Understandably, I receive many questions from people concerned that their symptoms are out of the ordinary and a sign of something completely different than their IC.
While there are many times that certainly something else could be going on, it is important to know that there are many symptoms that occur as offshoots of the main problem causing the IC in the first place.
Because IC begins in the gastorintenstinal tract, this has the propensity to create problems everywhere else in the body. This is why there are so many overlapping chronic illnesses with IC, such as fibromyalgia, arthraligia, vulvodynia, CFS, migraines, etc....
But, other strange symptoms may often come up with this illness. To name a few: fullness or ringing in the ears, tingling or numbness in various places such as the limbs or face, burning, swelling, dryness or lost of taste of the tongue, chronic vaginal discharge, painful intercourse, insomnia, palpitations, stomach discomfort, chronic nausea, acid reflux, stomach pain, bad breath, bleeding gums, chronic sinus issues including post nasal drip, chronic lowgrade sore throat, chronic itching or rashes, excessive dryness of the eyes or skin, pain in various muscles and joints, anxiety with or without depression, OCD tendencies, social anxiety, and paranoia.
I have seen all of these symptoms commonly, and I am certain there are many I am forgetting. Peopple often will write and ask if they are the only one experiencing such symptoms and are understandably concerned that these are symptoms of other more seriosu disorders. And, certainly there are times where that may be true.
The books that I often recommend reading encompass theories and ideas about physiology from an alternative perspective. The reason I do this is because it is important to understand that Western medicine is the accepted mode of understanding physiology in most societies today. But, there are alternative ways in which to view the human body. Through these type of approaches other modalities may be applied to effect changes in the way the body is able to function thereby assisting it in regaining its helathy state. As we view the human body in this way, these categorizations of illness become less relevant.
If one envisions the root of IC as a tree trunk and the different symptoms (or conditions) that go along with it as the branches off of that tree trunk one may understand why so many different conditions occur with IC. This is where reading my dissertation is really helpful. So, then it becomes easier to see why the skin, hair muscles and joints emotions, and energy, again to nama a few, all become effected by that root condition.
I am writing a bookto try and encapsulate all of this in easier language and more concise concepts, but, mean time, this is all there is from me. The other books I recommend often help to assist in these concepts.
In any case, I did want to communicate that more often than not, strange things do oocur in IC and the anxiety that is already likely there as a result of the IC does not help when these symptoms come up.
As your body;s balance improves, these symptoms should level off one by one. I ope this helps just a bit.
Happy New Year.
Dr.M
