Top Natural Remedies for Interstitial Cystitis Relief

I've been suffering a terrible flare of IC. Apparently, I've had it for years, although I just learned about it recently. I've adjusted my diet to eliminate all acidic type foods. Onions appear to have been a particularly bad thing for me, and I used to eat them all the time! Anyway, I'm still recovering from this flare -- it's been two weeks now that it's been bad. I came on the EC site about a week ago and read separate posts about peppermint tea and baking soda. Well, what I've discovered is that both of those things help me. However, what seems to help me best when I'm having a lot of pain and urgency is 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and a few drops of stevia extract mixed with either 7 drops of peppermint extract (not oil) OR a strong-brewed cup of peppermint (leaf) tea. Within minutes I'm feeling better. If it is during the night, I'm able to go back to sleep right away instead of laying awake with stabbing pain in my abdomen.

Additionally, I've lost 6 pounds in a week. I think it is related to all the inflammation that the IC was causing. I hope that it will continue!

I hope my little remedy will help others who are suffering. Thanks for a great site. I almost always come here first when I need a remedy for something.

Blessings!

Julie- I still take turmeric every day as a precaution (it doesn't hurt it's good for you too). I think I found a link between my vaginal issues of yeast/bv and my IC. Once I started treating the YI/BV with home remedies my IC symptoms decreased alot. I've noticed when my lady parts are happy, my IC pain is practically non-existent. Woo-hoo! Also, I use Uva Ursi as a urinary cleanser after sex and a couple times a month. This seems to help also.

Interstitial Cystitis: I was just diagnosed with this awful condition yesterday. I had noticed for the past couple of years that about half of the urine tests the doctors performed for supposed UTI came up negative for bacteria..and I was in pain!!! I had researched IC online and basically self diagnosed myself but I wanted to go to a urologist to be for sure. I do have a couple suggestions for managing the flare ups associated with IC...

1) alkalize your body...I drink 1/4 tspn of baking soda in 4oz of water daily...sometimes 2x daily if I have more pain. I've noticed this keeps the awful urethra burning at bay most of the time. I tried the ACV w/BS and it HURT. This made me sad because alot of people report great results with ACV but my body does not like it.

2) Marshmellow Root in the liquid form (non-alchohol)...I had a flare up about a week ago and took a dropper full in 4 oz of water 4-5 times a day. The pain subsided drastically within 24 hrs. I take a maintenance dose (1-2 droppers full) a day.

3) D-mannose...I use 1/2 tspn daily in 4 oz water..just for overall urinary tract health. It's also good to take it before and after sex to keep from getting UTI's.

4) I know that we IC sufferers are supposed to stay away from alot of spicy and acidic foods (hence I cannot take Vitamin C to save my life...talk about pain!)....BUT I do enjoy my one cup of coffee every morning..the rest of the day I drink bottled water. Also, when I have acidic foods like pasta with tomato sauce or mexican I take an extra dose of BS just as a safe guard and I have to say it usually does the trick.

5) There is a product you can buy at drugstores...I haven't tried it yet but I plan on it. Basically, you take it before you eat anything acidic and it's supposed to neutralize the acids...I know we are not supposed to mention product names but if anybody wants to know you can email me.

Sorry to be long winded but I noticed there is not alot of feedback on IC....I will let everyone know if I come across any more remedies.

Take care!

For your IC, please get some Ph paper and test your urine. You want it alkaline, not acidic. Check it all day long. I think you might have a fungal growth. To kill it and get alkaline take 400mg of potassium citrate 3 times a day. Also take 1/4 tsp. borax, 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. baking soda and 1 to 2 tbls apple cider vinegar in a little water. Take it 3 times a day. You can drink some plain water after it to wash it down. The fungus won't like this and you may feel worse, before you get better, please stick with it and stay away from all sugars. I can now go 2 to 3 hours without going to the bathroom and only get up 3 times at night, it use to be every 20 minutes. Good luck and I will pray for you.

