1. Prepare for Travel
One of the biggest difficulties you face with interstitial cystitis is that your almost constant need to urinate can make it very difficult to travel, or even leave the house at all. Needless to say, this can have quite an impact on your social life--not to mention on ordinary day-to-day activities such as going to work or grocery shopping. You may be able to alleviate some of the problems by retraining your bladder so that you can expand the intervals between bathroom trips from 10 minutes to 20 or 30 minutes. Eventually, you may even be able to reach the point where you can go without a bathroom trip for an hour or two.
2. Educate Friends and Family
It may be embarrassing to speak up about your interstitial cystitis, but once you can bring yourself to do so, you may find that the truth really will set you free. The only way your friends and family members can understand what you're going through, and make allowances accordingly, is if you tell them. Give them some literature about IC or email them links to websites so they will know that this is a very real condition--one that is suffered by many other men and women. Once your friends and family learn a little bit about interstitial cystitis, you may find they complain less about having to stop for frequent bathroom breaks on long trips or about your reluctance to participate in certain types of activities that may have you away from a bathroom for long periods of time. It is especially important for you to explain IC to your spouse or partner, as one of the symptoms is painful intercourse, and this is a problem the two of you will have to deal with together.
3. Get Help Sleeping
If you feel like a zombie from too many sleepless nights spent trekking to the bathroom, ask your doctor for some help. A prescription sleeping aid (or even an over the counter one) may be able to get you the rest you need--and chances are, if you are sleeping, your bladder will be, too. If you are worried about episodes of nighttime incontinence, however, you can always purchase an absorbent pad for your bed or a vinyl mattress cover. Absorbent undergarments may work for you as well, particularly if you are sharing a bed with someone else.
4. Treat Anxiety and Depression
If your interstitial cystitis symptoms are worrying or upsetting you to the point that you begin to lose pleasure in your usual activities, you should consult a therapist about treatment for anxiety or depression. You may require prescription antidepressants to help you cope with the way you are feeling--and the good news is that certain types of tricyclic antidepressants, particularly Elavil and Sinequan, may actually alleviate your physical IC symptoms as well.
