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In early January 2000 I started feeling
like I had a chronic bladder infection. I felt a burning in my low pelvis,
but I felt most of my irritation after I urinated. This irritation
was accompanied by a sensation to empty my bladder after I had already
urinated. I immediately started drinking lots of water and cranberry
juice. I went to my gynecologist and they told me I had a slight yeast
infection and perhaps that was what was irritating me. I immediately
started taking an over-the-counter yeast infection medication. After that
treatment didn't effect my symptoms I went back to my gynecologist. They
did more tests, but couldn't find anything. They referred me to a
urologist.
I
then went to a urologist and had 3 appointments with her. She filled my
bladder through a catheter, which was excruciatingly painful, to see if my
urine flow was normal. She filled my bladder with different liquids to see
which were irritants to me, also very painful. By the 3rd appointment I was
in tears and the only thing the doctor could tell me was, she thought I had
IC but wasn't sure and thought that if I had IC it was a mild case and I
should try some sample drugs that she gave me. I asked what the drugs would
do and she really wasn't sure if they would do anything. She referred me to
an internist who would take a sonogram of my bladder to insure that there
weren't any cysts or fissures, etc. I had the sonogram which told me I had,
from what the internist could see, a very healthy bladder and uterus.
After
these 3 months and much pain from both my IC and these appointments I had no
answers. I was seeing a chiropractor who I had told my story to. She had a
woman in her practice that was a healer and practiced acupuncture. I made
an appointment as a lark, as I was at the end of my rope. I am not the most
open-minded person when it comes to health and medical issues. I went to
this acupuncturist and though she was very gentle and sweet, the
treatments were doing nothing for my symptoms. After seeing her once a week
for 2 months she went away on a retreat and had a replacement acupuncturist
come in. This new acupuncturist was very clear and performed acupuncture
like a Western medicine doctor which I was comfortable with. She spoke in
clear terms and said if she couldn't help me she knew a specialist who I
should see. After a month of treatment of both herbs and acupuncture my
symptoms eased a bit, but the results weren't enough. She referred me to
Matia Brizman.
The
moment I met with Matia I felt such a sense of comfort and security. Matia
is clear and concise and so incredibly thorough. She treated my like a
Western medical doctor and again I was very comfortable with that. I have
seen Matia for 2 years and I feel like I haven't just addressed these
symptoms, but I have changed my life and health and I am symptom free. My
process with Matia was rigorous and hard. I was seeing her twice a week for
a while and we changed my diet drastically and changed herbs, but the
outcome was so positive. I am by nature a skeptical person and the thought
of acupuncture and herbs would have been laughable to me 3 years ago, but I
am a convert to Eastern medicine now after my experience with Matia.
Currently I have little to no symptoms. I try to maintain a sugar-free diet
with little alcohol, as those are the two things that seem to trigger my
discomfort. Also, Matia and I strongly feel that part of the reason I am
doing so well is that I discontinued taking birth control pills. I am no
longer taking any herbs and see Matia every 6 weeks for a follow up
appointment. I am a huge advocate of Acupuncture and herbal remedies with a
trained specialist as a guide, and I will forever be indebted to Matia for
helping me through this with such kindness and love. She clearly does this
because she cares about people. |
