Top Natural Remedies for Interstitial Cystitis Relief

Interstitial Cystitis and DNA Testing One place to start is to rule out an infection however although culture techniques have improved since first adopted in the sixties they aren't always accurate and/or effective and can miss a surprisingly large majority of pathogens. However today's technological advancements in science have allowed labs to merge microbiology with DNA in order to accurately identify the unique genetic code of over 30,000 known pathogens (bacterial & fungal) along with susceptibility testing which leads to better treatment outcomes and less antibiotic resistance. There is a company called Microgen that specializes in this very field and is used throughout the US by savvy physicians. This test was once very expensive upwards of $700-$1200 but with continued advancements in DNA testing price points have considerably dropped. Microgen in particular will accept most insurance carriers and if for whatever reason your insurance refuses to cover the cost, they charge patients a very reasonable cash price (just under $200). This is at the very least something to do utilizing cutting edge modern science before tumbling down the IC rabbit hole. It could save you alot of suffering and aggravation not to mention countless prescriptions of needless antibiotics that can do more harm than good.

Has anyone else tried this?

What medications in your instills?

I realised quite recently that I have suffered from interstitial cystitis for a long time. It has been aggravated at times when I was on the pill and again now that I am on HRT. In the past I thought it was straight cystitis - but often the urine samples came back as negative for infection.

After it became bad again recently, and I was getting up in the night a lot - even though I was only doing a tiny bit of wee each time, I decided to research further. I found a research paper online. It was a very small study. The key learning was that women who DON'T suffer from interstitial cystitis have more menthol in their urine than women who do have IC. Menthol is a by product of kidney function I believe. Peppermint is the plant that contains menthol.

Immediately I started to drink peppermint tea which helped somewhat. Then I bought some peppermint oil capsules. Mine are the High Strength 100mg soft gel capsules and I take one in the morning and one before bed. I'm in the UK so I get the brand Nature's Best. Complete gamechanger! I am getting up only once in the night now. Going much less often during the day. Also just less aware of bladder pain. They are not very expensive so perhaps worth a try?

So utterly grateful to you for the measurements of turmeric. I've just tried this and I swear already I can feel a settling of my bladder. I shall keep on with this - positive thinking, no doubt, will help. Utterly fed up of these ‘bees in my bladder and other parts'. Hopefully my low grade fever will improve too as I'm shattered.

That's what the Interstitial Cystitis help site says. “Take Calcium Glycerophosphate daily to reduce unintended acids in your diet and decrease IC symptoms which result from ingesting bladder irritants.”

They recommend L-arginine, Chondroitin Sulfate, and Probiotics from studies indicating that they help relieve IC symptoms. I've upped my dose of L-arginine and ordered Chondroitin Sulfate. You probably know of Glucosamine & Chondroitin a popular supplement.

Follow up by LynnAnn in Florida: OK, so after two days of doing extracts and healthy supplements for the bladder, the pain returned. I was so disappointed that these healthy things did not have a long-lasting effect. Back to the drawing board, since the pain was unrelenting and I simply could not stand it. Further research led me to info about the Wise-Anderson protocol, a series of stretches for bladder and pelvic pain. I pulled up the first video I saw (I did not realize it was intended for men, by the way). But whatever, I gave it a shot.

After the first round of these stretches, I was 50% better! I did the stretches four times a day for the next five days and today, I am pain free!!! No pain meds of any kind. Apparently, all the sitting I was doing at work and the stress I was going through had irritated the nerves that go from the spinal column just to the bladder. I can't believe this much pain was caused from sitting and stress. These stretches saved me!

Also, I ordered a standing desk, and now alternate between sitting and standing which is so much better! Takes some getting used to, but it is way healthier for the body.

So folks, if you have severe bladder pain, you might want to try these stretches. They certainly can't hurt. Any stretching is good for the body.

Good luck to all, and good health!

