WHAT IS INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS?

I've been talking about interstitial cystitis (IC) a lot on here, but it's also a disease that many people aren't aware of so I wanted to make a post explaining it all. As you know, I've been going to Boston Children's Hospital to figure out my bladder problems, and right now, they are treating it like it is IC. 

Definition:

"Interstitial cystitis is a chronic condition causing bladder pressure, bladder pain, and sometimes pelvic pain." My chiropractor and physical therapist basically explained it to me like this: since my bladder is so inflamed, it is sending the signal to my brain to empty it before it is full. When you continuously empty your bladder before it's full, it starts to shrink, like a balloon. This turns into a vicious cycle that's hard to get out of. 

Symptoms:

For me specifically, my symptoms include pain that feels like lasers shooting through my bladder, bladder frequency, and urgency. Some other common symptoms include:

• Pain in your pelvis or between the vagina and anus in women
• Pain between the scrotum and anus in men (perineum)
• Chronic pelvic pain
• A persistent, urgent need to urinate
• Frequent urination, often of small amounts, throughout the day and night (up to 60 times a day)
• Pain or discomfort while the bladder fills and relief after urinating.
• Pain during sexual intercourse

Cause:

There is no known cause for IC, but people will IC often have other chronic illnesses with chronic pain. For me, that illness would be endometriosis and it all has to do with my pelvic floor muscles. 

Risk Factors:

• Sex: IC is more common in women than in men. It is estimated to affect 3-8 million women and 1-4 million men in the United States.

• Body Characteristics: Fair-skinned people and redheads have a greater risk of IC.

• Age: Most people are diagnosed with IC in their 30s.

• Having a Chronic Pain Disorder: IC may be associated with other chronic pain disorders.

Cure:

There is currently no known cure for IC.

Treatments:

• Pelvic Floor Physical Therapy: this helps work on the pelvic floor muscles and stretch them out so your bladder can stretch back out again. I can't even describe how much it has helped me!

• Diet: eating an anti-inflammatory diet has also really helped me. Foods such as dairy, carbonation, sugar, and red meat are good to avoid to help ease bladder pain. 

• Biofeedback: Controlling the body's heartbeat, brainwaves, breathing, and blood pressure by monitoring them with sensors. This is a popular treatment method, but I don't have any personal experience with it. 

• Medications: there are certain medications that can be taken in pill or injection form that have been known to help people with IC. I don't have any experience with these medications either.

Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/interstitial-cystitis/symptoms-causes/syc-20354357

How I Helped My Bladder Problems!

 If you've been following my blog or Instagram for the last several months, then you know that I've been struggling with severe bladder frequency and bladder pain. This started getting more severe in September after being home from college since March due to the pandemic. I eventually made an appointment at Boston Children's Urology and they've been helping me the last couple of months, however, what has helped me the most is going back to pelvic floor physical therapy when I came home for winter break. I know a lot of people with endometriosis also suffer with bladder problems because it creates a lot of inflammation in that area, so I want to lay out the steps I took to help myself feel so much better in just two months. 

Wand:

A wand is a kind of dilator that focuses on stretching the deep pelvic floor muscles. Those muscles are basically responsible for holding all your organs in that region of your body, so when they are out of wack, that can create many problems. The wand is curved so it can reach those deeper layers and I highly recommend asking your physical therapist about it because it has helped me so much with getting those muscles to relax and getting the pressure off my bladder to decrease frequency.

Diet:

I've talked about this a lot on my Instagram, but I started eating an anti-inflammatory diet this summer and have gotten more serious about it lately. The things to look out for the most to help your bladder in this diet (at least for me) are bubbly drinks because of the carbonation and sugar, artificial sugar like in candy, and dairy. I still allow myself to have dairy and artificial sugar every now and then because it's hard not to, but not eating it most of the time has really helped with my bladder pain. 

Cupping:

Starting about a month ago, I started doing cupping in physical therapy. I'm going to do a whole blog post explaining what cupping is and my experience with it, but it's basically little cups that suction onto your skin and they relax and stretch the muscles as well as release all the toxins built up in your skin. This has not only helped my pelvic pain immensely but also my tailbone that has been injured since July. I could not recommend this enough if you have the opportunity to try it out. 

