(have also posted this in the Urology forum)
Have history of Interstitial Cystitis and Spine DDD + Spinal Cord Compression (10 yrs dx'd with IC; Spinal stuff is 30+ years, am 48 yrs old).
The bladder symptoms have changed over the last few years and don't seem to be strictly IC.
The "new" symptoms are: mod/profuse sweating, heart racing, pounding headache, severe heartburn, flushing with bladder filling, voiding and post-voiding.
Night time symptoms are severe, with need to void at a minimum hourly, some times as often as every 15 minutes. Cannot ignore urgency/frequency without triggering above symptoms. Also have upper left quadrant sharp pain, feeling of distention (just below rib cage) which can be quite severe.
Endocrinologist suspected bladder pheo, as plasma dopamine levels were elevated (more than double upper normal limit); ordered MIBG scan which was negative
The spinal troubles are ongoing and there are disc protrusions in the thoracic spine, screws extending into ventral canal in the cspine and moderate spinal stenosis (cspine, throughout fused levels, c45, c56, c67)
In researching IC, I am not seeing this type of bladder/voiding symptoms "fitting" IC (described above).
Is it possible that the IC is getting worse? Or, could this possibly be connected to the spinal stuff? What type of doctor could help me figure this out?
The new symptoms are impossible to ignore and are getting worse. I am not sure what to do or who to see at this point, but definitely need a hand here.