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Coping and support
By Mayo Clinic staffInterstitial cystitis can have a profound adverse effect on your quality of life. Support from family and friends is important, but because the condition is a urinary problem, you may find the topic difficult to discuss.
Start with the simplest self-care strategies, such as wearing loose clothing and limiting soda, caffeine and citrus. Wait a reasonable amount of time to see if these measures help, and keep trying new ones, as long as they don’t disrupt your life even more than interstitial cystitis already has. Perhaps most important, find a compassionate physician who is concerned about your quality of life as well as your condition and will work with you to help alleviate your frequency, urgency and bladder pain.
Also, you might benefit from joining a support group. Such a group can provide both sympathetic listening and useful information. For a list of interstitial cystitis support groups throughout the United States or for information on how to start a group in your area, contact the Interstitial Cystitis Association on the Web or call 800-HELP-ICA, or 800-435-7422.
- Interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome. National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC). http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/interstitialcystitis/. Accessed Dec. 9, 2008.
- Fitzgerald MP. Patient information: Painful bladder syndrome and interstitial cystitis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 9, 2008.
- Hanno PM. Painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis and related disorders. In: Wein AJ, et al. Campbell-Walsh Urology. 9th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/113536197-2/0/1445/13.html?tocnode=54300277&fromURL=13.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-7216-0798-6..50012-1_840. Accessed Dec. 9, 2008.
- Evans RJ, et al. Current diagnosis of interstitial cystitis: An evolving paradigm. Urology. 2007;69(suppl):64.
- Fitzgerald MP. Patient information: Treatment of painful bladder syndrome and interstitial cystitis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 9, 2008.
- Moldwin RM, et al. Rational approaches to the treatment of patients with interstitial cystitis. Urology. 2007;69(suppl):73.
