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Tammara - Central California.....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.
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Disclaimer: The
purpose of this site is for information only. We in no way intend to offer
medical advice. This is not the official site for BOMA-Med. This
site has been developed by patients of Dr. Brizman, because of their faith in
her work, the belief in the effectiveness of her treatment, and willingness to
inform others of an opportunity to recover from the ravages of Interstitial
Cystitis. |