After two weeks of misery and what I thought was a UTI, I came to the conclusion it's something more serious. After reading up on IC, it seems like this is what I have, and after two rounds of antibiotics plus tylenol, ibuprofen and AZO around the clock I was still in extreme pain. I have cried more in the last week than I have in the last 3 years. I was beside myself. I realize now that long hours of sitting at my desk and working a stressful job where I am overloaded were clearly contributors to my condition. Since the antiobiotics weren't working, I did some research here and found much helpful info from all you folks! Thank God so many people get on here and report what works for them. I went to the health food store and loaded up: uva ursi extract, marshmallow extract, a powdered berry drink called UT Vibrance, colloidal silver, tumeric caps, cinammon caps, parsley caps, quercetin.

The first thing I did though, was ACV and baking soda, and this did seem to help right away. 2 Tbs ACV, 1/4 tsp baking soda (I tried 1/2 Tbs and it was too much, I got diarreah! My bladder did feel better though), and 8 oz of water. I ran out of Stevia so put a little honey in there. It wasn't bad.

Yesterday I stopped all meds, including pain meds, and I did the extracts, the powder and the colloidal silver on an empty stomach, then ate some healthy greens and such a while later and did all the caps. Today I've done a couple rounds of extracts and caps with food, and I am still pretty much pain free! I have hope again! I still feel a little discomfort, but I am not writhing in pain anymore. I do the ACV an hour after I've done the extracts. Don't do this with food as it interferes with digestion.

I am convinced that some of the problem is that my pH was terribly out of balance, and that was a lot of the problem. But stress and sitting for too long were definite contributors. Time to change my life! I truly thought I was a goner, I was in so much pain. I'm going on a trip to Italy with my family in a little over a week and I was afraid I would not be able to go. I have hope today! So don't give up trying, folks. Try these remedies or others on this site to see what works for you, especially if you've tried antiobiotics and have no relief. Also, eat foods that make your body more alkaline, consider juicing (guess I'm going back to this good habit! ). Don't give up. You will find what works. My best to you all!

I've dealt with UTIs my entire adult life. Since my kidney transplant in June 2016, I average one every other month! My go-to antibiotic has always been Cipro, BUT, after the UrgentCare lab did a CULTURE (VERY IMPORTANT TO DO A CULTURE, since this will pinpoint exactly which antibiotic will kill the bacterial infection! ), the lab prescribed Augmentin. I discussed this change with my post-transplant coordinator and he and I both thought that I was becoming resistant to the Cipro, and that I still had remnants of the infection after taking the Cipro! I'm now on day 3 of 10 days of the Augmentin. We'll see if this totally gets rid of the infection. I'll check back in a month or two with the status!

I also agree with prior posts about avoiding wheat, sugar, dairy, meat and nightshade vegetables for a while. Lately I've be eating more bread and sugar, so this probably was contributing to the issue.

Healing my painful bladder problems:

For years I suffered with over-active bladder and later Interstitial Cystitis. Major OUCH! I couldn't eat many foods, such as tomatoes or citrus, without it irritating my bladder. I would be up all night, needing to urinate every half hour. The symptoms were much like a bad UTI, of which I had many.

The doctors were of no help, often prescribing antibiotics, ever though the UTI causing bacteria was no longer found in my urine. The symptoms would come and go. Some weeks I would be fine, then the pain would mysteriously start up again. As the years went on, I soon discovered a pattern. Eating too much sugar, or taking antibiotics would bring on a serious flare. Yeah, I'm a slow learner.

After a UTI and being on antibiotics, I would be fine for about a week, and then the painful IC symptoms would return with a vengeance.

Then, while on this very site, Earth Clinic, I ran across a post describing exactly what was happening to me.

The antibiotics I had been taking had killed off the good bacteria in my bladder and had also given me a horrid sinus problem. I had read somewhere that the two issues usually go hand in hand, but I had never connected the dots.

