Some might ask what is Interstitial Cystitis? IC is a long-term (chronic) inflammation of the bladder wall which is known as painful bladder syndrome.  The symptoms varies with each people with IC:  Pelvic Pain, pain during intercourse, Urinary discomfort, Urinary frequency (some people with IC tend to go 60 times a day in a severe case) and Urinary Urgency.   I was diagnosed with this symptom in 2009 but I know I had it for a long time.  A lot of doctors kept telling me I had a bladder infection or UTI.  I found out later on, there is a difference.  Bladder infection or UTI usually hurts when you go but with IC, or to me, does not hurt, it only hurts when I am holding it in.  Once I go, I feel so much better.  The pain you feel ranges from milk tenderness to intense agonizing pain, almost like thousands of needles are jabbing you. As you can see, IC can be somewhat difficult to diagnosed because there are UTI, Bladder Infection and now there are overactive bladder and chronic prostatitis.  There is so much out there.  Anyone can get it, male, female, age doesn't matter.

People can get diagnosed by talking to your doctor, they will do a hydrodistention with cystoscopy and let me tell you, it hurts when you wake up.  This will allow the doctor to see small, bleeding wounds also known as petechial hemorrhages.  I guess when mine was done, I was rated at level 4 hemorrhaging.  Before diagnosing IC, your doctor will need to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms. Tests include:

• Bladder biopsy
• Cystoscopy (endoscopy of bladder)
• Urine analysis & culture
• Urine cytology (for detecting cancer and inflammatory diseases in the urinary tract)
• Video urodynamics (which shows how much urine it takes for you to feel the need to urinate)

So far, there is no cure and there is no known reason what causes IC.  Researchers are trying to find ways to make IC better but it is also the patient's job to watch what they eat.  I will post that later.  There are treatments out there like for one:  Bladder Distention, Bladder Instillation and there are drugs people with IC can take.  I have tried Instillation, DMSO (Dimethyl Sulfoxide), Electrical Nerve Stimulation, pain medicine like Percocet, Elmiron,  and so far nothing worked.  I see a new doctor and he suggesting I take Toviaz.  Also these treatments

• Bladder training (relaxation techniques to train the bladder to go only at specific times)
• Medicines placed directly into the bladder
• Physical therapy and biofeedback (aimed at relieving muscle spasms)
• Surgery

We do get flares.  Flares to me come unexpected and omg do they hurt.  A flare is a sudden and dramatic worsening of their bladder symptoms. Lasting from hours to weeks, IC flares can be unpredictable, disruptive.  Depending upon the triggering event, an IC patient may experience a variety of symptoms during their flare. 

• Frequency: During flares, patients can experience urinary frequency, especially at night. Mild IC patients may urinate 11 or more times in a 24-hour period, while more severe IC patients urinate 40 or more times a day.
• Urgency: Some IC patients struggle with a sudden need to urinate and/or a sensation of constant pressure to urinate.
• Pain: Flares can provoke mild to severe pain. During most IC flares, the pain worsens as the bladder fills with urine and may be relieved after urination.  Bladder pain is most commonly felt in the subrapubic region, directly above the pubic bone. However, it’s not unusual for pain to radiate into the lower back, upper legs, perineum, rectum and/or reproductive tract. Women may complain of vulvar, vaginal or clitoral pain while men may experience pain at the tip of the penis or in the testicles. Both men and woman have reported that their urine may feel hot or burn during urination.
• Urethral Symptoms: Some patients experience discomfort entirely in their urethra. It can be a sharp, burning pain. 

For many of us, flares can be the worst at night when there are fewer distractions and it's much harder to ignore. Here's a typical flare. A patient may go to bed at 10PM and by 11PM they've woken up with a strong need to urinate. They might actually empty their bladder of, say, 1/2 cup of urine. They return to bed, to awaken at forty five minutes later with another intense need to void. Their bladder may feel very full, but when they try to urinate, only a teaspoon or so of urine comes out. They then return to bed, and sometimes within minutes, have yet another sensation that their bladder is very full. But, when they actually urinate, nothing comes out.