So here I am after what seems like an age of not blogging! (terrible I know but at least the info is out here for anyone to read if they search for info on IC, which makes me feel a little less guilty).

So whats changed since I last posted? Well...
I have bags more energy, I don't have to keep napping anymore! I actually think I could hold down a full time job now too which was unheard of before.
I have travelled a bit and managed to avoid any flares during that time!
I exercise more.
My diet has changed a bit to include tomato, aubergine and peppers without any problem.
My bladder FEELS normal, most days I am not aware of it at all, theres no sensation of pressure or disomfort.
I've had a coule of flares since I last posted, 2 of which have been in the last 5months, but I've handled them well and I think that my bladder is so much more stable and has been given a chance to heal that I don't actually suffer for too long, also if I do come into contact with any flare foods it is only in the tinyest amount. My flares seem to go like this - I begin feeling dicomfort but like I can't pee, then  I have several hours of agony (buring, a swollen feeling you know the drill) and constant peeing and exhaustion along with feeling freezing cold followed by more exhaustion but warmer temperatures and less pain and much less frequency. By day 2 I'm nearly back to normal. Day 3 I'm fine again.

I still take probiotics, I still follow pretty much the same diet (maybe a bit more sugar in it now), I barely ever drink alcohol but if I do I stick to rum (made with sugar cane) and orange juice or wine. I don't use condoms or the pill. I am still using all natural body products. I use Uva Ursi (Vogals brand tincture) if I get a UTI, but its been months since the last time I had to do that.

I am still achieving all of this without the help of a urologist or doctor, I don't take any medical drugs, I've never had a cystoscopy and I remain positive that things can only get better. Having said that I do not rule out the possibility of seeking help from a uro again in the future should my IC symptoms become very much worse and none of the things I have done in the past or continue to do make any improvements.

Thats all from me now folks,

little_ducks xx

Why changing my diet has never been a sacrifice

It really gets to me when I read about other people with bladder issues saying that they are not prepared to give up certain foods to see if it makes them healthier and in less pain. They say it would remove one of their last pleasures in life...what I cannot understand is why you wouldn't try that if you thought there was some hope that it could give you your life back.

For a long time I didn't consider that food would make a difference, unless maybe it was bland or something. I used to eat baxters cock-a-leekie soup and toasted soya and linseed bread with soya spread on when I was flaring as I thought it would be nice and bland. What I didn't realise was that I was actually making the whole situation worse...having a wheat and soya intolerance at the time.

When it came to light that food may actually play a part in what I was experiencing (at that point I never thought it was IC) I willingly gave up wheat, for me this was fairly easy as my sister is a coeliac and has been for a long time...I knew about many of the alternatives. Not long after I gave up soy...this proved harder and I had to stop eathing chocolate among many other things (soya is added to SO many things, and often sneaks thorugh the net disguised as an E number). Later I even went on the anti candida diet because I had so many problems with candida. I made the changes to my life and I found it hard sometimes, like when eating out or trying to buy a quick lunch from somewhere, but I adjusted and gradually became used to reading the labels on everything. I knew it was making a difference so I stuck with it!

Despite these changes I was still having problems every few weeks (as apposed to every day before I gave up any of the culprit foods!), so eventually after several months of on off symptoms I consaulted a herbalist in london, she put me on the strictest diet I have ever been on! And boy was that hard, giving up fruit and cheese were the two worst parts of it, but I knew that if I was really seirous about getting my health back then I had to be willing to try it, so I rolled up my sleves and made it my mission to make my diet as interesting as possible despite how limited it was. I managed to succeed and gradually introduced foods back. I found SO many alterntives to things and adapted so many recipes to suit my needs (this would not have been possible without the help of my loving boyfriend - sadly no longer my bf but my friend now - who is a wonderful cook and was always up for eating the things I had to have). I learned that body products also caused me harm and set about using only natural body products and avoiding chemicals as far as possible.

There are so many things I have learned about my relationship with food during this last year and a half. I am not scared of food (although you'd think I probably would be considering how much agony it causes me if I were to eat potato/gluten/soya on even a minimal scale), I like to be creative with my food, my tastes have expanded and I have a much biggere interest in where my food has come from etc etc. This evening I made an Isabel-friendly curry :D and for my lunch I had a small portion of Isabel-friedly cottage pie. I will happily tweek and tweek a recipe to make it fit what I need, I have found almond flour to be the best replacement in cakes, I have bought so many new things I would never have considered once up on a time (like sweet potato, corn cakes, arrow root powder). I used never step out of my comfort zone in a restaurant, always ordering the same type of thing again and again, but now I try so many more new things even though about 70% of the menu is usually out of bounds.  I have learned that the simplest things that come into contact with our systems can cause a multitude of problems, from skin irriations on my hands and feet and weak flaking nails to excruciating horrific pain in my bladder and dodgy digestive upset.

So all in all quite a few really good things have come out of this horrible experience. I just wish there was some way I could show others how much of a difference it can make!!

Watch this space for a copy of the curry recipe, as this shall be my next post.