Bladder issues

[jessieblue]

Hello everyone. I have had some recent bladder problems. I have always suffered frequent urination due to my anxiety and it has never really worried me, unless I was in a traffic jam or something. Just accepted it and got on. 8 months ago when I arrived in florida with my family for a holiday, I started suffering really bad frequency and urgency. I got so worried I ened up at emergency doctors thinking I had an infection. Tests showed nothing but they gave me antibiotics just in case. I took them for a while, felt sick, have a phobia of being sick so stopped taking them (you can see the spiral here right). Had to fly home and was terrified (terrified of flying anyway). Anyway, when got home saw doctor and asked to be referred to see if I had anything serious. Saw urologist who did urodynamics test (waste of time!) which told him I had a small cpacity bladder with some sensitivity (I could have saved him the time and told him this myself) Dr put me on amitriptyline low dose, which gradually eased the symptoms over several weeks. Then the less I worried about it the less I noticed it.

Recently I have been really stressed and anxious over other health problems, I was just feeling a little better when, bang! bladder problems are back again. Anyone have any advice. I just seem to focus on it and I know that makes it worse. I can handle the frequency, but I get these little spasms that feel like I am going to wee a bit and this absolutely terrifies me. I am so afraid of becoming incontinent!! Anyone have any experiences similar. Could it be Interstitial cystitis, my doc mentioned it could be, but I have no pain, just slight irritation, but that may be because I am so focussed on that area! I am afraid I have this horrible condition and that my bladder will get worse and worse. Will I need a cystoscopy?

[lauren6]

Oh goodness, you have been through a lot. It is SO hard to be sick away from home too. I can't tell you a diagnosis of course but I have had 2 cystoscopies due to blood in my urine. The last one was just last month and I had a very gentle doctor, all I felt was pressure, it did not hurt. So if you do need one, try to find urologist through someone who has been to him/her or do some research. The cystoscopy is quick, only about 1 minute, sometimes even less and is considered the "gold standard" for getting to the bottom of bladder conditions.