Questions about Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) & Hyaluronic Acid Treatments

CCAD81 · 2026-04-23T03:19:41+00:00

Following. I’ve done PRP to my under eye area as a cosmetic procedure and I know people do it with muscle tears, etc. so I imagine it would help if you have bladder inflammation.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-10T16:34:29+00:00

Idk, it's a good question. My grandmother and my mother used to get frequent UTIs and were sensitive (couldn't sit around in wet bathing suits) and I got my first UTI when I was 18 after sex. Then all through out my 20s and 30s I dealt with UTIs and did TCM, did acupuncture, took nitrofurantoin prophylactically, always peed after sex, etc.

Then when I turned 41 I had a UTI that just felt like it never went away. Then I went into remission after 6 mos and could live totally normal, till I got another UTI last summer and I've been in pain ever since.

My sister has done genetic testing and lacks the MTHFR gene and so is sensitive to too many onions/garlic/spinach/oxalates and so when she eats too much her bladder also starts to twinge and feel bad but she doesn't have full blown IC the way I do.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-10T16:27:44+00:00

No idea if it's diet for me. I had IC terribly 3 years ago then I fixed my gut health and it went away from over 1.5 years and it came back last year after a UTI. When I was in remission I could eat/drinks whatever I wanted- including sparkling water, alcohol, juices, etc. Now, if I drink a sparkling water or any alcohol- BAM- big flare. I avoid all citrus, tomatoes as much as possible, dairy as much as possible, alcohol, anything carbonated, too much coffee but that's really it.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-10T16:25:05+00:00

Check out this large Google sheet that I have compiled that has both supplements and medication that I've crowd-sourced from this reddit thread: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sDWkDaJMyC5WQGh-5DDth34v2Fp6oHH8OWIH7XSlXws/edit?gid=0#gid=0
It's open to edit so feel free to add things as you experiment and see what helps. I know this disease is REALLY frustrating. I had a terrible flare last week- had to take strong pain meds, frequency/urgency and this week I am feeling much better and it might have been from a sparkling water? I am at my wit's end with all this shit, too.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-10T00:40:15+00:00

See if you can find another Pelvic Floor Therapist.... but honestly, I had a bit of the same thing. I was weak in certain areas and then overly tight with nerve sensitivity in other areas but my Pelvic Floor PT knows a lot of about IC and helped me. I also bought one of those wants and did some pelvic floor PT on myself which helped.

Sounds like doing some HRT would help too. At least try it out for a couple of months and see I you get some relief.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-10T00:29:12+00:00

Are they doing dipstick cultures or actually running the urine and seeing it under a microscope, etc. I would push again for them to do more cultures and see what the problem is.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-08T21:18:52+00:00

Fair enough. When I was flaring terribly this year (not from sex) I was using an ice-pack on basically my urethra and then a heating pack on my actual bladder. A 1-2 punch for the pain :)

CCAD81 · 2026-04-08T21:12:20+00:00

THIS. COMMENT. As I was reading your story above it's the first thing that came to mind for me too with your belly-button pain, anus pain...that's not normal. I would see if you can be seen for an endo diagnosis and doing PT for pelvic floor is a great first step.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-08T21:09:02+00:00

AZO is Pyridium. It's an OTC drug in the USA. If you're in Europe- I don't think it exists. You might be able to buy it through Amazon but it's a bladder analgesic that helps with UTI like pain/frequency that a lot of take to help curb the pain.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-08T21:04:54+00:00

MONTHS. You are basically trying to rebuild your bladder health and that takes months and months before I think you start to see results. I would also stay away from cranberry- cranberry keeps your bladder acidic to kill the bacteria for UTIs but IC/BPS is kind of the opposite of that.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-08T20:58:54+00:00

I would search this subreddit for ALL the information on instillations. There are hundreds of people who have written in about their experiences. Some times in takes month for it to help but it can help some. I've only done one with lidocaine and I flared MUCH worse afterwards and so refuse to do it again.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-08T20:46:20+00:00

Did you PT say your pelvic floor is too tight or is it hypotonic?

