Update

Wow, it's been a while since the last time I posted. Another bad week of IC pain but it's starting to simmer down a bit. This will be a quick update in preparation for a longer post that is to come. For those of you without IC pain, keep reading. I promise that if you have Fibro or food allergies or IBS or any other disorder related to inflammation in the body, this post will eventually relate to you.

Well, the IC pain became so severe last week that I even missed a day of work. While I was upset that I had to use up a sick day, boy, did I need the day off! The IC pain had been keeping me up at night, so I was averaging between three and four hours of sleep. Not good for my baby making efforts. : ) I finally saw my own Ob/Gyn on Friday. I came armed with a notepad full of questions, although it's hard to come across as an educated and informed patient while spread eagle on the exam table and/or sitting with a sheet draped around your waist. While he confirmed that my pain is most likely due to IC, he wanted to start me on a course of antibiotics to definitively rule out a UTI. Great- more antibiotics. I'm still taking my probiotics, so I'm hoping that will ward off any secondary infections. Thus far, the antibiotics have not drastically reduced my UT pain, if at all. Instead, I notice an increase in pain about an hour after taking them.

Good news. I got the ok from my Ob/Gyn to start taking Cystoprotek, a supplement developed to treat IC that is also helpful for Fibro and IBS. I was concerned that it might not be safe to take should I get pregnant, but he assured me that there was nothing in Cystoprotek that would be harmful to consume during pregnancy. My next blog will talk more about the product and its developer. He is a doctor/researcher in the Department of Pharmacology at Tufts University School of Medicine. Seems that IC, Fibro, IBS, and many other diseases share a common link- inflammation in the body! I am waiting until I'm done with the antibiotic before starting the Cystoprotek since I'd like to be able to determine what's helping/hurting, which will be difficult to do if I'm taking them concurrently.

I attempted to take the Body Balance again, taking on 1 tsp. per day to see if I could work my way back up to a higher dose. After 3 days of doing this, I couldn't stand the IC pain anymore. I know that BB is great for a lot of people, but probably not the right product for me at this point in time. My hubby is finishing the rest of my supply. I did find a multivitamin, Women's One Multivitamin/Mineral by Rainbow Light. I've taken it 4 days thus far and it doesn't seem to bother me any more than the folic acid I was taking. Since it has 800 mcg of folic acid in it, I no longer need to take folic acid by itself. When I went to a naturopath a decade ago, she highly recommended the Rainbow Light brand. They've changed their formula since then to reflect current nutritional research and the product seems much gentler on the stomach than past formulations.

So, thus far, what has my GFCF diet and numerous supplements done for me?

1. About 80% improvement of my IBS symptoms
2. GERD-free (except now that I'm on the antibiotic, which is tearing up my stomach!)
3. Lost 8 lbs since July
4. Less fluctuation in my energy levels (no more crashing due to diet- now it's just due to lack of sleep)
5. My blood pressure is 106/60. It was never a problem, but had gotten as high as 120/80.
6. Reduction in muscle pain, except for IC related pain

Good night for now! 
Claudia

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