Interstitial Cystitis Dysuria Painful Urination, Bladder and Lower Abdominal Pain Diet Treatment

There are no standard or consistently effective treatments for interstitial cystitis.  Trial and error is typically used to find your own relief from its symptoms of painful urination (dysuria), bladder pain or lower abdominal pain.

So where do you begin?

Preferably with a proper diagnosis.  A diagnosis affords your the opportunity to try elmiron, the only FDA approved medication for interstitial cystitis.  Other potential benefits of medical treatment are:

The goal of these treatments is to reduce inflammation and prevent muscle contractions that may be causing your urgent and painful need to pee all the time.

A highly recommended form of treatment for interstitial cystitis is diet modification.  Your objective with a diet form of treatment is to discover if any foods may be causing your bladder to become irritated.  And then don’t eat them in an effort to avert flare-ups.

Some foods that may cause bladder irritation include:

  • tea
  • MSG
  • salsa
  • coffee
  • yogurt
  • onions
  • alcohol
  • ketchup
  • mustard
  • soy, tofu
  • tomatoes
  • chocolate
  • soy sauce
  • spicy food
  • sour cream
  • mayonnaise
  • citrus juices
  • aged cheeses
  • cranberry juice
  • fava/lima beans
  • carbonated drinks
  • artificial sweeteners
  • rye, sourdough  bread
  • nuts except almonds, cashews, pine nuts
  • preservatives, artificial ingredients, colors
  • fruits except blueberries, honeydew melon, pears
  • meats ~ cured, processed, smoked, canned, aged
  • meat containing nitrites ~ bacon, ham, hot dogs, salt-cured fish

This list is just a starting point. There may well be items on that do not cause your dysuria nor bladder pain nor lower abdominal pain of interstitial cystitis inflammation.

Dietary treatment might best be determined by initially avoiding consumption of all the foods listed for a couple of weeks.  Then introduce them back into your diet, one at time.  Using this process of elimination helps you discover which foods you must avoid eating.

Also, you’ll want to do this elimination test on OTC medications containing pseudoephedrine and any vitamins you take.

You may find that there is no link between your symptoms and food.  There are some other self help treatment options you can give it a go, like:

Interstitial cystitis’ chronic inflammation requires your commitment to take whatever healthy diet (or otherwise) steps are necessary to relieve your discomfort of urination, bladder and lower abdominal pain.  It is a solo endeavor because the range of causes appear to be so varied.

Processed food avoidance, water hydration and regular physical activity are valuable long-term lifestyle adjustments toward a pain and stress free future.

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