MS & Interstitial Cystitis

[lyndacarol]

sandieby – It may well be that ascorbic acid irritates the bladder causing interstitial cystitis. I suspect that insulin also irritates the bladder; insulin is an extremely irritating hormone substance – I have not checked the Hall's ingredients label, but I would guess that sorbitol, xylitol, or some other sweetener is in there triggering increased insulin secretion.

Just my line of thinking…

[sandieby]

ahhhhhh - drugs! gotta luv 'em when they work. finally got another course of macrobid and i can now go at least 3hrs w/o running to the bathroom. soon i should be back to my abnormal/normal of 4-6 hrs = yippie, life is worth living again:0) everybody have a blessed Son-day!!!!

[Lubbie]

Hi. I am new to this site. Really glad I found it though. I was diagnosed with M.S. in 1981. I have had bladder issues for most of that time, but always believed them to be related to M.S. Perhaps they were, but somewhere along the line the pain just getting worse. I saw another urologist and was diagnosed with I.C. I am taking Elmiron ( 4 pills daily) and sometimes receive what my doctor calls a "cocktail" which they inject into bladder, once a week for six weeks. Sometimes it helps and sometimes not. I really believe I.C has a mind of its own.

[sandieby]

lubbie - i am intrigued by your 4x a day for elmiron = have u always taken it that way? i take mine 3x day and was taking it 2 @nite 1 in the morning and figured i should probably take it 3 times a day spread out evenly.......did that and didn't change anything. now that i am on macrobid - i don't think it matters what time of day i take it = interesting:)

[Supergran]

Hi Sandieby, feeling for you & understanding the probs! I've had MS since 1983 - it's now become secondary progressive - & I seem to have increasing numbers of bouts of what's probably IC. Some episodes have been actual UTIs - with E.coli shown to be causative factor on urinalysis. But altho each time has been symptomatically identical to a UTI certainly the last two episodes seem retrospectively to be more like IC as the samples have come back as 'normal'. My current episode is clearing up well cos my GP gave me Nitrofurantoin, but today the sample's result is 'Normal'. So I 'm totally baffled by this: if there is no pathological organism in my urine, why have the symptoms (pain, frequency & urgency to the point of 'Oh shucks, no warning & I'm wetting myself now'!) cleared up just before the end of the 5-day course??
Seems as if MS give us an increased susceptibility to bladder probs.

I was interested too about Vit C & its possible role as an irritant & causative factor. I've taken 1 x 1gm effervescent Vit C in water daily for at least as long as I've had MS, but recently I've switched to 2 x 500 chewable vit C tablets cos my husband forgot & over-ordered his, so I'm helping him out! Maybe I'll try stopping them?!
Also, just to throw into the discussion for what it's worth: before Christmas, a different GP recommended D-Mannose tablets. (These are a simple sugar, monosaccharide, & in theory they 'hang onto the E.coli which try to attach to the bladder wall & makes them drop off, thus preventing UTIs). He said his patient had previously had a history of recurrent UTIs but hadn't had another one since taking D-Mannose. I've been taking them since he told me about them (cheaper on Amazon than in Health Food store), but now I've just had IC, I don't know how to continue!! I guess it's make sense to stop the Vit C & continue the D-Mannose & see what happens! Good Luck to all our fellow-sufferers! will await further comments with interest!