Abroad

CANADA

CATHERINE

It was a bright, sunshiny day at the lake. My husband and I were at a cottage for a week in August of 1997 and were enjoying our vacation. I felt like I was experiencing a urinary tract infection, but, it was mild, so I drank cranberry juice and soldiered on.

When the symptoms increased, I saw my doctor and had a urine culture and sensitivity done. It came back negative. He put me on a course of antibiotics anyway and I did seem to feel better. The symptoms recurred and more antibiotics were prescribed (I haven’t had them since..). I asked to be referred to a urologist and traveled 1 ½ hours to see him. He catheterized me to investigate and it was pure agony. Why he would do this when I told him how sore I was is beyond me. The ride home was a treat - not! He eventually sent a letter to my family doctor to say I had an ‘irritable bladder’. As this doctor did not look at me once during our conversation and he was deaf in one ear and couldn’t hear out of the other, I was less than impressed.

I asked my G.P. for a second chance with another urologist. Thankfully he agreed. Now, this man was wonderful. He told me right off that he thought it was interstitial cystitis, but, that the only way he could be sure was with a cystoscopy under a general anesthetic. I truly do hate anesthetics, but, wanted answers. I was booked and the procedure proved him correct. This was in April 1998.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if the western medical profession had closer links to the eastern medical profession?

For that 8 months before diagnosis I suffered terribly with urethral spasms. It got to the point where if I dropped something on the floor, it was agony to bend over to pick it up. Ditto every time I sat down. The urologist gave me a prescription for Buscopam which helped the spasms, but, traveling in a car seemed to set them off. Isn’t that fun?

I was told that Rimso 50 treatments (DMSO) would help my symptoms. I wanted to believe the urologist. I had to believe him. I was desperate. What choice did I have? And so, crazy and maddening as it seems to be typing this, I endured a treatment once a month (sometimes more) for the next 5 years. Being catheterized, having the DMSO instilled in my bladder, and having to hold it there for an agonizing 20 minutes. Oh, I tried telling myself ‘at least it’s not chemo’ and ‘there are people worse off than I am’, but, deep down it was something that had me so upset I dreaded the impending appointments and likened them to a torture chamber.

One evening when I couldn’t start a stream and felt I was about to burst, and was in tears with the pain, my husband took me over to the Emergency Dept. (I phoned to say I was coming - they knew me from being there once a month) so I could be catheterized. It was a 10 on the scale of 1-10 in agony. Just as I arrived they brought in a man on a stretcher that had had a heart attack and he was their priority patient. When he was wheeled by me I thought to myself that he had passed away, but, knew they would try to do all they could. Meanwhile, I paced. I had taken another Buscopam on the way over and went into the washroom and turned the tap on and prayed that I could void, even just a little. I did and went out and told my husband we were going back home. A nurse was chasing me out into the parking lot to say they could help me now, the man was deceased. Bye, bye..

That night I searched the internet. I knew there had to be someone out there who could help me. I don’t know how I found Matia, call it fate, call it my stars all being lined up in a row.. whatever..my life changed from that day on. My first contact with Bomamed was with Jane. She was extremely helpful, insightful, and contacted two other Canadians asking them to e-mail me. One lady did and I was in touch with her to find out her story and we’ve gone back and forth.

What a wonderful woman Matia is! She’s so personable, patient, and caring. Talking to her, you just know that she understands how you are feeling and goes out of her way to help you. I felt like I had been saved! There would be life with IC!

I started on her diet. This program is not for the faint of heart, or to be entered into lightly. Your will power HAS to exceed your breaking point.

The next 6 months of herbs, phone consultations, and dieting was extremely difficult. No, more than extremely difficult. Added to that, I live in Canada and paying in U.S. dollars was expensive with the exchange. FedEx loves me. I paid U.S. FedEx and then had to turn around and pay FedEx Canada as well. I’m expecting a Christmas card from them this year!

It’s been so worth it. What Matia has done for me is give me my life back. I’m off the 4 times a day Buscopam. I haven’t had a DMSO treatment since December 24th, 2003 (Merry Christmas to me in 7 days!) It’s almost my one year anniversary. I haven’t consumed alcohol in about 1½ years, so that will not be part of my celebrations. I have had spasms twice in the past year. Ironically, the last episode was just last Saturday evening. It lasted for 10 hours and was quite bad. I had two Buscopam in that 10 hours and it eased it a bit. I’m hoping these do not rear their ugly head again. I don’t know what set them off, but they have left again.

I haven’t been a saint with my diet since Matia has told me she thinks I’m well on my way to recovery. I’ve been extremely fortunate. I’ve gone through her treatment program quite quickly and with excellent results, but have to take each day as a new beginning.

The only glitch in the cure process was a trip to Mexico in March of this year. Matia told me not to eat any of the vegetables offered at the hotel, even though it was a 5-Star hotel. That week sent me spiraling down into constipation hell. It took me a couple of months to get straightened out again. If I were to do it again, I think I’d rather tempt the fate of the IC gods, and eat the vegetables.

I’ve tried to keep my sense of humour the past 7 years. No one likes a moaner. I named my disease Icabod. It’s ‘icky’ and it’s in my ‘body’. My closest friends will ask me how Icabod is doing and it takes a bit of the sting out of the medical terminology. My husband has been a phenomenal support. I couldn’t have done it without him. He’s stuck by my diet and done it along with me as much as he could stand.

My urologist is very interested in my progress and I’ve told both he and my G.P. to have any of their IC patients call me. Sadly, none have. You have to be a believer…

“My name is Catherine, and I’m a chocoholic”. It’s really hard to stay away from it, even though I know that sugar is ‘white death’. And so, I take it day by day, trying to be strong and on track. I am so thankful to know that Matia is just an e-mail away with my enquiries and concerns. When she was born, God must have decided that he had a special mission for her life. I’m just glad that mine has crossed paths with hers. She’s an angel! Because of her research I have a long life to look forward to now, and I don’t have to dread anymore DMSO! Thank you Matia, from the bottom of my heart!

P.S. Losing the 25 lbs on your diet is a bonus!

GAYLA

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Heal My Body, by Gayla Sanders (Reprinted from an article in Soapboxgirls, and online magazine) - Toronto, Canada

I used to think I was a healthy person. Sure, I drank too much cola and smoked the occasional cigarette, but I had been a vegetarian since the age of sixteen, didn’t eat in fast food restaurants, rarely drank alcohol and generally believed that it was okay to indulge occasionally as long as it was in moderation.

From the age of twenty-three I’d noticed a few odd problems that were all dismissed by my doctor. I had chronic headaches, severe allergies that were getting progressively worse every year, extreme debilitating bouts of vertigo that came on just as mysteriously as they left, and strange rashes and breakouts on my stomach, arms and chest. At times I felt like a bit of a hypochondriac wondering if I was being overly critical about what could be “normal” occurrences due to the aging process. Doctors had no explanation for my problems, and passed them off as “nothing to worry about”. Twenty-three was also the year I stopped taking the birth control pill against my doctor’s advice that the pill was safe. My family physician was at a leading women’s hospital — how could she be wrong about women’s health? Yet I just ‘felt’ that something wasn’t right with my body and I determined that it was time to stop taking the hormones. Seven straight years of altering my body chemistry seemed long enough.

Several years passed, and while I felt that certain problems were increasing exponentially, I did what the doctors said and dismissed them. One day after five months at the most stressful and emotionally and spiritually draining job of my life I took a week’s vacation with my spouse. During the course of the trip mysterious problems developed that seemed to come from nowhere. I had the constant need to urinate, but when I got to a bathroom I couldn’t go. This caused endless problems during the trip since we were traveling around and wanted to see and do things where no bathroom was in sight. I also developed an extremely itchy rash on my legs, arms and stomach that I assumed had been caused by the sun, yet I had been very careful about my sun exposure and had worn a very high sun block.

Upon returning home I went to a new doctor recommended by a friend thinking it was merely a bladder infection (I’d never had one before) and that I just needed a doctor’s confirmation. The doctor did some tests, took my word for it and assigned me a week of antibiotics, which I took against my own better judgment. When the first course made no improvement and my symptoms worsened, I was prescribed a second round. By this time I was in agony. I had a sharp, dull pain in the lower left side of my abdomen, I had the constant need to urinate with no relief, and getting to and from work during a snowstorm was becoming a stress-inducing battle. I tried all the common herbal remedies for bladder infections — which only contributed to worsening my symptoms. I cut out coffee, pop, and all kinds of other junk foods and diuretics with no luck. A second round of antibiotics with no relief proved that something else was going on with my body and I needed to investigate further.

The next 6 months went by very slowly and painfully. I went through a variety of stressful tests until I was eventually recommended to an urologist. During this time, the tests also indicated I had cysts on my ovaries accounting for the sharp pain in my abdomen. After a three month, wait the urologist put me through another series of painful and invasive tests over the course of a few months. During that time, I did a lot of my own research, but without a doctor’s confirmation I just didn’t want to admit that it was as bad as it was. There aren’t a lot of bladder-related problems and I only had symptoms for one ailment — a disease called Interstitial Cystitis. With a name like that it had to be bad and I didn’t want to admit that at 26 years of age I might have a ‘disease’ that doctors knew nothing about and for which the symptoms could potentially be alleviated, but for which there was no cure.

The day I went in for my diagnosis was a memorable turning point. The urologist sat me down in his office and very coldly informed me that while I didn’t have all the symptoms — namely bleeding cysts in my bladder, my bladder capacity was about one third the size of a normal bladder and I probably had Interstitial Cystitis. His course of action was to begin with putting me on a two-month course of antibiotics ‘just to be sure’ there wasn’t any bacteria in my body despite the fact that I had been through extensive testing on several occasions. If that didn’t work he would follow up with a bladder distension (an invasive procedure in which they stretch your bladder with water) and a lifetime prescription of Elmiron® — a drug that alleviates some symptoms in approximately half the people who take it, and which, if it worked, I would be taking for the rest of my life. When I asked the urologist about the safety of taking a two month course of antibiotics his response was, “Don’t you want to get better?” despite the fact that I had already been determined to be infection free and antibiotics had only served to worsen my condition. When I asked about my reduced bladder capacity and what I could do to improve it (I was already dehydrating myself in order to avoid constant bathroom stops), his reply was that I should “drink less water”. Eventually he just got up, walked out without saying a word and never came back — leaving me sitting there wondering what had just happened. The doctor’s office never bothered to call me to schedule a follow-up appointment for any of the procedures he mentioned. They just wrote me off without saying a word.

That day, on my way home, I looked at the antibiotics prescription in my hand and decided that I couldn’t put my body… my life, in the hands of a doctor I didn’t like or even trust. I felt that it wasn’t asking too much that I be allowed to ask basic questions of the person in whom I was counting on to advise me regarding my health without being treated like a disobedient child. Since he was supposed to be the best, I felt it was time to explore other options — I turned to alternative health.

As soon as I got home I called around asking friends if they knew anyone who could recommend a naturopath. I had never considered an alternative health practitioner prior to this for financial reasons. Alternative health care just isn’t covered in my part of the world. However, I decided that paying for good treatment wasn’t a frivolous way to spend my money and it was time to give it a chance. In the end I chose a naturopathic doctor from the phone book who specialized in women’s health. When I first walked into her office I was a mess. I was psychologically and spiritually destroyed because I had also been grieving the very recent deaths of two extremely close friends. The dry winter heat had aggravated my already sensitive skin leaving me with a red, blotchy face. I looked physically toxic (my liver and kidneys were overloaded) and I was emotionally drained and tired from dealing with this disease. Yet that first appointment was amazing because for the first time I had hope that I was doing something about this and that I might get better. I asked questions and she answered them. She was friendly, articulate, compassionate, and most importantly she treated me as an equal and as an intelligent adult who had a right to be engaged in a dialogue regarding my own health. I was astounded. I had never experienced this with an MD.

I stayed with this naturopath for well over a year. Her help was vital in my healing but it wasn’t enough. She helped me gain a better understanding of why this had happened to me. She helped alleviate a lot of my secondary symptoms and lead me on the path to a better understanding what I needed to do to get better. However, in the end I realized that I had come as far as I could with her leading the way. She didn’t have an understanding of exactly what was wrong with me and what needed to be done to overcome it. And I was so sensitive to everything. I can understand how frustrating this disease can be for someone who is treating it. Sometimes the symptoms seem irrational and appear to happen for no reason. In one second I would turn from bad to worse. The biggest problem had manifested itself in the bladder, but that wasn’t where it started. My whole body was messed up.

January 2001 marked my second anniversary with I.C. I was really tired and distraught about what my next course of action was going to be. I was determined that this year I would get better. But I didn’t know what to do. I’d had allergy and sensitivity tests yet I knew I was still eating things that were making me react. I couldn’t travel down the street without prepping myself, let alone getting out of the city. I felt like a 27 year old stuck in the body of an 80 year-old woman. I was tired of turning down invitations to go on trips, visit friends who lived across town or stressing over simple things that most people take for granted such as sitting through a business meeting. I was tired of focusing on the pain in my bladder and organizing my day around my good times and bad times (I was always better in the late date than the morning). I was tired of keeping a mental map of what routes in the city were most ‘public bathroom friendly’. I had bathrooms systemically categorized and cross-referenced in my head according to quality (is the bathroom clean or disgusting?), accessibility (is the bathroom free or do I need to make a purchase?), quantity (will I have to wait in line or are there multiple stalls?) and location (how far is it to the next bathroom, is it on route to where I’m going?). Trivial information such as this became vital in keeping my sanity intact.

A friend alerted me to a book she was reading called “Eating Alive” by Dr. Jonn Matsen N.D. In basic terms his book follows the premise that disease starts with inefficient digestion. Over the last few years I had learned to pay attention to my body. I knew that my I.C symptoms were greatly influenced by what I ate, and I knew I had serious digestive problems. On my first trip to the family physician two years prior, I mentioned that everything I ate made me sick to my stomach and that I was bloated all the time regardless of what I ate or how much I ate. She insisted that I was a vegetarian and that I just “ate a lot of beans”, despite the fact that I had been a vegetarian for over 10 years and had never had this problem. I read Dr. Matsen’s book and his follow up “The Secrets to Good Health”. Both of these books do an excellent job of explaining how our entire body functions in coordination with our digestive processes. I followed the diet he lays out with my own modifications based on known sensitivities, and I started taking supplements to improve my liver health and to remove yeast and toxins from my body. After the first three months I felt a definite improvement in my physical well-being but I still had all kinds of I.C symptoms. Again I had reached a plateau where I felt I had come a long way but I needed some guidance to take me further.

At five months I found BOMA-MED from an interview with co-founder Matia Brizman D.Ac., L.Ac. about her practice and how she treats Interstitial Cystitis. I liked what she had to say about I.C., and how she thought people came to this disease. It followed along with my own theories, and made me feel assured that I could trust my care in her hands. She works from L.A. but because she takes long distance patients I was able to begin treatment. The first thing she did was alter my already limited diet significantly. I was shocked when she listed off the things I was still eating that were irritating to the I.C patient. Things that I knew to be healthy, and are to most people, were doing me more harm than good. Matia treats every patient uniquely, which is a relief since we are all different and came to I.C. in different ways.

I have been in treatment under Matia for seven months and I still have I.C. It took me 28 years to get to this stage, so I imagine it will take my body quite some time to improve. I know that I will be better eventually. The results in the last seven months have been astounding. Almost every single symptom is gone except for the bladder problems. They have basically left in the order they arrived. There was a time when I couldn’t lay flat or turn my head in a certain position or the world would frantically spin like a nightmare merry-go-round. That is completely gone. My allergies have also cleared up. In the past, the month of August was a write-off due to extreme allergy symptoms that left me weak and broken down. I went through this past August with almost no symptoms AT ALL! I can vacuum the rug without breaking out into a fit of sneezing, hacking and itching. My bladder has been a lot better. I went on a short trip in a car outside the city – something I never would have done before. I still have bad days, but I usually know now when something makes me sick whereas in the past it was a frustrating mystery. My sensitivity has decreased. I no longer react in a heartbeat.

It isn’t all sunshine and roses. I have to maintain incredible will power in order to keep to the diet. I am not allowed to eat anything sweet – sugar aggravates I.C. symptoms and that includes fruit and sweet veggies such as carrots or beets. The list of foods I can’t eat is much greater than the list of foods I can – making eating outside the home an impossible task. That combined with no alcohol makes socializing difficult. So much of our social world revolves around food and drink and the habits we form around them. Avoiding them within a social context is a test I try to avoid. Stress still sets me off so I have to be careful at all times to avoid stressful situations and force myself to take it easy and relax as often as possible. I am extremely sensitive to the sun and have to be careful to avoid too much exposure to it. My whole world revolves around my health right now. It comes first and foremost before everything – a self-consciousness that is necessary, but difficult to maintain.

As cheesy as it sounds, I can see the positive side to all of this although I’d rather not have gained my insights through such extreme experiences. I have obtained a knowledge of self and the workings of my body that few ever experience. I am hyper aware of my body and have come to trust my actions in doing what it needs. I have gained a hyper-sensitivity to smell that is both incredible and annoying simultaneously. Although I am still ill I feel I am actually in my physical prime and it is growing exponentially. I have been forced to concentrate on my physical self in a healthy way that is separate from vanity and appearance. Most importantly I will never make the same uninformed mistakes, and I will never be allowed to deny when something is wrong with my body because I’ve been through something that will always keep me focused and my actions regarding my body in check.

**The disclaimer part. I have only begun to scratch the surface regarding any of the topics discussed and I am not a certified health practitioner. These are merely my own personal experiences. It is important that if you have a health concern that you talk to a reliable, certified health practitioner.

U.K.

JENNY

Dear Jane,

I wrote to you a few months ago asking for advice on IC, not knowing where else to turn to. You very kindly replied immediately and answered all my queries regarding Matia. You also put me in touch with two other patients who live in the UK too, and am now in regular touch with.

This is really just an update to tell you how I’m doing. After broth culture tests sent to US came back positive, I contacted Matia and have now been treated by her for approx 6 weeks. I can only describe my rapid improvement as just short of a miracle. Whilst I have the odd ‘burn’ type feeling, most days I’m completely symptom free. I stick rigidly to the diet and medications, and feel life is worth living again. Perhaps I’ll have set backs, as I’ve been told, but my overall health is just so much better!

I wanted to send you my very sincerest thanks for taking the time to respond, and reassuring me that I was indeed doing the right thing in taking that first step.

I hope you are continuing your good health and keep reaching out to others - it brings hope where there was none, and is so much appreciated.

With very best wishes

ANONYMOUS

14 mths ago I made the trip to LA from the UK. I’d suffered from numerous UTI’s over the last 20 years and developed symptoms known as IC about 2 years ago.

I was in constant pain and tied to the bathroom. I rejected investigative procedures from urologists and decided to embark on Matia’s program.

The treatment process was far from easy. Months of yo-yoing up and down, a good day here, to then have a bad few. The anxiety of whether this would really work for me, or whether I was beyond Matias program. I was tempted at times to call my Dr and beg to be pumped full of painkillers. I kept a diary of good days (hours too!) and bad, to try and find a pattern. Any question Matia had for me, I could answer in great detail.

About 6 months ago I noticed when Matia asked me specific questions (urine flow/colour etc), I had to admit that I hadn’t taken note, and had actually forgotten.

Fast forward to my appointment last week and I spent most of it discussing how to deal with the pressures of my new job. There was little mention of IC.

I don’t often think of my bladder now. I ride horses for a living (having given it up due to IC), something not exactly suited to an IC sufferer! I am no longer a victim but someone who has taken back their life, and a much healthier one.

My advice is to stick to the diet religiously (it will save you from other more life threatening dis-eases in the process) and take the recommended pills/herbs seriously. Try (although hard) to remain positive that you will get better and remember that having been made aware of Dr Matia Brizman you are one of the lucky ones.

U.K. and BRUNEI

PAM

I have been a long distance patient of Matia’s for nearly two years.

Previously I had followed the usual Western medications and theories on IC the reasons for its development and supposed cures. However I knew deep down that the answer lay somewhere else and I began searching the Internet and reading as much as possible about IC. Through this searching I came across an interview Matia had given and her approach to IC.

Up until this stage in my life I had never really thought much about alternative medicine. In fact I never thought much about medicine at all. I have always been very healthy, a vegetarian for over 20 years and an aerobic instructor. However I had little faith in the medication I was taking and was desperate to get well. So the very next day I made the most important call in my life to Matia.

I was bowled over by her understanding of IC. The way I felt, the fear, the confusion and the isolation. Matia explained the treatment and the diet. She also gave me the address of Jane and Alison’s website. I was inspired when I read about patients who were symptom free and living life to the full. I was determined to be well. And so I embarked on my treatment with Matia.

I remember one of Matia’s first e-mails to me. Her words were “We will do this together”. She has been with me every step of the way. Even the times when I would doubt that I could be well again. “Hang in there, it will be alright” these were the words I read and reread.

It was a long road for me to travel but today I really feel I am there. I have very few days where I even think about my bladder. I am still fairly careful with my diet, but that really isn’t a hardship. I eat very healthily and am slowly introducing new foods. This year I have traveled extensively, something I wouldn’t have believed possible a few years ago.

For anyone contemplating treatment as a long-distance patient can I dispel any doubts you may have. I was living in Borneo when I first started treatment with Matia (I have only just returned to the U.K.). Matia and I used to joke I would win the long distance award.

I hope my story gives hope to those of you who are suffering from this awful disease.
You too can get to where I am today.

Tags: Overseas, Success Stories

Miscellaneous

ILLINOIS

JOE (not real name)

Before I met Matia, I was very ill for over a year. I had Atrial Tachycardia (irregular heart beat), palpitations, acid reflux problem, muscles/joint ache problems, constant headaches, fever/chills, bladder irritation, etc. My life was a nightmare. I remembered that life was not worth living, and that I prayed for my health to be better everyday. I’ve seen so many Western doctors, tried so many different medications, done many medical procedures, but nothing really helps me. I was constantly ill. My first experience with IC was in November of 2002. I remember feeling so much pain in my bladder, thigh, ankle, lower back, etc. After seeing several doctors, who didn’t know what I have, I decided to see a Urologist. I got my bladder examined (cystoscopy), and the doctor told me that I got little sores in my bladder wall, and so he told me that I had IC. At the time, I didn’t care what I had after going through what I have gone through. Quite frankly, I was happy that someone finally told me what I had.

I didn’t know what IC was and so I decided to do some research on IC before taking Elmiron, which was prescribed to my by the Urologist. I was in constant pain due to the irritation that I feel in my bladder area. I couldn’t sleep many nights, and so the only thing that I could do was to pray that someone can help me, and one day my prayer was answered. I stumbled upon this website, and read through many success stories about Matia, and decided to give Matia a try. Thank you to the folks who put this website up. I’m half Chinese and Vietnamese, and so I didn’t have any problems trying out herbal medicines. Quite frankly, I would rather try herbal medicines because they have little or no side effects.

I first talked with Matia in April 2003. She was a very nice lady who is very compassionate with her work. It was very rare to find a doctor who knows what your going through, who listens to you, and who really cares about how you feel. After speaking with Matia, she told me that I have too much bacteria in my body and what I needed to take to make my immune system stronger. I decided to stop taking all Western medicine and take what Matia told me to take. She told me to eat healthy and follow the types of food that I should eat within this website. It was very hard to be on a strict diet, but after a couple of weeks, I noticed that my IC symptoms were starting to get better. After my second session with Matia, she told to take something else for my acid reflux problem. At the time I was taking both items, and I noticed that I was feeling better everyday and that I was able to eat better. After three months of taking the over-the-counter items Matia prescribed, she decided to send me the “special” herbs. After taking the herbs for a couple weeks, I felt better (more energy, less palpitations, less bladder irritation/pain, etc.).

It has been a year since my first appointment with Matia, and I am still talking to her (every 6 weeks), and I feel like I am getting my life back together. Matia continues to listen to me when I discussed with her my symptoms, and she would provide me with different herbs to ease my pain. I must admit that I am not where I want to be, but I am getting there thanks to Matia. I appreciate all the things that she have done for me because without her I would still live in pain. I hope to fly out to Los Angeles soon to meet her so that I can thank her.

I feel like I am starting to wake up from the bad nightmare that I have before I met Matia…and enjoy my life once again.

KARLA

My story starts like everyone else’s, a story of pain, confusion and unobtainable answers. Maybe some of you can relate.

I’m not exactly sure when the pain started, as it seems like I’ve always had it. I never had many urinary infections, when I was young, so I didn’t really correlate the two. My horse fell on me at the age of 17, causing much internal damage, I’m sure. I started on birth control pills at an early age to regulate my periods and was on antibiotics as a small child for sore throats. I had an extremely difficult pregnancy and delivery. Mostly, I have never eaten healthy and my diet has always consisted of sugar, lots and lots of sugar. I’m sure, the combination of all of the above, contributed to IC.

The first negative experience I had with a doctor, was an OBGYN when I was pregnant. I constantly complained of pain, the entire time I was pregnant. Every exam, the answer was, “Oh, It is normal”. I left that practice after my son was born, I still had the pain and this doctor told me, it was all in my head. I went to another OBGYN for pain a few years later. After years of trying to diagnose my problem, she finally told me I had PID, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, a sexually transmitted disease. I had been married for 10 years at this time and told her so. She told me to go home and question my husband, that obviously, he had had sex elsewhere and had transmitted the disease to me. I left that doctor also, still not finding any answers and still in pain.

When I was about 26, I woke up one night, in the middle of the night with all of these strange symptoms. I had an excruciating headache, tingling up my spine and into my head, my heart was pounding and had palpitations, my hands were numb, my legs were numb, I could see stars and I would, at times, not be able to move. I was scared to death. My husband took me to the emergency room. After a thorough exam, I was told I had “panic attacks”, to take “this” (Valium) and go home and just relax. I took a few and it didn’t help, intuitively, knowing it wasn’t from panic. I even went in for an MRI, to rule out MS. This went on for approximately 8 months. Some days were worse than others. Some minutes were worse than others, but I got through it, never really seeing a common denominator to any of it. Eventually, all of those awful symptoms, my “central nervous system disorder” as I called it, sort of subsided. I still, however, had the horrendous pain.

A few years later, I was still taking birth control pills. One night, after being off for the normal week of my period, I took my “start up” tablet. Within 30 minutes I had all of the “CNS symptoms” back, after not having them for years. While I didn’t panic, as it felt “familiar” and I hadn’t died from it yet and I doubted I would, it was very distressing to have them back again. I went to bed, with my husband checking in on me every ½ hour. I awoke with all of the symptoms gone. That night, I took another birth control pill…30 minutes later, symptoms returned. I stopped taking the pill. These symptoms returned on several more occasions. Two more were when I took Ampicillin and Keflex, both antibiotics. The last few episodes, happened right after eating Pillsbury Sugar Cookies. It took several times of eating these and having the symptoms return, before I figured the association.

I finally found a urologist who specialized in IC, through my current OBGYN. I had had a partial hysterectomy, due to the abdominal pain two years prior and he was going in after the ovary that was still intact. After years of going through many urologists, who didn’t know what was wrong with me, this doctor not only believed me, she diagnosed me. However, over the next 12 years I was on constant medication. I have been on antibiotics (including injections of Gentocin for a week straight at varied times), antidepressants, antihistamines, muscle relaxers, antispasmodics, Elmiron and many, many years of pain medication. I also had DSMO treatments and bladder distentions with many overnight stays in the hospital. I have to give this doctor credit for one thing…she gave me pain medication when I needed it, which was almost daily, and she really cared about me. I don’t know if I would have survived the pain, without her.

I poured myself into my work and my business. I worked such long hours, I didn’t have time to cook and so I continued to eat sugar, dyes and foods full of antibiotics and preservatives. I did anything to keep my mind off of the constant pain and allow myself to collapse into bed at night to try and forget the pain, not realizing that all of the time, I was still contributing to the IC with the way I ate and the constant antibiotics. At this time in my life, I had a continuous bladder infection. I finally had to give up the long hours, my body; physically, emotionally and psychologically just couldn’t take it any longer.

