It Does Get Better!

For as long as I can remember, I have always suffered from urinary frequency. A little annoying, but no big deal. Years ago I noticed that my favorite drink, Mountain Dew, made me have to go almost immediately and then several more times during the next hour. A couple of years ago, however, I developed extreme bladder pain just as I was leaving China to return home. When I got home, I realized that having intercourse with my husband was impossible. It hurt so bad! I made a doctor's appointment and began Googling symptoms. I soon realized I had Interstitial Cystitis, a diagnosis my doctor confirmed. I was terrified that my sex life was over! Indeed, it took several months of receiving treatments through a catheter, but eventually it did get better, and sex is once again enjoyable. I still have to be careful not to eat too many spicy foods (I really shouldn't eat any). Sometimes I can feel it beginning to hurt again, so I back off things I know are triggers. I believe the reason it got so bad in China was because I spent two weeks drinking a wide variety of hot teas and eating spicy foods. For a while I had to have treatments often, but now it has been about a year since I've been bad enough to take off work for treatments. Sometimes I feel like they might help, but I don't feel like I'm dying for one.