I discovered I had Candida, an over abundance of bad yeast. The sugar I ate had been feeding the bad bacteria. So, this made sense. The yeast had created little holes in my bladder lining, causing certain foods to irritate it. This also made sense.

The cure, for me, was cutting way back on sugar, staying on a good diet, drinking lots of water and taking GOOD Probiotics. Lots of GOOD Probiotics! That was the real answer, but it wasn't cheap. I didn't care at this point and just bought them.

The good bacteria in the Probiotics soon over took the bad bacteria and healed the little holes in my bladder.

For 2 weeks, I would take one pill with every meal. Soon my sore bladder issues were gone and so far have not come back. It's been two months now. Fingers crossed.
I can now eat anything without a problem. No more getting up all night, going to the bathroom. I still have a slight sinus problem, but it's getting better. I am no longer getting UTI's, so am able to avoid antibiotics. I still take daily maintenance Probiotics and can now tolerate Cranberry pills, which keeps the UTI's away.

Why oh why could any doctor not have told me this years ago? All they would say is "Stay away from the foods that hurt your bladder." They could not direct me to the root of the problem.

I have read that there are thousands of women who have over active bladders and now believe that in many cases Candida is the problem.

I hope me taking the time to write this helps at least one sufferer.

I can now enjoy life again. Hugs to you all.

If you can find an IC specialist in your area ask about DMSO this is a procedure where they inject a chemical cocktail into your bladder for 20 mins once a week. It is what gave me back my life. I suffered for about 6 years before I found Dr. Philip Hanno (Philly). He now lives in California.

I have been *mostly* free from any IC flare ups for probably at least 3 years now (THANK GOSH). I say mostly because sometimes after intercourse if I am not very careful about keeping the area very clean, using lots of lube (coconut oil) and soothing any inflammation then I feel a wee bit of irritation that is mild but may last up to a week. I second the marshmallow root or leaf. My naturopath recommended that I drink it in tea format. I drank lots of that tea, probably 3x per day. This tea in combination with other natural remedies cleared things up within a matter of months. HUGE amazing results seeing as I had been suffering for over a year under the care of a general doctor who just kept prescribing me drugs. I feel it is very important to note as well the possible correlation between yeast infections, GI issues and IC. I feel like my IC cleared up once I also worked with my naturopath to clear my recurrent yeast infections and strengthen my GI tract. The gut has LOTS to do with health and inflammation, so what with my gut being out of wack, consuming too much sugar and fighting yeast infections, it was no wonder my bladder was getting inflamed also since it is in that same general body area.

Cornsilk tea for IC

This tea, along with marshmallow tea, really helped! Several cups per day (at least 3). I would try and let it steep for as long as possible so that it is nice and potent. I forget as I have been IC free (and so have not used this tea) for about 3 years, but I believe my naturopath said to put very warm but NOT boiling water over the tea so that it does not over heat the tea and destroy the healing nutrients.

Yes, I agree on the boric acid. I found that recurrent yeast infections were exacerbating the inflammation in the pelvic region and thus causing IC flare ups. I experienced lots of relief from IC once I started taking probiotics as well as another herbal supplement (forget the name) to heal my gut, and boric acid to fight yeast.

Yes I would second pelvic floor therapy for Interstitial Cystitis. My physio who I saw said that I had muscles firing when they shouldn't be (overactive) and no muscles firing when they should (underactive). My muscles were all confused and stressed out from the chronic inflammation and pain. Intercourse was an absolute NO for a solid year because my muscles were just in a spasm knot. IC free for several years now. I do still need to be careful with intercourse to relax and not tense. I feel like pelvic floor therapy helped though once I was over the worst part of IC and was working on long term healing and future prevention. It did not really help with any of the acute immediate pain.

That is great that the bone broth healed your IC! I have been having it every day and it has helped a lot with burning, but I'm still having the urgency. Did it also help with your urgency/frequency? I know that's only a symptom in some IC patients. Thanks!