A few months later, while being on 7 medications at one time and still in so much pain, I sat down one night and did a search for IC. I came across this website and starting reading the entire site. It fit right into my new pattern of life. I had slowly started changing my traditional values and philosophy of life. My dogs were now on a healthy raw diet. I know about herbs, Bach Flower Essences, crystal healing, Reiki, and Animal Communication. This was a doctor who practiced Chinese medicine, totally natural AND specialized in IC. There are no coincidences in life. I was led to this site and instinctively knew this was where I was supposed to be.

The night of my first consultation I was so excited. The minute I spoke with Matia I knew this wonderful lady could and would help me out of this black hole. I also knew it was not going to be easy. She told me we would work this out together and that she would always be there for me. She told me she would help me get off of all of my medications and not have the pain any longer. I’ve never looked back and I’ve never questioned any of this for one second. After talking to Matia, and listening to her explain how all of the things contribute to IC, all of the symptoms I had, all of those years ago, were understandable. Birth control pills, antibiotics and sugar, all contributed to my body breaking down. I was not some hysterical female who was having panic attacks.

I was right, the first few months were most difficult. It was February and Valentine’s Day was approaching. All of the TV commercials were about chocolate! My son came home with Dairy Queen, I almost bit his head off. My husband came home with homemade chocolate chip cookies from his mother. He also got the brunt of my anger. My body was going through withdrawals and the yeast was screaming to be fed. But, I never gave in. Matia told me that someday, sugar would be like a toxin to my body. I am to the point that if I smell anything with sugar in it, I get nauseated. Again, Matia was right.

I have been with Matia for 10 months. I am off ALL synthetic medications. While I understand the limited diet is difficult, I have found I love eating again. I am still on the very strict diet. However, each time there is a problem, Matia is quick to come to my aide, knowing what I need and working it out. The good days are now outweighing the bad by far. I used to only dream of this, now I am living it.

While Matia and her herbs have turned my life around, I have also recognized that this is not just about diet and herbs. This is about balance. My entire life was out of balance. I was addicted to sugar, I overworked myself, actually, I overdid a lot of things. I am working on this daily and I am becoming increasingly aware of coming back into balance. I find I am heading towards a healthier, happier lifestyle with the loving help of Matia and her staff. I cannot thank each and every one of them enough, for giving my life back to me…actually, for giving myself back to me.

TENNESSEE

MIRANDA

In November of 2004, when I was 21 years old, I contracted what seemed like another run-of-the-mill urinary tract infection. I’ve been prone to UTIs throughout my life, and this one was no different - I had burning upon urination, horrible pressure, frequency, bladder soreness, etc. I tried to get an appointment at my doctor’s office, but because it was around Thanksgiving and going into the hectic holiday season, they could not squeeze me in. Instead, the receptionist said she would have the doctor to phone me in a prescription and pain reliever at my local pharmacy. The prescription was for a round of Levaquin (broad spectrum antibiotic) and a bottle of something similar to AZO-Standard, which numbs the urinary tract. I only took the prescription for Levaquin because I’d already been using an over-the-counter urinary analgesic to counter the burning (didn’t help much, though).

I felt a little better upon finishing the Levaquin, in that I no longer had to take the analgesic tablets because my burning was gone. But I still had terrible pressure and frequency. This time, I visited a different doctor, who was kind enough to fit me into her schedule. She found a trace of white blood cells in my urine and gave me another dose of Levaquin to get rid of it. It didn’t help. By this time, I was getting really frustrated because now it was Christmastime, I was finishing up with final exams in my college classes, and I was also working insane hours at my job on third shift (I worked with people who had behavioral problems, mental disturbances, or sometimes just severe mental retardation; it was a scary, stressful, and dangerous environment). This doctor was persistent in trying to find out why I had pressure, still, and all of these other problems. She put me on Doxycycline for my third round of antibiotics, and then a week later, she did a pelvic exam. This
doctor found that I had yeast and bacterial vaginosis, so she gave me a prescription for Diflucan and an antibiotic for the vaginosis, called Metro-gel, which is used internally.

The Metro-gel burned me terribly, and it was all I could do now at night to sleep after using that particular antibiotic. I still had pressure, frequency, etc., but now I also had vaginal soreness and pelvic pain/soreness. I held on to the belief that it was just the yeast or whatever bothering me, and soon I would be better. I returned to the doctor after using all of that stuff…she still found yeast and the Metro-gel was not effective against the bacterial vaginosis. This time, she prescribed another antibiotic, Flagyll, to kill the vaginosis, and gave me more Diflucan. The Flagyll made me burn even more than using the Metro-gel, internally…Flagyll is a pill. It was horrible. I took all of that. Finally, I guess the doctor realized that I was serious when I said something was very wrong…she didn’t give me anymore antibiotics, but instead prescribed out of not knowing what else to do, a Diflucan, without the other drugs. Taking the Diflucan alone made the pressure in
my pelvic area subside, and I was incredibly relieved. That was the most difficult symptom of the time, and I’d had it for two months by the time I got rid of it.

I found out about IC when I was typing on a search engine, looking up ‘frequency’. I still had frequency and pelvic pain, along with a sore urethral/vaginal area, although I no longer had pressure. This disease, Interstitial Cystitis, came back. I read that there is no cure…I was terrified. My doctor referred me to a urologist, who did not really want to do the test for IC because he said if I had it, it was a mild case. I was voiding 3-5 ounces at a time. Apparently, some doctors feel that in order to qualify for a diagnosis of IC, a person has to use the bathroom around 50 times a day. At about 15 or 20 voids a day, I guess he didn’t think I came close enough. He gave me some meds for overactive bladder, to see if that would help…it didn’t.

Needless to say, I didn’t return to any of those doctors. I went home, got on the computer, and found out about Bomamed and Matia Brizman. I was skeptical at first and the diet seemed extreme, but I was pretty desperate. I debated about if for awhile, then I decided to go to church. They were having a healing service that evening. I hoped to glean something from it. You know what the message was on? It was about how if you want to receive healing, you have to change what you’ve been doing. Not exactly what I WANTED to hear, but I guess it was what I NEEDED to hear, because that was the push I needed to call Bomamed. I called in March 2005, had my first appointment in April, on my birthday, of all days! I did not get my usual birthday cake because I was now on this strict diet…
The diet was a nightmare for me at first. No cakes, no cookies, nothing good. I used to love eating junk food, fast food, etc. Now I had to cook all my meals at home. It was a sad time, in the beginning. Plus, I was impatient…I wanted to be better NOW. Chinese medicine is slow because I guess when you have damage, it takes time to repair. As for the die-off symptoms, I got a cold that lasted for about 3 days. Mine wasn’t really too bad. I think I also had, and still have, a lot of vaginal discomfort from die-off or treatment. Things slowly started to improve. I noticed that with starting the diet and switching to ONLY spring water, my pelvic pain and bladder soreness went down a good 80%. My frequency also leveled out, although I did experience a relapse back in June ‘05 with it…I think now it was just die-off, and it only lasted for one day. Still, it was a little hard to handle.
Now it is August 2005. I have NEVER cheated on the diet, and I am happy with my new eating habits. I look forward to making a complete recovery. I have had amazing progress: I no longer have urethral spasms, pelvic pain is completely alleviated, for the most part, and I void AT LEAST 10 ounces!! Sometimes, I void up to 16 or even 20 ounces. My bladder feels much more calm. In fact, the only things that really bug me now…I feel soreness inside my urethral area, and my urethra feels weak, like when my bladder gets filled up, the urethra has trouble supporting the weight of the urine or something. Matia and other people who are in treatment have assured me that it is just some tissue that probably hasn’t yet healed, but I know that eventually, that will be gone, too. I also still have some vaginal irritation.

I’m very thankful to Matia. She has a wonderful staff in Raquel. Plus, there’s a really nice support group for Matia’s patients. Most of all, I am thankful to God for all the life I’ve had and yet to have and for giving me a chance to have it restored. I think miracles can happen, still, if we just have the patience to wait. For me, I feel like I’ve had a miracle. As for IC being incurable, that is a statement made by man. Man is not the ultimate authority on human life.

I will continue to update this story until I am completely recovered. If someone out there is having problems with their bladder, please give Matia a good chance to work on your illness. It might take awhile, but you’ll overcome it.

JOHN

John is a trial lawyer in Tennessee. He was a college athlete, and rugby player. He had years of discomfort misdiagnosed as prostatitis, for which he was treated with antibiotics. It would recede for a while and then come back. At one point it came back and did not go away. His symptoms were frequency and a nagging, sharp pain in his lower back and prostate area. He would go to the bathroom and not be able to urinate. He was miserable. A doctor did look around but only found inflammation which he did not think was IC, and again antibiotics were prescribed. The doctor did not suspect IC because it was thought to be primarily a women’s disease.

John went everywhere looking for relief. From a branch of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, to UCLA, to Columbia Medical Center. He had all sorts of terrible tests done. His prostate was massaged, drained and he even had surgery on it. Nothing helped. He was still miserable. A urologist in Nashville finally did a cystoscopy and diagnosed IC with Hunner’s ulcers. This was in 1998 or 1999. He was put on Elmiron. John did see a gradual improvement with Elmiron.

In 1998 or 1999 John found Matia and came out to Los Angeles to see her. She has supervised him ever since. When he comes to Los Angeles he has acupuncture treatments with Matia. She monitors his progress and adjusts the herbs as necessary.

John said that he did not totally follow the regimen but he got much better after he did what Matia told him, He tends to cheat on his diet. He knows that if he were stricter he would be doing so much better. However, even his bad spells are better than his best days before. John has a great deal of confidence in Matia. He knows that everything she does, if it does not make him better, is not going to hurt him. She has always been very kind to him.

FLORIDA

ADRIENNE

When I was diagnosed with IC in August of 2001 I thought my story began then, but now I realize it started years ago. I had always had difficult periods so when I was seventeen I was put on birth control pills to help with my heavy bleeding, cramps, and headaches. That was 15 years ago.

Nine years later I was told I may have endometriosis so I had a laparoscopy done which proved that I did have minimal endometriosis. Right after the laparoscopy I thought I had a urinary tract infection. I had had so many of them before that I just thought that was what it was. I was put on Cipro and it didn’t go away in one day like the times before. After taking the antibiotics for seven days the pressure and urgency hadn’t gone away. This time I just waited for a week or so without anymore medications and it went away on it’s own. At the time I had no idea what it was, but since it went away I just forgot about it. Shortly after that I was put on the pill continuously to avoid having my period, because I had so much pain during my period from the endometriosis. I asked and asked if this was dangerous. Over and over I was told it wasn’t.

For six years I was on the pill continuously without having a period. In those six years I was the sickest I’ve ever been with headaches, severe allergies, and of course urinary tract infections. Needless to say I had taken all kinds of antibiotics, had steriod shots for different things, and was putting synthetic hormones into my body over and over again…and not having a period to top this all off. I should’ve known this was bad for me. In May of 2001I went off the pill completely and that’s when I started feeling the agony of IC. I had pressure and urgency all the time. I urinated often, but not a lot of urine came out. I again thought I had a urinary tract infection. I took Cipro again and it didn’t help at all. I thought I had something else. So, I went to another doctor. She thought I had a yeast infection. By the way, all of these tests had come back negative. But, they kept giving me antibiotics. I kept taking them thinking that they knew best. I finally told my gynecologist that I needed some serious care that something was wrong and it wasn’t in my head. He took me seriously and sent me to a urologist in the end of July of 2001. Off I went to the urologist thinking this doctor was going to make me better and take this awful feeling of pain and constant urgent feeling of urinating away. The uro said he thought I had IC and wanted me to start on the IC diet. He also wanted to set up a cystoscopy and hydrodilation. I agreed without doing any research first. That was a dumb move for me, because these two procedures actually made me worse! After this surgery I had pain in my bladder and my urethra. Pain I had not had before and it was terrible!! It felt like something was grinding in my urethra and my bladder kept me up at night with pain, which I found out later….the pain was from my bladder having spasms. I went back to him and he was of NO help at all. He just put me on Detrol LA and told me to stay on the diet and just try to not get stressed out. That was it. His only advice. I even got a second opinion and he said the same thing.

I was depressed, confused, lost, in pain, and felt completely alone. I knew I had to take this into my own hands. I decided to do some more research. I joined a site for IC. While I was on this site I read a message on a message on a board about an alternative doctor someone was seeing. I emailed that person and she told me all about Matia. I was hesitant to try it at first, because I knew that she would have to treat me long distance being that I don’t live in California. But, I took a long look at my alternative. I didn’t want to take medications for the rest of my life that might not work and I didn’t want to be miserable forever. So, I decided to try Matia’s approach. That was in September of 2001 and I thank God everyday that I decided to go through with Matia’s treatment. She had brought me to a point where I felt a million times better in only 4 months! I am now entering my seventh month of treatment and I rarely have any bladder symptoms. When I do, they’re very slight and not the horrifying pain and pressure I felt just seven months ago! I have also recently started going to the bathroom at night only one time instead of the 3-4+ times I used to go before this treatment.

If you have IC and you’re struggling with the pain, the depression, the pressure, the sleepless nights etc.., please listen to me when I say that nothing else had helped me and no other doctor had any suggestions that were worth trying. Matia is very caring and patient. Just what a medical professional should be and she alone has diminished my IC symptoms along with other ailments I had and I know in the end I will be free to live my life without the symptoms of this dreaded illness, thanks to her.

Update
Here’s an update: I’m now a year and a half into treatment and am happy with my progress! I had extreme fatigue where I would not be able to even stand in my kitchen and cook and now I have enough energy to teach kindergarten all day long and then move furniture around in my classroom afterwards….heavy furniture I might add! That leads me to my new found strength! I have been so incredibly weak and am now able to not only lift everyday things without struggling, but like I said move furniture and work out using light weight or no weight on machines three times a week or so! These are HUGE gains for me!

I’m not always feeling 100 percent where fatigue is concerned, however I have MANY more less fatigue days and moments than before and MANY more energetic days now. As far as my bladder goes, well I don’t have very many symptoms anymore. If I have endured a lot of stress, worry, anxiety, etc., or have a lot of emotional die off then I have bladder symptoms….same kind of thing: pressure, feeling like worms are crawling around in there, even level 1-2 pain which only lasts for a day and sometimes not even a full day, and just plain old discomfort. But, if I’m rolling along in life doing quite well where stress is concerned then I’m feeling nothing in my bladder! I don’t go to the bathroom very often anymore I think I only go about twice a day during a work day where as before I was having to go every hour and a half and when I began treatment I was going constantly. During the night I get up once to go to the bathroom and I even have nights here and there where I don’t get up at all!

I’m still going through some tough die off, but I physically feel a million times better and ….I am beginning to feel NORMAL again.

JULIE

Summer 2002, I suffered what I thought was a UTI while studying abroad in Europe. I knew something was wrong when I had to pee what seemed like every minute of the day. My bladder also felt like a 50 lb. weight and ached all day long. There was even an instance or two when I lost control of my bladder before finding the bathroom. I felt so ashamed.

When I returned to the states, my gynecologist prescribed Cipro and Ampicillin for the “UTI”, but neither antibiotic worked. Later, I saw a urologist who offered to fill my bladder with water and give me a prescription for a drug that would alleviate the constant pressure in my bladder. I finally realized that western medicine did not have a “fix” for my condition. I was devastated.

That evening, I stumbled upon this website, I read Dr. Matia Brizman’s philosophy on IC and body imbalance and decided to join the SuccessandInterstitialCystitis discussion group to learn more. I took some time to talk to a few members and read as much as I could about the treatment process. I started Matia’s diet Thanksgiving weekend of ‘02. Thanks to this diet, the pain and pressure in my bladder tapered off within one month. Because I was thrilled with the results, I decided to follow through with Matia’s herb treatment (I’m a long-distance patient). I have been treating for almost 3 months with Matia. At this point, my frequency has gone from 10-12 times a day to 4-6 times a day and 4-6 times at night to 0-1 times a night. It is truly a miracle.

Though I feel the closest to normal these days, I know I still have a ways to go. I thank God for Matia’s dedication to treating patients of IC and the wonderful support I’ve received on the discussion group. I also thank Jane and Alyson for creating this website.

Update

It is Spring 2007 - 5 years since I began treatment and about 2 years since I’ve taken my last round of herbs. I’d like to say that I’m back to normal now, but that is hardly the case. I am in a better place than I was before I started having IC symptoms. Allergies, slow digestion, and chronic eczema are no longer a part of my life. What a lovely by-product of this treatment which I had only hoped to help my bladder. My outlook on life is clear and positive. My energy levels are high and most importantly - I am no longer conscious of my bladder. A few years ago, I’d said that I’ve forgotten about ever having IC and I still feel the same. I’m hiking and doing yoga and enjoying life. Matia is a gem and I am thankful for all that she has done for the IC community. Stay positive everyone!

ARIZONA

MARSHA

First of all, let me say I have had IC for 6 years. It came on suddenly and violently. My main symptoms are burning pain and spasms in my bladder, urethra, clitoris, fatigue, back pain and leg spasms. I told Matia, I would be a tough case. Doctors just wanted me to take pain meds, antidepressants and have bladder installations. I knew there was another way out there to be “healed”, not just “medicated”, so I prayed, and God led me to Matia’s site where the stories of others who were actually having success motivated me to give it a try.

I had to wait about 5 or 6 weeks to start, because Matia was leaving on vacation and thought it would be best to wait until her return. Meanwhile, I started on Neurontin to tide me over until she returned.

The first week was about what I expected– increased symptoms, up and down which scared me, but Matia said to hang in there and it would get better. Sure enough, the next week I noticed my symptoms becoming less and less.

By the third week, almost all my symptoms were under control and now we are beginning to cut back on the Neurontin. My heart rate has dropped steadily for three weeks in a row, I’m not cold anymore, my appetite is back, and I feel like living again. I even was able to go grocery shopping, cook dinner and walk two blocks with the dogs. Before treatment, my life was lived between the bed, couch and bathroom, with a box of Kleenex to catch my tears.

I know I have a LONG way to go in my recovery, but I am encouraged by the success so far and Matia’s ability to “zero” in on what the problems are for me, and she manages them. She is also very good at communicating with me and is more accessible than my doctor in town.

IDAHO

ERIKA

My interstitial cystitis came on very suddenly, but now I am convinced it had been developing for years prior. December of 2003, I developed the worse urinary tract infection ever. I woke up and went to urinate and noticed I was bleeding. I didn’t think much of it but called my physician to see if I could be checked later that day for a UTI. I never made it to my appointment as within minutes of calling I began having really bad bladder pain, urgency, frequency and started bleeding really bad. I rushed to the immediate care center and the doctor said I had a UTI and gave me a prescription for Macrobid and Pyridium. I was so scared as I had had 2 UTIs prior to this, but they were no where near as bad as this one.

Well after a week on the Macrobid I still felt a lot of pressure in my bladder, so I went back to the doctor. I was told that I had no white blood cells in my urine, but still had traces of bacteria. The doctor told me it was like my immune system wasn’t fighting the infection off. I was put on Cipro for another 14 days and told to call back if I was still in any pain after that. Well it never cleared up. In fact the day after I completed the antibiotics the urgency and pressure was back. I ended up going to my gynecologist who sent me in for ultrasounds, thinking maybe I had some cysts causing pressure on the bladder. Well all the tests came back negative and that is when she told me the pain all seemed to be related to my bladder and she suspected IC, a very puzzling, painful disease. She told me that I needed to find a urologist who was familiar with treating this incurable disease.

I went home and got on my computer, searching for anything about this mysterious disease that I had never even heard of before. The information I found was devastating. IC was a chronic, debilitating disease that had no cure. The more I read up on it the more depressed I became. I didn’t feel like eating, the pain kept me up at night and all I wanted to do was cry. A few weeks later I lay in bed praying for help for this disease. I had set an appointment with a urologist, but was dreading the visit. I got up went to the computer and typed in three words: Interstitial Cystitis and Hope. I found exactly what I desperately needed - HOPE.

I have to admit I was very skeptical at first, after all my reading, here was a site that offered so much hope, despite all the information to the contrary. There were people on this site stating they were feeling so much better, and were getting their lives back with the help of an acupuncturist in California. I read the entire website, but thought I can’t do this, the diet is impossible and everything I have read prior about IC is so devastating and without hope. Well I gave it a few days and then asked my husband and mother to check out the site. Both came to me telling me I had to try it. I decided they were right, I wanted my life back prior to IC. I called and spoke with Jane later that week and she gave me the encouragement I needed. She told me I was doing the right thing, and said to start the diet right away. I started that day and have been feeling better ever since. and menstruation. I no longer have the terrible urgency and frequency. I still have some pain now and then, but it is tolerable and only lasts a day or so, not non-stop days as in the past. Other things have improved as well. I used to have terrible migraines once a month; I have not had one in the last 9 months. I used to take 3 prescriptions for my seasonal allergies, this year I took nothing and was without symptoms. I was allergic to eggs, broccoli, bananas, and cauliflower and have been for over 10 years. Now I can eat them without any allergy symptoms. I can’t say enough about how improved my overall health is. I still am having problems with yeast infections though, which I think have contributed to a lot of my health problems. Matia is working on that though, and I know it will just take more time. Matia says that it takes a lot of patience to get through this and I am learning to have that kind of patience, as the results are worth it. The diet has become so much easier as well. Matia said to look at your meals as medicine for your body and you will change the way you feel about what you eat. You will be more aware of the things you are eating.

I thank God I found Matia. She is a wonderful practitioner of health. I am so thankful for Jane and Raquel as well. All three of these women offer so much hope to those battling with this devastating disease. They offer hope…when all else is lost. If you are considering starting this program, don’t procrastinate … let the path to health begin now!

MICHIGAN

ANNMARIE

My name is Annmarie. I am 29 years old and have been with Matia for a little over three months. My story began at a very young age. I was born with an anatomically malformed urinary system; my ureters weren’t implanted correctly in my bladder and the valves that prevent backflow of urine in to the kidneys weren’t working (actually a fairly common disorder in females). I was in and out of the hospital with severe bladder and kidney infections all the time for the first four years of my life. Needless to say, I was pumped full of antibiotics during this time and was put on prophylactic courses of antibiotics for three plus months at a time. I had surgery to correct the problem when I was four and it completely took care of the kidney infections and the bladder infections gradually improved until I stopped having them in about sixth or seventh grade.

My freshman year of college, my gyno put me on the pill to help with my irregular and excruciatingly painful menstrual cycle. It did what it was supposed to in that regard. After about six months of being on the pill, my bladder started acting up on me. I would have horrible bouts of pain, bladder/urethra spasms, urgency and frequency. At this time in my life, I had also begun drinking alcohol, having sex and eating horribly. I was a fairly typical college freshman. I think it was a combination of all of the above that started me on the path to IC.

My “UTIs” (as the docs labeled them) were increasing in frequency fairly rapidly. Once I got one…it didn’t want to go away. I would go to the doctor, he’d put me on antibiotics, I would be better for a bit, and then the symptoms would come back. This went on for quite a while. Finally, my doctor put me on a prophylactic dose of Macrodantin. I actually stayed on Macrodantin for a full year before I got the guts to tell my doctor he was nuts! It did help reduce the frequency with which I would get the infections, but it certainly didn’t take care of the problem. At this point, I was getting infections (or what I thought to be infections) at least once a month. I would hurt so badly I would sometimes just sit and cry. I would be in the bathroom every five to ten minutes and there were times, especially at night, when I would just set up camp in the bathroom. This would last a couple of days and then lessen to the point where I could actually function. I was sick to death of going to doctors. Sometimes I would just take AZO or Uristat and wait it out and sometimes I would go to the doctor and get an antibiotic. Either way, the pattern was the same. The antibiotics weren’t really helping at this point, but I still felt better emotionally and mentally if I was doing what the doctor told me to do.

I then decided to go to graduate school for physical therapy. It was a high stress time for me. The first two years of grad school, the pattern remained the same. I would have an intense flare-up every month or so, but then I began to notice that I would have mild pain at random times as well. Then things just gradually and steadily worsened over the past few years. The flare-ups were even more intense and becoming more frequent and I began to have that underlying level of pain at more regular intervals. I went through all the regular channels. My family doctor sent me to an urologist who did a cysto, urodynamics test (pure misery) and hydrodistension. He then proceeded to tell me that though there were signs of chronic inflammation and that the neck of my bladder was red and raw, that I didn’t have IC. He said I had spastic bladder and put me o Ditropan, which did absolutely no good. I went back, he changed me to Detrol, which still did no good. He then added Elavil. The Elavil actually helped with the pain somewhat, but I was only on 15 mg and I was having to take naps at work to make it through the day. I took myself off all these drugs and went to see an urogynecologist. He did a potassium test in office and confirmed my suspicions of IC. He then said “good news, you have IC but we can fix it.” He proceeded to hand me a prescription for Elmiron and told me that it has a 90% success rate and no side effects (ummm…who has he been talking to?) and also upped m Elavil. I took the stuff for three days and said screw it. I decided I was not willing to start taking more meds to try and mask the problem.

During all of these trips to and from doctors, I had been planning my wedding (married July 2002!). I was scared to death that I was going to be in pain at my wedding and on my honeymoon. I was in so much pain at this time that I would just curl up in the fetal position and cry and pray for relief. I was taking AZO like crazy, it was the only way I could function at work. The bladder spasms were awful. I was scared to go to the bathroom because I knew how much it would hurt. I was taking prescription pain meds so I could sleep at night. I had researched IC and treatment options and I was pretty hopeless. I then stumbled across this website one day. It was the first time something actually made sense to me. I talked to my husband (fiancé at the time) and we decided that when we got back from our honeymoon, we would investigate Matia’s program further.

I got through the wedding and honeymoon by taking AZO around the clock. When we got back from the honeymoon, I emailed Jane to ask her some questions. She was very supportive and encouraging. After some thought, I decided that it was what I wanted to do, what I needed to do to be healthy and my husband agreed.

I started following the diet as soon as I got home from my honeymoon and I had my first appointment with Matia in late August. The progress I have made has been incredible. I haven’t had a bad flare since mid September and for one month now, I have had very mild pain only. I can go three hours (more at times) without having to go to the bathroom and I can sleep through the night without waking. It’s nothing short of absolutely amazing. If I never got any better than this, I would be thrilled. But, Matia and I are forging ahead to get me 100% completely healthy! I have complete faith in Matia and her ability to help me heal. If it weren’t for her, I am quite sure that I would be on the road to disability. Matia is not only guiding me on the road to recovering from IC, she is leading me down a path toward optimal physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

KENTUCKY

DONNA

The year was 1990 …we were in Hilton Head on vacation with friends. One day while sitting on the beach I instantly felt pain like I had not experienced before. The pain was so intense, I honestly thought I was not going to make it back to the room. I immediately went to the emergency room…the diagnosis…..massive bladder infection. At that point, my life took on changes that would have far reaching effects.

Upon returning home, I was in the urologist office at the least once a month if not more. I was always in constant pain and was literally living on antibiotics. I tried to talk with him but his theory was the antibiotic would eventually work. I had enough Cipro in me that had there been an Anthrax scare back then I could have probably “rolled” in it and still been safe.

Finally after approximately 6 years of this fiasco, I decided to switch doctors. My new urologist immediately ran a series of test to make sure there were no tumors, etc., that could be the root of the problem, and then it was back to Cipro. He finally diagnosed me with IC, which I had no idea what it was. I was started on Elmiron, and about 5 other medications to combat this “illness.” I immediately came home and got on the Internet, reading anything and everything I could find about my new found problem. I actually began to have a “good” day every now and then, but they were few and far between. As a last resort, my urologist did bladder infusions….how fun those were! About this same time I read about Matia but decided not to pursue it, but rather go with the “conventional” medicine.