Mind Tricks:

I call these mind tricks for lack of a better word, but they have really made all the difference when it comes to my bladder frequency. The first trick my physical therapist taught me is to ignore the first pee signal your bladder sends you to see if it goes away. When you have bladder inflammation, your bladder is swollen so it thinks it's full when it's actually not. This turns into a nasty cycle because when you start emptying your bladder when it's not actually full, then it starts to shrink which is what was happening to me. By ignoring that first signal, you might get a longer stretch between empties which will help your bladder stretch back out. The second trick I use is when I get the signal to go to the bathroom, I tell myself that I don't need to go, especially if I just went. I normally do this at bedtime when I have just gone to the bathroom and it helps. Sometimes all it takes is making yourself think otherwise to help :)

Cranberry Supplement:

This is a very simple one, but cranberry is known to be very good with urinary tract health. Cranberry juice is not good in this situation because of the sugar, so a cranberry supplement is a great choice! It's a small thing that can make a big difference for your overall health. 

If you are struggling with bladder issues like me, I strongly recommend all these strategies to combat it. Going back to pelvic floor physical therapy is the best decision I've ever made for myself because it has helped me so much with all my problems, big or small. I understand not everyone is lucky enough to be able to go to physical therapy, but there are a lot of things you can look up online to help yourself. And as always, feel free to DM me on Instagram @endoisnottheendblog if you are experiencing any of these problems and want someone to talk to who understands!

HOW TO HELP: Full List of BLM Resources (SHARE!)

This week I decided to take a break from the endo content because there are more important things going on. I have seen a lot of different links and other content across all social media on how to help the Black Lives Matter movement and I thought it would be nice to have them all in one place. This is a world issue and it takes people from all backgrounds fighting for the common goal to make a difference. I strongly encourage you to share this post and do what you can to help the BLM movement. If you don't have the ability to give money, there are so many other ways to help! There are many things we all can do and if we all choose things off this list, we can start to make a difference.

ALL BLM RESOURCES: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/?fbclid=IwAR0Sw4sPWpxDI3tORdHjznp_mLD5kJivrZVnXcPo70bVbd-PH3Vb_FjYPR0

CAMPAIGN ZERO: https://www.joincampaignzero.org/?fbclid=IwAR0u57xhD7nN0c4MIIVadqbDVx_ouQL0qvQNMrKYLsj0T_5Sd8_g1AvTH-g

SCAFFOLDED ANTI-RACIST RESOURCES: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PrAq4iBNb4nVIcTsLcNlW8zjaQXBLkWayL8EaPlh0bc/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR3y0s7vXEjsX0MNjXs_q4cGR_wk7tGHFsfY7kt6uUAE2-UU89JtAw2dB-k

NATIONAL RESOURCES LIST: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CjZMORRVuv-I-qo4B0YfmOTqIOa3GUS207t5iuLZmyA/mobilebasic?fbclid=IwAR2R_7rstuCBml_kRn_wu0jfR-IZaENUngAJb77Y298Sxm1urxo8litO5uQ

DONATIONS:

ALCU: https://www.aclu.org/?fbclid=IwAR0Qt_m4TInwjQmlhAhz49AC4LuwHzHyF2ahl3n7Sw1HC1Xq-ZRW4LH3Er4

RECLAIM THE BLOCK: https://secure.everyaction.com/zae4prEeKESHBy0MKXTIcQ2?fbclid=IwAR0HlslX9-mhz47ZxtE6z2I1-L6_bm2dDxV8SptntbI1yha2xV0EpsDMw1I

RUN WITH MAUD (AHMAUD ARBERY): https://www.runwithmaud.com

JUSTICE FOR BREONNA: https://www.gofundme.com/f/9v4q2-justice-for-breonna-taylor?fbclid=IwAR28k8mUryon4PWg3-I77G9IuNlI-aTnS_Kq_sEqdNgmF6ocYvMgw6tAuEY