Dear Jen,

Just today I was researching Mullein Root Tincture for a friend and noticed that it said it is sometimes used for Interstitial Cystitis. Mullein root is difficult to find. I have bought it from beneficial botanicals and made my own from mullein root in my yard. I have used it for my joints with success.

A dose for Mullein Root Tincture are 5-15 drops.

I also wonder if frankincense essential oil, a quality one (Hopewell oils are my favorite) would help. A drop or two applied to the abdomen has helped me before with a UTI and also with ovarian cysts.

Just a couple of things I would try myself if I were dealing with IC.

~Mama to Many~

Same. I've been suffering from this horrible condition since 2012. Occasionally my urine culture comes back positive, but not always. One time I was prescribed Macrobid/Nitrofurantoin for a mild UTI and it made my IC symptoms disappear for a couple of months. It was amazing! A few months later my symptoms came back, but I tested negative for a UTI and a bunch of other stuff. At some point I got so sick of my IC symptoms and asked to try this antibiotic again even though I tested negative for UTI. Within a few days my symptoms were gone! So yeah, this medication definitely works but then the symptoms always seem to come back within 2-6 months, so it doesn't seem to be a long term solution.

Does anyone know why this medication works for IC? Most of the doctors I've seen can't explain it. Some of them were actually pretty surprised when I told them it makes my symptoms go away.

Am very interested in the couch grass. cannot locate it. Where did you find it?

Raw dairy from grass fed animals can be healing, Weston Price did a worldwide study in the 1930's to discover the causes of modern degenerative diseases- Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, and he found that the refined foods were the culprit, granted that was before refined grain oils, and GMO's and all the additives after the 30's. But he found proper raw milk and cheese from mineral dense pasture was the ticket. I am trying to replicate that on my small farm. I have goats and milking sheep. There is definitely a difference- my goat milk when the girls are on raw greens is yellow, and so is milk from our Jersey we used to have, who ate foxtails, bless her heart, but green foxtails, and yellow, yellow, yellow milk. There is truly a different chemistry going on there. I am also trying to do greenhouses in winter for chicken and rabbit greens and they get yellow fat too from the greens. sometimes striking yellow. My husband thought something was wrong. But that's beta carotene as well as vitamin K2. We try to supplement with 60 minerals, and put limestone and dolomite on the garden and weeds.

Look up Weston Price's book free PDF here;http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html and listen to Dr Joel Wallach who is an amazing Doc Dead Doctors Don't Lie; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARB73jV4mro

Ulcers are not alwways H Pylori. There are ongoing studies using rats, mice pigs, and horses understress showing that fasting and stress ( like moving them in a trailer for pigs and horses, shocking their feet or making them swim in cold water for rats and mice), continue to shed light on adrenal cortisol stress related ulcers. I have always been negative for H Pylori and yet the ulcers persist. I know it's stress, but found recently on NCBI that butyric acid (in butter) heals damaged villi, and more recently gelatin and collogen type II, which is what I am researching here.

WARNING!

Hi, I did ozone in my bladder for IC ad it made me ten times worse. Ozone will deteriorate the lining of the bladder wall. I did with Dr. S and I wish I had not. Tread lightly.

So glad to see your post here about taking diatomaceous earth and using the senna tea also for the constipation. I've been trying to teach people about this very same regimen to take for IC and using Dieter's tea made with senna, especially in the beginning, since constipation is the number one side effect when starting the DE. It's worked so well for me that I've not had any IC flare since my last one in the middle of December 2016. I used to have flares at least 4-5 times a year, and I would take prescribed Pyridium to relieve the pain. I would have to take 2 tablets twice a day for 5 days before the pain was completely gone. My last flare was when after starting DE, I began my first break. On the second day of the break from DE, I had a flare of my IC. I decided instead of taking my prescribed med that I would just restart the DE; and I kid you not, my pain was gone within hours! That's when I decided that I would only take a break from the DE when I felt it was necessary. I've only taken one other 7-day break and luckily no flare of the IC during that break. So I am totally convinced that not only did the DE clear up my IBS and/or leaky gut but it also helped my IC among other physical problems... that I could write a list about. I will not be without DE probably for the rest of my life. My doctors have been absolutely amazed at what it's done for me, and I'm almost 63 years old!

