Wonderful New for IC Suffers From the Interstitial Cystitis Association!

I Received this info in an e-mail a few days ago for the Interstitial Cystitis Association:

"On September 19, 2007, the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), along with several other National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes, announced that it will be committing up to a total of $7.5 million dollars per year starting in the summer of 2008 for a five-year project to study IC and related conditions!"

Way to go NIH! Maybe the medical community will finally understand how difficult this can be and come up with some answers.

7 Day Juice Cleanse Over in 3 Days

Well, my 7 day juice cleanse ended in 3 days. I had no idea how sick I would actually get from it. I felt very nauseous, tired, light-headed and weak. By Sunday I realized I had to make it to work the following day so I had better eat some solid food to have the strength. If anyone ever wants to try a 7 day juice cleanse, I recommend taking some time off work. You never know how you will feel. For now, I am back to the alkalyzing raw food diet. I think I may be developing an addiction to garbanzo beans. I am eating them by the can on a daily basis and loving it! On Friday, I will be drivng to Milwaukee to have Dr. Young's nutritional microscopy test done. A live blood stain is analyzed for the presence of yeast, mold, fungus and bacteria. Supposedly, the test is quite telling. I will post the results after I have them. Although the test is paid for out-of-pocket, I feel as though it can provide yet another piece of the IC puzzle. I continue to be convinced this can be overcome.

"Sick and Tired"

I will write more at a later date about my history with IC. For now, I am going to begin writing about what I am presently doing. After months of trying just about everything you could name, I discovered a book that I think can help me. A few weeks ago I began reading a book called, "Sick and Tired" by Dr. Robert Young. I had seen this book on a recent documentary about cancer and decided to give it a try. Dr. Young belives that the Standard American Diet consists mainly of acidic foods, foods that are below 7.0 on the pH scale. He believes that eating acidic foods over an extended period of time (for most of us that extended period of time is most of our lives) alters the internal environment of the tissues of the body to be acidic as well. This increase in acidity supports the development of harmful microorganisms such as yeast, fungus, mold and bacteria. These microorganisms secrete toxins and waste products that tax the body and can lead to disease over time. He advocates for eating an alkaline diet consisting primarily of vegetables to alter the internal environment and regain harmony and wellness in the body. In May, I had a full GI panel done at the recommendation of an osteopath I had been seeing. The results revealed that I did infact have an overgrowth of yeast in the bowel as well as a parasite. I seemed like the perfect candidate to try Dr. Young's program. After 3 weeks of adding raw vegetables to my diet, I am embarking on a 7 day juice cleanse consisting only of geen vegetables. Yesterday was my first day where I drank several juice combos including broccoli/celery and cucumber/zuccini. I didn't really like the taste of most of them, but as my husband sat next to me last night eating Mc Donald's, a candy bar, and corn chips, I heard a voice in my head reminding me that this is only for 7 days. 24 hours after beginning the juice cleanse, I am feeling horrible. I feel fatigued to the point of having difficulty walking around. I feel nauseous and am experiencing an increase in orthostatic hypotension...and no, it's not from lack of eating solid food. Yesterday, I drank the equivalent of an entire head of broccoli, several stocks of celery, a whole onion, 3 whole cucumbers, 2 zuccini, etc...an INCREDIBLE amount of vegetables. My body is detoxing and I am feeling it today. I have a real lack of energy. I'll finish the seven days. I know I will. I know I'll feel better in a few days, but for now, I am going to go lay on the couch...

Rewind to April 2006

I failed to mention earlier that at the same time I was dealing with the concerns of the bladder, I was also planning my wedding. My wedding was scheduled for November 4th in my hometown of Winona, Minnesota I believe the stress of not knowing what was happening to my body and simultaneously trying to plan a wedding was beginning to really take it's toll on my body. My hair began falling out so severely that I began to have a receding hair line and was rapidly loosing weight. I was constantly exhausted. My symptoms increased dramatically in April 2006. My fiance and I had gone to Minnesota to begin the wedding planning process. We had arranged appointments to see the church, meet with the pastor, see the reception hall, taste the cake, sample the food from the catering company and meet with the photographer. We were only in town for a few days, so our appointments were scheduled one right after another. This particular weekend however, I had experienced a frequency of urination unlike any other. I was going to the bathroom every 20 minutes around the clock, day and night. I would lay in bed crying and praying that God would help me. The pain was excruciating. I considered going to the emergency room, but I knew they couldn't help me. No one had yet figured out what I had. I called my urologist back in Chicago and scheduled an appointment for when I returned, hoping I could just make it a few more days. This trip to the urologist yielded a urinalysis which was negative, a prescription for a drug called Elmiron and an order for pelvic floor physical therapy. Still no diagnosis and not much hope. At this point, I decided I would call my GYN and ask for a recommendation for a urogynecologist. I had to keep searching for answers and searching for someone who might be able to tell me what was happening to my body.