Forums:
Dear all,
I'm winding myself up about my kids' urinary health again, and am wondering at which point can/do kids spiral into IC - can kids be born with IC/develop IC as kids orisf this a condition which takes years to develop? I don't think kids are born with chronic fatigue, IBS, etc., but for some reason I think of IC as different. What do you think? Basically, my daughter will need to go frequently if she drinks lot of water (I make her) - I (weirdly, despite having IC) have a huge bladder and don't go often at all. Is what she does normal? Do kids go often (every hour or so) if they drink lot of water? She'll have a burst of three bathroom trips, and then will settle down (when she has drunk lots of ater). Also, my son sometimes wakes up at night to pee - he drinks water too, often before bedtime. Is this normal? I never wake up to use the bathroom. I am so paranoid about their toilet habits that I am watching their every move. Any (calming) thoughts much appreciated.
Kids
Maybe you should ask your childrens' pediatrician if their bladder habits are normal. They might be just fine and never develop IC, especially if you take care with their diets while they are still small.
Vin- I totally get your
Vin- I totally get your nerves. Your kids sound normal to me though. My husband drinks a ton of water and coffee and tea and he pees often during the day. I know he is fine. My 6 yr old still wets at night so believe me- I am scared too but i really think in my heart that he is ok. Take a deep breath and keep doing what you are doing. It isn't a foregone conclusion that thye will have IC. I know my kids will NEVER have antibiotics uless they have Lyme or bacterial pnuemonia or soemthinglike that. I know you feed them well so now- keep up the good work and try not to worry about them too much. I am with you though. Take care!
Thanks both. Clueless -
Thanks both.
Clueless - unfortunately, I now know more about kids' health than any paediatrician I've ever taken them to (I am not exaggerating - I haven't met a good one yet). My worries centre on the fact that iC has been shown to run in families - too often, for my liking. I wish we knew definitively how the damned thing develops. I can see though how my five year old has no issues at all whereas the older two are 'different' in this respect. Hopefully, they might be showing bladder issues but not IC ones. Lots of kids do but then 'grow out' of them, don't they? I pray that that is the case.
a thought
I bet its been shown in families because families have similar habits. I doubt there's a particular nucleotide sequence that determines whether you have IC or not...but btw there is a study currently recruiting at Harvard if you wanted to participate in such a thing; it's a mother daughter one. I think most epidemiology on the subject is sorely misguided.
Hi RN- Can't say I know what
Hi RN- Can't say I know what a nucleotide sequence is but I really feel there is more than habit although surely that is part.
My sister and I have IC and we share one thing in common- our Dad- my other sibs are my half- siblings. As far as our lifestyles they couldn't be further apart. My sis is a recovering alcoholic who ate nothing but junk food, did a lot of drugs etc. I had a super healthy diet from my late 20's until now. Before then it was vegetarian for a couple years but still lower in sugar and junk than most Americans. Our dad just had lower intestinal cancer and I can't help but think he somehow passed some weaknessnes in the intestines down to us. We were both on the PIll and had UTI's treated with abx while on The PIll. ALl 3 of my other sisters were also on the Pill but don't have IC. I feel like my little sis and I inherited something from our Irish alcoholic dad and the PIll and antibiotics damaged us where we were weak.
Then when I was doing some anti-fungal food stuff I basically started a hardcore cleanse which pushed my body to full on IC. My sis showed signs of full blown IC a few months after quitting drinking so I think a cleanse was the immediate cause for her too. We are 10 years apart so we didn't even share a lot of growing up similiarities (if that makes sense)
Btw Vin- this isn't to scare you more. I truly believe I never would have gotten IC if I hadn't been on the PIll, antibiotics and then done the weird elimination anti-fungal diet I did. SO even if therre was a family weakness- environental factors played a HUGE part!!
hi vin43, i am traumatized
hi vin43, i am traumatized about ic and whenever sophia says ouchy, the first thing that pops in my head is - "i hope the ouchy is not in the urethra." i know this isn't good on my mental state which can trickle down to the bladder.
i think it's great you are encouraging your kids to drink a lot of water. nowadays, it's so hard to do when there are tons of delicious beverages out there. my colleague who doesn't have ic goes quite often and she drinks a lot of water, so i would say it's normal. :o)
Deir and Rn - thanks for this...However...
When I got my notes from the GP, the first entry was when I was about 10/11 years old, and said that I had two/three episodes of abdominal pain, fever and dysuria. I cannot remember these episodes at all but was shocked when I read my file as I didn't think I showed any signs as a child. I also had what are obviously 'flares' which I thought were UTIs - mostly connected to sex. It was obviously 'brewing' quite early on. My mum had wht I think is a flare up of it when she was pregnant with me - it came once and never came back (lucky mum!). We grew up in different countries and cultures so did not share any similarities at all. My daughter is showing urinary signs. One of my sons is too (very mild) but the other son has not shown anything at all. I do wonder if there is something genetic going on with this. Is it a discrete 'disease' or something that develops?
Also...
I agree with Deir that perhaps we all have a 'bladder weakness' - but would never have got IC if not for various social practices - antibiotics, Pill, bad eating, other lifestyle factors, etc..
Just spoke to Dr. B and asked her...
and she said that she absolutely, categorically believes that IC is NOT genetic (but can be passed down through vertical transmission). Relief!
what does that mean?
what does that mean?