THE BAIL PROJECT: https://bailproject.org/?fbclid=IwAR0geSABqyKGMaLzBxMF3VZUlHZxQ5JnLLroUnTh_fbSfjcMlkF-Hh2HaUI

CAMPAIGN ZERO: https://www.joincampaignzero.org/?fbclid=IwAR0B4LSaT_iUvyla09kepeXWBT0eKAIfnE_yCZX3LY9TnTrbhs-ubU2dgG4#vision

PROTESTS: If you are interested in protesting, you can easily search protests near you on social media or the internet.

BOSTON ACTIVIST CALENDAR: https://www.facebook.com/ActivistCalendar/?__tn__=%2CdK-R-R&eid=ARBCxavm9SAy_dLY7pPYnpwwndUZVIKZUW-WHLF12pxWmjr2OSRevZsqtSY82uGZyuoOnpHxg3w7FYPq&fref=mentions

SIGNING PETITIONS:

JUSTICE FOR GEORGE FLOYD: https://www.change.org/p/mayor-jacob-frey-justice-for-george-floyd?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22414602_en-US%3Av7&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

JUSTICE FOR BREONNA TAYLOR: https://www.change.org/p/andy-beshear-justice-for-breonna-taylor?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22077589_en-US%3Av4&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

JUSTICE FOR AHMAUD ARBERY: https://www.change.org/p/liberty-county-distric-attorney-justice-for-ahmaud-arbery?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_21863962_en-GB%3Av1&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

HANDS UP ACT: https://www.change.org/p/us-senate-hands-up-act?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_14077526_en-US%3Av2&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN ON RACISM THROUGH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM: https://www.change.org/p/board-of-education-educating-our-children-to-understanding-racism?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22511331_en-US%3Av8&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

CHARGE MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICERS WITH MURDER: https://www.change.org/p/change-org-the-minneapolis-police-officers-to-be-charged-for-murder-after-killing-innocent-black-man?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22409600_en-US%3Av3&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial

RENAME GEORGE S. BENSON AUDITORIUM: https://www.change.org/p/harding-university-rename-the-george-s-benson-auditorium?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22567074_en-US%3Av7&recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uAKJYWAEAAAAAXtk%2Fz99S2iUzMGFhOGNlMw%3D%3D

CONGRESSIONAL AND LEGAL CONDEMNATION OF POLICE BRUTALITY: https://www.change.org/p/congress-the-senate-police-brutality?recruiter=1055411747&recruited_by_id=dffbe860-6980-11ea-8949-dfbf4a525933&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_initial&pt=AVBldGl0aW9uAPLyVwEAAAAAXtlANasRxuhlOGZhNjdhNQ%3D%3D

READING LIST TO EDUCATE OURSELVES:

• Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh (https://www.racialequitytools.org/resourcefiles/mcintosh.pdf)
• Freedom Is A Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (READ ANY AND ALL JAMES BALDWIN!!!!)
• Citizen by Claudia Rankine
• Black Feminist Thought by Patricia Hill Collins
• Me and White Supremacy by Layla F. Saad
• Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon
• I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo 
• Road Map for Revolutionaries by Elisa Camahort Page, Carolyn Gerin, and Jamia Wilson 
• The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
• Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 
• Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde
• Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
• They Can’t Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, And A New Era In America’s Racial Justice Movement by Wesley Lowery
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir
• Book by Asha Bandele and Patrisse Cullors
• Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
• Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi
• This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work by Tiffany Jewell
• The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
• How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
• The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race by Jesmyn Ward
• White Rage by Carol Anderson
• Conversations in Black: On Politics, Power and Leadership by Ed Gordon 
• An African American and Latinx History of the United States by Paul Ortiz 
• Chokehold: Policing Black Men by Paul Butler 
• What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker: A Memoir in Essays by Damon Young
• Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Tatum
• I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
• Whistling Vivaldi by Claude Steel
• White Awake by Daniel Hill

WATCH LIST TO EDUCATE OURSELVES:

