Discovering I had Interstitial Cystitis of the Bladder was truly an eye opener for me. It encouraged me to research, when I had the patience to read (this is a thing, especially when you are critical pain). The craziest part is there is NO TRUE DIAGNOSTIC TESTING for the disease, no known “cause” for said issues, but a multitude of symptoms. OHHHH THE HEARTBURN WAS FIERCE!

Mine was diagnosed by imaging when my gyno was all up in my junk. He took pictures, I mean, we are already there, have a handy camera, and from the outside he said it looked ANGRY, so he took some pictures from the inside. It looked like Freddy Kreuger’s face on a good day. Anyway, I’ll spare you the lunch you ate today or yesterday, and just say, it was REALLY RED and very swollen.

There is research that indicates something to the effect of our tissues losing elasticity as we age that may also cause such a condition. I can buy that as well. I highly recommend you take your Collagen! After all, Collagen is great for your joints and arthritic pain, and for the ladies we enjoy the benefits for hair and nails as well.

In real time Interstitial Cystitis, makes you feel like you have a urinary tract infection, like you have to pee ALL THE TIME, and nothing really comes out, because you constantly feel urgency. Then you dribble a little because you lose functionality when it takes over your bladder, so you got to protect yourself from weeing yourself. Most moms do anyway, those damn sneezes will send you packing your bag to the bathroom to change an entire set of clothes sometimes. Your bladder tissues get agitated, swell up, and tear the inner lining, so it’s very much like rubbing salt in your wound every single time you consume food or drink. If you are immunocompromised, have Mast Cell Activation or severe allergies, pray that you are not eating HIGH histamine foods or citric acid or night shades like bell peppers and tomatoes, there is no hell like a citric acid hitting your shredded raw bladder that I can compare it to.

Let’s get to the HEARTBURN that not even the OTC or prescription medication will touch. There are a few modern drugs on the market right now, neither did much to outweigh the need to stay on them and risk the side effects with all the other medications I was on. Insert my researching how to help myself. This pain is like no other, I couldn’t eat food! I literally would eat at like 3 p.m. in the afternoon and not be able to eat until 3 p.m. the following day because it felt like I had gastroparesis (where food doesn’t go down when it’s supposed to). The food felt like it was still sitting in my esophagus, along with ALL THE ACID. Certainly, it was going to eat a hole in my esophagus at some point.

Desperate, does not begin to describe where I was at this point. Then they hand you a list of foods you can’t eat which is basically everything in our dietary structure today in this world. Telling you to eat all organic food but nothing acidic and the list goes on and on. The one thing that got me the most is there are people who have to go into a Urinary Care Specialist and have Valium or various other pain killing medicines inserted into your bladder with loads of fluid to stretch your bladder to make it stretchy again.

I have Mast Cell Activation, I’m allergic to steroids and narcotics, and oh to boot, your insurance won’t cover a $6K procedure like that every three months. So Good Luck! I’m stubborn, I don’t listen, and I’m frugal…so I decided I could stretch my bladder on my own, after all my body naturally fills it with fluid every second of everyday, so anyone can stretch their own bladder. We can hold out the urgency and suck up the pain and go on a schedule every 2 to 3 hours, if you can hold it just a little bit longer, even better! So that’s the first thing that I did.

Yes, yes, I know, we heard this from our parents when they potty trained us, that it was not a great idea or “healthy” to hold it. I highly recommend if you do this method, you invest in those incontinence pad, panty liners, something to protect you from leaking. My determination of forcing myself onto a schedule has saved me thousands, and when I went to see the Urologist, he told me that I was in much better shape than most of his patients and to keep doing what I was doing.

The pain was a whole other level I still had to cope with. This was harder to tackle. I’m grateful however that my gyno at the time suggested to treat it like an allergic reaction to everything I consume. So that’s just what I did, insert ANTIHISTAMINES. Did you know there are 4 types of antihistamines? As long as you are taking at least and H1 and H2 antihistamine blocker daily, you are protected!

My go to H 1 antihistamine receptor blocker and H 2 antihistamine receptor blocker. Essentially, what saved me was Cetirizine, and Loratadine. With antihistamines I actually have to take 2 Cetirizine, and 3 Famotidine a day, 3 times a day. It will be how I live from now on. I also coupled it with a few more supplements suggested from the group of Mast Cell Patients had suggested work, and that were Aloe Vera Gel Capsules, and Horsetail Grass Capsules. Since 2019, I’ve purchased both of those products 8 times. I have been in a flare up at least 8 times since 2019, and it’s 2023 now. For the most part, I don’t have to take the Aloe or Horsetail unless I’m in a flare up, and when I do, I instantly start taking them three times a day, at the serving suggests on the bottle.

The Bonus to all of that, is the H1 and H2 antihistamines were literally helping my Mast Cell Activation as well, without my knowledge. I take the antihistamines even after a flare daily, that’s why the bottles that I linked here in the blog come with so many. After all, I consume so many antihistamines it seems like it’d be impossible for me to stay awake. On the contrary, I have no problem with that, since I discovered Green Coffee Extract, great polyphenols for my brain, with no jitters or crash. I can’t heart emoji that one enough.

There are two things that I have to avoid at all costs to make sure that I do not have an instant flare up. That is Carbonated Soda of any kind. I have to let the carbonation die down and drink a flat soda, it’s just easier to avoid it. The other is my first love, HOT BREWED COFFEE, Cold brew is safe. Hot brewed releases the oils in the bean, along with the histamine and mold in the bean, so instant histamine reaction. When I started the antihistamines, I was drinking a substantial amount of coffee, so I had to do something!

Anyone who suffers from severe heartburn that nothing seems to touch, male or female, I hope this may help you cure the insane pain that you suffer!