My biggest mistake was not calling Matia immediately, because after the pain of the infusions subsided, I still was dealing with the pain from the IC. After much thought, I took the big step and called her. Immediately I had a sense of “calm” that I had not felt in years. She assured me that if I was willing to “commit” to her, she felt confident that she could help me. (At this point, I think I would have walked on cut glass if it would have eased my pain). She sent the needed forms to be filled out and thus my journey with her began. She explained that diet was so important (which had never been explained to me before). This was a HUGE commitment on my part because I LOVE sweets and fruit. I had problems with the first batch of herbs that she sent. I broke out in gigantic welts all over my body. We stopped all treatment and waited for these to subside. Here again she reassured me that we would get to the bottom of the problem. We then started out again on different herbs and to put it simply, “what a difference a day makes.” I am so much better. Now my good days are many and my not so good are few. I still have flares from time to time but we address them as they occur. I have all of the confidence in the world that together we are making this work. Hope is a wonderful thing to have and I get that from her. I have been working with here about 5 months now. I know I will still have some “bumps” along the road and it is going to take time but I know that together we will conquer this horrible thing called IC.

I encourage any of you who are reading this website and are not currently working with Matia to “take the leap,” ……she is but a phone call away. For me it was the call that changed my life….it will be for you too.

COLORADO

SUSAN

I was one of those gullible people who believed their gynecologist when he said “You can stay on the pill all the way into menopause.” I was on the pill for 26 years. What a mistake! I liked being on the pill and had no problems with it, but it has caused much anguish in my life for the past year and a half.

I am one of the lucky ones in that I have a mild case of ic. I do not capitalize ic because I refuse to give it that importance. The word “I” is always capitalized and that’s what is important!

I went to three gynecologists, two urologists, one holistic doctor, and an acupuncturist after my symptoms began. Although each helped me a little in some aspect of my illness or at least eliminated other causes for my symptoms, no one knew what the problem was or how to fix it. Suffice it to say – Western medicine doctors do not have a clue how to diagnose or treat this disease. I now find their beliefs and statements about ic incorrect, uncaring, and cruel. Here’s what they said to me - “You may just have to live with this problem”; “It’s all psychological, there is some unhappiness in your life manifesting itself in your bladder”; and “I don’t have time to help you”. No wonder I went through a little depression! Matia’s words to me on my first appointment were “I can get you over this fairly quickly”.

I have been Matia’s patient for 8 months and my symptoms have drastically reduced. I now have a lot of days with almost no symptoms at all. My symptoms are/were burning, urethra spasms and knot feeling, funny electrical feelings, constant feeling of needing to urinate, and cold hands and feet. I never had pain or burning in my bladder nor did I have frequency. I did not have burning from the potassium test and during the hydro distension test I held a normal capacity. Due to not having these symptoms, I was continually misdiagnosed. Again, Western medicine does not understand it is different for everyone and it is not just the bladder that is ill. By comparison, it is uncanny how Matia understands this disease and can interpret your every symptom. Matia believes I will improve quickly because I have no other major problems except the ic; because I did not do many of the Western medicine treatments or taken many antibiotics in my life; and because I have always been a healthy eater. I don’t have a yeast problem and Matia does not believe I have a lot of bacteria either because the burning reduced so quickly. I quit the pill over a year ago and now my cycle is about every three weeks, so we are working on getting my hormones back in balance.

This is how the treatment is going for me. 1. It is hard to stay on the diet but I quickly realized how much better I felt, so it is worth it. Again I am lucky because I can tolerate some foods that others cannot such as potatoes, green peppers, onions, cream of wheat, coffee in the morning, etc. 2. I have learned to be patient. Chinese medicine is very slow but very healing. I tell Matia I am getting better inch by inch. 3. I have good days and bad days. After several days of feeling really good, bad days are scary and depressing. That’s how this disease operates. I relish the good days and know that I will have more of them as treatment progresses. Even the bad days are great compared to how I felt before I began treatment. 4. There are days when I am tired of “the fight” and I just want to be normal again and eat normal again. On those days I try to occupy my mind with other things and not think about my illness, but it is hard. 5. I have anxious feelings. After hearing Western medicine’s “We don’t know what causes it and you can’t get over it”, I still get scared about having this disease. Matia says the anxiety will just disappear when I no longer feel symptoms. She is so right because the anxious feelings are almost gone. She is so confident about her treatment.

I have written about my experiences and my symptoms hoping someone will say “That’s exactly like me”. I have written about my treatment and my food tolerances so you understand that not everyone has the same problem, the same healing time, or the same food restrictions. I have written about my feelings because it is an emotional disease and treatment and no one understands unless they too have ic (except Matia). If you are reading this website trying to decide if you should consider Matia’s treatment, stop wasting time and call Boma-Med. I promise you will not regret your decision.

I am returning to my normal life and my happiness through Matia’s wonderful Chinese herbal medicine.

OREGON

JOY

In June 2001 I had my first UTI. I went to the doctor, checked positive for bacteria, and I was given an antibiotic. I believe I got the bacteria from a hot tub the previous week. Within a day the symptoms were gone and all seemed back to normal. The following September I noticed the same symptoms: frequency and my bladder felt “funny”. I went to the doctor and she took a urine sample, which showed some bacteria. She gave me the antibiotic Macrobid, which did nothing. The symptoms remained. The doctor gave me another course of antibiotics, a sulfur drug. My symptoms increased over the next week. They included: bladder pain, major frequency, sore inner thighs, and lower back pain. Basically my whole pelvic region felt like it was on fire. We tried one more round of Amoxicillin and Pyridium, still nothing changed. My doctor mentioned Interstitial Cystitis and referred me to a urologist.

In the few weeks before my appointment I learned everything I could about IC. I was also interested in finding a natural way to treat whatever it was that I had. That is when I found Jane Peters, the co-author of this site. She told me about Matia Brizman of BOMA-Med and her experience with traditional Chinese Medicine. After seeing the urologist I was told that I either have a mild case of IC or a severely damaged bladder lining. He mentioned Elmiron. The possible side effects of hair loss, ear ringing, and that it might not even work ruled that drug out for sure. I researched and compared Chinese medicine with traditional alternatives. For me, it seemed so much cleaner and healthier. I knew that I could not live with the constant pain and discomfort that I was feeling. I would much rather treat my body in a natural way, with food and herbs. After talking with Matia I was given hope and encouragement that I could improve with her treatment. I believed that she could help me with whatever bladder disorder I had, instead of masking the pain while my situation became worse.

I began Matia’s IC treatment in mid-October of 2001. I follow a strict diet designed for IC patients and I take herbal supplements prescribed by Matia according to my symptoms. I am a long distance patient, so I do phone consults every 2 weeks and she sends me my herbs as needed. Since my symptoms are mild compared to most, I have been able to feel results right away. Over the last 4 ½ months I have had many ups and downs, but I definitely feel like positive change is happening to my body. My frequency has backed off a little, I still go to the bathroom more then I used to, but not every half hour like I did when this all began. I have bad days where my bladder burns and the pressure makes me very uncomfortable, but I can function through my day almost like normal. When I have good days I can go on 3-mile hikes, the movies, and shopping with out the stress of pain or finding a bathroom immediately. I feel like I have more control over my life than my bladder does. When this began I was losing myself to the constant bladder pain and the depression of feeling my life had been destroyed. Being able to have days when my discomfort is mild gives me so much to look forward to and the hope I need to continue to improve. Even though I have not met Matia in person, I do not feel like my treatment is not as thorough. She takes the time to listen to me as I describe everything that I am feeling. She answers all of my questions and addresses all of my concerns. She is available when you need her and is understanding and supportive of your pain and discomfort. I am thankful that I have found her.

Update, June 2002

I am approaching my 8th month and I have noticed a significant change in my body. I have gone 3-4 days with barely any bladder discomfort. I still am aware of my bladder and sometimes when it is full I feel some irritation, but for the most part my discomfort is very mild. When I do feel bad the irritation only lasts a few days and I am usually able to keep that under control with a few herb changes that Matia advises. I notice when I am very tired and dehydrated my symptoms feel worse. My frequency is almost normal, I drink lots of water so I tend to urinate more. My energy level is great and my immune system is strong. I have had no colds or flu bugs all winter and spring. I am confident that my bladder is healing and that I will continue to feel better.

Update

I have been in Matia’s care for 22 months and I am doing great. My discomfort is mild most of the time. 3-4 times a month my irritation and pressure will only last for 1 or 2 days. I no longer will have intense discomfort that lasts for a week at a time. My daily routine is much like it was prior to IC. I do not have to schedule my activities around my pain and frequent trips to the bathroom. I sleep through the night. I am comfortable traveling and I do not fear being far from a bathroom. My diet is still limited, but I do enjoy eating tomatoes and I drink coffee. At this point in my treatment I feel like I my symptoms are completely manageable

STEPHANIE

Hello, my name is Stephanie and I am recovering from IC. I wanted to post my story so that others who are in a similar situation as I was several years ago—feeling hopeless in my search for relief and answers about my illness—can find hope that there is relief, there are answers, you are not the only one going through this suffering and it’s CERTAINLY not “just in your head” as some medical professionals were leading me to believe.

As I recall the situation I was in eight years ago when all this started, I am surprised at how painful these memories still are for me. It seems like a lifetime ago, but it was a very real and terribly difficult time for me, both physically and emotionally. My illness started out as a routine bladder infection. I had a couple bladder infections that same year and the antibiotics seemed to do the trick. But this last bladder infection proved impervious to the antibiotics and after (literally) months of trying different antibiotics there was no improvement in my condition. In fact, I was much worse. In addition to trips to the bathroom at least every half hour, I also suffered joint pain, a low grade fever and the pain in my bladder and uterus area was alarming. Managing my normal daily routine was becoming impossible. Daily I would sit at home and stress about whether I should go to the emergency room, or not. My Western doctor was stumped and sent me to several specialists including gynecologists, urologists and other internists. I had more tests and procedures than I can count or name. All coming up inconclusive or worse: positive. I made the mistake of letting one doctor do an ANA test (to screen for autoimmune disorders) —which tested positive—and now insurance companies won’t touch me. I did have bacteria in my cultures, but antibiotics were not working. I was told my condition could be anything from Trichomoniasis to Lupus…and IC, but none of the doctors could find my cure.

Completely fed up with Western medicine and desperate to feel better, I turned to alternative medicine. I saw acupuncturists and chiropractors who had the best of intentions—all stating they felt they could help me, and even though I sometimes had a reprieve, my symptoms always returned. I remember feeling completely scared and hopeless as one acupuncturist threw up his hands and suggested I go back on antibiotics!

I was living in Los Angeles during this whole ordeal, and ironically enough it wasn’t until I moved to Portland Oregon that I learned of Dr. Brizman and Bomamed. A friend of mine from LA worked with a woman who had similar symptoms as mine, and was seeing Dr. Brizman for treatment. I browsed Bomamed’s website in total amazement. I completely related to the descriptions, symptoms and stories. My first conversation with Dr. Brizman was a similar experience and I was so relieved to learn that many of the other ailments I’d been enduring (psoriasis, OCD tendencies, memory loss, non-existent sex life…much to my husband’s dismay) could be related to IC, as well as the correlation of likely causes (terrible diet, 20 years of birth control pills, mono). I was a little skeptical about the efficacy of a long distance treatment, but was desperate and miserable enough to give it a try.

It’s been a little over three years since I first started treatment with Dr. Brizman, and despite my complete lack of self-discipline (I have an undying love of fast food, chocolate, and certain beverages that are definite no-no’s), I have stayed faithful in taking the daily prescribed herbs and supplements and have seen an incredible improvement. While I’m not yet 100%, I am convinced I would be by now if I had strictly followed Dr. Brizman’s diet. I had a breakthrough a couple months ago when I was delayed in sending in my herb order and ended up going a month without any herbs…and I was symptom free! I am now taking smaller doses and fully expect to be 100% in a very short time.

In writing this, it’s not been easy revisiting my past. The pain, confusion, self doubt and loss of hope I experienced made the first part of this decade the most unhappy time of my life. I’m glad it’s passed. I am healthier and in better shape now than I have been in over 15 years, and now I have the chance to share my story and give hope to others who are experiencing the devastation of IC. Bomamed is your pathway to health. It won’t be easy, but it works and I’m living proof!

NEVADA

JANE

Thirteen months ago I began working with Matia Brizman. I had debilitating bladder symptoms, chronic pelvic pain, frequency that was intolerable and was considering going on disability. I have worked for 13 months with Matia…weekly telephone consults. She is brilliant at reading an individual’s symptomology.. Basically, every week, I tell her what my symptoms are and she suggests various herbal formulas.

The herbal formulas have been right on the money. My body has responded. I’m enjoying health that I never could have imagined. I did not go on disability. My professional speaking career is booming. The only symptom that I still have is slight frequency…very slight. If you are at the beginning of the program, I encourage you to be patient and believe in the process. It does work! There is no one else in the world (and I mean in the world) that knows this disease like Matia. I shudder to think where my life would be had I not met her.

IOWA

MICHELLE

January of this year. 2002 was the beginning of my IC so in that regards I guess I am lucky I haven’t had this disease that long. I’m 23 years old and just got married last July. I am a teacher and live in Iowa. Anyway, my symptoms started out as urinary frequency, urgency, burning urination, painful intercourse, etc. After many rounds of antibiotics for suspected UTIs (even when my urine came out clean) and tons of doctors later, I had no answers of why I was sick. By February I assumed I had IC because of all the research I had done on my symptoms, but no doctors (including urologists) even knew what that was when I asked them if I had it. I endured many tests that all came out normal except for an abnormal thyroid test that my doc said not to worry about. Even after one of the urologists performed a cystoscopy, he said my bladder looked “fine”. I had also done a lot of research on a systemic yeast overgrowth and how it relates to IC and I thought that might be my problem. I have never had to worry about gaining weight–all my life I have eaten anything I wanted and always stayed around 100-110 pounds at 5′7”. So needless to say I have consumed a VERY high sugar diet for as long as I can remember. I had also been on birth
control pills for about 4 years and taken many antibiotics so I had all the predisposing factors.

In April I finally sent my records along with a letter stating that I thought I had IC to a urogynecologist who specialized in IC and he called me one Saturday and said that yes, I had IC and I was a classic case. He wanted me to come in and go through all those terrible tests so that he could actually diagnose IC, but the next day I found Matia’s website and decided not to go see this doctor and go through those tests. I didn’t need to have it written down on paper that I had IC.

In March, after finding the yeast theory, I changed my diet, went off The Pill and started taking antifungals and acidophilus which did help a little, but I was kind of scared because I didn’t know if treating myself was the best idea. So I am very excited that I now have Matia to guide me through this recovery. Matia also believes that my IC is totally related to yeast . . . it was nice to have a doctor not laugh at me when I mentioned this theory for a change!!

Update - 6 Months

I’m doing very well. I would say I’m 80% better than when I started with her in April. When I started I had terrible frequency, urgency, pelvic pain, burning, painful intercourse, fatigue, migraines, etc. Now I only pee about 6 times a day which can be considered normal, have no urgency, no pelvic pain, no migraines and have enough energy to get through the day without getting tired at all! My only urinary symptom I have left is some residual burning in my bladder, but this only starts in the evening (when it used to be all day) and is less intense than before. And I have had 2 days that I didn’t even have this so I was technically IC free those days! I only get up one time a night to pee and sleep very well.

My other problems that haven’t cleared up quite yet are pain during intercourse and I have not got my period back yet since I went off the Pill in March. Matia says it will come when my body is ready which
I hope is soon because my husband and I want to start having kids once I get better. I also usually have ragweed allergies August-October where I’m totally miserable, but this year I didn’t have a single allergy symptom!! Matia says it’s because people with healthy immune systems don’t have allergies so my immune system is starting to get strong again.

Update - 8 months.

I am still continuing to do really well. I had my period finally! The best part was I had no PMS or horrible cramps during the period which in the past years I had always experienced with every period. I guess those things are due to a yeast overgrowth and since we are getting rid of the yeast, PMS slowly gets better. My bladder is also still doing well. I have had some more IC free days and the only bladder symptom I have left is some burning and that only occurs in the evenings. I’m still pretty bloated, but that is the yeast again which we are working on. Only urinate one time at night. The mornings are the best for me. In the past couple weeks I have been able to go from the time I get up until about 1:00 in the afternoon without peeing! That is six hours! I’m very excited about my improvement and am even starting to enjoy our diet that we must adhere to because I know how healthy it is for us.

Matia is a wonderful healer and I thank God every day that I found her. I can actually feel my bladder healing as the weeks go on. Good luck to the rest of you that are her patients! You are in my prayers!!

Thank you to all of you who are part of the Yahoo group . .I have read all your posts and they have helped me tremendously! This website saved my life!!!

Thank you again,

Update

I just wanted to update my story and let everyone know I had a healthy baby boy in May, 2007 and my bladder held up just fine. I had a very uneventful pregnancy with no morning sickness and no problems really at all. I also had a normal vaginal delivery with no problems there either. I still eat very healthy and do not consume sugar, alcohol, or many processed foods. I have been IC free for a number of years now and I can thank Matia for everything—my health, a great pregnancy and birth experience, and my healthy baby. She truly is the most intelligent, compassionate doctor I have ever seen!

TEXAS

E

Before I begin to detail this incredible journey I wish to highlight that this is a testament of my “almost there” bladder-related story, and my “very there” in so many other ways story (to be addressed later). But first to elaborate what the “almost there” bladder means: from the beginning of my treatment with Dr. Brizman I kept a journal in which I would rate my days of bladder free symptoms: 100% obviously being no symptoms, 98% one mild symptom, not lasting long at all, 95% — 2 maybe 3 mild symptoms lasting around 10 – 15 minutes then gone. And so I would go down the percentage scale depending on the amount, duration and intensity of symptoms. Now the majority of my days is 100%. Once in a while I will have a 98% day and seldom I get a 95% day. I have not had anything less than 95% for a long time now. Do I believe that in due time I will experience 100% all the time– yes!! And in case you are wondering why I am writing my story at this point and not when all my days are 100%, the reason is that I am so exhilarated (understatement) by my progress over the last two years that it warrants sharing it with others who are either contemplating treatment with Dr. Brizman, or are already on their journey and are needing encouragement and support. Many of these stories were so inspiring to me during my treatment that I read them numerous times, especially on the days when my symptoms flared. I hope that my story will help to inspire, hearten and reassure others who are encountering IC that they too will heal.

My bladder history (I’ll try to be brief) is similar to many others who have been diagnosed with IC: as a child I had numerous bladder infections for reasons unbeknown to my doctors and urologists. I was on antibiotics so many times that I eventually developed an allergic reaction to one of the mainstream antibiotics usually prescribed for bladder infections. I had 3 bladder biopsies (painful) and all in vain. The results gave no clues as to what was going on. As I got older I still got infections but they started to become more sporadic: probably only 2 or 3 per year. Then in 2006 I got three infections within a space of 6 months. Antibiotics yet again! (I was also under a lot of stress at work during this time). However, the third infection did not seem to want to clear up, so I was sent to an urologist who decided to put me onto a milder antibiotic for a month (despite that fact that at this point my urine was showing no signs of bacterial infection – odd I thought) and he told me to check back with him once the course was done. I felt no relief, and I was confused about this particular “UTI”. It felt very different to all the others I have had throughout my life. Eventually the diagnosis was done (by the urologist) – IC. I was devastated to put it mildly. I had done some research on this dis-ease and what I read was not pretty. I found out about an IC support group in my area (they treat with allopathic/western medicine) and I phoned them only to realize that this dis-ease is more ugly than I initially thought. And nobody seems gets better!! “It’s a life-long dis-ease,” my urologist told me, and the women I spoke to at the IC support group confirmed this statement. I hit a depression – a bad one (no, I don’t usually get depressed – so this was one more thing I now had to deal with). My urologist believed that one of my problems is that I have a small bladder and he needed to stretch it (under anesthetic) and then I would proceed with Elmiron (allopathic drug of choice for IC) and DMSO treatments. I made the appointment and ended up canceling it (just as well because once in treatment with Dr. Brizman – I realized that my bladder can actually hold 3- 4 cups of liquid – yes I measured it J). Luckily for me, the majority of my friends are allopathic doctors, so I phoned them to ask advice. The first one told me, “Oh, I know the dis-ease, my mother-in-law has had it for years and she is very miserable — and yes, she has been doing the DMSO and the Elmiron and no, she has had no improvement”. My other MD friend told me, “What your urologist wants to do seems very drastic – first try something gentler, use the drastic route as a last option.” These conversations were my saving grace. The first confirmed what I had read about western treatment options for IC – they don’t produce the results I was searching for. The second phone call encouraged me to keep looking for a gentler, yet exceptionally effective approach to healing. The search began and I stumbled across Dr. Brizman’s website at 2 AM one morning. Upon reading about her approach to treatment and the results of her patients, I knew I had found the light in what at first seemed like an endless dark tunnel. For those of you who watch Oprah – this was what she would call my “Aha moment”. I trusted my gut feeling and scheduled my first appointment with Dr. Brizman in November 2006. The best move I have ever made and not one moment has passed that I have regretted entrusting my health to her. My initial symptoms were urethritis (something I had never experienced in all my bladder history of UTI – this was totally new to me and it was exceptionally uncomfortable), frequency, urgency, pain when my bladder was full or even slightly full, a constant feeling of “a dripping tap” in my bladder, strange sensations in my feet, and the most annoying constant dull urge. I also had to use the bathroom a couple of times at night. I started the diet in November of ’06 and within the first month of being on the diet, I was sleeping through the night. As the days and months progressed so did many of my symptoms start to diminish. My depression began to lift (pretty quickly once I started treatment and noticed results). I was on my healing journey, but like all journeys there are twists and turns and turbulences along the road. There were some good days, some OK days and some pretty bad days. On the bad days I would feel the depression wanting to sneak back in and I would start to doubt if I would ever get to this point of writing my story. My husband gave me some really good advice on bad days. He said: “Stay focused on the solution and not on the problem”. So that’s what I did. When I felt symptoms return, especially after having a good day, I would remind myself that I was working on the solution and this flare would pass, just like others had, and more good days would be on my pathway. When birthdays, and hence cake came around, or dinner parties and everyone was eating anything they desired whilst sipping a glass of wine, and I could not indulge, it took a lot of will power and strength to not sip that wine or eat that cake or chocolate etc. “Focus on the solution,” became my mantra and this got me through wishing I could be “normal” and eat and drink anything I desired like others do. I remember when I was diagnosed how, “Why me God? What have I done to deserve this?” was trespassing my thoughts all the time. But now I know. Being diagnosed with an awful dis-ease, going through some form of denial and eventually accepting that my body was not functioning the way it should, led me to finding a truth inside me that I now believe is my destiny. Not a great way to come upon this truth, a milder awakening would have been great, but IC seems to be what God (or a Higher Being – whatever your preference is) believes I needed. Had it not been for IC, I would not have met Dr. Brizman and encountered not just a healing, but also inspiration to embark on my newfound life’s purpose.

Throughout these last two years I have had plenty conversations with Dr. Brizman, and still to this day every time I speak with her I am still “blown away” at her knowledge on the human body. She never ceases to amaze me. Everything I have asked her (and I have asked a lot) she has a profound answer. Her expertise goes far beyond just bladder health. Dr. Brizman has shown me how intertwined our bodies are: mentally, emotionally and physically. I could write a book on how I have progressed (not just my bladder) under her guidance and treatment, but considering this story is already very long, I will now have to be selective with some examples (which will be hard to do) on what all Dr. Brizman has done for me: just before I was diagnosed with IC, I got weeping eczema only on my baby finger and only on one hand. I went to my doctor as well as a dermatologist who said I was allergic to the soap I was using. This really baffled me because I wash with both hands and all ten fingers – so how come only one finger was allergic and not the rest? Turns out the bladder meridian runs through the baby finger. Dr. Brizman told me that as my bladder improved so would the eczema. She was right: bladder got better, eczema went away. Before bladder days I treated the eczema with all sorts of OTC and prescription creams for many months and to no avail. I started treatment with Dr. Brizman for my bladder and my isolated eczema heals!! Again before IC, I would wake up every morning feeling congested, this too healed. I was diagnosed with IBS as a young child and have battled with it for many, many years. When I told my urologist who diagnosed IC that I have IBS he said, “We have noted that many people with IC also have IBS but we have not made the connection.” Now I ask, “Why not?” If there is a pattern, why has allopathic medicine not addressed this? So many little things that ailed me (that I never ever associated with dis-ease) got better. This brings me to expand on how effective Dr. Brizman’s approach to healing is. What she has shown me is that when we are diagnosed with dis-ease it is not isolated to one organ, because the body is so intertwined. Thus her treatment does not treat symptoms only, but focuses on whole health: mental, physical and emotional. As you might have noticed I (like many others) write dis-ease with a hyphen because I now believe that “disease” is just that: an un-“ease”, a disharmony, something not in sync with the whole. It makes sense that when one part of the body is symptomatic (in this case the bladder) the problem is not only there. Our bodies (cells, organs, tissues, blood, neurons etc) are all designed to support, heal, and strengthen the body. I recall hearing from my ob/gyn that she has come across many patients who have opted to have their bladders surgically removed hoping to find relief from IC, only to be disappointed. They still get “phantom” pain. This statement emphasizes the depth of Dr. Brizman’s knowledge on this ailment. She recognizes that IC will not heal if only the symptoms are dealt with, that this dis-ease goes far beyond only one organ, that IC is not only located to the bladder but to the body being unbalanced and has thus stopped supporting itself. Knowing this, I now believe that those poor women who have surgically removed their bladders and now have “phantom” pain, points to the reality that IC is not only bladder related, and more intervention on assisting the body to find its inner strength to heal itself is needed. I honestly know that Dr. Brizman provides this remedy. I totally believe that in many illnesses our bodies have the capabilities to heal itself, to return to its genesis of balance. Earlier I mentioned that when I started the diet, I wished I could be “normal” like others and eat and drink anything my heart desired, and now because of my enlightening journey with Dr. Brizman I realize that I am “normal”. I think I am more “normal” now than I have ever been. On this pathway to discover the harmony and balance of my body I have also discovered the perfect harmony of nature and realized that Mother Earth has provided the best dessert on this earth. Better than any pie or any chocolate (before IC days I would eat a slab of chocolate every night – for real!). This heaven-on-earth dessert is called fruit. Phase one (the most difficult) of the diet (nothing sweet) really prepares the palate to appreciate God’s given dessert. The sweetest of all. When I took a bite of my first strawberry in months, I was elevated! I never knew strawberries tasted so incredibly delicious, and bonus – it does not make you fat like chocolate does and it has so many anti-oxidants!! What a fantastic way to eat – sweet and nourishing all in one go. No human-made product (pie, ice-cream, etc.) can top that. This revelation made me think about how far away we have pulled from nature and how this has become the root of so many illnesses and dis-eases. I started to read extensively on nutrition and diseases, and found many, many links. My passion for correct eating and body balancing increased so much that many of my friends and family were coming to me for nutritional eating advice. I finally had my answer to “God, why me?” and “What have I done to deserve this?” My newfound life purpose was at last clear to me: I am now in the process of studying to become a certified nutritionist and embarking on a PhD on Holistic Health.

In closing I want to take this opportunity to say, “Hang in there”. Yes, it is a tough journey: it reminds me of a movie that starts at the end. A movie that opens with the result of the preceding action, and at first we don’t understand, but as the film plays out and we see what led up to the situation the character is in; we eventually “get it”. You too will get your answers and your healings. What helped me along the way was to think about it this way: by the time the body becomes symptomatic (frequency, urgency, pain etc) the dis-ease has already been brewing for quite a while. Looking back now I realize that the eczema, the UTIs, the night-sweats (which by the way have also gone now J), the emotional flares, the IBS where all the preceding events that eventually erupted and peaked into IC. This journey was like watching that film that starts at the end and begins to unravel backwards as time goes on. The ailments (as listed above and there more) were the first to start to get better (which makes sense now, as they were the fist to start ‘festering”) and then eventually when the rest of my body was strong enough again to help my bladder, it (my bladder) could then take that major, major leap onto the wellness path as well. Once Dr. Brizman had cleaned out all the preceding “scenes” (movie analogy) then the whole picture came together, and the end (the bladder which improved the last) justified the beginnings (the frustrations of the diet, the twists and turns of this dis-ease etc). I know that this whole body improvement, and the discovery of my newfound purpose would not have occurred had I not got IC, which ultimately led me to Dr. Brizman. I speak my truth when I say that had it not been for Dr. Brizman’s unfaltering care, incredible support: especially when I was fearful, her genuine concern, her dedication, and her incredible, incredible knowledge I don’t think I would be writing my success story. I thank God for her everyday!! Truly!

