Nichole
Message 1 of 1
Beware of arbitrarily accepting a diagnosis of "Interstitial Cystitis" -- one that many health professionals privately refer to as a "catch-all" diagnosis, mostly for women. Without a cystoscopy (a basically painless scope inserted into the bladder), other more serious conditions such as bladder lesions or even bladder cancer (all of which share symptoms similar to IC CANNOT be ruled out. And the cystoscope should be done WITHOUT any filling of the bladder or other concurrent diagnostics, because the stretching itself can cause tears in the bladder lining, the most recent so-called "telltale signs" of interstitial cystitis. I had to argue with no less than TWO male urologists over 2 months of pain and problems urinating before I finally had a cystoscopy -- the whole time their blow-off attitude included Interstitial Cystitis being mentioned -- but indeed it turned out that a BLADDER LESION is present instead -- which can be a possible precursor to bladder cancer. Now if I could just find a good doctor to treat it properly.