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Interstitial Cystitis

Interstitial cystitis, now known as bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS), is chronic pain, pressure or discomfort in your bladder area (suprapubic region).

Interstitial cystitis, now known as bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS), is chronic pain, pressure or discomfort in your bladder area (suprapubic region). In addition, it causes an increase in urine frequency and urgency with symptoms present for at least 6 weeks without presence of a urinary infection, in women the bladder pain worsens in luteal phase (after ovulation).

IC is more common in women with Endometriosis, Irritable bowel syndrome, Rhematic arthritis (RA), Fibromyalgia, food allergies, and mood disorders.

Causes of Bladder pain syndrome

  • Autoimmune
  • Defect in the bladder mucosal layer
  • Increased activation of bladder sensory neurons during normal bladder filling may result in bladder pain.
  • Mast cell presence and activation in the bladder as result of an allergic reaction.

Treatments

  • Dietary exclusions: tomatoes, tomato products, soybean, tofu product, spices, excessive potassium, citrus, high-acidity-inducing substances
  • Remove food triggers especially gluten; check for celiac disease
  • Follow a low Histamine diet
  • Avoid Arylalkylamine-containing foods (tryptophan, tyrosine, tyramine, and phenylalanine) such as bananas, beer, cheese, mayonnaise, aspartame, nuts, onions, raisins, sour cream, wine, and yogurt
  • Quercetin and nettles to reduce histamine production from mast cells and lower inflammation
  • Botanicals and nutraceuticals to help protect bladder’s mucosal layer such as Aloe, Marshmallow root and chondroitin.
  • Probiotics: studies show it is effective in patient with IC and IBS
  • Botanicals such as wild yam and Kava help with bladder spam and anxiety associated with chronic pain.

Acupuncture for Bladder pain syndrome

Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment modality for IC, in one study 10 female patients who received acupuncture treatments twice a week for five weeks, three months after cessation of treatments, patients still had a significant reduction in the visual analog score (VAS), interstitial cystitis symptom index (ICSI), interstitial cystitis problem index (ICPI), O’Leary-Saint symptom score (OSS), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ9), Pelvic pain and urgency & frequency patient symptom scale tests (PUF) and maximum voided volume (MVV).

Chinese Herbal Medicine for Bladder pain syndrome

In a pilot study, 25 IC/BPS patients were treated with herbal tea, which is composed of Cornus (Shan Zhu yu), Gardenia (Zhi zi) , Curculigo (Xian mao) , Rhubarb (Da huang), Psoralea (Bu gu zhi), and Rehmannia (shu di huang), twice a day for 6 days a week. An 83% overall response rate was achieved after 3-month treatment.

Another study, 56 IC/BPS patients were allocated to receiving intravesical instillation of Coptis chinensis (Huang lian) extract or nitrofurazone once a week for 3 months. At the end of this period, patients in Coptis chinensis extract group presented a significant improvement in pain, frequency and nocturia.