Interstitial Cystitis is a difficult and miserable problem, mostly suffered by women. It is like a bladder infection in sensation, but there is no infection, and the pain is constant. There is no good treatment conventionally, which is partly why it is difficult. I am pleased that we have been able to cure most of the people who have come to us with this problem. By most, I mean over 90%.
The problem involves pain in the bladder area, sometimes including vulvadynia or pain elsewhere in the perineum. It will vary somewhat in symptoms, but usually presents as constant pain in the bladder region, maybe worse from sitting, though in some people worse from moving. In most people it feels like you constantly have to urinate as well. You may have an uncontrollable urgency. It is miserable because of all this, and because there is no good way to ease this with drugs.
Salmon Creek Clinic’s success in treating this painful and difficult problem is achieved mostly through appropriate dietary changes. We use an old naturopathic method of determining whether there are foods that do not digest well for that person, and then advise on removing these from the diet. If one eats things that they cannot digest well, the products of intestinal bacteria metabolizing these poorly digested foods results in the production of toxic chemicals that can be irritants in that body. They can cause or drive inflammation, and this is what we see in interstitial cystitis : inflammation in the bladder not caused by bacteria. By eliminating this chemical source of inflammation, the driving cause of the bladder pain is gone, and the bladder pain fades away. We couple this with homeopathic and herbal medicines to help soothe and heal the affected tissues, and hydrotherapy to help improve the digestive function efficiently. The cure is simple, inexpensive, and permanent, and works well for most people. Improvement is usually noticed in the first two weeks, though it may take two or three months to complete the process.
The most common homeopathic medicine I use for this is Cantharis, though this will vary depending upon the specific symptoms that the patient has. In some cases I need to employ a set of the Unda homeopathic medicines. I will use a variety of herbal medicines, but most commonly Marshmallow root, which is soothing to the bladder, Mahonia, a source of Berberine, and then several others to specifically address the symptoms of a particular patient.
If you want to get started before seeing us, go on a simple healing soup diet (see my dietary section of the web site), with daily hydrotherapy (see our hydrotherapy instructions), and homeopathic cantharis 30c several times daily. This may help reduce symptoms.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please Contact Dr. Zeff of Salmon Creek Clinic. or call us at 360-823-8121.
