A Sometimes when you have all the symptoms of cystitis-needing to empty your bladder urgently but only able to produce a small amount of urine along with pain and discomfort then it may well be something called interstitial cystitis.This tends to mainly affect middle aged women and the first thing to do is get the condition properly diagnosed by your doctor. Interstitial cystitis could be because of an inflamed bladder, the muscles used to control urination (the pelvic floor) not working properly, an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system attacks the bladder or some form of allergy. If you do have the condition, then unfortunately, there is no cure and antibiotics don’t work.

There are however some treatments available. The first is about lifestyle and one of the most important is reducing stress. Many people don’t realise how much stress can affect health. A great number of visits to doctors surgeries are about the symptoms of stress. Many stresses in life are things that you can’t change but how you react to that stress is the key to managing it. (I have written an article about how to deal with stress in my Top Tips booklet available in the pharmacy).

Avoiding alcohol and tomatoes can be helpful if you notice symptoms are worse after ingesting these products and generally reducing the amount of fluids you have in the evening will help night time symptoms. Some women find planning toilet breaks before the bladder becomes too full lessens the condition.Paracetamol is useful for relieving pain and antihistamines can be worth trying.

Your doctor can prescribe tablets for specific use on the bladder but like all medicines they can have side effects. If pain is particularly troublesome then a TENS machine is worth trying. Your doctor may refer you to physiotherapy and ultimately surgery if all other treatments have failed.Call into the pharmacy for more information.