Skullcap for Interstitial Cystitis

well i have been working on the post i said i would be doing next, but i am having issues getting the details on one of the treatments, since to be honest most doctors don't know about it and apparently there isn't exactly research on its use either, and i don't know how to give details about it without quoting right now so i will start off with the safest treatment that anyone should be able to get their hands on, and in the next post i will cover the next treatment and so on.

Alternative treatment for bladder issue, in my case semi diagnosed Interstitial Cystitis (i think i have explained being "semi diagnosed" in a past post, though later i might check and if not, i will explain it in a later post)

Herb (found at health food stores)
name: Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora)

Traditional Use:
It is used in alternative medicine as an anti-inflammatory, abortifacient, antispasmodic, slightly astringent, emmenagogue, febrifuge, nervine, sedative and strongly tonic.
Traditionally it is known as a nerve tonic and sedative for relieving anxiety, neuralgia, and insomnia. In China it is found in prescriptions for fevers, colds, high blood pressure, hypertension, insomnia, headache, intestinal inflammation, vomiting of blood, and other
conditions. Because of its calming effects on the nervous and musculoskeletal system, it was also at one time considered to be a remedy for rabies, thus it's name "mad dog weed."

Percautions: A medicinal infusion of the plant is used to promote menstruation, it should not be given to pregnant women since it can induce a miscarriage. There have been no documented cases of negative interactions with other herbs or medications, it does have a sedative effect and should not be combined with prescription sedatives.(for the record i have never had it effect my menstruation in any way at all, and i have taken scull cap and then a prescribed sedative without thinking and no issues personally). Overdose symptoms include giddiness, stupor, confusion, irregular heartbeat and twitching

Preparations:
Skullcap is available in dried form as teas, capsules, tablets, and tinctures. Care should be taken to buy skullcap from a reliable source to ensure the identity of the plant material.

How i take:
2-4capsles (425 MG each) when i am starting to get a flair or getting really bad sudden issues. (granted i find my IC flairs are at times semi anxiety related so that might be why it helps me but it being a sedative effecting nerves might also be part of it, so who knows. But i do often find it impressively effective.  I find if i am feeling urgency and pain before i take it, it takes effect and makes it so i don't feel the need to rush to the washroom within 20-40minutes of taking the pills. This seems to happen for more anxiety based flairs or when its not too extreme IC flair.

Hates her life at the moment, or at least her bladder.

We just swtiched to nights since that is Scotts shift this week (though ended up early).

I just got out of bes at 6:40, it is now 7:15
So far, i have had to urinate 8 times.

First time was extreamly painfull (tears came, as was 2nd and third) still painfull but now some tears are only comming from the frustration.

Its looking like this is going to be a REALLY long day. When we go downstairs i think i will try being on the couch with my feet up, sometimes that seems to help slighty.

oh i wish i had those new meds i havent yet fully explained but havent been able to fill the perscription for since no compounding pharmacist handy. UGH!

Bladder, fuck off!

So this is day 3 my bladder is being a prick.

It would be really nice not to have to pee every 2-10minutes. That would be really nice.

Though i should be glas i dont have to pee that often and also have intence pain every time i pee like i had earlyer today for a couple hours.

Certainly does make going out sorta tricky, or at least dressing normal.

Scratch that, it still hurts to pee just not as bad. I am also in alot of endo pain right now to, so on max demerol. fun wow... not.

Yesterday i took more then perscribed demerol and was still crying from the pain (reolised later last night when i looked at the times i took them). Life can be a bitch sometimes!

The plan is to try to get out of the house before scott gets home so he can have some alone time that he seems to need these days. This mentod works best i think since i dont see him walk in the door and then have him take off as though he doesnt want to be around me, if i am not there when he gets home it cant really bug me. Even when i do get back in and he is still off on his own its jusy as though he isnt home yet, and not that he is avoiding me.

I HATE MY BLADDER

so i been trying this new med to help with bladder issues

update so far USELESS.

worst eppisode in about a month, right this moment.

UGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGGHGHGHGHGHGHGGHGHG

i HATE by inners. i say inners because althought its just bladder really bad right now pain is starting to get worse and is due to spike with period tomorrow or friday.

Also if i did the math right my next really bad pain spell / crippling period will start on christmas eve... fucking joy.

i love chirstmas, way to very likely fuck it up body.

cystoscopy countdown

I am trying to remain calm; I have done amazingly well until this morning at 4:45 when I woke up fully on my own half due to stressing I think and the other half from pain that is likely in part due to the stress (love life haha).

Today is the day I have in theory be “waiting for” for over a year and a half now. That is a fucking long time if you think about it, it’s sad that it’s taken till now for doctors to possibly figure out what is wrong/not wrong with my bladder and why I have such issues with it and pain along with said issues.

When I say “waiting for” I haven’t really been waiting for today, I have been waiting for a doctor to take me seriously, my issues are something that even shocked the urologist when I saw one for the first time a month ago. He wondered why I hadn’t been sent to him sooner and I explained that no one seemed to care. I tried to make the docs understand, and so did my mother to no effect. It actually took my being with my grandmother for a week (after warning her that she might not be able to make/keep plans) while I was there due to either my pain or my bladder, and then witnessing the issues all week long, and getting so frustrated that she ended up on the phone with my gynaecologist (my Endo specialist) who didn’t seem to care that there is often blood in my urine. After that he finally referred me to a specialist.

So today is the day I see the urologist doctors at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto again, and have a procedure done. The reason I am stressing and nauseated at the moment is the thought of that procedure. I will be having a cystoscopy sometime this afternoon. For many people I am sure they have had one and it was no big deal, but since the reason I am having one is that my bladder/urethra =pain to me the thought of them shoving a camera/tube up it is not exactly happy. Then add that my understanding of this procedure means they will also fill my bladder (another painful thing for me) while looking around inside also not exactly joy inspiring.

All this will be done with only local freezing so I get to be completely alert! Joy. Though last week when I asked my pain doctor about how a cystoscopy happens he explained to me and I them mentioned my anxiety and asked if they will be giving me anything to relax me, he said no. Now I was more worried, but he sat and thought for a minute (I was hoping if I mentioned this issue to him he might come up with a solution perhaps prescribe me one pill of something to calm me down) well he concluded that what I should do was take Demerol before my appointment, even if I wasn’t needing it for pain. Though looking at the past couple of days I will likely already be on Demerol for pain, but I might take a second one for the purpose of calming me down so I don’t kick any doctors.

The other thing is besides the procedure there are many things that might be involved today that I am uncomfortable with. Believe it or not I do not enjoy being exposed not even to doctors (and far too many have seen my girly bits over the years). I hate hospital gowns. But I think aside from the actual procedure my biggest fear from what I have heard might be entailed is that the nurses might shave me before the procedure. Scott when I confessed this fear to him asked why I don’t do it myself, and I said well honestly even if I do it might not be well enough to make them happy. The more important issue is my skin is being really sensitive this week so if I shave unneeded it won’t be nice, but if they shave me it might be doubly not nice. Who knows?

The interesting thing about all this is that by the end of today I might know why I have such issues with my bladder and might be told how to treat the issues. That could be awesome. The other interesting this is that for the past 3days I had to keep a “urinary diary” and because of this I have gotten a very good idea as to how much is the max my bladder can hold. Or at least hold before it starts hurting due to pushing on other things inside me or stretching. The thing that worried me though is for my diary my bladder has been on decently good behaviour, making me of course look like a liar (though it often goes for days and days between times where it causes me frequency issues like ever 10minutes) but still, but then just now it started to pull its same old crap so today’s diary might show a slight window into how my bladder can also prevent me from leaving the house at times.

So as it stands if the apointment is on time it could be as little as 5hours untill the dreaded cystoscopy. ugh!