NORTH CAROLINA

BARBARA

I have had IC for eight years. I was 54 when my symptoms started. I woke up one morning and had IC. As I look back I remember that I had had frequency at times, mostly in the mornings for several years prior to the onset of IC.

I tried all the usual treatments and medications that are available for IC. Nothing really helped much. My main symptoms were frequency, burning, irritation and pressure. About a year and a half ago I started Dr. F’s long term antibiotics. After four months I could stand the yeast no longer. Even taking anti fungals and adhering to a yeast-free diet I still had a big problem with yeast. After that I took Biotic Silver for 16 weeks, no change. I then took Diflucan for 28 days. I got a vaginal yeast infection the last week I was on Diflucan. I had been trying to decide about starting treatment with Matia. Camille had told me about her prior to my starting the antibiotics. ( Thank you Camille).

In February of 2002 I started with Matia. I am going into my eighth month with Matia. I have had some improvement but still have a way to go. I will stick it out and stay until I am well.

It has been a long and a difficult road for me. I have been on my own in my struggle with IC. I am so grateful to have found such a caring doctor that I have found in Matia. I thank God for her.

MARYLAND

ANONYMOUS

I received the email regarding Oprah. I hope that she does the show and does it in a mature, compassionate and informative fashion.

I’ve had this horrible condition for about 10 years. I was suicidal for many of them. However, I have been helped immensely during the last 2 1/2 years by Dr. Matia Brizman in L.A. She is a Dr. Of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Boma-Med clinic. I know that the NVA focuses on pharmaceutical research and traditional western medicine practices however, I must say that none of that ever helped me - only made me much much worse. I encourage you and others in the NVA to talk to Dr. Brizman about her methods of treatment. She is truly a remarkable woman and healer.

Please do not put limits on what NVA will explore in order to help women with vulvodynia. Dr. Brizman literally saved my life. And now I am able to enjoy my life again and live with minimal to NO PAIN!!!! I NEVER believed it could happen. Again, Dr. Brizman SAVED MY LIFE. I am sure that she could do the same for at least some of the other brave women out there struggling with this. In fact, I think Dr. Brizman should be on Oprah!!! She has the most comprehensive and practical knowledge of ANYONE I have ever met regarding vulvodynia. This includes each and every one of the 35 (yes, 35) MDs who I have seen for help with this horrible condition.

SOUTH DAKOTA

LISA

Hi Friends,

I thought I would take a moment to share my amazing success story with all of you who are at the beginning of your journey on the road to recovery. My story begins when I was a child. I remember feeling the burning sensation very young. As young as 5 or 6.I constantly felt pain through my young teens and through High School. During my senior year I had to leave my friends and attend home school because I was missing too many classes and we needed to find out what was wrong with me. Six months later, I was diagnosed with IC.

My journey to recovery began in 2004. When I started seeing Dr. Brizman. I was living with pain everyday. And no joke my pain was CHRONIC, and HIDEOUSLY painful, which lasted hours!!! I peed razor blades. Sex hurt like a bitch too. That was the real icing on the cake.

So I met with Dr. Brizman in 2004 and started taking her magical herbs and began the diet, which was no small feat. I mean, I am a serious chocoholic and love love love sugar. But, the bladder didn’t lie and it was obvious that sugar = pain. Harsh. But one must rise above temptation in pursuit of a pain free life.

I began to notice a difference in my pain probably after 6 months of treatment. And the first 6 months were no walk in the park. It was haaaard. But I ALWAYS 130% believed in Dr. Brizman and her plan. NEVER EVER did I have a doubt! And let me add that I come from a family of Western Medicine: my father, his brother and my mom’s brother, my uncle, are all pharmacists. So skepticism was always around my corner, but never was I deterred.

After a year of treatment things really started to improve. I could eat more. I wasn’t missing work. I could go pee multiple times at work, instead of holding it in all day in fear of the pain that would come. I could have sex with out being bed ridden for days after. I finally felt normal.

By the end of my second year of treatment I was simply a new Lisa. Still super funny, but lighter as a person. Stronger and happier, duh. It was the first time in my life I felt like this and I knew I had to make a change. I broke up with my tool bag boyfriend, and with in 6 months I was living in Barcelona, Spain.

I went to study Spanish for 5 months and ended up living there for a year and a half. I’m not articulate enough to describe how blissfully happy I was. Even in Europe I continued to have appointments with Dr. Brizman and my herbs were shipped to me but I was taking less and less. By the time I got home I was no longer taking them. I still feel GREAT.

In conclusion, if it wasn’t for Dr. Brizman, I would never have followed a dream of living in Europe or accomplished one of my major goals in life (to speak fluent Spanish). I would have never fallen in love in a romantic foreign country, and I would never have imported my sexy Spaniard to the US to begin our lives together here. I found true happiness thanks to Dr. Brizman.

Be strong my friends.

Tags: Success Stories

New York

RAYANNA

Hi, my name is Rayanna. I am 8 years old and a patient of Matia. My story starts when I was a baby and had a respiratory virus. The doctors gave me Albuteral and Pedipred (a steroid) to help me to breath. Unfortunately those drugs compromise your immune system.

When I was 3 and started to potty train, since my immune system was not working like it should, I was susceptible to UTIs which I started getting every 3-4 months. The doctor ran tests to see if there were any problems that were causing them but there was nothing abnormal so after two years of several infections he put me on a low dose of daily antibiotics. The problem was I now started to get what we thought were infections and vaginal rashes but my labs came up normal. The doctor just decided it was an irritation in my urethra and kept me on the antibiotics.

After two years my parents decided that I had enough antibiotics and took me off. (Around that time my mom found Matia and became a patient because she was having UTI symptoms and no infection). I was alright for about 6 months and then I started having burning in my bladder and the feeling I had to go to the bathroom even when I just went. I was tested many times and no infection.

My mom started having me work with Matia around Thanksgiving (2003). It took a few weeks for me to feel much better but once I did I just kept getting better and better. I am on a fairly strict diet and can’t have sugar or treats. The diet is hard, but as my mom keeps telling me it won’t be forever. Since the herbs started working I have only had one bout of feeling bad and we feel that was from eating too many things that contain sugar. It’s hard being 8 years old and having to say “no” to all the sweet things people put in front of kids. Unfortunately the antibiotics have damaged my bladder and it needs time to heal. My mom sent my urine in to a special lab to be tested and Matia says it’s the cleanest lab she’s seen come back. You see the antibiotics kill everything good and bad in your system and as a result they also hurt my bladder.

Several good things have happened since my treatment started. My rashes are gone. I also used to complain that my bones ached all the time. My bones feel better too. I eat lots of vegetables and I know when I grow up I will be healthy because I know how important it is to eat right and limit my sweets.

This was a very scary time for my family and me. It’s hard to hear the doctor say there is nothing out there to make you feel better but I know there is and her name is Matia. We prayed for someone to help us and she was our answer to prayer. If you have problems like mine, please give Matia a try. She will take good care of you and make you feel better. It will take some time, as I am learning, but I know I have time on my side and one day I will be completely healed.

“Written by Rayanna’s Mom, M.J., whose story also appears here.”

M.J.

IC started for me during Christmas of 2002. (It had been brewing before that but I became symptomatic around Christmas). I had what I thought was a UTI starting, and because we were going away for the holidays I thought I should get it checked out. They saw things in my urine so they prescribed antibiotics and off I went. Well they didn’t work as they always had in the past so I just thought I needed a stronger prescription. When I got back and called, they said there was only one problem, I didn’t have a UTI, the labs came back normal. That was crazy, something was wrong. I still had frequency and the constant urge to pee, especially at night. I had discomfort after I urinated that lasted for many hours. I also felt some burning, itching, soreness etc that came and went from day to day. I went in to see the doctor and he said I had a prolapsed bladder. Could this be causing my symptoms, maybe, maybe not, he wasn’t sure so more antibiotics, Ditropan for a while and then Detrol. It seemed to help with the frequency but the uncomfortableness was getting worse. We then discussed surgery. I was also craving sugar like crazy. I had always loved my sweets but this was getting worse.

I started to look to the Internet to find answers. Every time I put my symptoms in, back came this disease IC. I asked my doctor and he immediately said “NO” and wanted to try other things. I just couldn’t figure it out and the more I read on the IC sites the more frightened I became. I knew in my heart it was IC and the prospect for treatment was hopeless. In March, after 3 months of going back and forth about what to do I just prayed to God, not for him to take it away, but for him to lead me to someone who could help me. That night I found Jane and Alyson’s site which led me to Matia. It was an answer to my prayers. I started the diet the next day and threw away my birth control pills, I had only taken these for two years and it was for painful periods not anything else, so out they went. I started with Matia about 3 weeks later and I have been on the road to recovery since.

I am now in month 7 of treatment ( 8 months total ) because I started the diet a month before. I have to say I am feeling great. Matia thought it was antibiotics, sugar and the birth control pills that led me down my path. Pretty quickly after I started the diet I started to feel a little better so I knew I was on to something. Matia told me she could turn this around fairly quickly and she did. Each month I felt a little better. I had good and bad days but they kept going better. The amazing thing was that each month she was so right in her description of how things would go. My uncomfortableness was less each month and the times I felt bad after I urinated decreased. My frequency improved and it got less and less. I still had good and bad days but they became good and bad times of the day instead of all day. One thing I did that was so helpful in this treatment was to keep a journal of the days and pain. It really helped me to stay positive, see my progress and describe my symptoms to Matia.

Today, I feel almost normal, a twinge here and there but I could easily live like this for the rest of my life although I truly believe this will go away too. Other things have gotten better also and what’s really amazing is I didn’t ask for help with them. My constipation is better, no cottonwood allergies this whole spring/summer, cold hands are gone, my cramps/bloating that caused me to go on the pill in the first place have been gone since I started treatment, my night sweats went away and guess what, no more problems feeling like I had a prolapsed bladder. Matia says when you have a healthy immune system these things don’t happen and she is SO right.

The diet is ok, I can eat and drink everything on list 1 and 2 and I find I don’t mind at all. I think other people feel worse about it than I do. I know I will never go back to my old ways of eating and I am trying to turn things around for my family to spare them problems later in life. I also believe there is another plan God had for me in getting this disease and finding Matia. Not only was it to see how I was living, change my health and draw closer to him but it is to help my daughter Rayanna who probably has the beginnings of IC as I write this. Matia is now helping to get her back to health and out of pain.

I started this journey not know anything about Chinese medicine but I now completely believe in its ability to heal. I share my story with anyone who will listen and know I am going to come out stronger and balanced both physically and spiritually. I thank God for Jane and Alyson for starting this site and Matia and her staff for helping me to feel better than I ever though I could. I also am so grateful for my husband, family, friends and and my support group because they have encouraged me every step of the way. If you are thinking about starting, please talk to Matia. She knows this disease and will give you everything she’s got to get you on the road to recovery. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. She’s only a phone call away. God Bless!

DEBORAH

My name is Deborah. Let me start off by saying that Matia is an angel. I cannot stress enough how much better I feel since beginning my treatments. About 14 months ago I was literally suicidal. I went from being the happiest person alive to wanting to die literally overnight. The only reason I am still around is because of Matia. Not only is she the kindest and sweetest person with a tremendous heart, but she also has so much patience. It’s unbelievable!!! She also has the ability to give you your life back. That is extremely powerful. Many doctors claim they can help you with drugs and intrusive procedures, and ultimately end up hurting you even more. There is a profound difference between someone that claims they can help you, and someone that does help you!! Matia is that person!! Matia not only helps you, but she is honest with you!! If she cannot correct something she will tell you flat out. Although, I believe there is a cure for any disease. I believe there isn’t anything in the ground that God created that cannot cure any disease or ailment.

I have learned so many lessons and received so much information while walking this path. I use the term walking because this is not a path you can run down. It is a slow healing process that teaches you many lessons, lessons that you may have closed your eyes to in the past. Lessons you will treasure for the rest of your life.

The most powerful tool in the world is information. Information enables you to be happy, healthy, successful, and in control. The more you know the more in control you will be. Matia gives you much of this information. I cannot begin to tell you how much control I now have over my life. Before getting IC I allowed everyone to control me. Which I feel is one of the reasons I got IC in the first place. I went against my own instincts, and allowed other people to make decisions for me.

I no longer allow this I to happen. I have learned to use the word NO. I not only allowed them to control my health, but I also allowed them to control my mind. I was very passive, and never ever fought back. I also had the tendency to give up easily. I no longer do any of those things. If someone hurts my feelings, I let them GO!! I do not feel the need for someone like that in my life.

Now let me tell you my story with IC. I have been diagnosed with IC, a devastating disease, which steals you of your health, happiness, and unfortunately your life as you knew it. I have read about people that say they would rather have cancer, or be paralyzed. I also felt this way a year ago when I first felt my bladder pain, but I no longer have those feelings. I am beginning to realize that this condition is reversible. It is not forever. It is only temporary. As long as you have the patience it takes to heal, and get through this very tough treatment. You can recover from anything as long as you have the patience to get through the bad times. That’s all this is, is a bad time. Not a bad life, or eternity, just a bad time. It will come to an end. Everything is reversible, when you find the right people to help you. Matia is that right person! There is no one else that understands this disease like her, PERIOD!!

The IC started brewing when I was eleven. I had developed a fever of 105. I went into the hospital for five days, and was put on an IV of antibiotics. Since that horrible day I have had to deal with all sorts of health problems. I had mild bladder discomfort when I would get sick. I had minor fibromyalgia, and I would have to get up 2 or 3 times a night to go to the bathroom. During the day I was not uncomfortable, only at night. I would have to sleep curled up in a ball. I never slept out, because any little thing would wake me up. This is how I lived my childhood. Very uncomfortably. Then when I was 26 I got a minor yeast infection. The only catch was that I never heard of yeast infections. The doctor I went to did not know what was wrong with me, and so I started to live off antibiotics not knowing what else to do. Anyway, years later I realized all I had was a yeast infection. Oh well!! I am not sure how long I took antibiotics for, but it was probably two years. I took Cipro, of all the drugs to take. No doctor ever told me how dangerous this drug was. Eventually a nun told me about a nutritionist. I went to him and he told me I had the immune system of someone with AIDSs. He put me on a very strict diet. He told me that I would have to eat this way the rest of my life!! Well needless to say that brought on tremendous depression. I tried the diet for a while but eventually depression gave in, and I started to eat junk food. Well that of course made things worse. And I knew I had to find someone to help me. I began to search for information on the internet. That is when by chance I found Matia’s website. Thank God!!

Matia told me in the sweetest voice, Deborah you are going to be healthier, and happier than ever before. Of course, at the time it did not make me feel any better because when you’re in so much pain nothing anyone says helps. I began treatment right away. When I first started treatment with Matia I was so angry at myself for letting this happen to me. I could not believe how I did not listen to myself. I am 35 years old and all I ever wanted was to have children. Now I may not be able to, because I also have a prolapsed uterus. Anyway, I started treatment a year and a half ago. Since then I have had many ups and downs. I feel so much better than I did a year ago. I had severe bladder pain, I think I had ulcers but I am not sure. I also had severe fibromyalgia, and TMJ. I was extremely dehydrated, and had very dry skin. My hair was falling out in clumps. I had very bad vision. I would see black spots. My eyes were extremely dry and red. I also aged about 5 years or more. My skin was very red. My skin became very sensitive, and raw. I had stomach pain, and maybe ulcers. I had IBS and colitis. Bad breath, and aching joints. My uterus dropped, and maybe my bladder. I had vulvodynia. And had been extemely nauseous.

During the last year a lot of these symptoms have gone down. My fibromylgia is almost gone. My skin is a little bit better as far as moisture goes. My hair does not fall out anymore. My bladder pain has gone down. Sometimes I don’t feel my bladder at all. My stomach is so much better. It used to keep me up at night, and now I hardly ever feel it. My colitis is getting better. I still have a very long way to go before I am 100% better. I know that a year from now I will be a very different person. I do not have to sit and wonder if I will be better I just know that I will.

I will write an update when I am feeling even better. I want everyone to know how I am progressing. I feel that once I am better I will be so much stronger physically and spiritually. I know that I am better off for having IC because it has taught me so much. I learned to be independent, and to listen to my own voice. My instincts are my best friend. There are many people in the world who are much worse off than myself. I pray for them, and am so grateful for my second chance. I believe everything happens for a reason.

When I was so sick and looking for answers I went to numerous doctors (who by the way could not help me), and there were times that dealing with the nurses or secretaries was impossible. They would be inconsiderate, and have no compassion, or just simply not give you the time of day. This is not the case at Boma-Med. The staff is unbelievable. They are so sweet and kind. They have an enormous amount of compassion, and tons of patience. They do not make you feel like you are bothering them, or act like they don’t have time for you. The office manager’s name is Raquel and Jane is Matia’s right hand person. They are both great!!! They do not blow you off, and are understanding with your situation. These are the kind of people you want to deal with when you have such a horrible disorder. When you’re so sick you need compassion, and heart. They have both!!!! God Bless Deborah!!

E.J.

It is 6:30a.m. in the morning and I have just woken up and am getting ready to go workout at the gym

My name is E. J. I am 41 years old and have been living with I.C. for several years. I am now symptom-free 99% of the time. I owe my newfound life and restored health and happiness to Dr. Brizman. Here is my story.

A few years after the birth of my daughter, I began experiencing a variety of health problems. This was quite alarming to me because up until this point I was an extremely healthy, athletic, and energetic person. It started with hair loss. The hair on my legs stopped growing. I started losing my eyelashes and my eyebrows and soon the hair on my head began to thin dramatically. I got all kinds of tests done. I went to the top hair-loss specialist in NYC. The tests came back inconclusive and the specialist had no answers for me.

Shortly thereafter I began feeling extremely exhausted all of the time. It got to the point where I could barely get up in the morning. I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and spent the next year in bed. I found a nutritionist who specialized in CFS. I followed her diet, took herbal supplements, and recovered most of my energy.

Within several months, however, I began experiencing problems with my bladder. Frequency and urgency were my initial symptoms. I assumed that I had a urinary tract infection and went to my doctor. Even though the tests came back negative, my doctor prescribed antibiotics. This went on for about a year. My tests always came back negative, and my doctor still prescribed antibiotics.

Soon, the antibiotics were no longer working. Then the symptoms began getting more severe. The frequency and urgency were coupled with intense bladder pressure and extreme pelvic pain. Even walking short distances caused me great discomfort. Every time I urinated, my urethra felt like it was on fire. Within a few months, I was having great difficulty urinating at all.

My quality of life was rapidly deteriorating. I was getting up in the middle of the night so many times that I began to sleep in the bathroom. Most nights, I did not sleep at all. In the day, I was in the bathroom every 15 minutes—and that was a good day!

My wardrobe completely changed. I was used to wearing jeans my entire life. Suddenly, anything touching my abdomen was terribly uncomfortable. The only thing I could wear was oversize dresses.

Sex became impossible. Sexual intercourse was excruciating and heightened my bladder symptoms exponentially. Even if I managed to achieve an orgasm through alternative means, I was left with a stabbing pain in my urethra and clitoris for hours afterwards.

Although I was not incontinent, I was so afraid that I would not make it to the bathroom in time that I began to wear adult diapers. It was especially humiliating and agonizing trying to explain this to my then four-year-old daughter. Soon it began to be too difficult for me to leave my apartment. It was all I could do just to take my daughter to and from school each day. I missed all family events, friends’ parties, trips, movies, and our family Thanksgiving tradition of attending the Macy’s Day Parade.

Within a short period of time, I began experiencing additional symptoms. My hip joints began to hurt constantly and became extremely stiff. I began forgetting the names of common objects. I had difficulty recognizing my neighbors and recalling the names of my friends and family. I also began to have allergic reactions to the most common foods. I began to break out in hives all over my body regularly after meals and snacks. I soon had to make the difficult decision to close down my highly successful baking business because I was just too sick.

By this time, I had gone to countless doctors (urologists, gynecologist/urologists, gynecologists, and allergists.) Most told me that my problems were psychological and that I had to retrain my bladder because I had simply gotten into the “bad habit” of urinating too frequently. Others wanted to drug me up to relieve the pain and reduce the bladder symptoms or to have me catherize myself daily and inject a medicine that would coat the lining of my bladder. One doctor even considered removing my bladder altogether!

On Thanksgiving evening, 2003, I was rushed to the emergency room in anaphylactic shock after taking a sulfur drug that my doctor had prescribed to me for my bladder symptoms. I was dying and I remember thinking that I wanted to die and be done with this body that was quickly deteriorating and in endless pain. Luckily, I survived and went straight to the Internet in search of alternatives to all the other Western conventional IC treatments. (Incidentally, not one doctor diagnosed me with IC.) This is how I discovered Dr. Brizman.

The testimonial website that her patients had set up was the first time I had ever heard of people recovering from IC. I was incredibly excited and full of hope. Dr. Brizman’s own website was both illuminating and a bit sobering—the diet seemed rather extreme (I was a vegan for 10 years and had not eaten meat for 20. I lived on almost all of the foods that were now apparently forbidden in this treatment.) Also, the treatment seemed long and it seemed strange to be working with a doctor over the phone. But, I had no other viable alternative. Western medicine had failed me and I was willing to try anything. Luckily, we got back some tax-refund money and used it for my initial consult with Dr. Brizman and my first round of herbs.

I cannot write or talk about Dr. Brizman without crying. Talking to her on the phone the first time was a truly moving experience. She was the first person I had talked to, since I had become sick, that understood what I was going through. Dr. Brizman is a gentle, thoughtful, honest, empathetic, intelligent, reassuring, compassionate, and personal doctor. She explained everything to me without being patronizing or dismissive. I felt like I was talking to a friend. All the questions that I had over the previous 18 months were answered—even the embarrassing ones about sex! (Her recommendations for dealing with flare-ups really worked!) We were on the phone for several hours and in that time I learned that I was not going crazy and that all my symptoms (bladder, hair loss, joint pain, memory loss, allergies) were related to each other. They were all symptoms of the underlying causes of IC.

Within 3 days of going on the new diet, my symptoms were reduced by 50%!!!! (Although the first time I ate fish—filet-of-sole—I felt like I was competing in a Vegan Fear Factor final test!) After a few months of experimenting with the herbs, my symptoms were reduced by over 85%!!! I was out and about. I was pain-free most of the time. I was only getting up once a night to use the bathroom. I was no longer wearing diapers. I could actually wear my jeans again. Even if I never got any better than this I would have been happy.

Now, I must be honest with you all. I have followed this diet to the T. I never cheated—not even once. (Well, O.K., maybe once. I tried a face cream that Dr. Brizman strongly discouraged me to use. My face immediately swelled-up like a bright red balloon and all the skin peeled off one week later!) I lived on only a few kinds of foods for almost 11 months. I lost a lot of weight in the beginning of this diet. (I went down to 98 pounds.) I have since regained it all once I was able to add some carbohydrates back into my diet. I have had nothing but water to drink in 13 months. I have had no sugar of any kind or refined grains or fermented foods. I had my first piece of fruit 11 months into the treatment. I am now 13 months into treatment. I am eating almost all vegetables, nuts and beans, and whole grains again. I am able to eat a few kinds of fruit. I am able to go out to eat. I must still include an animal protein in each of my meals. I have not had hives in almost a year. My hip joints are completely back to normal and my memory is greatly improved. 13 months into treatment with Dr. Brizman, I am symptom-free 99% of the time. (I still get a very minor flare-up around the time I ovulate.) And, Dr. Brizman just gave me the green light to try and get pregnant again!

I now have phone appointments with Dr. Brizman every eight weeks. She is incredibly accessible. If I have a question in between appointments, I simply shoot her an email. Dr. Brizman replies in 24 hours and usually sooner than that. She is very available in case of an emergency. Dr. Brizman has always been calm, comforting, reassuring and positive even in my scariest moments in the treatment when I experienced a temporary setback, a severe flare-up, or an unusual symptom. Dr. Brizman treats each patient as an individual. She develops a treatment program for you based on your particular symptoms and medical history. Dr. Brizman hand-makes to order the herbal formulas she prescribes to you. She has even developed a line of health and hygiene products that are safe for IC patients to use!

I remember being somewhat skeptical at first when I read the stories other patients wrote about Dr. Brizman. They were so full of praise and miraculous recoveries that I was worried that this was all a scam or that Dr. Brizman was some kind of strange medical guru who seduced desperate ICers into becoming forever emotionally and medically dependant on her. Well, nothing could be farther from the truth. Dr. Brizman is the real deal. If you follow her treatment diligently you will get better in eight months to three years. If your insurance does not cover this treatment, and you are financially strapped, I encourage you to do what I did and find another means to pay for it (e.g. borrow the money from family or friends.) Dr. Brizman has always found a way to make the treatment both most cost effective and medically efficient for me. Her intention is to get you back to a normal, healthy, and productive life as quickly as possible—not to drain you of your life savings.

This past Thanksgiving, I attended the Macy’s Day Parade with my husband and my daughter for the first time in two years. I was sandwiched in a crowd of thousands for more than four hours. I never once had to leave to use the bathroom. I never thought about it at all. There I was watching my daughter laugh at the clowns, clap with the bands and cheer for all her favorite cartoon character balloons. I couldn’t stop laughing and crying myself. It was astonishing for me to think that just one year before I was lying in a hospital emergency room bed hooked up to IV’s with doctors frantically trying to save my life while all I could do was pray for death. This Thanksgiving I had a lot to be thankful for—a great husband, an adorable daughter, and my restored health and happiness. I was and am especially thankful for my good fortune in finding Dr. Brizman. Because of Dr. Brizman, I have my life back again.

In peace,

SARAH (not real name)

My problems with my bladder began in August of 2001. I was 25 years old, had a successful job in Chicago, lived in the city with friends, and was leading a very happy life. That all changed one day. I woke up one morning with urgency, frequency, and pain, all which came on very quickly. I had never had a bladder infection, but assumed that that was most likely what it was. I went to my doctor, who tested me, found bacteria in my urine, and prescribed seven days of antibiotics. After a week, I still had the same symptoms, and went back, expecting him to find lingering bacteria. That wasn’t the case, however. The bacteria had been killed, yet I still had symptoms of an infection, so he sent me home with another ten days of a different kind of antibiotic, and referred me to a urologist, whom I was to see if I didn’t feel better within a week.

I did see that urologist, since I still felt terrible weeks later. I primarily had urgency & frequency – I had to go to the bathroom at least once an hour, and had spells during which I had to go every 10 minutes for several hours at a time. It had become incredibly frustrating at work, since I had an office job, where I could normally sit for hours at a time without leaving my desk. The constant uncomfortable feeling in my bladder had become a major problem - even my 20 minute commute to work seemed like an eternity, and some days it was near impossible. Activities that I had done on a daily basis had become a major challenge for me – sitting through a movie, going to a one hour class, going to baseball games, even taking a cab ride. As time went on, I also began to have terrible pains shooting through the entire lower half of my body. This would happen out of the blue, and when it did I could barely stand up, the pain was so bad.

I then had a cystoscopy done under anesthesia at an excellent hospital in my area, and they found nothing indicative of IC – just a little redness and irritation, which they determined was not the cause of all of my problems. After seeing two more doctors in the area, I finally went to the Mayo Clinic where I had a number of invasive procedures done. They came up with the same answer – my bladder showed only slight redness, and they determined that I just had lingering bacteria which was causing my symptoms (even though their test results showed negligent bacteria). I was put on suppressive antibiotics indefinitely, and given Detrol to relax the bladder muscles. Several months and six doctors later, I had been given almost 20 prescriptions for everything from antibiotics and Ditropan to antidepressants. I rarely took any of them because I wasn’t ready to throw my entire body into disarray just to mask the symptoms of an underlying problem. I had begun to think it was just something I had to live with, when I came across a patient of Matia’s, and started chatting online. She directed me to the Bomamed website, and at a loss for any answers from Western medicine, I decided to give it a shot. I have to admit that at the beginning I was incredibly skeptical. I am about as straight as an arrow, mainstream thinker as you can find. I’m a business person. I take a very logical and conservative approach to life. Any illness I’d ever heard of had an answer in the form of traditional treatments. Chinese medicine had never even crossed my mind…until this point.

