1.
misdiagnosis of interstitial cystitis
The
symptoms of interstitial cystitis are often misdiagnosed as a "common" bladder infection (
cystitis) or a UTI(urinary tract infection). In fact,
interstitial cystitishas not been shown to be caused by a bacterial infection, therefore, the mis-prescribed treatment of antibiotics is ineffective.
2.
The symptoms of interstitial cystitis
The symptoms of interstitial cystitismay also initially be attributed to
prostatitis and
epididymitis (in men) and
endometriosis and uterine fibroids (in women).
The most common
symptom of interstitial cystitisis pain, which is found in 100% of patients, frequent urination (82% of patients) and nocturia (62%).
Generally speaking,
the symptoms of interstitial cystitisare:
(1) Painful or burning urination ( also known as dysuria)
(2) Pain which is worsened with bladder filling and/or improved with urination.
(3) Pain which is worsened with a certain food or drink.
(4) Frequent urination (as often as every 10 minutes), urinary urgency, and pressure in the bladder and/or pelvis.
(5) Some patients report waking at night to urinate, hesitancy (needing to wait for the stream to begin), pain with sexual intercourse, and discomfort and difficulty driving, travelling or working.
(6) During cystoscopy, 5 to 10% of patients are found to have Hunner's ulcers.
Far more patients may experience a very mild form of
interstitial cystitis, in which they have no visible wounds in their bladder, yet struggle with symptoms of pain, urinary frequency and/or urinary urgency. Still other patients may have discomfort only in their urethra, while others struggle with pain in the entire pelvis.
3. Each person experiences IC a little differently, but the following three
symptoms are typical:
Bladder pain can range from mild to severe, but it's more than the usual discomfort of a full bladder. Often, the pain eases when you urinate and then gets worse again as your bladder refills. Pain, pressure, or tenderness may also occur in the pelvic area or genitals. For women, this may cause pain during sexual intercourse. For men, it may cause pain during ejaculation.
Urinary frequency refers to urinating eight or more times a day. Some people with severe IC urinate much more often than that—up to 60 times a day—in an attempt to temporarily relieve their pain. The more time you spend in the bathroom, the harder it becomes to get anything done at home or work or to have an active social life. Frequent nighttime urination, called nocturia, can also wreak havoc with your sleep.
Urinary urgency refers to sudden, strong urges to urinate. This feeling is normal if you're downing lots of fluids or haven't been near a bathroom for hours. But when you have IC, you may feel as if you have to go right now, even when you don't have much urine to pass.
