How is bladder Pain and Interstitial Cystitis treated?

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Some patients find that their symptoms are made worse by certain foods ("trigger foods"). These tend to vary from patient to patient, although there appear to be a list of foods which are commonly implicated. It might be worth experimenting by cutting out a certain foods for 2 weeks, and then reintroducing it to see if your symptoms change.

There are a variety of medications which can help with Bladder Pain Syndrome. Some patients also benefit from treatments which are delivered directly into the bladder through a catheter.

Your specialist will discuss the available treatments in detail with you. It may be necessary to try a number of different treatments before finding the right one for you, and treatments which help one patient do not necessarily help another, even if their symptoms are very similar.

Tablets

  • amitryptiline
  • pentosan polysulphate (Elmiron)
  • hydroxyzine (antihistamine)
  • anticholinergics (oxybutynin, solifenacin, detrusitol, trospium etc)

Treatment delivered into the bladder

  • Cystistat (Hyaluronan)
  • Condroitin
  • DMSO
  • Local anaesthetics (eg lignocaine)
  • Oxybutinin

Interventional treatments