IC can be chronic streptococcus in bladder, in my opinion. Possibly triggered by dormant Epstein Barr Virus. A Herpes virus which can be at the root of strep infections. The burning pain can be Shingles without rash. Another Herpes virus that can inflame bladder and pelvic floor. Doctors only recognize Shingles with rash. They're clueless. Shingles can attack pelvic floor without any rash or itching.

Change your diet and you may watch symptoms get better. Trigger points in the pelvic floor, vagina, pubic bone, anus, or psoas muscle can also cause urgency, pain, frequency. I'd recommend seeing a pelvic floor therapist to rule out tight muscles and pudendal nerve entrapment. Pudendal nerve directly linked to bladder and pudendal neuralgia can be inflamed nerves caused by Epstein Barr.

An inflamed bladder is caused by something..it isn't a mystery and it's not incurable. Maybe to doctors it is, but to informed patients it's curable. Eggs feed viruses, as does dairy, corn and wheat. Viruses feed off of eggs and corn in laboratories. Dairy is just mucous causing food from cows fed antibiotics and hormones.

Wheat destroys the villi in intestines and nutrition cannot be absorbed. IC patients are told to avoid certain fruits and urged to eat eggs, milk and wheat. Ridiculous! When I changed my diet to exclude wheat, eggs, corn and dairy and started juicing green vegetables and many fruits my symptoms improved. It takes a while, maybe months, but you can get much better.

Juicing celery can really start to rid yourself of IC symptoms. Cucumbers, apples, asparagus, leafy greens, wild blueberries, other berries, bananas, melons, kale, coconut water, garlic, and anything grown in nature in whole forms are healing. Dairy, wheat and eggs are inflammatory foods. Even if they dont feel inflammatory.

Supplements like cats claw, L Lysine, Vitamn C, Zinc, colloidal silver, spirulina, and other anti viral, anti bacterials can lighten the viral load and strep in bladder starts to go away. If symptoms are coming from a tight pelvic floor then internal massage may help. The IC support groups refuse to accept that IC can and has been cured by diet, pelvic floor therapy, and/or supplements. They're stuck in the mindset that they need toxic drugs and told to eat a toxic diet. Rounds and rounds of antibiotics wreck havoc on the immune system and can actually cause IC. Benzodiazepines can cause IC to erupt. It's tragic that women and men are told there is no cure.

Many people have been cured by a high raw fruit and veggie diet and pelvic floor trigger point release. And antimicrobial supplements. There is hope but you won't find it with conventional doctors. They thrive on the chronically ill. God put Adam and Eve in a garden for a reason. Not a wheat field or dairy farm.

I had interstitial cystitis for years, probably still have it, but I believe I found that my problem lies in too much sugar in my system.....so no carbs, or very little and definitely no sugar and Im pretty ok. As an added help, I take a good antihistamine once or twice a week or as needed and that so far has stopped the symptoms. Hope this can help others.

I also believe IC is caused by bacteria and I am taking steps to be tested as well. I went to my local urologist after being tested negative for a UTI and yeast infection. They didn't test or examine me. They just told me to go home and follow the IC diet and drink a lot of water. I left feeling very helpless and very misinformed on what this even meant and how to proceed. I spent weeks reading everything I could on the boards. Until I get tested I'm taking bladder ease which is a godsent.

I'm so glad you were persistent and followed through. I feel the same way, I am not going to take no for an answer by a urologist.

The only problem that the FDA has approved Ozone for is Interstitial Cystitis. I am presently reading Dr Shallengeberger's latest book, The Ozone Miracle, and he describes where folks that require self bladder catheterization can easily treat this problem with ozone.