I set up my initial consultation with Matia, and immediately felt much more comfortable than I had with any of the other doctors I had gone to. She actually understood the symptoms that the other doctors did not. She asked tons of questions in order to really understand my story and figure out what the underlying problems were. Over the next several months, I talked to Matia on a weekly basis, and based on how I was feeling and my answers to her questions, she would alter the herbs I was taking. After a while, we spoke every other week.

For anyone considering the process, I think the most important thing to know is that you have to be patient. That did not come easy for me…..there were definite ups and downs throughout the entire process, and many days I was pretty close to throwing in the towel. I had days, and even weeks that I thought I was going backward instead of forward, but I finally started to see more and more good days creeping in. I tried to focus on those days, knowing that I was getting healthier slowly but surely. For me, the process took a good two years before I could really say that I felt like I had beaten this thing. It was well worth the wait!! I hung in through the numerous changes in herbs, the ups and downs, and maybe the hardest, the change in diet. At about the two year mark, I reached the point that I felt like I was back to leading a normal life, and can now say that I am about 99.9% healthy. I still take a maintenance dose of herbs and supplements, primarily to fight yeast (this is one of my major problems - I still get occasional yeast infections.) I am now back to, for the most part, eating a normal diet, although I am still careful to avoid a lot of sugar.

Looking back over the past several years, I still do not have an answer to what caused me to develop IC, but I am sure that several things contributed to it. I had taken antibiotics long term for several years when I was young, I never paid attention to my diet, which included a lot of sugar and junk food, and I worked in a fairly stressful work environment. In hindsight, I’m sure that each of these factors contributed to my health issues, but after working with Matia, I have a different mindset about taking care of my health, especially with regard to diet. I still sometimes cannot believe that after all of the doctors and different types of medicines I was given that Matia was the only one that helped me get better. I hope that anyone suffering with IC will look into Bomamed and get started on the road to recovery – I am incredibly thankful that I was lucky enough to find Matia, and hope that anyone else suffering with the same problem can be so lucky.

LARA

I guess you can say my IC started sometime in 1999. I had what I thought was a typical bladder infection. I went to the doctor and got a normal course of antibiotics except my “infection’ never went away. That started my journey of traveling the country to every urologist, gynecologist and specialist known to man. I was given the typical test for IC under anesthesia and they said I did not have IC. After about a year my symptoms kind of just went away, which I am told has happened to many others. Then, in the fall of 2002 my IC came back with a vengeance. I had urgency, pressure and vulvodynia all the time. I was in so much pain, that I could barely make it through the day. I was holding down a full time job and, at the time, I had my own office so I basically alternated between my work and crying for hours at a time.

This time I returned to the doctors demanding answers. I had so many tests, I don’t even know where to begin. I remember going to one “top” urologist for probably the 5th time that month and I remember overhearing him talking to his nurses about me and why I kept coming there and that he basically had nothing else to give me. I felt completely desperate, I was on over 10 different medications, none of which helped and all of which gave me other problems in addition to the ones I already had. After literally having a nervous breakdown, I decided there had to be another way. I started doing my own research and stumbled upon this site. I was able to get in touch with Jane and Alyson who were so helpful and supportive and who really answered all of my questions,

I stopped all my medications and started with Matia in January of 2003. To say I was scared was an understatement. I relied on medications for years and even though they were not helping me, I was so scared to try something new. I never really thought about alternative medicine and had no idea what to expect. I remember my first conversation with Matia. I felt such an unbelievable relief. She was so calming and understanding that I immediately knew, no matter how long it took, I would be ok.

I had a very long road. I had always been healthy but the diet was extremely hard for me. I basically ate meat and broccoli and cauliflower for a year. I want you all to understand and know this. I got worse before better. There was a time I thought about stopping treatment. We had to change my herbs many times before we found what worked, but Matia never gave up. This does not happen to everyone, but it did to me. I hung on, and it was the best decision of my life. I can honestly say I am 90 percent better.

I rarely have bladder symptoms, and my burning is gone. I have had some minor bumps but overall I am living a normal , healthy life. I know when something goes wrong, I have my appointment with Matia and immediately I am at ease. My mother has even sought treatment from Matia for a problem she was having. I have changed the way I live my life and I am better for it. I have been a long distance patient this whole time and never felt the distance. My appointments with Matia have been life changing.

There is so much more to my journey, and I could probably write for hours. If I can convey one thing, it would be to hang on. Trust your instincts. Know at times you might feel worse. IC is a tricky disease that didn’t come quickly and it does not go quickly, but it will go. I never thought I would be here, I never ever thought that I would be better, but I promise you will. I am getting married next October. My IC does not dominate my life. I still take herbs and I probably always will. My health is better than it ever was and I cannot thank Matia enough, I truly cannot ever convey to her what she has done for me.

Tags: Success Stories

Pennsylvania

JEANNE

My story is no different from anyone else who has IC except for maybe the minor details. When asked to write my story, I said that I had no story to write as yet. I have only been in treatment for 2 months, so I decided to write a message of hope and encouragement instead.

Mine has been a battle of necessity. Quite frankly, we either live with this disease or – well, I don’t like the alternative. I have been through quite a lot over the past 30 plus years of living with this ailment. Sometimes I thought I couldn’t hang on. I’m not sure what kept me going – maybe the fact that I had two little boys to raise. I have a great husband who has always been supportive even when no one knew what was wrong with me. My IC went undiagnosed for many years.

My love for the arts helps give me a reason to go on as well. Music, dance, literature, art, etc. are good for the soul. Mythology helps me immensely. I believe it helps us live in our world. Someone mentioned to me that they thought I had great courage to have gotten through all the years of this disease. We all have fears. Maybe courage is just facing the fears and not giving in to adversity.

I haven’t been with Matia very long. I really don’t know how this treatment will go with me. I do know, however, that I agree with her thinking. She has taken on an astronomical task in trying to help some very sick people get well again. I sincerely hope that I will be one of those people. My ability to hang on at this point is seeing the progress that others ahead of me are making. My husband said that he is impressed that Matia looks on each person as an individual and tailors the treatment to that individual.

Reading some of the success stories on the web site makes one realize that anyone with this disease has had an uphill battle. Some of these stories are amazing and an inspiration to anyone thinking of starting this treatment.

Not everyone has the same ability to cope, some people are weaker in spirit than others, and everyone’s pain threshold is different. We have to try to help others by being patient and not being judgmental. We don’t know another person’s personal battle or private fears. IC is a devastating disease. It touches every aspect of our lives. I pray that we all come through this ordeal with Matia’s help and guidance.

Our ultimate success with any given situation probably lies in our ability to make and accept changes in our lives. Making changes is sometimes frightening. Alternative medicine is about accepting responsibility for our lives and making changes when necessary. Conventional medicine does save lives, no doubt about it, but on the other hand it seems to offer “quick fixes” to long-term problems. Perhaps in giving up our current methods of treatment and going with the art of Chinese medicine, we are unmasking this disease in all its ugliness. In doing so, we allow these natural herbs to cleanse, nourish, and rebalance our bodies, eventually carrying us to a new level of health and well-being.

When we choose alternative thinking, we are going against the grain. Since alternative medicine is not widely accepted in our society, by choosing to use this method of treatment, we are opening ourselves to criticism. Ultimately, each person has to decide for himself which path best suits his needs, and not worry about what others think of that decision.

Even though we have no control over what IC does to our bodies, we do have control over our attitude toward the disease and life itself. Through the years of living with the pain and anguish of this disease called IC, I still choose to love, laugh, and try to find happiness. For myself – I choose life.

JENNY

My name is Jenny and my bladder problems started very early in life. From the time I was about 4 or 5 years old I remember always having pain in my bladder when I had to hold it. I also urinated much more than anyone else –about every 30 minutes. My family brushed it off as a tiny bladder and just let me live my life even though it was severely limited due to my fear of having to use the bathroom so often. I just accepted it and knew that when I went on class trips or sporting events I would have to de-hydrate myself for two or three days before hand so that my frequency and urgency wouldn’t be too bad. Otherwise I would avoid risky situations.

As my life went on and I became an adult I started to realize that it is NOT normal to urinate that often. A new and very dear friend that I made while working as a flight attendant noticed my frequent stops to the bathroom and called me on it. No one had ever done that before! I thought everyone had pain in their bladder so it was news to me when she told me she never had pain. At that point she convinced me to get help.

I saw about 6 doctors in total. I suffered through horrible, painful and barbaric tests. I tried all kinds of medication with no relief. All this time my symptoms were getting worse and worse and I was starting to lose hope. My first three doctors even misdiagnosed me and treated me as if I had an under developed urethra or over active bladder syndrome. After 3 ½ years of searching for someone that could help me I found the IC A Road To Recovery website. After reading it from “cover to cover” ten times over I got the nerve to call and schedule my first appointment. I half heartedly went into it thinking it can’t hurt and at least I’ll be doing something healthy for my body.

Well, I have been on the diet for 4 months now and really believe that this is the absolute best thing I could have ever done for my body, heart and soul. I am in the process of completely healing my body not just masking the pain. I am getting rid of the IC by fixing my whole body! I had asthma and used inhalers everyday. I have not had any asthma symptoms since week 2 of the diet. I also discontinued Allegra for allergies after 8 years of use and have had almost no allergy symptoms.

MELISSA

I was 29-years-old and had just delivered my second son. Everything went fine. I was back to exercising and feeling great. Then eight weeks later I developed, my first ever, urinary tract infection. I was treated with antibiotics. The symptoms never went away. I had a constant urethral burning. A urine culture was done revealing e-coli and I was given more
antibiotics. The symptoms persisted. Finally I was given injectable antibiotics with still no help. I was referred to another urologist who did a urodynamic study revealing that I couldn’t hold much urine. I was therefore given the diagnosis of interstitial cystitis. I was placed on Elmiron and Elavil along with the IC diet. Nothing helped. I went to yet another urologist who did bladder instillations on me with Heparin, Sodium Bicarbonate, Gentamycin, Marcaine and Solu Cortef still no help. That urologist had me on so many pills. I think I counted around 30 a day! I was not getting better, in fact, I was getting worse. I started to developed true urinary tract infections again. They were growing e-coli and enterococcus. I was given more antibiotic, this time IV antibiotics and still nothing helped. By this time my symptoms had grown much worse. I
was now having vaginal redness and irritation that seemed like yeast infections and along with the constant urethral burning my bladder started to burn as well. I also started to develop urgency to urinate. Over the course of a year I saw many consultants and several tests done. I tried myofascial release physical therapy also. I finally went to a doctor who performed a hydrodistention. This doctor thought I possibly had a diverticulum and saw the need to check things further. However, the hydrodistention revealed the dreaded IC and nothing else. This doctor wanted to put the InterStim device in me. I had the surgery actually scheduled but a few weeks prior to the date I was led, through my faith in God, to Matia Brizman of BOMA-med in California. I decided to give her treatment a good try and canceled the InterStim.

I have now been in treatment with her for almost 5 months. My symptoms are much improved. My urethral burning just comes and goes now instead of being constant. Most days if it does hurt it is a very low burn. My urgency is also off and on. In the next few months, as we progress with the treatment, I will be getting more help with the vaginal area as well. This was the best move I could have made. This treatment will allow me to move ahead instead of just covering it up. I am now thankful that the “western” methods of treating IC didn’t work for me, because they would have been for a lifetime, just covering up the disease. Instead, I’m in the middle of a treatment that is working.

NATALIE

Natalie - Pennsylvania…..

My story of Interstitial Cystitis actually begins with my sister. Her story is on this website too. My sister, Missy, had IC for about 2 years before I started getting similar symptoms. Because of her history and struggle with IC, I was all too familiar with Interstitial Cystitis. I was terrified when I got a urinary tract infection, all I could think of Interstitial Cystitis . I had a few bladder infections earlier in my life, but this one did not go away with the antibiotics. I had my urine tested again after the third dose of antibiotics and when the culture came back negative, I was sure that I had IC. I had tremendous pain, pressure, urgency, and frequency. I was so scared. I would just lie on the couch all day and cry. I made an appointment with a urologist. He didn’t really have an answer for me. He said I should take a couple Diflucan pills and see him again if my symptoms didn’t leave. He didn’t think that I had IC, but he could do further testing to be sure.

Of course I knew the horror stories of testing procedures from my sister, so I didn’t go through any of that. My symptoms didn’t leave. I knew what my next step would have to be—start the diet and begin consultation with Matia. My husband and I were very skeptical of eastern medicine, even though my sister was having some progress. My biggest fear was that there was no cure for this disease. I started the diet (which wasn’t as bad as I thought) and began consultation with Matia about 4 months after contracting my bladder infection. I was lucky to have known someone who could refer me to Matia right away. Just speaking with Matia and hearing her caring voice assured me that I was going to be just fine. I’m excited to say that Matia had me feeling almost normal after only 5 months. She discharged me from her care after just one year.

Today I’m completely symptom-free and have been for almost a year now. I have gone back to eating almost anything I want to, except I make much healthier choices and I keep the sugar to a minimum! I feel GREAT! I thank God for Matia and have total faith in her practice.

Tags: Success Stories

California

LOS ANGELES

AUDREY

My name is Audrey and I am in my late 40’s. I went to Matia after suffering from I.C. for 10 years. I have been to at least 15 Doctors and been put on many different medications, most I could not tolerate. I have been miserable all this time. It has taken a toll on my life beyond measure. I have lost most of these10 years from my life.

After talking to Matia about my history and the fact that I have not had a pap smear after a hysterectomy 7 years ago, she recommended I do so. Most Doctors (I guess) don’t feel you need one when you don’t have a cervix. Anyway, I recommend that sexually active adults get a pap smear and be tested for ureaplasma. In my case most Doctors either were unaware and did not look at me comprehensively. Ureaplasma can be looked up on the web. Read the definitions. Ureaplasma urealyticum is a bacterial infection which can cause non-specific urethritis in men and is found in 40% of men’s semen. Any form of sexual contact can cause the bacterium to spead, therefore wear a condom. Ureaplasma considered a mycoplasma can cause numerous diseases like pelvic inflammatory disease syndrome, interstitial cystitis, and has been associated with a variety of autoimmune diseases that can cause definite changes in nerve conduction. Anyway, my test came back positive and I was put on a double dose of antibiotics (Levaquin). I am feeling so much better and much of symptoms have gone away.

I don’t expect most of you to have it but at least get a pap smear to be sure. Ureaplasma mimics ICIf I can help one person it would be wonderful. Thank you Matia.

CINDY

Cindy was diagnosed in 1992 with IC. She had to be catheterized when she was 3 years old because she could not urinate, so it seems something was already brewing at an early age. Her symptoms working up to the discovery that she had IC were that she had to urinate more than other people, but she attributed that to the fact that she is a small person, and therefore probably had a small bladder.

About a year before she went to Matia. She had a bad bladder infection for which she took antibiotics. The infection went away. One year later her frequency increased. One month later it really hit. She had terrible pain in the bladder/vaginal area, which caused her to nearly pass out. The doctor prescribed muscle relaxants but it got worse. She went to a gynecologist who couldn’t find anything wrong. He prescribed antibiotics. Then she found a female gynecologist who suggested that she see a urologist. He performed a cystoscopy that day, at her insistence, in the office. It was extremely painful but she wanted to know. She had been on Vicodan for quite some time for the pain. IC was diagnosed. He informed her that all the treatments were a shot in the dark.

She tried DMSO once a week for about a year. She went on Elavil also. This helped a little but she felt extremely drugged until she got used to the drug after about 6 weeks. She tried antihistamines and many of the bladder medications that are used for IC. She also started on Elmiron when it was still in it’s experimental phase. After about 6-8 months of this the symptoms started to subside and she cut down on the Vicodan. Side effects developed from the Elmiron. Her hair started to fall out and she had ringing in the ears. She went to an ear specialist who saw swelling and put her on cortisone. It was a pharmacist who told her that it was Elmiron that was the problem.

KAREN

Karen was in really bad shape when she went to Matia. She had pain and urgency. She is not clear on all the dates but she had been diagnosed with IC. She had DMSO treatments for about a year, which made it worse. She also worked with Dr. Fugazzotto on the antibiotic regimen. She took them for 3-4 months and they did not help. She noticed no change after that time.

Karen was a big skeptic about Chinese medicine but went to see Matia after a recommendation from her naturopathic pharmacy. She was in severe pain, and Matia immediately started Karen on the herbs, acupuncture and a special diet, in her case not that strict.

LLOYD

Karen was in really bad shape when she went to Matia. She had pain and urgency. She is not clear on all the dates but she had been diagnosed with IC. She had DMSO treatments for about a year, which made it worse. She also worked with Dr. Fugazzotto on the antibiotic regimen. She took them for 3-4 months and they did not help. She noticed no change after that time.

Karen was a big skeptic about Chinese medicine but went to see Matia after a recommendation from her naturopathic pharmacy. She was in severe pain, and Matia immediately started Karen on the herbs, acupuncture and a special diet, in her case not that strict.

It took her about a year to see the results. She would seesaw back and forth, which is the nature of the disease. It was a gradual process. The whole time Matia was very reassuring and very knowledgeable in the use of her herbs. She had to constantly adjust them to get the right mix. After two years she was was symptom free and no longer on any kind of maintenance or herbs. This continues two years later.

Matia is really good and always available. Karen would call her at night and on Sundays when she was not feeling well, and she was always responsive. She is totally wonderful.

It took her about a year to see the results. She would seesaw back and forth, which is the nature of the disease. It was a gradual process. The whole time Matia was very reassuring and very knowledgeable in the use of her herbs. She had to constantly adjust them to get the right mix. After two years she was was symptom free and no longer on any kind of maintenance or herbs. This continues two years later.

Matia is really good and always available. Karen would call her at night and on Sundays when she was not feeling well, and she was always responsive. She is totally wonderful.

DEBI

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.

AVA

It is 6:30a.m. in the morning and I have just woken up and am getting ready to go workout at the gym and begin my day. Things are different now than before. I don’t have anxiety about my health, in particular my bladder. My thoughts are about how to enjoy the day and not so much about surviving the day. I eat what ever I want and sometimes even enjoy a glass of wine with dinner. My life is normal —now. I am happy and healthy and I have come full circle. It was not always like this.

About 3 years ago, I was suffering from IC, a painful bladder disorder. Getting no help from western medicine and trying DMSO treatments that were incredibly painful and antibiotics. My life did not change until I came across Matia Brizman. My guardian angel of sorts. Things changed dramatically for me at that point. I started feeling better as soon as I started treatment and have been getting stronger and stronger ever since. Matia’s patient ear and expertise made me feel better as each day went on. I knew instinctively that I was going to be fine. I understood that my body would heal because I was finally giving it what is needed and recognized —– the right herb formula. All I think about now is having a baby. Yes, I am finally moving on and I hope to pass along what I have gained in the process.

Hang in there! And, believe in something that is bigger than yourself. Trust in the expertise of Matia for she understands the body as a whole system.

JEANNE

Although I never had IC, I lived my whole adult life with constant attacks of acute cystitis. I was on antibiotics as many days as I was off and one urologist even insisted that I take antibiotics every time I had sex! For obvious reasons, I also suffered from Candida and was gassy and bloated much of the time.

Fortunately, I found Matia Brizman who, with herbs, acupuncture and recommendations for minor lifestyle changes, helped me rid myself of chronic infections.

Finally, at age 50, I hardly ever think about my bladder, am free of Candida, and can enjoy sex without worry. Thanks, Matia!

JANE (This the story of one of the site’s authors)

I am not going to bore you with all the details of my early IC days. You all know what it is like. I will say that I have not been symptomatic very long, although it has probably been building for years.

My first experience of IC symptoms was millennium New Year’s Eve. A doctor I went to prescribed the usual treatment, which did not help. I then found another doctor, one who actually looked in my bladder. The other doctor had not. That procedure seemed to ease everything and my symptoms went away for 6 months, until July 2000. After that time I went on everything to try to treat my symptoms.

IC was not suspected for a while because I had no, and have never had, pain.

My symptoms were frequency, pressure and urgency. The urologist was a nice man and would answer all my emergency calls. He prescribed anything I wanted and tried everything, including starting me on Elmiron. It all made me worse. He did a cystoscopy and discovered IC. No ulcers, but an inflamed dome of the bladder. He never talked to me about IC and never even spoke to me after the surgery. He just said I would be OK.

I was desperate. I was going to my local pharmacist almost every day for something new, and I asked her if she knew of anyone else with this disease. She did. She said she knew someone who had told her that she had found a person who had helped her. (That person was Angie interviewed on this site). The pharmacist got the number of the person who had helped her for me. I would also like to tell you that this person came to me through two other avenues. I was also referred to her by a friend of mine who is studying acupuncture and knew that she dealt with this disease. I also found her from an online referral.

My practitioner’s name is Matia Brizman. I feel my story needs to be told, because people need to know about Matia and what she is doing.

I had never believed in alternative medicine and I have pooh-poohed it in the past. I am a straight down the line traditionalist and have always been happy with Western medicine, especially since I had a couple of serious illnesses and have been helped successfully by Western medicine. The minute I went to Matia I got off all medication which was making me worse and just followed her instructions to the letter.

Matia is the most amazing person you could every wish to meet, especially for us ICers who have been suffering so badly. She understands IC like no one else, and her knowledge of both traditional and classical Chinese medicine and how to apply it based on symptoms is second to none. Matia is committed to helping patients with IC. She is passionate about it, compassionate and is dedicating her life to helping patients overcome it. She treats people all over the world, but I feel extremely lucky that I am in the same city as her, Los Angeles. What a resource!

I think many, if not most of us who have this disease, have a very high amount of candida and bacteria. She had me tested for that. I was extremely high in yeast and had some bad bacteria. I also had chronic fatigue syndrome several years ago, which is another ailment that is connected with yeast. It took me a year to get over that. At that time I did nothing and it went away on its own.

The main focus is to ease the patient’s discomfort and kill the “uglies” - yeast and bacteria, while building strength so that the body takes over the fight. This is done creating a mixture of herbs for the patient. Basically your body builds up an immunity to any one medication. If you introduce multiple entities it gets confused and can’t fight them off. Each one of us is different and Matia is constantly changing the mix for each patient as she carefully watches their reactions. I am extremely sensitive to everything. Matia knows exactly what is happening and makes adjustments accordingly to help us make it through the process as comfortably as possible. Herbs that might bother you at one stage might be just the right mix later on in treatment. It is amazing, and I have learnt a lot about Chinese medicine going through this and have developed a great respect for it and Matia. She truly knows her stuff.

Part of the process is to strengthen the kidneys, and again you do that with herbs. The main part is an extremely strict diet. I did not drink anything but water or eat anything but meat, fish, chicken etc., eggs, butter, a yeast-free bread, and Provolone and Munster cheese for 7 months. Occasionally I had potatoes or rice but I tried and avoid them to keep the carb count low. Basically, the main focus of the diet is to eliminate yeast and keep irritants from the bladder.

Acupuncture is the icing on the cake. I always felt good after that, but it is also very powerful and can open things up. Matia does different points on different people according to their tolerance level. It is a fine art. However, it is not necessary for a person to get better. Many of Matia’s patients are long distance and do not receive acupuncture.

If there were a quick fix I would be the first to try it. I would be running. There isn’t. This is an extremely healthy and proven successful alternative. Everyone comments on how good I look, probably from the herbs since they are very nourishing. Herbs in the hands of a master can be a powerful tool. Matia is that master.

At one point I retook a test to see how I was doing with the candida and bacteria. I showed no yeast growth at all and my bacteria count was completely normal.

I am now eating almost normally. The only thing I stay away from is any kind of processed sugar. I am eating fruit and don’t pay a lot of attention to what I eat in restaurants now.

I have asked Matia if you have to believe in this and she says you don’t, it will just happen. Everything she said along the way has happened - slowly for me, but it happened. Before I started with her I was sleeping in the bathroom and thinking that life was definitely not worth living. I have been to Europe twice and Australia and I travel all over the U.S. I no longer take herbs for my bladder and I would say I am practically symptom free. I even started a new career in real estate, not exactly stress free. IC no longer rules my life.

This disease was a long time building up so I was prepared to give it a long time to work its way out of my system. Anyone considering this route, and I truly believe you should be open to it, must have patience. Some get better quickly, but for others it can take some time. I don’t know any one of her patients who doesn’t bless the day they found her.

I am trying to get the word out that you do not have to suffer the rest of your lives with this disease. Matia has a logical, proven treatment to relieve the suffering of IC patients. She saved my life.

ALYSON (This the story of one of the site’s authors)

My story of Interstitial Cystitis dates back many years. It seems now that every minute of my life has influenced so much of who and what I am today.

I began experiencing stomach pain and doctors weren’t sure at that point if I had Crohns disease or irritable bowel syndrome. A few years later I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in my spine and eventually developed double spinal curvature and scoliosis. During my first year of college I had a severe case of gastroenteritis and I was diagnosed with IBS. Irregular and difficult periods meant I was put on the pill and I started taking codeine for pain. It was during this time I began experiencing bladder problems.

During the next few years I had multiple UTI’s and yeast infections and in July of ’96 I visited with a urologist and I was told me I had embedded bacteria and a 6 month course of antibiotics would clear up the problem. I didn’t tolerate the antibiotics very well so only took them for a few days. The flares continued every few months but since they only lasted a day or two I lived with them.

In ’97 I was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse and tachycardia and I was put on a medication to help with the symptoms. It was during this time I discovered I also had fibromyalga and chronic fatigue syndrome, and hyperactive thyroid. I was put on several medications including anti-anxiety meds, anti-depressants, and large doses of melatonin (to help me sleep). Then in May of ’99 I experienced the worst “so called” UTI of my life where I was voiding blood. It turns out that this UTI was the first major flare of my IC. I never really felt that I had completely gotten rid of the pain after this and it was early the following year that I woke with the IC pain that never went away.

Treatment for me in the beginning included several rounds of antibiotics, weekly heparin instills, and all kinds of “sample” medications for pain and inflammation. Nothing helped. I had a continual yeast infection from the antibiotics and my gynecologist diagnosed me with vulvadynia. I started on Nystatin for the yeast and I douched with boric acid. Nothing was working and I was getting worse. I was next diagnosed with hypoglycemia. I was angry, upset and frustrated. I was engaged and we were to get married in a year. I needed help and I wasn’t finding it.

After hours and hours of research about IC and all of these related diseases I found out that not only was there no cure, but also no real hope either. I began a support group in Los Angeles to help both others and myself. No one seemed to be any better off than me. Then in July of 2000 I found Matia Brizman. I had never tried acupuncture before and didn’t know anything about Chinese medicine. After my initial call to her, during which we spoke at length about the treatment program, I made an appointment. As with most people who try something that they are unfamiliar with, I was skeptical. One of her patients told me something that I pass onto everyone I meet who has IC and tells me, oh, I have tried acupuncture before and it didn’t work! This is what I tell them … if you are diagnosed with IC, would you go to an Internist or to a urologist? They always tell me they would choose a urologist. So, would you go to a someone who treats all kinds of diseases and ailments with acupuncture and Chinese medicine, or would you go to someone who specializes in IC? It’s really a very simple question!

It is now September, 2002 and I have been with Matia for a little over 2 life changing years. Going to Matia’s clinic for treatment is like having therapy/support sessions. Not only do I feel like a million dollars when I leave her office, but I feel revived and energized. She is caring and compassionate, not like any medical professional I have ever met (and I have met many!!). I refer to Matia as “my bottle of pain pills” since she has always been just a phone call away! I have always followed Matia’s diet to the letter. I don’t cheat. I don’t do anything, nor do I take anything without consulting with her first. I follow her treatment program exactly as she advises me to. I don’t skip doses, I don’t add in things or take them out. We talk about what’s going on in my life to adequately compensate. As a result, I no longer have any of the symptoms of my IBS and I stopped taking my meds as I didn’t need them by the 6th or 7th month of treatment. My yeast has completely gone. Not even a trace is left. The hypoglycemia went away very quickly. I don’t feel the ups and downs at all today. The chronic fatigue left without me even realizing it. My hormones were tested and the results sent to Matia. With adjustments to my formulas, I only experience mild fluctuations now and they are getting better each month.