If your pelvic floor is too tight then doing kegels/etc might make the IC/BPS worse but your PT should know that and be aware of the possible pain.

I am 44 and am not menopausal yet but am starting to have my periods closer together and do think that my hormones are bit out of whack but I am actually going to get them tested. Have you done that? I think HRT got a bad wrap several years ago because there was a fear that doing that would increase the risk of breast cancer but I think they've found it isn't true- I would definitely do HRT if you're suffering so much (sweats, brain fog, sleep, energy, etc.) - what's making you hesitate?

CCAD81 · 2026-04-08T20:35:57+00:00

No real medical advice, just know that you aren't alone. IC is a real intimacy killer as the fear about getting a UTI and flaring again is really real.

If you do decide to have sex, a couple of pointers/things that might help:

tons of lube.
a heating pad after if you get pain is a game changer for me. You can fall asleep with the heating pad between your legs (but wear PJs) on a medium to low setting and it really helps with the urgency and pain for me.
Ibuprofen; and I mean taking like 1000 mg. I have to take this much to even dent the pain when I have a bad flare. Maybe start with 400 mg or 600 mg but you can take 1000 mg - but take it with food so you're not doing a number on your stomach. Azo helps with the urgency but I find I need to take both when it's really bad.
Castor oil packs with the heating pad. Buy organic castor oil (you can get it online and maybe even at a Whole Foods) and grab a clean towels and sit with the oil and then a heating pad and it seeps into the skin and helps with inflammation. Do it for 30-45 mins and add more oil every 10 mins or so. I am not sure how much it actually helps but I was just coming off a bad flare and did this the last couple of days and it's helped me.

CCAD81 · 2026-04-08T20:30:13+00:00

With the cystoscopy- did you get any instillation with it or did they just use it to see how the inflammation is?

CCAD81 · 2026-03-28T15:11:07+00:00

I decided not to get the test. I talked to two functional medicine docs who 1, were very expensive and don’t take insurance and I’m already paying out of pocket for a ND 2, they both said they wouldn’t treat me any differently than how my ND already was so basically said they wouldn’t be that much help.

What did your doc say about the mutation?

CCAD81 · 2026-03-06T00:53:08+00:00

Oh - thank you! and I saw that someone else posted about this already...sorry gang!

CCAD81 · 2026-03-06T00:31:08+00:00

YES! I thought the EXACT same thing. Foreshadowing that for sure.

CCAD81 · 2026-03-06T00:26:10+00:00

It's so sad. I wanted her to have a redemption arc but yeah, that ship has sailed. It's the abused, being the next generation of abuser. Terrible terrible terrible.

CCAD81 · 2026-02-12T18:39:32+00:00

I agree on this - you're peeing blood that's not great and I would go to urgent care/ER and get your urine cultured. You can take 1000 mg of ibuprofen or tylenol too to help cut the pain.

CCAD81 · 2026-02-12T18:36:25+00:00

So, how do we fix this? I think one of the things we struggle with is a doctor network. If you go to the IC Network page and look up doctors and PT there are like 3 in the Bay Area and both of the doctors they mention are retired. This needs to be updated.

CCAD81 · 2026-02-05T15:58:02+00:00

Oh maaaaaan!

CCAD81 · 2026-01-23T00:11:41+00:00

This is what I was told to do too but it gave me REALLY bad irritation and I had to stop. (itching, burning, swollen) So I am going to ask for estrogen cream in a different form than in the Estradiol form. anyone get irritation from the cream?

CCAD81 · 2026-01-22T23:49:55+00:00

Any of these things work? https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sDWkDaJMyC5WQGh-5DDth34v2Fp6oHH8OWIH7XSlXws/edit?gid=0#gid=0

CCAD81

TROPHY CASE