I have just redone all my ozone tubing after 5 years of deterioration and now back in business. Today, I drank a large glass of ozonated water and did my ozone ear insufflation. Later, I will breath it for 10 minutes while bubbling ozone through olive oil.

Finally back into my ozone. ==ORH===

Treasa using Apple Cider Vinegar as a wipe would be beneficial. Maybe 50 50 spring water and Apple Cider Vinegar on t.p. a time or two. Keep a small bottle of the mix in bathroom for ease of use.

The debris at the opening will breakup and give you relief.

Using baking soda in your Apple Cider Vinegar drink would encourage the breaking of and effortless cleansing of the bladder and kidney.

2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar 1/2 tsp of baking soda let fizz add 1/2 glass of water and drink 2x a day 1/2 hour after meals. 5 days out of 7.

Janet

Interesting you mention potassium! The Dr mentioned I might have IC. I've been taking azo standard when it's really bad till we get it figured out.
I happened to have a banana two days in a row and last night even with azo standard I was in MAJOR discomfort. Drinking Apple cidar vinergar, Hot showers, heating pad, everything, I could hardly stand it. :( Maybe the culprit is Bananas? Aren't they high in potassium?

Low does naltrexone works very well for IC. It is an FDA approved drug at 50 mg/day, but was found in the 1980's to work at very low doses of 1.5-4.5mg/day, taken at night, to put into remission many autoimmune disease, MS, Crohn's and many more illnesses. It is non-toxic, no side effects (except possible sleep disturbances for a week or two, in which case it can be taken in the morning) out of patent so very inexpensive drug used by thousands. Here are reports from users for IC:

https://www.ldnresearchtrust.org/video-categories/interstitial-cystitis

Find the site at www.ldninfo.org and join the Yahoo Group at the top part of the page. It has over 13,000 members who take LDN, and they are very helpful in answering any questions you may have. Best wishes to feel better!

Several years ago I developed interstitial cystitis after a bladder infection. My daughter-in-law began research, and feeding me (and keeping me from) certain foods. I was given high alkaline foods, such as potatoes salted with himalayan salt, and raw cabbage (cabbage would take the pain away immediately), and I would not eat any foods that promoted an acid urine. I tested my urine often (because I had to urinate constantly), so I was able to see what helped. One day we were invited to dinner, and I only ate what I was allowed, in this case, potatoes and salt. WOW, what pain!!!! I was up all night, and was on the internet looking for yet another cure!!! One site declared that salt was the enemy. Well, I am a Christian, and the Scripture speaks positively about salt, so I was dubious...Yes, salt, the white, purified stuff we buy in the grocery store, IS the enemy. I switched to natural, UNPURIFIED sea salt, continued on my food regiment, and my bladder healed. It has been 5 years, and I have had no further problems. My entire family does not use purified salt anymore. Just another case of the modern method of taking a good thing (salt), taking it apart, selling us the part that is poisonous on its own, then putting the extracted elements into supplements that they sell back to us in the form of a cure...By-the-way, my other daughter-in-law has seen enormous improvement in her blood pressure after switching to natural salt.

JULIE,,,,,,,, let me tell you a story. The only thing that Ozone has been FDA approved for is Interstitial Cystitis. That was many moons ago. It will cure a jullion things, but our med folks don't want that.You don't need Anne to tell you a doctor to go to. Just go on the internet and ask Google to tell you of an Ozone doctor in Houston. Talk to all and choose which one to go to. If it is expensive, then that is not the one. Ozone is dirt cheap and if the doctor is high, then they are typical doctors and will die by drowning when they see themselves in the water and fall in love with themselves and fall in and drown.

That story is not original with me, but still a true story.

I wish you well. ====ORH========

Anne, I live in Houston an am in need of a doctor to help me with IC. Can you please tell me who you saw for the ozone treatments? Thank you!