To tie in a few other loose ends, I discovered that my spinal curvature and scoliosis, along with my rheumatoid arthritis were all connected to my IC. Although I cannot have my spine straightened, I no longer have the intense pain associated with the deformity. As my body has been balanced, the pain has lessened. I went to the doctor for a physical about a year ago. I wanted to check my vitals and have a blood panel run. My main concern was my thyroid. When I received the results I was happy at the outcome. My levels had gone down (much to the surprise of my doctor) and they are considered to be within the “normal” range again.

We worked a little harder on the mitral valve prolapse and fibromyalga. The medications I was taking were difficult and grueling to wean off. I attempted the one for fibromyalga first and thought about giving up many times. While under my doctor’s care and guidance, I weaned down, as Matia balanced my body with the Chinese medicine. I am happy to say that I have been both medication free and not affected by fibromyalga now for almost a year! Last but not least was the mitral valve prolapse. Since I was anxious about eliminating the med for this, we worked very slowly and steadily. Again, with the guidance of my physician, I dropped the dose each week down a little further and Matia compensated with my herbs. It took about 2 months, but now I am happy to say that I am medication free and unaffected by mitral valve prolapse.

My IC is what we are continuing to work on. I am vastly improved from where I was the day I began Matia’s program. I still have some pain and flares, but I can function, go about my day, work full time, and live my life. I can walk my dogs, travel, and even rock climb, mountain and road bike! I don’t need to be close to a bathroom every moment and my life doesn’t revolve around my pain. I have control, and each and every day that goes by, I am improving.

I don’t want to anticipate the day when the pain stops and never comes back. I have experienced weeks in a row with no pain. That to me is a miracle in itself. From where I came from to where I am today, all I can do is thank God I found Matia.

My company transferred us to Indiana/Ohio in March, 2002 and I continued to be monitored with the same care and attention I received while in Los Angeles. In September, 2002 I transferred back to Los Angeles. I must say, I am really happy to be in close proximity to Matia once again.

MARGARET

Matia asked me to write a testimonial, and every night as I drifted off to sleep I would think to myself, “Damn, I forgot to do my testimonial again. I’ll do it tomorrow. Tomorrow. . .” Well tomorrow has finally turned into today. Four months from when Matia first asked. My excuse is probably the best endorsement that I could give Matia. I have been too busy. Too busy to think or worry about having IC.

When I first came to Matia I was in a state of panic. I was very uncomfortable almost all the time. I was having trouble sleeping at night and was going to the bathroom about every half an hour. The urinary symptoms were what finally brought me to Matia but I had been unwell for quite some time. I had terrible allergies, asthma, frequent migraines, endometriosis, and a general feeling of malaise. Every time I went to a doctor he or she would just put me on more prescription medications. I knew something was wrong with me but was unwilling to face it until my bladder started acting up. That I just couldn’t live with. I went to an urologist and he told me that my cultures were coming back negative for the bacteria that cause standard urinary tract infections. I wasn’t surprised by that, I had never been prone to bladder infections to begin with. What he told me next shocked me however. He said that he suspected interstitial cystitis and if that was indeed what I had, there was nothing he could do for me. I went home that day and cried for hours. I had gotten engaged two weeks before and instead of feeling elated, I felt as if I had just been handed a death sentence. I was thirty three years old and a doctor had just told me that there was a good chance that I would never feel well again. Well after going through a box of Kleenex I decided that that was unacceptable and got on the internet. After a bit of searching I came across the testimonials of some of Matia’s patients and began to have hope again. As luck would have it I live in Los Angeles so I was able to make an appointment and go see Matia in person.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Matia and the work she does. Not only is she kind, but she is a powerful healer. She listens thoroughly and without judgment. She treats the whole person, not just the symptoms and as a result the body begins to heal itself and find its way into balance. And in my case as I’m sure with others, when the body heals, the spirit begins to heal as well.

I have been working with Matia for almost a year now and my results have been incredible. I no longer have asthma and allergies on a daily basis. If I have to be around dogs and cats I only have to use my inhaler and antihistamines. A year ago I would have gone straight to the emergency room and was using my medications every day. I still get headaches but they have decreased in both severity and frequency and I trust there will come a day when they are no longer a problem for me. My energy and libido are back. I got a cold sore for the first time during my treatment with Matia and she was able to get the virus in check immediately. Best of all, my bladder symptoms have improved remarkably. I feel like I have normal bladder function now and I never have to alter my lifestyle because I’m worried about being uncomfortable. During treatment I have been able to travel extensively, work hard, and plan my wedding. In fact, I feel so much better that I have signed up for all kinds of classes and am finally pursuing things that I only dreamed of two years ago. My life is better now than ever before.

I’m not going to lie to you. Following the diet is a pain in the ass. But you will get used to it and even learn to enjoy it to a certain extent because you will feel and look better than you have in years. And it is temporary. All of this is temporary.

Getting well is a journey, and Matia is a caring doctor who will get you on the right path soon. I believe in her so much that I have sent both my sister and fiancé to her, and they both found her to be as competent and compassionate as I have. If you’re tired of feeling less than your best, go to Boma-Med. You have nothing to lose.

LISE

Hi, my name is. Lisé. I am 44 years old. I have been a patient of Matia’s for 2½ months now. Let me tell you how I came to be her patient.

I enjoyed normal health with the exception of a heart murmur until around the age of 18-19 years of age. I was very athletic, enjoying many sports and generally enjoying my life. When I was around 19, I began to get migraine headaches. They became more and more debilitating as time went on. I missed out on a lot of fun times, lying in bed in agony. I still enjoyed life when my head wasn’t hurting. In the meantime, I was abusing my body with drugs and alcohol, which I am certain didn’t help my health any. I finally got rid of the headaches at age 31 by getting a massage weekly and quitting my stressful job. I also stopped abusing my body with chemicals around this time. I developed panic attacks which came in frequently at first. I started noticing them when I was getting off drugs. After I was clean for a while, they went away. I found a great man, got married, and life went on.

I was tired sometimes, but didn’t think anything of it. I noticed that my bladder was starting to irritate me from time to time, but just thought they were bladder infections. During my third pregnancy, it started bothering me even more. Of course, I thought it was just because I was pregnant. After I had my son, the bladder symptoms came and went. I went to a urologist who started me on a low dose of Macrobid. I was to take it every time I had symptoms. That worked for a while.

I was pregnant with my daughter a couple of years later and my body just rebelled. My hands became weak, I started dropping things, bumping into walls, knees buckling for no apparent reason, panic attacks, heart palpitations, bladder irritation, joint pain, extreme fatigue, ringing ears, cold hands and feet. I didn’t have all the symptoms all the time, and never put them together as one illness.

After my daughter was born, the pain escalated in my joints, and my bladder had really begun to bother me. I was so tired all the time. I attributed it to my kids and my job. I went to the same urologist complaining of bladder irritation and frequency. He decided that my urethra was too narrow, and dilated it. FUN. NOT! That seemed to help with the irritation for a little while, but then it came back. I asked my gynecologist about it. He referred me to his colleague who was a uro-gynecologist. This doctor also believed after a cystoscopy (with NO anesthesia) that my urethra was too narrow. He proceeded to then dilate my urethra again, with no anesthesia. There were a total of three procedures over three weeks. After the second one, I couldn’t even get out of bed to go to the bathroom without being completely exhausted. I was in extreme pain all over my body, and especially in the pelvic and bladder areas. I asked him if what he did to me would cause all this, and he said no.

He referred me back to my regular doc, who ran many tests and could find nothing. This led to me seeing a rheumatologist, who diagnosed me with fibromyalgia. I was put on medications to control my symptoms, but nothing to get rid of them. I suffered for nearly five years this way, living with extreme fatigue, heart palpitations, panic attacks, ringing ears, horrid bladder, pelvic and abdominal pain. Some days, it was hard to make it through without wanting to die. I thought I was going to have to live this way for the rest of my life.

Fortunately, nearly three years ago, I found two people who started me on the path back to health. I found a massage therapist who understood fibromyalgia, and a chiropractor who uses applied kinesiology and homeopathic remedies. They both brought my life back to a level where I could be active again. It felt good to be back in the ‘real world’. The two things neither one of them could fix was the bladder thing and the pelvic/abdominal pain. Back to the gynecologist I went. He decided I might have endometriosis. He did a laparascopic surgery about 1½ years ago and discovered huge varicose veins feeding my ovaries and uterus. He decided to try hormone therapy to see if my cycles would stop and shrink the veins. I tried that for about 7 months, and couldn’t take the way I felt. I was also on 25 mg Vioxx at the time to deal with the bladder/abdominal/pelvic pain. He felt that a hysterectomy would solve all my problems. I had the hysterectomy last June. I was so depressed after I started healing and STILL had all the bladder pain.

I went to another urologist, who finally diagnosed me with IC last November. I tried Elmiron and Cysta-Q, along with some dietary changes to see if they would help. In the meantime, I decided to learn all I could about IC. One day last November, I was talking to one of my vendors on the phone, who asked how I was feeling since my surgery. I told her I was recovering nicely from the surgery, but had recently been diagnosed with a bladder disease I was sure she would never have heard of. I told her it was IC, and nearly fell out of my chair when she told me she had recently been diagnosed with it. How weird was that? She told me about this wonderful support group and about Matia, and gave me some other websites to surf around on. She gave me the support group leader’s name and number, also a patient of Matia. I called her up and we arranged to meet for dinner. She told me all about Matia.

I wasn’t sure if I could afford to see her, but after some discussion with some of the other members of the Yahoo group, decided I would meet her and at least talk with her. I was a bit nervous, never having been to see an alternative practitioner, and never having had acupuncture before. I brought my husband along with me for my first visit, as he is always objective. I felt very comfortable with Matia right away. She has such a lovely, sweet spirit. My husband felt very comfortable with her, too. We decided that it would be good for me to keep going to see Matia.

I want to tell any of you out there who are hesitant that I already have seen results. I was in so much pain before I went to see her, even with modifying my diet. I have only had one really bad day in the last 2½ months. I used to have really bad weeks at a time before seeing her. I am still experiencing symptoms - don’t get me wrong. My symptoms wax and wane. I have good days and bad days. I am never symptom-free, but I am definitely seeing a difference. I have days when I can go for 3-4 hours without going to the bathroom - days when it isn’t the biggest thing I think about. I also have slept through the night three times. Also unheard of before seeing Matia. The diet is a struggle - I still want my chocolate (but haven’t eaten it). I just take deep whiffs of it for some weird sort of gratification. I am excited about my progress.

If you are suffering from IC, I strongly urge you to consider Matia’s treatment. I have not looked back once, and I am certain I will be rid of this. It won’t always be pretty - the die off is a little tough some days. It is all worth it to get where you want.

Update

It has now been 2 years since I started seeing Matia. I have enjoyed a vast improvement in all my symptoms and can see light at the end of the tunnel. Most of my symptoms have diminished or altogether vanished. I believe it will just be a few more months before I can taper my treatments. I have turned a real corner during these past few weeks.

My bladder is getting stronger, the intermittent pain on my left side is not so noticeable, and my body is doing a deep cleansing right now. It is the first time I have had really bad die-off symptoms in about 8 months - and I feel so much better on the other side of it! I have been experimenting with spices and have been able to tolerate them once in a while now without any pain afterwards. We have changed my hormones to a bio-identical formula which is working quite nicely. I am sleeping much better - getting up either once a night or not at all.

I can wear jeans again - something I could never do for several years before seeing Matia. My previous wardrobe was all loose-fitting clothing with either drawstrings or elastic waists. I can do much more without fatigue, although there are still days I am tired. Overall, my symptoms are much less than before. I have many good days. I gauge a good day by how many times I think about my bladder, how much pain I am in and how my energy level is. I am able to raise my family, carry on a full-time job, lead worship at my church, take guitar lessons and sing in another band. I am also much happier now. It is amazing how miserable our entire countenance can become when we are in pain!

I believe absolutely in Matia’s ability to help me and others get back to a normal life. I trust her implicitly and know I will be completely well soon. I didn’t get
sick in one day, and I won’t get well in one day - it all takes time and discipline, which I sometimes lack. I encourage all of you reading this to make an appointment if you have never seen Matia, and not to give up if you are seeing Matia now and feel things are slow. IT TAKES TIME - BE PATIENT, AND SOMEDAY, YOU WON’T BE A PATIENT ANYMORE!!!!!! You will be FREE!!!!

NANCY

I began to suffer with IC from the age of 26 and was diagnosed by hydrodistention. I am now 42 and a mother of two beautiful healthy children.

My symptoms were mainly very intense burning inside my bladder and around my urethra with sensations that seem to me to be nerve-like, which caused the need to urinate frequently including in the middle of the night. The pain was often so bad it made sleeping impossible. My symptoms were on again off again for numerous years and were effected by various things that were going on in my life including such things as the birth of my children, various life experiences, and diet. I was a nutritionist, so I felt I was armed with an ample amount of knowledge to beat this condition, and at times, with certain techniques I would employ, I felt I was winning the war against this condition.

However, with time, and after the birth of my second child, it seemed to continue to escalate to a point that it was no longer tolerable. I went through many of the traditional treatments such as instillations of Heparin, DMSO, Ditropan, Elavil, etc. Nothing seemed to be the answer for me. Having a foot in the alternative medicine world and having what I feel is a very trusting relationship with a doctor of Chinese medicine who has helped me with so many other ailments, I also tried this route for my condition. This was not effective for my IC either.

Later, a friend told me about someone she knew who was working with Chinese medicine and specialized in IC, Matia. I thought, “what do I have to lose?”. I was skeptical at best. I made an appointment, and I really felt very skeptical throughout the first consultation. Time passed and my skepticism continued, but somehow I felt compelled to continue because Matia’s explanations of the process my body was going through to regain its balance made sense to me with all of my previous knowledge of the human body and nutrition.

So, I stuck it out. I took about two years in total to be without symptoms and to go back to a “normal” way of eating, but over that time I went through numerous phases of improvement and after I went through each phase, I could tell I was better that I had been before.

At present, I eat fruit and most foods. I am careful not to eat foods which are too spicy because I am still afraid that that might do something to throw my body off its balance. I try to eat as well as I know how to take care of my body to the best of my abilities and to keep it healthy for the long-term. I must also confess, I eat sugar sometimes, which I have been advised to be more careful of than I am, but even so, I continue to do better and better regardless.

I have a great life, I always have, but now I am able to enjoy my children and my life without the constant pain I was in before. I am really glad I stuck out this difficult process, it was worth it!

SALLY (not real name)

My IC started one morning when my husband and I came back from celebrating our three year wedding anniversary. I woke up and noticed what I thought was a bladder infection. I used to get bladder infections all the time and my Urologist kept giving me Cipro almost every month. I even remember calling him on my honeymoon from Hawaii. Whenever I traveled I would get a bladder infection and antibiotics always helped for at least a couple of weeks. Then I got pregnant with my son and my bladder infections stopped for about three years. I was so happy and thought that giving birth had somehow changed my body and I was done with it.

After having my son and gaining 70 lbs. I was determined to lose it all in 1 year and I did. I went to the gym regularly and lived on three salads a day soaked in vinegar and took ephedra diet pills. I also drank lots of wine.

So that morning of June 8th, 2005 I looked in my cabinet and I had an old bottle of Cipro. Even thought I hadn’t had any bladder infections in a while, I always kept the Cipro around especially when I traveled. I took one that morning thinking I would be better in an hour or two but that didn’t happen. I thought maybe the pills were old and I needed a new prescription so I went to see my Gynecologist. He examined me and didn’t find anything abnormal. He gave me a new prescription even though my tests for a bladder infection were normal. I went home and started to take the pills. At first I thought I was getting better but then all my symptoms came back. I started to panic because the antibiotics always worked before.

I called the doctor back and he had me come in and ran some more tests. When the tests were normal he referred me to a Urologist. He also mentioned something called Interstitial Cystitis but didn’t think I had it. I went to see the Urologist who also couldn’t find anything wrong and suggested a diet and if I didn’t feel better in a few days to call him. At this point I was feeling awful. I couldn’t empty my bladder and I was urinating constantly. After three days I went back to the Urologist who gave me some brochures about IC. After reviewing the materials I realized that this was my problem.

When I went back to the Urologist, he started me on Heparin which wasn’t helping. Then he told me something I will never forget, that “there is no cure!” I thought my life was over and I started to cry. He looked at me with such surprise and said ”I don’t understand why you’re crying, you’re not going to die from this!” I looked back at him and told him that it wasn’t the quantity but the quality of life that I was worried about. He thought I was depressed and prescribed anti-depressants which he said should also help with my bladder. I left that day asking “God” to help me because I never wanted to return to this place again and my prayers were answered.

My husband started doing research on IC and two names kept coming up. One was a doctor who treated IC using antibiotics and the other was Matia Brizman. I felt I had enough antibiotics and knew that this was not the way I wanted to go. I went on Matia’s website and read some success stories and started to get some hope. I called her office and spoke with a woman named Raquel who explained to me that there was about a three week wait for an appointment. I started to cry on the phone and explained how scared and depressed I felt. She was very understanding and compassionate. She made me feel a lot better and took time to talk to a perfect stranger she never met and she has been that wonderful ever since. The next morning Raquel called me herself and told me that there was a cancellation a week earlier. The next two weeks were hell. I suffered every day and night. Falling asleep with a full bladder was the worst. I was not able to take care of my son any longer and couldn’t take care of myself. Then finally the day came. Honestly I didn’t know what to expect. I wanted to believe she could help me but I still had my doubts. I barely made it to her office because I was in so much pain. When I came in I was crying.

Raquel came out and introduced herself. She was as wonderful in person as she was on the phone. I’d like to point out that since I started with Matia, Raquel has been a great support in my life. I have not always been the easiest patient but she always understood. From the moment I met Matia, I knew I was in the right place. That day I gave her all my trust and I have never regretted it. I left Matia’s office and I was so happy. I knew she was going to help me get my life back.

Now I have to be honest, the treatment is not easy. The diet was very strict but that wasn’t the hardest thing. The hardest thing was that at times I felt I was going backwards and not forward. I had doubts, never in Matia but in my body’s ability to heal. I thought maybe I was too sick and not like everyone else. At times like these, I would read Matia’s success stories over and over. I would tell Matia about my doubts and she would tell me I would be OK and never gave up on me. I want to say, Matia is not like anyone I have ever met. Sometimes I laugh and say that she is not human. No one I know has her compassion and her heart. She is the most honest, caring and loving person I have ever met. I think of her as my angel and I don’t know where my life would be without her today. I went through a lot of things through my treatment. The die off was awful and they don’t call it die off for nothing. I had nausea, headaches, bladder pains, vulvadynia, stomach aches, frequency, pressure and times when I couldn’t get out of bed for days and even weeks.

Today, I am still on a diet and take herbs but I have to say that I am so much better. I can go to the park with my son, go on vacations with my husband and go hours without having to use the bathroom. I barely ever feel my bladder and I truly feel I have gotten my life back. I am writing this for people who are just starting this program. In the beginning, people’s stories were what kept me going. If my story can even help one person feel better, then I feel I have accomplished something. I remember how hard it is in the beginning to believe you are going to get better but you will. I had more doubts that anybody because I am a pessimistic person by nature. I believe in my heart that my IC will be completely gone one day and I will always lead a healthier lifestyle. I will always be grateful to Matia, Raquel, my husband and all the people who were there for me when I needed them most!

MARGARET

First of all, I want to let you know that Matia has totally changed my life and my health. I feel so unbelievably fortunate that I was referred to her—I can’t imagine the limited life I would be dealing with otherwise.

In order for you to know the severity of my condition when I met Matia, I’ll give you a quick recap of what happened before I met her.

For many years I had been getting a slow onset of IC, including frequency of urination, painful intercourse, cold hands and feet, fatigue, and an ever-increasing number of food allergies, but I didn’t realize the symptoms I was experiencing were related to any type of medical condition. My husband and I live in Los Angeles and four years ago we took a trip to Thailand. While we were there I started using a contraceptive jelly containing non-oxynol 9 (which I did not know I was allergic to) and, when I got a yeast infection, an over-the counter yeast infection medicine that I bought there. The two created a vaginal chemical burn and I was suddenly in excruciating pain (10 out of 10 on the pain scale) and I could not sit or stand.

Once I made it back to the States it took a while for the doctors to determine that I had IC. The doctors decided that the chemical burn had elevated the IC to a very severe level. My urologist put me on Elavil, a nerve pain drug, and another pain medication. He started giving me installations of lidocain in my bladder twice a week. But being driven to the doctor’s office increased my pain so much that I ended up having to catheterize myself at home to get the lidocaine in my bladder. I was house-bound for three months, unable to do anything but lie down for the majority of that time.

I slowly had a slight decrease of symptoms so that I could regain some of my daily activities. But after a year I was still on the Elmiron and the other two medications, I could only sit on a donut cushion, I could not walk any distance, and the slightest pressure on my abdomen (like the weight of a finger) was excruciating. I felt completely hopeless and did not know if I would ever recover any more or regain my ability to live my life.

At this point my urologist (who is highly respected) referred me to Matia, as he said that many of his patients had improved after working with her. When his office manager gave me Matia’s phone number she told me, “So many of his patients go to see her and they come back exclaiming about how much better they feel! And they look great!”

After a few months of seeing Matia I was able to sit without my special donut cushion. I can’t tell you how ecstatic I was when I finally threw it in the trash! I don’t have a record of my exact progress, but step by step I started improving. First the pain reduced, and as it got better I was able to gradually get off all my medications. I started to be able to exercise again. For at least two years I have been able to run, dance, lift weights, and do lots of abdominal exercises without the slightest thought of pain or discomfort. It has been a very long time since I have experienced bladder pain or frequency of urination. My sexual desire has returned and I am regaining a normal sex life with my husband.

The diet Matia puts her patients on is very severe. But it works, and gradually I have been able to add more food to my diet. And I’ve learned to believe her when she says that I will be able to eat something in the future. I remember one time I had accidentally been served lemon and had gotten a flair-up. Matia said quite matter-of-factly, “You probably won’t be ready for lemon for another four months or so.” I thought she was crazy, but then, about four months later, she recommended that I try it. I ate the smallest amount at first and was fine. Now I eat lots of lemon, onion (raw and cooked), garlic, and mildly spicy food, including Mexican food. Before, if I had eaten the smallest amount of any of these foods I would have been in debilitating pain for a month. I may even be able to eat spicier foods but I don’t really enjoy the taste so I haven’t tried! But when I’ve accidentally eaten something spicy I haven’t had the slightest problem.

Matia knows this condition so well that she has been able to guide me through every step of the process, modifying my herbs and diet to match what my body needed as it went through its many shifts. She also had always been amazingly supportive and encouraging as I have gone through the emotional ups and downs of the treatment. If I was having a hard time she would always assure me that I was just going through a rough patch but that my body was getting stronger and every time she was right. So now I believe her implicitly.

Not only do I not feel my bladder, but also my digestive system and my hormonal systems have moved back into balance. I now have a normal body temperature, instead of always being the only person in the room who is wearing a sweater and coat when everyone else is wearing shorts. And my energy has returned to its normal high level again.

The final stage that we are resolving is my long-term yeast condition (which I’ve been dealing with for twenty-five years). I am starting to be able to eat fruit and carbohydrates without getting a yeast overgrowth, and so I’m now adding even more food into my diet.

I hope this is helpful to those of you considering treatment.

ELISE

My story and relationship with my urethra and bladder began 2 years ago when i was experiencing severe stress in my life due to a licensing exam and deep ambivalence about my work, which I personally refused
to look at and do anything about until my body literally gave out from underneath me. I remember the day I felt, for the first time in my life, my bladder. Before that point I had never had any problems with that part of my body. However, I suffered from horrible allergies since early childhood, aches and pains in my back and sciatic nerve, and suffered also with severe depressions. I am also a recovering alcoholic and drug addict (21 years sober). I also love, and I mean love, sugar and made sure I never had to give it up like so many other things I had to stop, in fear they would kill me.

So, getting back to that infamous day when I sadly and painfully was introduced to my bladder. I was sitting in a staff meeting and was feeling particularly enraged over something, but of course did not say a word. In that moment I felt a sharp pain surge up by my vaginal area and wasn’t sure what it was. When I got home from this meeting I remember feeling anger, like once again I had not spoken up for myself,. I felt a lack of power and felt taken advantage of. I know that I am stressing “feelings” a great deal, however, in my story their repression has a lot to with the onset of this insidious disease. Over the next couple of days I began to have a significant amount of pain in my vaginal area, yet it wasn’t my vagina that was hurting. So I took out my trusted book, “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom”, and found out that I had a bladder infection. I called my doctor who prescribed Bacrtim or whatever.

Thus began the ridiculous 13 month cycle of doctors, tests, antibiotics, pain and very little - no, make that no relief from the established medical profession. I went from doctor to doctor complaining of profound pain, frequency, and urgency. Nothing helped, and no one had any answers. I had test after test and all of them came back with no significant findings. I finally found a doctor who performed a test and found that I did in fact have a swollen and severely infected urethra, however, my bladder walls seemed fine. I was a practicing therapist at the time with a stressful case load, and the pain from sitting endlessly in a chair for at times, 10 hours a day was just about killing me. I must interject that I also did not want to be in that chair anymore and was dying to get out of that chair and find other parts of myself that I think I was too frightened to acknowledge. So, one Monday night after 10 hours of work I came home exhausted and feeling so much pain in my bottom area I thought I would pass out. I literally could not take another step without passing out from the pain in my vaginal area. My husband took one look at me and said, “Enough, Elise, no more!!” That next morning I woke up and called all my patients and sadly told them I was sick and would not be returning. It was a devastating ordeal stopping therapy with so many people I had come to care for. I also felt like my vaginal area was on fire and I had some kind of flu down there that would not quit. The stress of speaking to people and referring them to other therapists only made my symptoms worse and worse throughout the day. So, after 20 years of working I had to stop from an ailment that no one knew anything about, and I did not know how to heal. I was scared to death!!! I didn’t know who to turn to, and became very, very depressed. The pain was worsening and the doctor I was seeing was of no help at all. he never spoke of diet and put me on 11 rounds of antibiotics. One day while examining me, he even called me by the wrong name! What a disaster, I felt so belittled and hopeless.

While on a trip to Hawaii with my family during the holidays I made a promise to myself that I would do anything to get my health back in the next year. I vowed to the Gods that I would be healthy in body, mind and spirit and whatever it took I was going to do it. I was tired of sitting everything out, I was tired of being so depressed, so vacant of spirit, so run down and I was especially tired of being in bloody pain every single day and crying endlessly. I returned from that trip with resolve to find something or somebody that would help me heal. I found sweet Matia on the internet and decided I had nothing to loose. I began treatment with her on January 26, 2002. I remember the day, for it was my new beginning, and also the day I stopped eating sugar for the first time in my life. Remember, I was a major sugarholic!!! Yeast must have truly loved me as a host, I even had it in my bloodstream!! So, I took Matia’s hand and I began this long, hard road to recovery.

Every week I visited Matia and cried and hurt and felt horrible. I felt that way for many, many months. My bladder cramped, my vaginal walls ached, my back ached, my head ached. I was depressed, bloated,
angry, and scared that this would never end. I had terrible urgency that kept me up at night and made me miserable during the day. I just could not find a place in my body that was safe and quiet. I was desperate for a place within myself that was well. I wrote in a journal every day and brought it to Matia describing in detail every pain and ache. She was all I had and she never let me down. I stayed in a great deal of the time and started to truly evaluate what got me to this place in my life. I wanted to learn from this dreadful
dis-ease, so that I would never have to visit it again.

It took a long time for me to feel better. I can say that today I am feeling better, I even forget that I have a bladder, for now it just melts into the rest of me again. I still have a ways to go with some other symptoms-abdominal cramping, back aches, etc., but I am confident that all will be well again. I stay on my diet though it is very hard some days. I take my herbs and follow my treatment protocol from Matia. My depression has lifted and I am looking for work again!!! I truly believe that we all can heal and feel safe again in our bodies. This is such a dreadful and isolating illness, yet through it all I somehow felt that those parts of my body were trying to tell me something -There is metaphor in illness, if we listen. I have been too frightened to listen at times in my life - I am listening now and I like what I am hearing. Take heart, if I can get better (and I’m a pain in the ass!!!) so can you!!!! SO CAN YOU!!!!!