I have chronic bladder problems (Interstitial Cystitis) and am always looking for something to make it better. I drank 1/2 tsp of baking soda in some water during the worst possible bladder pain ever. In 15 minutes the pain was gone. I feel that the baking soda made the urine less acidic and that let my bladder be less irritated. Anyway, baking soda did what hundreds of dollars of meds could not do--make me feel better! Elizabeth

I tried everything for bladder disease. The regular doctor prescribed Nitrofurantoin... so bad.. it causes even bladder disease... so I became very very ill ONLY COLLOIDAL SILVERWATER was THE REMEDY( for E-coli). Bladder disease was gone. Afterwords I took DMannose...very good..no pain anymore...also good for interstitial cystitis...really true. I have to tell this for the doctor did not know that Nitrofurantoin causes bladder disease. read: Natural Medicine Encyclopedia C.Norman Shealy.

I've used baking soda successfully as well, though with a larger dose of about 1/3 tsp. in a lot of water. I don't use a lot of salt, so this wasn't excessive sodium for me. It took me a long time to discover baking soda though, and I seldom use it. Before that, two things made a big difference, in addition to having an acid-avoidance diet. The first was an herbal formula, Marshmallow and Fenugreek by name, only available through Nature's Sunshine; it also contains Fennel. Buying the herbs separately didn't work for some reason. The second thing, which actually made the biggest difference and permanently reduced the tendency to IC, was Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil from Activation Products. I read something about this oil specifically helping IC, and after I started taking it - about 1 tablespoon/day - after three weeks the tendency towards IC went away by over 90%. If I'm careless with diet it may come back, but I went from having to avoid most foods to being able to eat very normally. I'd experienced IC for about three years before finding Styrian Pumpkin Seed Oil, so I'd tried quite a few things by then. It's pricey, but worth every penny in my case.

Question for Mama to Many:

When people talk about "bladder pain", I assume this means a urinary tract infection or the start of one? I'm wondering if the baking soda actually stops the UTI in its tracts, I.e., completely gets rid of the infection? Can you please clarify? Thanks for all you contribute, too! :-)

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Hi Heather,

If you Google LDN for Interstitial Cystitis, you will find a number of people who say low dose Naltrexone has either cured them or has taken the pain level so low that they now don't even notice they have it. There is hope out there! www.ldninfo.org. And join the Yahoo LDN Group mentioned at top of that site. It has over 13,000 members who will give you their experiences and suggestions. Best wishes.

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========

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.

Interstitial Cystitis and Candida

I have read so many helpful things to try on here so I would like to give something back. I only found out I had IC by trial and error and a lot of research. The pain was so bad a couple of years ago that I went to the emergency room. You know how they have you in those curtained partitions, right? So this older Dr. Comes in with a learning the ropes young intern and they are just not taking me seriously about how bad the pain is and saying I didn't have kidney stones and didn't have this or that and I got enough of that and yelled, " Look! My VAGINA is killing me! " You should've seen their faces, lol. I had no infection of course and they were clueless. My regular Dr. told me I would need to see 3 different specialists to rule out different things and after we pay over $600 a month for insurance there's no money for 1 office visit, let alone 3 specialist ones.

Anyway I am still on a journey to find what will work best but I do have some experience with cleaning out parasites and/or Candida and since 80 to 90% of your health starts in your gut and has to do with your immune system I thought you all might benefit from this. Diatomaceous Earth food grade is totally organic and natural. There is even a test you can do in the morning first thing to see if you have Candida and I promise you most of us do. It is a powder with no taste and are actually very tiny little fossilized skeletons? that have edges that will clean out and kill parasites and also clean out the sludge that has been building in your colon for years. (Poor John Wayne's autopsy showed he had over 25 lbs. of well poo in his intestines). It does not give you diarrhea at all I promise but you must start off small and build very slowly to 2 full Tablespoons. You will not believe the stuff that will come out of you.

