Misdiagnosed with interstitial cystitis?
Friday, February 27th, 2009
I’m a 21 year old female, with a history of bladder infections that were cured easily with Ciproflaxin. Usually, they were contracted by drinking sodas.
Ciproflaxin stopped working in March. No infection was found. I was referred to a urologist. Keep in mind, I worked for a doctor who prescribed this medicine for me as an alternative for missing work to go to the doctor. Overuse of an antibiotic = Immunity to its effects.
April 2008 – At first, I was told I developed an over-active bladder overnight. I was put on Vesicare, Urelle, Sanctura XR, Nitrofur. Nitrofur helped. But he only left me on it for a week, I got worse afterwards. I determined he was an idiot, so I went to another urologist.
April – July 2008 I was diagnosed with interstitial cystitis or “IC” in April after a 2 second examination of my vagina. Literally a glance. No forceps, no nothing. They put me on Elmiron, Urelle, Prosed, and tried to do Bladder instillations (directly injecting medicine into the bladder through a cathader). Everything made it 500% worse. I went to another urologist, because this one was never in the office to explain why nothing was working.
Aug 2008 – Third urologist said it’s all in my head and gave me an anti-depressant and prescribed pelvic-floor exercises and electrical stimulation therapy. I told him he was an idiot, and went to another doctor.
Recently, I went to another gynecologist. She said let’s start over from scratch. She put me on Macrobid for 2 weeks, and to chug baking soda 6 times a day. Surprisingly, I feel better. 80% better. She found also blood in my urine, which indicates infection. Nobody else seemed to be able to find infection.
Am I going crazy? Or was I misdiagnosed? Has anyone else had an experience like this? Please help. I need to know if I’m on the right track. Thanks.
Actually, what happened to me was just the opposite. I had IC for over 9 years but was only diagnosed with it within the last year. I’m one of those rare males (90% of those with IC are female) who has IC. It’s hard to diagnose in males because so many other things have symptoms similar to IC. I suffered through multiple medications to include antibiotics that were no help. I had 9 different surgeries and procedures to aleviate my symptoms. Still no help. Finally I found a doctor who listened to my symptoms and tied it all together and diagnosed me with IC. I now take Elmiron and have bladder intillations through a catheter when the symptoms are severe. Good luck to you and I hope you find the answer. Just keep trying and eventually you’ll succeed.
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Stopping a urinary tract infection (UTI) can be as simple as drinking cranberry juice three times a day, but consult a physician if pain continues or reoccurs. Prevent a UTI with cranberry juice and the health information of a practicing nurse in this free video on urinary tract infections.