bladder pressure, frequent urination

[brower70]

I have had significant bladder pressure and frequent urination for about 6 wks. I've had so many UTI's that I was sure that was it and tried flushing it out with tons of water and cranberry juice. With no relief I finally went to my dr to have my urine checked, they said it looked fine, but still gave me an antibiotic of which I didn't take because there was no need. 1wk later i went back to have it checked again, still negative. In the meantime I saw a GI dr for chronic constipation that worsened after chemo/radiation treatments for BC(earlier this yr.). The GI dr sent me for abd xray, upper abd ultrasound, pelvic ultrasound which all look normal, except for the constipation. I have to urniate about every 1/2hr now and can't really do much because of the pressure I feel. it's very uncomfortable! I can't even relax to sleep well at night. I am almost 40 and post-menopausal(premature ovarian failure age 27). Any advice??

[Dr J Singh]

Hi,
I’ll suggest consulting a urologist for the same and getting the uroflowmetry test done which actually tests the emptying of the urinary bladder. There are drugs to take care of the urge incontinence like oxybutinin but this needs to be taken only after consulting a urologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care.

[MSKshelly]

It is very possible esp, with your symptoms starting after Chemo that you have Interstital Cystitis.  I have noticed several patients that begin to have symptoms after finishing chemo
symptoms.  No one knows what the cause or multiple insults to the bladder that cause IC, and for each of us those maybe different.  

ONE HUGE WARNING IF YOU HAVE AN
IRRITATED BLADDER CRANBERRY IS ONE OF THE TOP 5 THINGS FLARE TRIGGERS. blueberry does the same thing but less acidic,
D-Mannose is the natural sugars that keep
bacteria from attaching without the problems also.  I can get you some links to the cheapest place to get this also.

You could also have Chronic Cystitis, and honestly the culturing techniques currently used designed to find acute infections not chronic uti's since the bacteria count are do not meet the colony count standards for them to recognize a chronic infection.  There are many reason for this but that does not help your pain, however a good uro that treats complicated or chronic infections can help to clear it up with long term antibiotics treatment..

I have IC and am an IC support group leader here in MO and ARK, MOARK IC.  I have some links to IC info if you would like to pm me for those I would be glad to share them with you, so you can see if you feel this maybe what is going on with you and talk to your doctors. OR find doctors who treat IC and are IC knowledgeable.

We also have an IC support forum here on this site actually two, listed below.  

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Interstitial-Cystitis-IC--Pelvic-Pain-Support-Forum/show/412

The expert forum where you can actually ask the doctor here on Medhelp is here also:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Interstitial-Cystitis-/show/264

Hang in there you are not alone, and thought there is no cure for IC, there are many treatments that can help with your symptoms
and lots of support!  

Shelly