Try to stay away from anything with sugar as that just feeds the little sh1ts. Do Kefir to restore your good gut bacteria but not dairy kefir. Very simple to do your own from coconut milk or even water. It is good for your pets too as unless you feed them raw they have Candida too. As a bonus you can sprinkle some on them to keep fleas off natural if you let them out in the yard. Remember ONLY food grade and I got mine on Amazon really cheap. Best to you all and I was so heartened to see so many of you spurning main stream medicine and their treating of symptoms rather than fixing the problem. In today's world, we have to take our health and our loved ones into our own hands. Stay away from Cymbalta; thought I would die from the withdrawal. No liver tests for 6 years, very bad.

IC:

Cabbage can be juiced and drunk, it is alkalizing; perhaps the cure is in keeping the urine alkalized. The high content of sulphur in cabbage removes (free radicals and uric acid) which are the main causes of arthritis, skin diseases, rheumatism, and gout.

Magnesium oil [magnesium chloride] is also antibacterial along with being a muscle relaxer

I wanted to add some information to my comment that may help someone else in their struggle with interstitial cystitis (IC).

I had been taking the green coffee bean extract to lose weight, but used it far longer than what is recommended. According to a recent Dr. Oz (big promoter of this supplement) comment, the green coffee bean extract capsules are only to be used as a "jump start" to losing weight - especially fat around the waistline. I did not know this until after I had been taking it for two years! A friend told me about the Dr. Oz comment which was made during a TV segment.

I noticed that the green coffee bean extract label contains 50% chlorogenic acid (200 mg). I was taking one capsule twice a day, so I was ingesting 400 mg of this acid each day!

When my gyno suggested that I either lessen or eliminate acidic foods, it occurred to me that this supplement was probably worsening my urinary tract problems!

Since stopping the green coffee bean extract (over 2 months now) I haven't been completely cured of IC, but the pain and frequent urination has been greatly reduced! Therefore, I think that the extract was a big part of my particular problem with IC.

I hope that this additional information will be helpful to those who may have been taking green coffee bean extract and have been suffering with interstitial cystitis.

Black Cohosh for Interstitial Cystitis - Update

Following up on my previous post...good news! I took the Black Cohosh for 4 days, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and have not had to take any since! I am back to normal and that is a wonderful feeling. We are all unique and what works for one may not work for another, but this has been my Godsend. Blessings to all of you as you search for what works for you!

Wanted to update you...after I posted that the Black Cohosh worked for me, I got another UTI that was very painful, with blood. I'm not sure if it was because my body was "cleaning house" or what...got a prescription for Macrobid. This took care of the infection but I still had the terrible urge to pee all the time.

I looked more seriously at the foods I was eating, trying to change to a more alkaline diet as well as cutting out all coffee, soda, alcohol. Then I started taking the baking soda and hydrogen peroxide each morning. I also began taking turmeric. I took warm baths with epsom salts before bed. But the thing that has seemed to help me the most was the Extra Virgin Coconut Oil. I rubbed it in externally over the bladder area for a couple of nights before going to sleep, and I am now also taking it with each meal.

I do believe our bodies want to heal themselves and I am trying to help with what I know and have read from others. I also know the Good Lord answered my prayers as I have been pain free now for a couple of days and I am so thankful.

Blessings to all--

I have IC. I found that MSM, a nicer derivative of DMSO works quite well. It reduces inflammation and that is what IC is, chronic bladder inflammation.

This is very interesting. For a while I have thought that IC is caused my by leaky gut syndrome in my case so the coconut oil would make sense because it helps shut the gut.

Update::::: By now, I feel pretty foolish with all Ive gone thru these last 4 months with this horrible IC with natural remedies that didnt work for me, when all I had to do was take antibiotics, and Id be cured.

However, I had already tried 2 rounds of Cipro, and macrobid, and then started testing negative on all urine cultures, and being sent home empty handed, in horrible, horrible, horrible, crippling pain, feeling like I still have a bladder infection.

