Interstitial Cystitis Clinics

What is Interstitial cystitis?

Interstitial cystitis is a poorly understood bladder condition that causes long-term pelvic pain and problems with urination.

It's also known as "painful bladder syndrome" or "bladder pain syndrome".

The condition tends to first affect people in their 30s and 40s, and is much more common in women than men.

It can have a significant impact on your lifestyle, work, emotional health and relationships, but a number of different treatments can be tried to help relieve the symptoms.

Symptoms of interstitial cystitis

The main symptoms of interstitial cystitis are:

• intense pelvic pain (felt below your bellybutton)
• sudden, strong urges to pee
• needing to pee more often than normal
• waking up several times during the night to go to the toilet
• The pain may be worse when your bladder is full and may be temporarily relieved when you go to the toilet. You might also find the pain is worse during periods or after having certain foods or drinks.

The symptoms will often come and go in phases. You may have episodes lasting days, weeks or months where your symptoms improve, followed by times when they're worse.

What happens next?

This service is available to both women and men who suffer from Interstitial Cystitis. This condition is diagnosed by a Consultant urologist and treatment is then arranged by the Urology Nurse Practitioners.

We have four clinics per week allowing for patient choice when is most suitable.

Treatment consists of a therapeutic solution painlessly administered into the bladder of the patient. The treatment is initially given weekly then at the discretion of the patients needs, normally monthly.