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Symptoms
The symptoms of IC/PBS are often misdiagnosed as a "common" bladder infection (cystitis) or a UTI. However IC/PBS has not been shown to be caused by a bacterial infection, and the mis-prescribed treatment of antibiotics is ineffective. The symptoms of IC/PBS may also initially be attributed to prostatitis and epididymitis (in men) and endometriosis and uterine fibroids (in women).
The most common symptom of IC/PBS is pain, which is found in 100% of patients, frequency (82% of patients) and nocturia (62%).
In general, symptoms are:
- Pain that is worsened with bladder filling and/or improved with urination.
- Pain that is worsened with a certain food or drink.
- Urinary frequency (as often as every 10 minutes), urgency, and pressure in the bladder and/or pelvis.
- Some patients report dysuria (burning sensation in the urethra when urinating).
- Some patients report waking at night to urinate, hesitancy (needing to wait for the stream to begin), pain with sexual intercourse, and discomfort and difficulty driving, travelling or working.
During cystoscopy, 5 to 10% of patients are found to have Hunner's ulcers. Far more patients may experience a very mild form of IC/PBS, in which they have no visible wounds in their bladder, yet struggle with symptoms of pain, frequency and/or urgency. Still other patients may have discomfort only in their urethra, while others struggle with pain in the entire pelvis.
Other articles from the section: Interstitial cystitis
Nomenclature
Originally called interstitial cystitis, the name for this disorder changed to interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome in the period 2002-2005. In 2007, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) began using the umbrella term Urologic Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndromes (UCPPS) to refer to pain syndromes associated with the bladder (i.e. interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome, IC/PBS) and the prostate gland (i.e. chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain ...Section: Interstitial cystitis
Treatment - medication (bladder instillations)
DMSO, a wood pulp extract, is the only approved bladder instillation for IC/PBS yet it is much less frequently used in urology clinics. Research studies presented at recent conferences of the American Urological Association by C. Subah Packer have demonstrated that the FDA approved dosage of a 50% solution of DMSO had the potential of creating irreversible muscle contraction. However, a lesser solution of 25% was ...Section: Interstitial cystitis
Treatment - medication (Amitriptyline)
Amitriptyline can reduce symptoms in patients with IC/PBS. Patient overall satisfaction with the therapeutic result of amitriptyline was excellent or good in 46%.Section: Interstitial cystitis