After finishing the z pack, I was almost all better, But 2 days later, symptoms returned full force and the nitemare was starting all over again for me. However, I knew the symptoms would return, and I couldnt get an appointment with my urologist, (which was 2 and a half hours away by the way, and I dont have a car) for another month. She wouldnt precscribe me another z pack, unless I retested again for the Ureaplasma. I would have to wait a month. Get retested, and wait an additional 4 days, then get more antibiotics, and hopefully be cured, but I knew it was impossible to wait the long, and it seemed horribly cruel, when I felt so close to a cure. Id have to start all over.

From the research Ive done on Ureaplasma, you almost always have to take more than one round of strong antibiotics to cure it, and some people take low dose long term antibiotics, from months to years to eradicate it. I saw a long painful road ahead, and I decided, getting Genital Herpes would have been a better fate for me than this, as at least with herpes u get periods of respite and you can SOMETIMES have sex, if your not having an outbreak. I was ready to Die.

I got the numbers of several Urologists closer to my area, about four. NONE of them tested for Ureaplasma, or even heard of it. I asked if they would do a test, they said no. You see. Many Urologist do not believe or even acknowledge the role Ureaplasma plays in IC, since 70% of the population carries this in their genital, bladder tracts without any problems. The community is split on the issue.

Ive been doing alot of research on this little bug, Ureaplasma. Its getting more and more attention, as more and more people are having problems with vulvodynia, and IC. Like I said, its considered sexually transmitted (but not), as we arent born with it, we get it thru sex.

A good gynecologist will also test for ureaplasma if you are having problems becoming pregnant, or have a history of miscarriages, or early deliveries. There's alot of talk about it on infertility boards on the net. The test is expensive. And the cure requires the use of long term antibiotics. Many doctors are hesitant to do that, these days.

As there is more and more hype about the overuse of antibiotics. Especially long term.

So I panicked, and I took matters in my own hands. I knew I needed more antibiotics. I had a reoccuring sinus infection for months. I made an appointment with my family doctor, and explained the situation, plus I made great emphasis on my sinus infection, (which had actually gotten better) but I wanted to make myself sound really sick (hammed it up), and she gave me Augmentin. A 10 day, supply and guess what. It is the third day, and I feel 95% awesomeness.

I then made a few more calls, and found out, I can get my doctor (the one that actually believes in Ureaplasma) to fax over an order to my family doctor or lab of my choice to do the test and everything will be gravy. So Im gonna test again for it, a week after I finish the Augmentin. Its also interesting to note that after researching IC, unrelentingly, for the last 4 months, and visiting, every IC website, and healthboard on the planet, and hearing people talk, Augmentin is considered one of the successful antibiotics for IC.

Thers only 3 that work against IC, only three.

Zinthromax (z Pack)

Doxicycline

Augmentin.

From what I read, its hard, hard, hard to cure. Harder than any STD. But its not incurable. It usually takes months to eradicate it.

many women just live with the pain, and take steroids, pain killers, and ANTIDEPRESSANTS. Isnt that sad?? Thats part of the protocol for IC patients. They give you an antidressant too, to cope with your life being over!!

I know on a gut level, this was some kind of elusive, hidden bacteria, embedded deep inside my bladder. Most people develop IC after a bad bladder infection. The pain lasts for years, YEARS. and its almost impossible to get a Urologist to help or even hear you.

I prayed to God to help me.

Its a miracle, and I will never doubt his presense and his ability to heal me again. Its a miracle the first Urologist I saw helped me, and was cutting edge enough to do this test.

I had recurrent cystitus for 30 years. Got to the point where I could not have sex without getting it. I would also get it if I got too dehydrated. Doctors advice did not prevent the attacks. I had to help myself, I cured myself by using a mild antibacterial cream instead of KY jelly before sex for six months. I have not had an attack since and that was 5 years ago. Sounds simple, but it worked. If you are into more natural methods you could try ACI-JEL which is just vinegar in a cream. You can also try 1/4 tsp of bicarb with water twice a day to keep you alkaline, as the problem thrives in an acid conditions. Good luck to all you long sufferers, my heart goes out to you.