your pubic area. They can also be delivered through devices inserted into your vagina (if you're a woman) or rectum (if you're a man) and given for periods of time ranging from a few minutes to several hours, two or more times a day. Although medical science has not determined exactly how TENS works to combat IC symptoms, it is thought that the electrical impulses may increase the blood flow to your bladder, strengthen the pelvic muscles that control the bladder, or trigger the release of pain-blocking substances. Although this treatment isn't effective for everybody, it is relatively inexpensive and allows you to set your own treatment schedule. If the TENS treatment does produce positive results, which may take 3 to 4 months to appear, you may wish to have a device called an InterStim implanted under your skin next to your tailbone. This FDA-approved device delivers regular impulses to the bladder and is marketed as a treatment for urge incontinence, urinary frequency and urinary retention.
4. Bladder Instillation to Reduce Inflammation and Pain
A bladder instillation involves filling your bladder with a dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solution via a catheter inserted up through your urethra. The DMSO would be held in your bladder for about 15 minutes and then expelled. This drug has been found to be quite effective in reducing pain and inflammation, and it may also prevent the muscle contractions that can result in urinary pain, urgency and frequency. These treatments are usually administered every 1 to 2 weeks for 6- to 8-week cycles and thereafter repeated as needed. If you're willing to self-catheterize, you may be able to arrange to administer subsequent treatments at home, reducing the expense of repeated visits to your doctor's office.