ANGIE

Angie woke up in pain one day about 3 years ago. She went to the bathroom and had pain for the rest of the day. She went to a doctor who put her on antibiotics and a dietary regimen. She feels that green tea was the cause of her IC. She drank a tremendous amount of it and it is full of tannin. As it progressed She went to several doctors. She was treated for dry skin and a bacterial infection. No one understood what was going on.

Angie was referred to Matia, through a naturopathic pharmacy. Matia calmed down my pain significantly after the first visit with acupuncture. She also continued to see urologists and had two DMSO treatments. After the second one she felt she wanted to die, she was in so much pain. She called Matia in agony. Matia took her immediately and relieved the pain.

After this Angie continued exclusively with Matia. She had to go back and forth adjusting the herbs until she got the right mix. It is not the same for everyone like Western medicine. Chinese medicine is meant to adapt to the individual.

Angie did not have candida but she did have bacteria, which she attributes to eating a lot of sushi. She no longer eats this.

It took about 18 months for Angie to feel significantly better, and about 18 months later she was able to eat and drink anything she likes without any side effects. Now she continues to be symptom-free without treatment or maintenance.

Angie says that Matia is like no other medical professional she has ever met. Her father is a doctor and she went to the best doctors money can buy. Matia is the only person that assured her that she would get better. She had so much confidence in her and her knowledge of Chinese herbs and medicine. Angie feels that 50% of improving is having hope. No one is going to find a medical professional like Matia. She is compassionate, and we as women need that. If you have lost hope when you get to her she will renew it.

DAVID

I started to develop periodic symptoms of IC in my early 20s, over the course of which I was misdiagnosed and treated for recurring prostatitis, non-specific urethritis, and pelvic muscle spasms. At the age of 27 I began to develop a problem with urinary retention and frequency; at the time I finally sought a urologist to investigate the problem, I was visiting the bathroom about every 35 to 45 minutes, and waking up three or four times a night. As the urologist worked toward a diagnosis over the next two and a half years, the IC symptoms magnified enormously: I began to have burning pelvic pain, at first on and off, and then the frequency gradually increased to the point where it was almost constant.

I was diagnosed with IC at the age of 30, and began the traditional regimen of Elmiron, Prozac, and Hydroxizine, along with diet modifications. Over the following year and a half I certainly made significant improvements. The magnitude and frequency of pain decreased on the whole, as did the urinary frequency itself. I had long stretches of up to three months during which I felt almost normal. But I continued to have intermittent, very painful flares.

When I first met one of Matia’s IC patients who told me about her treatment, I was quite leery about the idea of acupuncture and disinclined to believe that herbal treatments could be effective. Where was the proof? As I continued to talk with her, however, I was struck over and over by one fact, and that was that this patient, who was forgoing traditional western medical treatment altogether, had, over the course of 10 months, made exceptional progress in lessening her symptoms.

I saw Matia for the first time at age 31, in the midst of a flare that had been constant at that point for almost two months, and began a regimen of acupuncture, herbal treatments, and further diet modification. Within two weeks I was feeling tremendously better. Within three months I began to experience absolutely normal days for the first time in seven years; days where I visited the restroom two or three times, didn’t wake up once at night, didn’t give IC a second thought.

I’ve been seeing Dr. Brizman for treatment now for six months. On three or four days during that time, I’ve experienced quite bad days, the kind which in the past have been a signal of the inevitable approach of a months-long flare. Under Matia’s treatment, these days have been isolated exceptions from which I’ve immediately returned to feeling normal. With respect to IC symptoms, my time in treatment with her has easily been the best six month period in the last seven years. That correlation may fall short of traditional western medicine’s burden of proof, but it’s more than compelling for me… I will all but personally escort the next IC patient I meet directly to her door.

Update

Over the past 6 months, I’ve had only three or four medium-grade flares, which Matia has been able to get under control each time within a matter of days. That said, the intensity of the flares continues to diminish, as does the duration. If I feel a little off one day, I virtually always feel normal again the following day. There’s no question that I’m continue to make progress.

I went off anti-histamines a few months back , and I have just recently stopped taking Elmiron altogether as well (after tapering down for months from 600 mg a day), and as those medications wash out of my system, I continue to feel good and stable.

I went back to Europe again this year on a three week vacation, and had virtually no pain at all; the degree to which I used to feel absolutely limited and confined by my IC is a circumstance of the past.

I’m looking forward to the next milestone, which will be starting to re-introduce some of the forbidden foods back into my diet. On that note, I have to admit that I have already occasionally indulged when I shouldn’t have over the past few months: A few weeks back I had HALF of a large pizza (not half a piece mind you, but half a pizza), and had no subsequent bladder pain at all. I’m definitely looking forward to doing that on a more regular basis!

JEANNE

My name is Jeanne and I am an IC patient of Matia Brizman. I have been working with Matia for three years now. Under her special care, my bladder symptoms are almost completely gone. But that is not why I am writing this. I am writing because of an ordeal that I have had to go through in addition to IC.

When I first started having IC symptoms in January 2003, I went to many doctors over a period of months trying to find out what was wrong. During that time, I was prescribed Ativan to help with anxiety and sleep. I was in so much pain and discomfort that any help was a blessing. I took .5 mg at night. I did not take it every night, but if I needed it. I was assured it was safe, just a little something to calm me down.

As the months went by, I didn’t think about it too much. I was just trying to cope with having this terrible disease. I started seeing Matia in August 2003. After starting herbs and the diet, I was feeling some improvement. My sleep was very poor, so my Ativan was increased to 1 mg. I refused all other medications and came off the Ditropan I had been given a few months earlier. Because I felt my sleep was so important, I kept taking the Ativan. I had no idea at the time, what this would end up doing to me. I did not take it every night. There were some weeks that I did not take it at all.

In January, I started getting very bad pains in my right shoulder and in my muscles. It lasted for about two months. I felt flu like as well. Was this fibromyalgia? I didn’t know. Over the next two years, I would have many strange and terrible pains, several times ending up in the ER. There they would give me more Ativan. In fact, one time I was in the ER for chest pain and an irregular heartbeat. As I was waiting there, after EKGs and X-rays my doctor said it might be some kind of muscle spasm, He said he would give me Ativan to help relax the spasms. A woman sitting close by overheard this and when I was getting ready to leave, she came over to me and told me that Ativan was the reason that she was there. Trying to stop taking it was making her life hell. She told me to be careful. I remembered thinking she was crazy; I didn’t have a problem with it. I didn’t take it that often, I couldn’t possibly ever be addicted. What was she talking about? I look back on this now and I wish I had been able to listen to her.

In September of 2005 I had a very demanding job that was going to last 16 days straight. I knew I was going to need as much sleep as I could get, so every night I took an Ativan. I figured I wouldn’t take any after the job was finished. After the final day, I did not take the Ativan because I felt it was ok if my sleep was poor, I didn’t have to get up early. The following day, I started feeling really bad. I had horrible stomach pains. I was very agitated and I broke out in a burning rash on my knees. I thought, “What the hell is this?” Is it some kind of withdrawal? That night I took half of my Ativan. The night was literally a nightmare! I didn’t sleep at all; I was shaking all over and had stomach pain so bad that I was in a ball! I WAS IN WITHDRAWAL! I called my doctor the next day and she agreed that what I was experiencing was indeed withdrawal, but that she had no experience with this and I would have to contact a specialist.

I got on the internet, I found out that Ativan is a class of drugs called a benzodiazapine. Valium, Xanax, Klonopin and many others belong to this group. It turns out that I could be in for a very rough time. These drugs can be worse than heroin to get off of and that the recommended tapering process can take many months and sometimes years! Benzodiazapines and their withdrawal syndrome affect every system in the body.

I continued to take my regular dose of Ativan each day as I searched for the right doctor to help me through this nightmare. Even though I was still taking the medication, I was in horrible withdrawal. I could barely function. I had unknowingly gone “cold turkey” and I did not know how long it would take my brain to stabilize. I had accidentally become addicted to this terrible drug!!!!!!!!!

With the help of a specialist, I started the tapering process. It took me four and a half months to complete the tapering. During this time, I experienced extreme muscle spasms, stomach pain, anxiety, insomnia, heart irregularities, twitching, burning muscles, tinnitus, dizziness, brain fog, panic attacks, and other withdrawal symptoms. Even now, seven months after my last dose, I am much better, but not symptom free. My doctor said I was doing better than most and that the average recovery is six months to a year and a half after you take your last dose!

I just couldn’t believe that doctors prescribe these medications that can be so devastating for so many people. Apparently about 70% of the general population won’t have a problem getting off these drugs, but 30 % experience some to extreme difficulty. I just think that is too high a number. My doctor said that unfortunately there is no way to tell who will be affected. I hope to warn people of the danger, and so that they don’t have to go through this terrible withdrawal process. If you want more information, I am recommending the following websites. Please take the time to inform yourself about these drugs and their consequences.

www.benzo.org.uk (THE ASHTON MANUAL)
www.psychmedaware.org
www.thebenzobook.com

SYDNEY

I Once was Blind, But Now, IC

I think that it is important to say to anyone who has been just diagnosed with IC and is now desperately searching for help that there is definitely hope. You have come to the right place and I assure you that Matia Brizman can and will help you.

I was diagnosed with IC on February 14th (Valentine’s Day) of 2003, almost a year ago. At that point I was in so much pain and under so much emotional duress that I was actually hoping to be diagnosed with IC. I wanted an end to all of this agony. It had been almost seven moths since the initial onset of pain and as many of you know often diagnosing IC can be a long and torturous journey. The pain began for me as what seemed to be a normal cystitis or bladder infection brought on by sexual intercourse with a new partner. Seemed normal enough. Stupidly I had antibiotics at home and began treating my self-diagnosed infection. The antibiotics provided no relief and in fact seemed to be aggravating the pain and making the frequency and feelings of urgency get worse. I had constant burning, and a terrible pinching pain that was absolutely unbearable. My pain was so bad that it eventually led me to the emergency room in New York where I was living at the time. In the ER I was tested officially for a bladder infection or a UTI both of which came out negative, a result that is apparently very typical of IC. They switched my antibiotics and then began testing me for STDs, none of which I had.

During the next six months I saw over seven doctors everything from urologists, gynecologists, neurologists, and even two old school Chinese doctors. I had been poked, prodded, and in the case of one of the Chinese doctors, even stepped on to increase circulation to my bladder. I tried everything. I had been told that is was possibly MS or even endometriosis, both of which terrified me in their impact on my future. I spent every waking hour consumed with fear. Fear of what it might be and even more afraid that there seemed to be no end to the pain in sight.

I was fortunate in that the IC did not interfere with my sleeping which was my only reprieve. The pain for me would begin every morning after my first urination and would not abate again until I was once again asleep. I ran the gamut in medications and tried antibiotics, anti-depressants, nerve drugs, etc… My symptoms were constantly changing and at one point even included tingling in my hands and feel and severe pain in my back. Trying to track my ever changing pain made doctors look at me like I was crazy; which truly I was beginning to feel like. In fact many said that I was experiencing a psychosomatic pain brought on by stress. Matia is the first doctor to really understand that the pain from IC is very real!! It takes over your life both physically and emotionally.

By February, I had done so much of my own research that I was now convinced that I had either IC or endometriosis. My family, who now at 26 years old, I was living with, was also at their wits end. My dad( a doctor) too was crazed by this puzzling ailment. So on February 14th I convinced two doctors in San Diego where my dad used to practice to do both a cystoscopy and a laparoscopy and finally get to the bottom of this. I was sure that they would find something, they were certain that nothing was there.

“Ha” I thought when I finally awoke. “I was RIGHT!” They had found the tiny tears in my bladder, which though a mild case, was an indication that I did in fact have IC. Oh what a relief I could now cure it. Well the news that I was then faced with was devastating. “There is no cure” my doctor said, “only treatments”. Oh God, I was so depressed. Here I was twenty-six years old, single, on Valentine’s Day thinking that I now had a life ahead of me full of treatments that may or may not alleviate my pain. I was destined to a life alone without sex. All I could think of was how unfair. One day you are fine and healthy and now my whole life was different. Nothing about this seemed like good news.

I myself refused all conventional treatment, feeling in my gut that there must be some alternative. Something that comes on that suddenly must have a way of being reversed and cured. In truth I have always had some mistrust of traditional medicine and at this point 7 months and 8 doctors later I really was not feeling much faith.

The Internet for months had been where I spent most of my waking hours investigating and researching my pain that now I turned to it once again. I typed in “recovery and IC” and only one place and one name appeared. It led me to this website where I found stories so similar to mine. Unlike the other stories that I came across on the Internet all of these stories were success stories.

I called immediately and began the next stage of my journey, recovering my health. The moment I met Matia I felt assured that I was in the right place. She asked me everything about my medical, emotional, sexual, history. I finally felt heard. I began to understand why I got IC. IC happens differently in each person, which is why it is such a difficult disorder for traditional medicine to diagnose and treat since you must treat the individual and their set of symptoms. My IC was triggered by an herbal supplement, Lysine that I took in excess for several years. Whatever it is that began your particular bout of IC I assure you that Matia will unravel the puzzle.

After my initial visit with Matia I began to feel relief within a week and for me within six months I was symptom free and have now been that way for almost four months. Symptom free!!

I can now say that in many ways IC was a huge gift to my life. It opened my eyes to how I was treating my body and has forced me to take a closer look at my emotions and health. Matia has not just treated my IC but has helped to make me healthier in every aspect of my life. I also have to thank IC for the other changes that came about as a result of my diagnosis. I have moved closer to my family and am now in my first really healthy relationship of my life. This Valentines Day will certainly be a lot different.

RORI

When I started with Matia just over 2 years ago, I was in constant burning pain, desperate and scared out of my mind. I’d been in this kind of pain for 7 years, but it had flared up to an unbearable place. I’d seen a urologist in Los Angeles who supposedly “specialized” in IC .(I’d figured out what I had when my mother saw an ad for Elmiron in a magazine and called to say it sounded like me.) He gave me Elmiron and Attarax and Prelief and sent me to an acupuncturist who gave me enzymes, and an internal massage specialist,

and I started taking everything I found on the internet. Some of it made everything worse, and some helped only enough for me to know I really did have IC. (I never allowed any of the more invasive tests urologists usually do, I was too scared - and very determined to find an alternative way to heal myself.) Then I was referred to Matia by another L.A urologist to whom I am forever grateful.

I could feel the difference after 1 week, and I was out of that searing, burning pain after 6 weeks. I was a slow case. I was so sensitive, Matia had to move me very slowly. My diet still hovers around List #1, but it’s mostly my choice because I’m not much of a cook and prefer things to be simple. I still don’t eat fruits or sugar (I don’t believe I’ll ever again eat “sugar”), but I can handle most everything else, and I’ve moved through many different formulas to where I can try most everything she suggests without a flare-up and with great results. I still use and love Matia’s products (I adore the olive oil soap) and will always use the sulfate-free

shampoos and conditioners and low-peroxide hair colors I found. I find myself thinking about doing and trying and using things I never would have considered a year ago.

NATASHA

I have seen comments on the boards about wishing that there were more success stories posted. Briefly, here’s my story. After three bladder infections in three months (and no bladder infection the previous 10 years) and after an incredibly painful and scary “process of elimination” I was told - “you have IC.” Then, after months with one premier UR “specialist” where I left with a list of 8 drugs to take (4 of which I was told I would take forever) and a bad feeling that I was not on the right path, I chose to try Dr. Fugazotto’s program. Then, after three months taking antibiotics (one that I was allergic to) and several steps back, I found Dr. Brizman.

I started with Dr. Brizman in January 2005. I had some rough times for about 5 months after that. Then I started to feel a bit more in control when a flare would hit. They would last 2-3 days instead of week. FYI to all of you, my last flare was in June 2005 - six months after I started. I stuck to the program and worked hard. Sometimes I felt deprived (at restaurants), sometimes I felt like I was making great strides, sometimes I couldn’t remember a conversation from the day before (the herbs made me foggy), and other times I felt relief just to have a three day reprieve from the constant raw feeling in my bladder. As I got into the latter part of 2005, I was becoming used to the “slightly raw feeling” and figured that if this was the best it got, it was SO much better I could live with it. But by October 2006, I couldn’t tell you where my bladder was let alone remember the pain that seemed to torment me day and night!

Yes, during the process, it seemed like an endless, painful eternity.

The setbacks felt like I was taking major steps backward, but I wasn’t. Now, it’s June 2008! I don’t eat tomatoes or oranges. That’s it. The rest of my life is non-bladder conscious. No flares, no pain, a normal life. Please understand that it may take time, but in retrospect, it was neither a long time nor a difficult time.

Hang in there and communicate

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

JODY

I share my story to help anyone who may be challenged with similar health issues and to let people know that recovering your health can occur. My Western diagnosis includes Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue and Interstitial Cystitis. I have had illness throughout most of my life, however, the intensity of my pain and problems started six years ago, after I took a recently banned herb, Ma Hung (Ephedra), a high level stimulant for energy and weight loss. I was exercising at a high level and eating a mostly soy diet. I was also leading a high stress driven lifestyle.

I have researched almost every disease, seen well over 160 different practitioners, both holistic (Chiropractors, Chinese Herbalists, Physical Therapists, Biofeedback specialists, Naturopaths and even several Medical Intuitives) and Western doctors, including visits to UCLA, Stanford, The Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and The Scripps Clinic in San Diego. I have seen numerous experts in almost every specialty (Gynecology, Urology, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Infectious Disease, Dermatology, Rheumatology, Psychology, Orthopedic, Allergy/Immunology and Endocrinology). I have taken hundreds of drugs and endured just as many tests. Eventually, I let go of all of this and followed Matia Brizman’s work and I am now feeling better. It took some time, but has been well worth the journey. She is truly the most competent, intelligent, compassionate, health professional I have had the privilege to work with.

During my research I found that other people’s health histories helped me tremendously.

My Health History:

At age seven, I got a kidney/bladder infection that eventually caused scar tissue in my urethra and right kidney. An incision was made in my urethra. I was treated with antibiotics. During my teen years, I used acne antibiotics like tetracycline and other drugs like Accutane, for years. I had tremendous menstrual cramping so I began taking high dosages (800 – 2400 mg, 4-6 times a day) of Motrin (Ibuprofin). I continued taking these large amounts until 2 years ago. At age 17, I also started a vegan diet, consisting mostly of carbohydrates and no FAT. As a result, from all of this, in my twenties, my health spiraled downward.

I had chronic problems with Bronchitis, Sinusitis, Thyroiditis, weight gain, low energy, bladder infections, and Bacteria Vaginosis/yeast infections, brain fogginess and flu like symptoms. I started to have cuts and fissures in the vaginal/anal area and I also contracted HPV (Vaginal Wart virus). I also got pneumonia, which may have led to the development of my Epstein-Barr virus. Doctors wanted to operate and put me on more antibiotics. Eventually I got a noid on my throat and saw an immunologist who said I had extreme systematic Candida/yeast throughout my body. The yeast was probably caused by past antibiotic use and the high carb vegan diet. I also saw a Gynocologist who performed a Laparoscopy for Endometriosis.

In 1999, after taking the herb, Ephedra, I started to have tremendous bladder, lower back, thigh pain and pelvic pain. I continued to take the Ehpedra for several months, not knowing that it could be a cause. Doctors said I had Bacteria Vaginosis and I took antibiotics like Zithromax and Clyndamycin. I got better, but eventually the antibiotics did not work. This started my research and desperate search for someone that could help me. I contacted Dr. Fugazzotto, a microbiologist, who believed that the main etiological agent for Interstitial Cystitis was Group D Strep bacteria. I continued to show positive for these bacteria and took many antibiotics, including Augmentin, which eventually made me very ill.

I continued trying many other antibiotics, antidepressants and drugs for Interstitial Cystitis, like Neurontin. Most of these drugs masked the pain and made me feel worse. I had tremendous side effects from the drugs. After being diagnosed for Fibromalgia, I went to see an expert, Dr. St. Amands in Los Angeles. His protocol involved taking the drug Gufinesian. However, I felt that this was only a Band-Aid. I wanted to get at the real cause of the problem, not just keep it at bay. I saw several doctors for Vulvadynia (painful vaginal area) and several pelvic physical therapists to relieve the pain. I had every test done including a Sigmoidoscopy, Colonoscopy, Cystoscopy, Nuclear Body Scan, Potassium IC test, MRI’s, X-rays, Ultrasounds and many blood tests for ANA (Lupus/Scleroderma), cancer, microbacterial infections, vulvar biopsies and more). The tests showed little helpful information and all the modalities were not working.

I finally found out about Matia Brizman’s work and I started to see her at least 2 times a week. I was hopeful and skeptical at first. She said it would take a while, but believed she could help. After about a year, I continued to have deep aching pain in my lower back along with tingling numbing pain in my legs and pelvis along with urethral burning. I stopped seeing Matia for 6 months, continuing to explore other practitioners, diagnoses, and remedies. Things got worse. I returned to Matia and have stayed with her now for almost 4 years. I follow her diet and herb regimen, stopped taking high dosages of Motrin for cramps and slowly my pains have decreased. I still have some tough days, especially around my period, but overall I feel like I am returning to full health. Matia was the only one who truly supported me through all of this. She did not give up and told me I would get better and I am.

Unfortunately, too many women and men have these diseases and I meet them each day. I tell them my story and refer them to Matia. Some want to get better and others are scared to try a new path. I am thankful for her dedication to help those who suffer from these conditions. I hope that this information given is helpful to anyone suffering similar illnesses.

LISA

I am currently nineteen years old, and although many people admit to this stage in life as being stressful, I think that I have had a particularly tough time. In the past two and a half years, my parents got divorced, two of my grandparents died, and I got appendicitis and had to have an appendectomy. I moved in with my martial arts teachers to be a part of an advanced training program, but I was unable to train due to unexplainable hyper mobility in nearly all my joints. I moved twice more, totaling 3 moves within one year. I frequently got sick, even though before the age of 16 I never got sick at all. I had also been a vegetarian since the age of twelve, and my busy lifestyle really prevented me from eating well.

Then in the spring of 2003 I began to get urinary tract infections on a fairly regular basis. My doctor placed me on antibiotics which would somewhat lessen yet not completely take care of my symptoms. I figured that this treatment was fine, as there were bacteria in my urine samples. But all throughout the summer the UTIs never went away. My doctor suggested that I go on a low dose of antibiotics for several months, but I refused as bacteria stopped showing up in my lab results and nothing he was doing seemed to help the pain I was experiencing. I even dropped out of my fall semester of college because the pain in the mornings was too much to deal with in a classroom.

In December 2003 I was referred to a urologist, who diagnosed me with interstitial cystitis. He put me on Elmiron and Detrol, and said to come back in three months to see how things were working. I did my own research of IC, and found that there was really no cure. I have never been a very patient person for things that seemed useless to me, and I really had no desire to wait around to see if the medications would work. Then I found this website about Matia, and decided that that would be the only thing to help me.

I first saw Matia in January of 2004, and knew after our first visit that she would be able to help me. I’m very fortunate that I only live in San Diego, so I was able to meet her in person at least once. I wasn’t skeptical of Chinese medicine, but I also wasn’t very familiar with it, and Matia did a really good job of explaining everything to me. Before this first visit, I was truly starting to convince myself that all of my problems were just in my head, because none of them made sense. But Matia linked all of the problems that I had been experiencing and related them all to my bladder. I knew this was the answer I had been searching for; I had spent the past two years in and out of doctor’s offices who really had no explanation and no cures for my joint problems, bladder issues, or anything else.

There were so many things that Matia asked me that day that it’s no wonder no one else could possibly understand why such bad things were happening to me, someone who never used to get sick or injured at all. They never looked at the big picture. But when I spoke with Matia, I really saw how my flawed vegetarian diet, along with too much stress and too many antibiotics really just devastated my body.

When I left her office that day, I knew that I had a lot of work to do to undo all the physical and mental stresses I had put on my body, but I was completely motivated. When I started the diet, I really didn’t see what everyone complained about. Sure I missed sugar and some of my comfort foods, but I felt so amazing that it really didn’t bother me. My IC had always been fairly mild, but all of the pain, frequency and urgency really lessened. I also had a ton more energy, which I attribute to eating meat and no junk food. I felt like a completely new person. Everyone said I looked better than they had ever seen me, and I agreed. I was always in a good mood, and I could really feel myself getting better.

Over the months, things slowly got better. The longer I was on the diet the better I felt, and I could go days without feeling any pain in my bladder. I have definitely had my ups and downs though. I had my wisdom teeth out, and wasn’t able to eat anything solid for over two weeks. I only managed to eat soft things like pudding and yogurt, and after I got off the pain medication for my teeth I definitely felt the consequences of my food choices in my bladder. Other than that though, I’ve never really cheated. The hardest thing for me has been having the time to cook. I was always used to eating out or just grabbing snacks to go, which really doesn’t mesh well with the diet. There have definitely been times when I have rationalized certain foods that I probably shouldn’t have, simply because I didn’t have time to cook for myself. I feel sure that if I had been as energetic over the past eleven months as I was during the first two months I would be completely cured by now. But even despite the fact that I have not been one hundred percent perfect on the diet, I know that I am slowly nearing the finish line. There are times that I regret not being able to stay home to cook for myself, but at the same time I feel blessed that I can be out and about, enjoying life as I should have been before.

It’s almost funny though, because in many ways I am glad to have gone through this experience. I’m sure if I never even had IC symptoms I would still be a vegetarian with joint problems and minimal energy. Although getting diagnosed with IC brought me to an all time low in my life, I am so much better than I ever was before. I have even decided to begin a master’s program for Oriental medicine in the fall, as I have been so moved by this whole experience. It makes me absolutely thrilled to think that one day I could help people turn their lives around like Matia has done for me, as well as be able to uphold my own health throughout the process.

RITA

The earliest memory I have of IC symptoms was when I was about eight years old. I knew by then that I was different from other people as far as my bladder was concerned. I usually had to urinate about every 20-60 minutes. I had never met anyone like me. I also had repeated bouts of strep throat, joint pains, leg aches, rheumatic fever, and mitral valve prolapse.

I didn’t experience any bladder pain until I was fifteen. I used to go into the bathroom between classes to urinate and put cold, wet paper towels against me to try and stop the burning. I would also drink some water and the pain would be gone by the time I got on the bus to go home.

During the next five years, I experienced the usual frequency, but very little burning. One morning when I was 20 I woke up and had excruciating pain when I urinated. I looked in the toilet and the water was very red. I thought that I must have an infection. I believed that a trip to the doctor and some antibiotics would clear it up. The doctor saw that there was a lot of blood in my urine, but he detected no bacteria. He told me that my bladder walls were so inflamed that they were bleeding, but that he didn’t know why. He gave me some Pyridium and told me that it would probably clear up in a few days. He was right and I felt fine about a week later.

The next severe pain occurred when I was 23, 24, and 26 years old. These were all like the first one, extremely painful. They each cleared up in about a week or so and as the first episode, no infection was found. When I was 32, the next severe episode came and the pain never left. The pain was the same as before, blood in the urine, no infection, burning in the urethra that felt like a hot coal was shoved up inside, spasms, cramping, and aching. I couldn’t function at all. I would be bent over in agony, spending most of my time on the toilet. I would cry for days until it subsided enough for me to get some sleep, then it would start all over again. It went on like this for a year. I actually did start getting some infections at this point, but it was very confusing because one time I would have one and the next time I didn’t. I took just about every antibiotic there was. Pain pills did little to ease my pain and I threw them all up. Sex became very painful and now it now started to set off the bladder attacks.