• When They See Us - Netflix
• 13th - Netflix (I had to watch this for my sociology class and highly recommend it!)
• See You Yesterday - Netflix
• American Son - Netflix
• Dear White People - Netflix
• If Beale Street Could Talk - Hulu
• The Hate U Give - Hulu
• Little Fire Everywhere - Hulu
• Just Mercy - Amazon Prime (Streaming for free thru June)
• Black Power Mixtape
• Clemency
• Fruitvale Station
• I Am Not Your Negro - Kanopy & Prime Video
• Selma
• Green Book
• Hidden Figures
• Lee Daniels: The Butler
• Mudbound
• Fences
• The Color Purple
• 12 Years a Slave
• 42
• Blackkklansmen
• Moonlight (HAPPY PRIDE MONTH Y'ALL)
• The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (HAPPY PRIDE MONTH Y'ALL) 
• Us
• Get Out

TUNE IN LIST TO EDUCATE OURSELVES:

• 1619 - NYT, Spotify
• About Race - https://www.showaboutrace.com/
• Seeing White - Spotify
• Momentum: A Race Forward Podcast - Spotify
• Code Switch - Spotify, NPR
• The Diversity Gap - Spotify
• Intersectionality Matters - Spotify
• Pod for the Cause - Spotify, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
• Pod Save The People - Spotify

ORGANIZATIONS TO FOLLOW AND BLACK VOICES TO TUNE INTO: 

NAACP: https://www.naacp.org/?fbclid=IwAR1BxC_7u-BhZwGivJ5awS8vUrzdPoCDE5btuYllfa0rPGcPAKMVg5UmBHU

THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE ON CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS: https://civilrights.org/?fbclid=IwAR1j1mtO4cL6jSFiHbThv2J9c6lK82TH9UdjtAQxH4KtpsUFRfOpPIfz4CU

COLOR OF CHANGE: https://colorofchange.org/?fbclid=IwAR14dvivsvE0kcUupeGwczedaU7hjZlkZvYHPjehAp8I2CBFMGK3JqMFoxQ

EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: https://eji.org/?fbclid=IwAR1btNd_1J_fM-j7RK1zzZe4xwdEiSvBRtH0QcTQrYpJyoC8SWUO72-fudM

UNITED WE DREAM: https://unitedwedream.org/?fbclid=IwAR0HwyrDafgH2GgmRCMf6X5O4d7ONzxhDiirSamMjb6btNkeTP9lLiaRJ9Y

SHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE: https://www.instagram.com/showingupforracialjustice/?hl=en&fbclid=IwAR2h20rK-C7CTKVhx7Y8Y2mALpfO8i2enlgmRhFNWiz3aAxl84bQFCsaQho

VOICES:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CA6uC66gF_q/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&fbclid=IwAR2HLTj2odgBw5sp3HaOAmVoVpHj01NU-wHkgcVeS65MSAdPtRcGO9kq_W4

https://www.bet.com/news/national/2020/03/12/future-40-kenidra-woods-menta-health-warrior.html?fbclid=IwAR1CtI_nNftum_ESdqTkFtaCWPlFGz1QYfI5TmW0cS9IZClg2dticF-0D2E

MAKING PHONE CALLS/TEXTING/SENDING EMAILS:

TEXT:

• FLOYD to 55-156
• JUSTICE to 668366
• ENOUGH to 55156

CALL:

• Leave a message for Louisville Mayor and demand Justice for Breonna Taylor - (502)574-2003
• This link provides step-by-step information on how to contact your local government to discuss racial justice in your area and to help you express to your Reps what you want to see and what legislation they should be pushing for and introducing: https://www.vice.com/…/basic-guide-to-finding-and-calling-y… 

EMAIL: 

• Email your local superintendent and principals to see what sort of racial justice curriculum is in place in your local school and have a conversation about how that can change to be more inclusive and helpful.

There are so many ways to help the Black Lives Matter movement and it is up to all of us to do our part to create a safe, just, and compasstionate country. DON'T WAIT, DO YOUR PART TODAY!!