After a year of the most horrible torture one can imagine I was finally diagnosed by a well known urologist. She assured me that I wasn’t crazy and that she would help me to get better. I had a hydrodistention and biopsy in May of 1985 and it confirmed that I definitely had IC and it was a pretty nasty case, as the doctor put it. I went on the low acid diet and started DMSO treatments right away. I had one a week for 6 weeks. By the end of the six weeks I was almost pain free and continued to improve. Shortly after this, I met a family doctor who believed that my IC was caused by Candida, so I decided to be treated for that. I went on a low carb diet and began using Nystatin to kill yeast. I did this for a year and my bladder remained stable. I then added acidic foods back in my diet and by eating them in moderation I was able to enjoy a fairly normal diet, with only mild symptoms as a result. It was a trade-off. I lived with mild burning and frequency on a daily basis. I only had one severe attack during the next twelve years. I discovered that it was caused by the Sudafed that I had been taking, so I avoided it in the future. I stabilized within a couple of weeks.

During these twelve years my other health issues started to worsen. I had many episodes of tendonitis in my elbows and neck and both of my shoulders. Then the muscle pain started in my upper back and chest. Headaches were becoming more intense and almost a daily occurrence. Anxiety became a chronic and severe problem, along with depression. Constipation alternating with diarrhea had been a life long problem, with it worsening also.

Four years ago the IC came back with a bang. Just a few months before this I started getting pain and stiffness in my knees and hands, also vaginal pain. When the IC flared this time it was here to stay. the diet didn’t alleviate the pain anymore and nothing gave me relief for long. DMSO did not help me at all this time and only made the pain worse. I tried the drug Elmiron, which worked great for me, but I had to give it up after suffering with stomach pain and diarrhea ever day for 7 months. This is one of the side effects of the drug. I was becoming very depressed and hopeless for my future. I was drinking baking soda and water around the clock to be able to bear the pain. I was worried about what this was doing to my body, but it was the only relief I got from the unrelenting pain and my body tolerated it better than pain pills. It also gave me much more relief than pain pills and I would have done just about anything to stop the horrible pain. I finally decided to take the drug Elavil. It controlled most of the pain as long as I didn’t hold my bladder more than 30-40 minutes, and I drank lots of water. I was drinking about a gallon a day. I knew it was only masking the symptoms and would some day not work for me anymore, so I started searching the Internet for something better. I wanted to get well and be free of the IC and the pain that was now all over my body. I knew that I could not continue to live this way. First I tried Dr. Fugazzotto’s antibiotic therapy. My bladder pain worsened and Fibro pain worsened and I couldn’t keep the yeast under control, so I gave up on this. Next, I found Dr. Jacob, the father of DMSO. I decided to go to his clinic and start treatment after he assured me that his newer version of DMSO would not make me worse like before. I did daily bladder installations myself and oral DMSO. I had about 30% improvement in my bladder, but my Fibro and Hypoglycemia symptoms actually got a lot worse. It was very expensive, ($1000 per month) and my insurance decided not to cover it, so I gave it up after four months. What I really wanted anyway, was to find someone who understood IC and knew what to do to help me to heal, not to just suppress symptoms. I started searching again and that’s when I found Matia.

I started treatment with Matia on July 14, 2001. I look forward to my life now. I am not depressed anymore. I have a sense of well being that I have never had before. My anxiety is completely gone for the first time in 10 years. The Fibromyalgia, which is severe, is much better. My overall pain level has gone down from a 10 (on a scale of 1-10) to about a 2-5. Some days I am pain free. My bladder has improved the most of all. It is pain free and I can hold my urine on average about 1 - 1/2 hours without increasing pain and frequency. The Hypoglycemia hasn’t improved yet, but I know that it will. It takes time to balance everything and I believe that I will see improvement soon. I used to have hot flashes that were so severe that they would soak my clothes at least twice an hour, day and night. They went away for a couple of months and have recently returned, although not as severe as before. This just means that we need to adjust my herbs, so we are trying to find the right balance for me. I am confident that it will happen again soon. I used to have vaginal burning when I urinated and I don’t have that anymore. For two years I have heard a humming noise in my left ear that goes up and down. I still hear it, but it no longer goes up and down and it is a low hum now. My husband used to have to massage my muscles all over my body daily because the pain was so bad. I hardly ever ask him to anymore because the pain is so much better. When I need a massage it’s usually because we have changed my herbs and it’s stirring things up a bit. I was so constipated when I met Matia that I wasn’t having any bowel movements without taking something and nothing made them move very much. Once I cut the carbs out of my diet they wouldn’t move at all. I had to do enemas twice a week for four months because I didn’t even get any urges to go. We tried three or four different things, but nothing worked. Finally Matia found something that works for me and I have BM’s everyday now.

After 6 months of treatment with Matia I was much improved with my bladder. I was doing so well that Matia said I was actually the exception in that area…..symptom free and could hold my urine for 1-1 1/2 hours with no problem, sometimes even two hours. It was the first time in my life that I had no symptoms and it was awesome because my IC was severe. I had lots of other symptoms that were still bad; chronic headaches, severe hot flashes and all over body pain that was really hard for me to deal with, but I was ever so grateful for the improvement in my bladder. I was full of hope and clung to the belief that the rest would slowly improve. At the end of January, 2002 I finally got up the courage to taper off the Elavil that I had been on for three years. It took me 10 weeks to get off of it because I am so sensitive and was suffering horrible withdrawals; anxiety, worse fibro pain, tight muscles, felt like I couldn’t get a deep breath, to name a few. Through all of this, though, my bladder never wavered, not even a twinge. I couldn’t believe it! Elavil had been my lifeline and now my bladder was doing well without it! This was absolutely incredible to me. But, during this time all H*** broke lose with the other symptoms. Everything was magnified many times over. (except for my bladder, which remained very stable). I continued on a downward spiral for the next 7 months. The headaches worsened to where I was waking with them virtually every night and getting only 4 hours sleep if, I was lucky. I only get these headaches during sleep, so I was starting to dread bedtime. They would leave me not only exhausted from lack of sleep, but also with increased fibro pain and depression that would last until the next headache. With them coming every night now I was getting no relief and was often crying hysterically in the middle of the night. The pain in my legs worsened to the point that they were making it hard for me to go to sleep and then they would wake me every 1 1/2 hours all night long. The hypoglycemia symptoms worsened also. Now, it didn’t matter that I wasn’t eating carbs, I was getting the reaction anyway and it got worse and worse; that feeling of insulin or adrenaline rushing most of the time, for hours after every meal.

Nothing was helping and I was barely clinging to the hope that I would someday be well. I started to question it for the first time and even suggested to Matia that maybe I was too far gone and too old
to heal. ( I am 50, almost 51) She kept reassuring me that it wasn’t true and that I could and was healing. During this time I was withdrawing from everything. I was too ill to go anywhere most of the time, making it to church only about once a month and really not even wanting to be there. I wasn’t on our board or emailing my friends much because I was so down.( I tend to withdraw when I am depressed). I didn’t want to say much about how much sicker I had gotten because I was afraid of discouraging or scaring some of you, especially those of you who are new, so I didn’t ask for support. I was so physically and emotionally drained that I felt like I had nothing to offer anyone, not here or anywhere.

This all started to change a few weeks ago. All along I knew that Matia had not given up on me, but while she was on vacation things kept getting worse and my hope was slipping a little every day. Finally, she was back, with new ideas for me. I started slowly going in a better direction. The headaches started becoming less severe at first and they started going away more quickly than before. They became less frequent; three or four a week instead of every night. Now, I might have only one or two bad ones in a two week period and they aren’t leaving me sick all day like before. I still get 3 or 4 mild ones per week, but they go away within about 30-60 minutes and I am usually able to sleep until about 6 am before they wake me. As for the leg pain; it slowly got better and for the last three or four weeks it hasn’t been waking me at night. It is also much milder in the daytime than it was. I actually had three days this past week where I had very little pain. Another thing that has improved a lot is the ringing in my ear. Many days I don’t have it and when I do it is a lot milder than it was.

The carb issue is a lot better, also. For about the last two months I have been eating carbs and tolerating them well for the first time in a very long time, years. This is BIG! I had been trying them off and on ever since starting with Matia and would get sicker every time I ate any high carb food, even in very small amounts.

Even though I am still very ill and extremely fatigued, I am a lot better than I was just a few weeks ago. I am so encouraged by these improvements. Without Matia’s help I would only be getting sicker and sicker. I believe that going off of the Elavil was HUGE for me. It was hard with all the withdrawal symptoms that I suffered, but I am so glad that I did it. I believe that going off of it was what worsened my headaches, which worsened the other pain and brought on the depression and hopelessness. It was a vicious cycle. Try to be brave when you are going off of a drug. Your body is used to having it and doesn’t want to give it up, so it will put up a fight. Some people will get off of drugs more easily because they aren’t so sensitive and others will be like me. Remember that and hang in there until you are through it. For me, I am so glad that I did it and I would do it again. I am not thirsty anymore and I can eat food without choking on it ( my throat was so dry that I couldn’t swallow food, especially meat or bread without water). Sometimes the sides of
my throat would stick together when I was just swallowing my own saliva. I hated that feeling of having cotton in my mouth. My eyes were extremely dry, also, and they are normal now. I think it was
contributing to my constipation problem also. Elavil made me stutter right from the beginning and now I don’t have that problem anymore.

If I can improve like this after being so ill, I believe that it is possible for others to heal. When I was going through those awful 7months I clung to the hope that it would pass, even though I was scared and starting to doubt some. I believe in the body’s capability to heal when it is given what it needs, physically,
emotionally and spiritually. Last, but not least, I believe in Matia’s wisdom and ability to help us. It’s an incredible thing for her to take on these very difficult challenges and to deal with all of our suffering. I appreciate her willingness to help us, and her compassion has meant more to me than I can adequately express.

PEGGY

I guess I’ve had IC for about 16 or so years. I started off by getting repeated bladder infections that cleared up with antibiotics. Then I got one that wouldn’t clear up, the symptoms continued, so my family doctor sent me to a urologist. They tried urethral dilations first. That felt like hell. I’m convinced it was some sort of masochistic torture device. Then they tried to get me to urinate while on some machine to measure, but I couldn’t go even when they put me behind a curtain, so they didn’t get any more information. I don’t remember having any problems again for a while, maybe a year or so, when it came back. I went to a new urologist who diagnosed me with IC, saying that I was a type “A” personality and it was common with women like me. I think I was in my late 20’s to early 30’s. He prescribed hydrodilation for diagnosis and possible treatments. It hurt like crazy, but didn’t work. He also tried DMSO treatments. I had 2 or 3 and my symptoms got better. I can’t really remember if it was the hydrodilation or the DMSO that helped or in which order. I did some meditation after this and was pain free and symptom free for about 8 years.

Then the symptoms came back with a vengeance (frequency and pain). I went to see another urologist after trying antibiotics thinking it was an infection. I told him about my previous treatments and he suggested trying DMSO again. We tried this repeatedly over several years. The helpful effects never lasted more than about 3 months. Then he suggested trying several drugs including Elmiron, Elavil, and a few others that I can’t remember now. The only one that appeared to help at all was Elmiron, but again this was temporary and it had the side effect of my hair getting thinner. Heaven knows what other side effects were happening that I couldn’t see. Little by little my symptoms worsened and the periods of normalcy got further and further apart. My urologist said that the only other treatment he could suggest was daily self-instillations of heparin. I was afraid of this and getting more and more depressed.

I found websites for IC and read about the lack of knowledge and treatment options and just became more depressed. My urologist had given me the IC diet, which I tried religiously, but it did no good at all. Obviously it wasn’t strict enough. I found a website with an Asian doctor some place back east that swore IC must be microbial and should be treated with a low dose of antibiotics for several years. I read some testimonies and decided to try it. I contacted him and sent him a urine sample. He sent me back the results saying a tested positive for the bacteria. My sister is a doctor so she prescribed the antibiotics which I took for several months. But, they didn’t help. Things just kept getting worse.

Then one day when I was suicidal and at the end of my rope, I found the website with Bomamed and Matia on it. It saved me. I was very skeptical, but figured what did I have to lose. So here I am about 8 months later. I live about 1 ¼ hours drive from Matia, but I’ve been seeing her about once a month. Occasionally when I’ve felt bad, I had a phone appointment with her instead. I can’t even begin to say how much better I feel. At first the diet was very hard and I felt deprived. Now (although I still miss the goodies), I’m used to it. It wasn’t immediate, but it didn’t take long before the number of good days started getting more frequent. Now I rarely have a bad day, and when I do it isn’t even close to where I used to be on a pain scale. She is a miracle worker.

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

TAMMARA

I believe that IC took years to develop in my body. When I look back now, I realize how many different contributing factors must have been working together for the condition to take hold the way it did.

In December of 2001, I was sitting in front of the fire wrapping Christmas gifts. As I was sitting there, I started to feel very uncomfortable in my bladder. I had had a UTI once years before that was so severe I began to bleed, and this was a very similar feeling. Urgency, discomfort, and a sick feeling began to come over me. I went to urgent care and they said I did not have a UTI but gave me some antibiotics at my insistence. I got much worse over the next few days and went back. They gave me Cipro. I continued to get worse, and the Cipro seemed to make me feel very, very ill.

I went to my regular M.D. ho suggested that I might have spasms in my bladder. He prescribed Detrol. I went for a week hardly able to urinate and as sick as ever. I was losing sleep and felt the urge to go constantly. In addition, I felt like I had an infection or sickness in my body. My M.D. wanted to send me to a urologist and said maybe I had IC. I was insisting I had an infection and too said I had no bladder infection.

I decided that perhaps a homeopathic type treatment might be better. So I sought out this treatment and began taking Sepia under the tongue. This did not help either, and I began looking online for others in my predicament. I also made arrangements to go to Stanford to their IC specialist.

Somehow, I came across a microbiologist who was located in South Dakota. After reading everything on his website, I was convinced that I needed to send him a urine sample. I began doing this and he did detect bacteria in my urine. He said I should be treated with, if possible, Augmentin or two other antibiotics he said tested to kill my particular bacteria.

Meanwhile, my appointment to Stanford finally came, and what a disappointment it was. I shared my information with the IC specialist. He said there were no bacteria in my urine. He did conclude that I should have invasive bladder treatments with medications that included painkillers and a bladder wlal strengthening. He game me a prescription and told me to come back.

At this point in time I was hardly able to function normally. I decided to aggressively pursue the antibiotic approach and found a physician who agreed to prescribe approximately two months of Augmentin. I also continued to research online. I found a story by a woman named Camille. The description of her symptoms was very similar to mine. She suggested two approaches on her website to possibly recover from IC. One was the antibiotic therapy and the other was to seek an alternative approach through Boma-Med. The two months passed, and the Augmentin actually seemed to alleviate my problem. I actually felt pretty good. This was about July of 2002.

In December of 2002 the condition came back, just as strong as before. I was also experiencing problems with my eyes. The epithelium of the cornea was ripping or tearing at night. This was extremely painful and, in addition to the bladder condition, I thought something was seriously wrong and I may never get better. Long-term antibiotics scared me. It was time to try something else.

January 2003 - I made a trip to Los Angeles to Boma-Med. I was scared to try an alternative approach and was second guessing my decision. Acupuncture and Eastern medicine was not something I was familiar with. I had started taking Augmentin again, but about a week before my visit to Boma-Med, I read through their website that all medication should be discontinued. I was committed to giving this method a try, so I discontinued birth control and antibiotics.

During my first office visit, Matia thought she could help me. She also thought my eye would get better. I was very excited to hear this because by this time I was staring to get a little depressed about being ill for so long with no hope. After about two to three weeks of diet and herbal treatment, my eye condition just went away. That was all I needed to know I was on the right path. The diet was very difficult in the beginning and in particular for me because I had such poor eating habits. I had always been thin and ate whatever I wanted. Pepsi was a daily thing for me. During the next six months I really needed support, so I read people’s stories over and over. I might have a few good days, then a few bad days. It went back and forth, and of course I wondered if I was some kind of exception and would I ever get better. During months 6-9, I would say I probably experienced an equal amount of good and bad days. After about nine months I began to experience many more good days than bad.

Currently I am taking a break from treatment during my second pregnancy. I am due in November and then will head back to my appointments in Los Angeles. I believe that i am much better but still have a ways to go. I rarely have pain in my bladder anymore. My eyes are completely better. i still have recurring sinus infections and drainage and I believe that my immune system could still use some work.

This story is a very condensed version of what I was actually going though and experiencing.

Matia gave me life back.

SAN FRANCISCO

CAMILLE

Around the time I first launched IC Success I found a practitioner of Chinese medicine and Acupuncture named Matia Brizman. I found her through one of her patients online. I was told such wonderful things about how she had helped many to get well from IC, that I decided to conduct a telephone interview with her for this site. The positive energy that this woman exuded was like a magnet. We immediately hit it off and I was impressed with her intelligence, her view on the causes of IC, the methods in which she used to attack the illness and most of all her kind and caring heart.

At the time I my IC had improved a great deal but felt in my heart that I could do more. Sometimes my bladder would still get irritated, especially before my period, and sometimes I still had some minor vaginal irritations. One new thing did develop and that was allergies. I had minor skin eruptions on my arms and once in a while a nasty flaming red rash between my legs near the vaginal area (I would later find out that the rashes were yeast related). Now these were not things that plagued me everyday and the majority of the time I felt fine but I thought that it would be better to address these issues now rather than risk them spiraling out of control and getting me sick again. The trouble was that the less that was wrong with me, the harder it was to figure out what to do to get to the next level of wellness. I pondered on what could be left and what I could do to fix it. Clearly the infection was gone. I felt that in my heart, mind and body. Could it be yeast, I thought? My inner voices whispered candida to me.

I went back on the yeast free diet and started to take anti-fungals again. The diet made me feel good, however the anti-fungals usually gave me vaginal burning within a matter of days. So I fell into a state of confusion. I would question if it were really yeast or something else? I would go on treatment, feel confused and then go off treatment. I repeated this cycle a few times over the course of a few months. Finally I got sick and tired of doing it alone. I had become so accustomed to helping myself that believe it or not it took me about 4 months after meeting this woman that I was so impressed with, Matia Brizman, before turning to her for help.

When I first started with Matia she would talk about my history and my current symptoms and from there she would make a special mixture of herbs for me and send them via Fedex. In addition she also put me on a very strict low-carb, sugar free diet. Needless to say, being a practitioner of natural medicine, she is completely against antibiotics. She believes that bacterial infections played a role in many IC patients cases but uses herbs to combat those infections instead. In my case she believed my current problems were mostly, if not all, yeast related due to my history with birth control pills and the long-term antibiotics that I used. Often when we discussed my problems, time and time again she would refer back to “those antibiotics that I took”. In one breath she was glad that I had gotten well and in another she did not believe antibiotics were the right way to seek recovery. However she is wise enough to accept and respect other people’s choices, including mine.

Early on when we discussed my treatment we thought there was a strong probability that I would be done in only a few months since I was so close to complete recovery. Wrong!!! As it turned out I had many layers of candida and toxins in my tissues. One way in which to confirm this is to treat it. When you experience die off you know that there is poison coming out of your system. Especially when you feel better afterwards. Matia would use herbs to slowly drain the evils from my body at a steady pace so that I would not have to suffer too much discomfort all at once. Then every so often WHAM, she would hit it hard. During these times I would experience many uncomfortable die off symptoms, including increased bladder irritation and frequency from the all the cooties passing through my bladder. Sometimes it felt like I had IC all over again and that was a little hard to deal with. Much time had passed by since feeling these symptoms and I had lost much of my threshold to tolerate them. During these times I would use my mind to control my discomfort. I would tell myself that this time these symptoms were a good thing because it was the result of poison leaving my body. In addition my vaginal irritations increased with treatment from all of the evils coming out through that region as well. It was the vaginal irritations that I had to deal with the longest and most consistently during my treatment with Matia. They were annoying but bearable. In addition, other die off symptoms for me included (get ready for this people):

Sore throats, profuse night sweats, itchiness, burning scalp, dandruff, dry skin, acne, thirst, fatigue, sour stomach, snotties in the back of my throat and congestion in my chest, chills, coughing, anxiety, foggy brain, tiny little stomach cramps, depression and last but not least my favorite…mad dog doo doo breath. Although hard to deal with at times, these die off symptoms were bearable and if a particular die off symptom became too intense Matia would pull back on treatment and slow it down.

I treated with Matia for just over two years (so much for me getting away with a few months). Now please don’t be concerned about the length of time it takes to get well. There were times that I was not feeling well for days or even a couple of weeks during periods of intense die off, but for the majority of the time I still felt really good and I lived my life completely.

I had days and even weeks during treatment where I did not feel a single solid symptom. Nothing!!! So I did not sit around waiting for it all to go away. I did not allow waiting for complete recovery to consume my life in between. I did not tell myself that I would only be allowed to do things once I got completely better. That would have driven me mad. I lived a happy and healthy life in between. I did all the normal things, and for me that included taking 10 mile hikes and going to the gym 3-4 days a week. Plus I can tell you, out of sight out of mind. The better you feel and the more consistently you feel completely normal, the less you even think about the existence of IC. Your life goes back to normal and if you allow yourself to do so you do move on. IT’S SO WONDERFUL!!!

One thing that was true for me (and you may want to note this for yourself in case it is the same for you) is this. The better I got the harder it was to get even better. At times I stayed at the same level of wellness for months until I finally made more progress. Recovery felt so close yet so far away. It still amazes me to this day, how long it took to continue to get better than I already was. So if you are symptom-free and are still in the process of working towards a complete recovery do not be discouraged with the time it can take. Learn to have patience and understand that you cannot force your body to recover. You can help but understand it will do so in its own time.

Today I have no symptoms but still work with Matia to increase the strength of my bladder. In addition I continue to exercise and eat right. I believe that every one of us has areas of weakness in our bodies. Unless we have a family history of certain illnesses, most of us don’t know where those weaknesses lie until something goes wrong. For me I now know that my bladder is an organ in my body that will always need attention and care to keep illness from striking it again.

Except in terms of continuing to help others, I do not think about IC. I do not fear a relapse of IC because that is no way to live. I did not do all this work to conquer this illness only to live in fear. If it ever does happen again I will deal with it then. I take comfort that my friend Matia is out there to help me should I need her, and I know in my heart that I would fight like hell should I have to face it again. I am not afraid of it anymore and my mind is free.

If you are wondering if I regret taking long-term antibiotics I don’t. They healed my infection and did A LOT to get me better. It was what I knew at the time and I perceived it as the best option for fighting IC related infections. I am grateful that they worked for me as well as they did. They did however contribute to a lot of yeast in my system and it took me a long time to get rid of the problem. I felt so bad before antibiotics that even with the yeast problem I still felt A LOT better once they healed that infection. For that I have no regrets. However, since I have experienced Matia Brizman’s treatment program I feel that if I had it to do all over again I would have her treat me for the infection (and everything else) from the start instead. I know how powerful her herbs are and I believe that one could treat IC related infections under her care successfully without incurring the massive yeast problem that can come with antibiotics. In addition working with her will take all the “guess work” out of your hands that exists when treating yourself.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to believe that you will get better. If you tell yourself that come hell or high water you are going to get well than you will. Anyone that I ever spoken to who got better was hell bent on getting there. Be relentless!!! It is very normal to have your moments where you feel discouraged, negative and sorry for yourself. You are only human and that is a normal part of the process. I believe that relentlessness and a positive belief system is part of the reason Matia is so good at what she does. She does not give up on her patients and if a certain treatment is not working she will try over and over until she finds what will.

We all have tragedy and pain to face in our lives, and no one is exempt from that. Though I feel very strongly that we can either allow our pain to grow our souls and make us better human beings or we can allow it to destroy our lives completely. That choice is before each and every one of us in every painful experience we face in our lives. IC is a horrible disease that causes many so much pain and heartbreak, so I will not try to say that it is a good thing. Though I will say that my painful experience with IC did result in some good in my life. I grew as a person and recognized just how short and how precious life really is. There were many things that I did not appreciate before I got sick, and now that I am better I know not to ever take them for granted again. Sometimes in life a taste of the sour will give us a greater appreciation for the sweet.

Before IC I would have worried about the doom of failure in taking on this little venture. I would have “feared” losing my investment and regretting my decision. I now realize that it is worse to allow fear to prevent you from making your dreams a reality. Are you afraid to believe that you can get better from IC because if you don’t you’ll feel disappointed and let down? Do you envision the words of the skeptics ringing in your ear “see I told you” upon your notional failure? Well you’re not alone. I too had the same fears and overcame them, and my reward for that is a beautiful and healthy life. Fear is no more than a frame of mind and it can be conquered. Work to defeat your fears and take back what is rightfully yours. Your life!!!!

Update December 2006

It has been three years since my last update, and six years all together since I have been symptom free. I am very happy to tell you that I am still healthy and IC free. In October of 2006 I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. The pregnancy was one of the best times of my life and I never felt better. I went to the bathroom more since there was pressure on my bladder from the baby, and since I drank 8-10 glasses of water a day, but I was no more symptomatic than any other pregnant woman. As a matter of fact when comparing with some other pregnant woman I spoke to I was less! There was a time when I thought I would always be sick and never able to tolerate carrying and caring for a child. Now I am blessed with a healthy body and a beautiful little baby. I am still thankful to Matia Brizman and Dr. Fugazotto for helping me get well. I no longer forget to feel grateful for all of the good things in my life. A blessing that was given to me through the experience of IC.

HEIDI

I have been suffering from Interstitial Cystitis for as long as I can remember. Even as a child I had to urinate a lot. I thought this was normal because my mother and sister frequently use the restroom. At fifteen I was diagnosed with Mononucleosis and recurrent Strep infections and was prescribed antibiotics. From this point on I took antibiotics almost constantly for about 3 years. This led to many yeast infections and other problems. At this point the urgency and frequency of my urinating became worse. This was very difficult in high school where people are apt to make fun of you for much less. I was tested for bladder infections, which occasionally came back positive, and so I took more antibiotics.

Each year my bladder became worse. Nonetheless, I thought this was normal, or I just had a small bladder. I went to quite a few urologists who either thought the condition was in my head or wanted to follow up with many invasive tests. I was finally diagnosed at 26 years old with IC after having a cystosocopy performed in 1996. My bladder was perforated during the procedure and I was catheterized for the following two weeks. I believe this procedure may have made me worse because prior to this I didn’t have pain with IC and afterwards I did.

In addition to IC I have had problems with headaches and digestion. Both problems were so bad that I basically survived by taking Tylenol, various other pain medications, Tums, and Pepcid. For a while I could not eat a meal without following it with some form of antacid.

I was also trying every possible procedure and medication that Western medicine had to offer for IC, including the old favorites DMSO, Elavil, Detrol, Elmiron and many others. I was basically living off antibiotics and these medicines. I also had yeast infections all of the time. To further complicate matters I had been taking birth control pills on and off for about 15 years.

All of these medications just seemed to be making me worse. So at the end of 2000 I began searching for alternatives. I tried quite a few things including herbs and aloe. However, I was trying everything on my own and didn’t really know what herbs worked and which ones may be harmful. I also decided to get off of the birth controls pills, as I wanted to avoid contaminating my body any further.

I searched the Internet constantly for information regarding alternative treatments for IC. This is when I found a message by Jane Peters regarding Matia. I called Matia a few days later. I was skeptical, and felt that I needed to do some more research. I also spoke to Jane a few more times and she persuaded me to give this a try. After coming to the conclusion that I’d tried everything I could do on my own, I began working with Matia in January 2001.

Matia is one of the kindest, most understanding people I have ever met. She seems to have the patience of a saint, which is definitely needed with this condition. She has spent countless hours discussing my symptoms with me. It was so nice to finally have a doctor who would talk to me. I have been taking Matia’s herbs and following her recommended diet for about a year now. I did cheat on the diet for the first few months, but do follow it correctly now.

Today, I am better in many ways, but I have a long way to go. I rarely, if ever have a headache or stomachache and my digestion is so much better. I still have urgency and frequent urination, however, the abdominal pain I began having after the cystoscopy in 1996 has almost completely gone away. I also, have more energy and look physically better than I used to. There are other things that have gotten better too, but I will not bore you with the graphic details. I believe that I have a long way to go. However, this is the first time in my life that I have hope, and the belief, that I will continue to improve. I am looking forward to the day that I don’t have to sit on the aisle at a movie theater, travel without worrying where the next restroom stop is located, and eat some of the foods I love again.

Tags: Success Stories