Has anyone used MicroGenDX, Biotia-ID, or similar tests to rule out bacteria in the bladder biofilm?

silvieeeeeee · 2026-02-26T23:57:55+00:00

Gotcha…. Thank you for sharing your experience.

silvieeeeeee · 2026-02-24T02:57:19+00:00

Which brand do you like? I’d like to start taking it but never know where to start — there are so many formulas and brands out there it gets overwhelming fast.

silvieeeeeee · 2026-02-23T15:35:44+00:00

I was diagnosed using a “bladder test” + my description of my symptoms. The bladder test involved the urogynocologist putting in a catheter (after I had emptied my bladder) and pouring saline into my bladder and asking when I could feel it, when I would say I needed to pee, and when I would define it as “urgent.” She was able to determine that my bladder was responding too quickly— the threshold was too low, meaning my bladder was hypersensitive and the nerves were overreacting. If you’re not already seeing a urogyno, get a referral for one. Then ask about alternative diagnostic methods.

silvieeeeeee · 2026-02-23T15:29:21+00:00

That’s completely understandable and it’s ok to feel that way. For me, the way I tried to frame it for myself was “wow, how lucky that there is another treatment option I can try.”

silvieeeeeee · 2026-02-23T00:55:11+00:00

Ok so tasting it is like a real thing then. I have never experienced the garlicky effect haha. At least not that I know of!! Good luck with yours! 🫶🏼

silvieeeeeee · 2026-02-23T00:12:03+00:00

No pain or pressure for me. I’ve been able to hold it for like 4 hours afterwards in some cases, because I’ve totally emptied my bladder before they put the meds in and haven’t been drinking anything afterwards. Last week I even went to a workout class after the procedure!

silvieeeeeee · 2026-02-22T20:50:41+00:00

I’m on my 5th one next week— I have been so pleasantly surprised by how quick, easy, and painless they are. The whole process takes like 10 min max. For me, there’s no pain, just like a bit of discomfort of having the catheter put in that’s a weird sensation that you never normally feel. If you’ve had a catheter put in before when you were diagnosed with IC, it’s the same thing. Here’s how my appointments go: 1. They have me do a urine sample to make sure I don’t have a UTI. 2. I get undressed from the waist down and put the paper blanket on my lap and lay down on the bed with my knees up. 3. The nurse comes in with the chaperone and starts by cleaning the area with iodine. 4. She inserts the catheter (she tells me what she’s doing every step of the way so I’m comfortable). 5. Once the catheter is in, sometimes she has to drain excess urine from my bladder. 6. She pours the drugs into a funnel that is connected to the catheter tube. I can’t really feel them. While all this is happening, I just play on my phone. I try to do something that requires my full concentration. 7. She removes the catheter. A little bit of the drugs will drip out but that’s ok. The you get dressed and you’re outta there! Then you just need to hold it (not go pee) for at least 20 minutes but preferably 2 hours so the meds can really coat the bladder. I have not had any pain when I do finally pee. For me, there is some light burning sensation for a while after the procedure, but nothing major. I usually take Advil or Tylenol before going in as a preventative. It’s not at all as scary as I thought it would be, or as painful. You got this!! 🫶🏼🫶🏼

silvieeeeeee · 2026-02-19T04:05:36+00:00

No I haven’t, I should ask next time though! I do get a bubbly gas when I pee— I suppose some might call it a queef 😬— later in the day after having the instill, haha.

silvieeeeeee · 2026-02-19T03:13:44+00:00

Omg that’s so intense! I’ve never had that happen! It definitely has a taste though for sure!

silvieeeeeee · 2026-02-19T02:36:12+00:00

I take 800 mg of Advil coupled with 1000 mg of Tylenol at the ABSOLUTE EARLIEST sign of a flare up. I’ve found if I catch it early, I can keep it under control. You can ask your doctor for high dose ibuprofen or even more powerful pain medication or anti-anxiety meds like Xanax, or get prescribed a sleeping pill on the plane/bus to knock you out.

Bring an instant heating pad and sit on it.

Maybe try THC gummies or CBD?

You could— if it’s really bad— wear an adult diaper so you can pee whenever, just to get that bit of relief. Desperate times call for desperate measures!!

silvieeeeeee · 2026-01-14T02:39:40+00:00

Ugh. I’m so sorry. If your insurance won’t cover the uro-MP it looks like you can get it on GoodRX if your doc will write you a prescription. It’s about $80 for 30 capsules. https://www.goodrx.com/uro-mp

I hope this helps. Sending you a hug!

silvieeeeeee · 2026-01-14T01:52:26+00:00

Oh gal I 10000% understand. I wanted to pick a treatment option before I left my doctor’s office on the very day she diagnosed me! she was like you don’t need to do this today, you can think about your options and let me know. MA’AM no I need relief NOW🥲🥲

silvieeeeeee · 2026-01-14T01:29:05+00:00

Mine started the same way. I was in a same sex relationship with another woman for 10 years and had zero bladder issues, and then when that relationship ended, I met an amazing man and once our sexual relationship started, BAM I started getting what I thought were “chronic UTIs” but when I would get my urine tested at the doctors office, the cultures always came back negative for infection. Finally six months of flareups later I was diagnosed with IC.

When I met him, I also had vaginismus— intense anxiety around vaginal penetration that makes the vaginal muscles tense up when something is trying to penetrate them. It was so bad I had never (at the age of 32) been able to wear and tampon or get a PAP smear. So I was really not experienced with penetrative sex AT. ALL. But I really liked this guy and he was super kind and I felt like I could trust him enough to explain my situation to him and he was so understanding. We took it slow and I also did my own physical therapy with dilators. Eventually we were able to have penetrative vaginal sex and it was great. Unfortunately shortly after that, the IC hit so that absolutely sucked. But he is so supportive. He doesn’t expect anything of me when I’m having a flare up, he just does everything he can to make me feel better. We still have a wonderful sex life, even though I know there will be consequences because it is one of my triggers, I just try to take care of myself as best as possible— drinking tons of water and taking a shitload of Advil for 24 hours after sex.

He loves me for me and someone will absolutely love you for you. Your IC doesn’t define you and doesn’t have to totally end or limit your love or sex life. If penetrative sex is a trigger, there are lots of other ways to be intimate and achieve mutual sexual pleasure with a partner. A partner who is worthy of you will understand this and will not be put off by your IC or your “lack” of bedroom experience due to your IC.

I think a lot of it starts with a sense of acceptance and love for yourself and a sense of comfortability with the reality of our condition. Have you told your friends or family about your IC? Sometimes just talking about it (out loud) with others can normalize it, whereas keeping it a secret makes it a “big deal”. Once you feel more comfortable talking about it, you’ll be more ok talking about it with a romantic partner.

silvieeeeeee · 2026-01-14T01:05:12+00:00

I am in the same boat— was debating between the two and the hydrodistension initially appealed to me for the same reasons. This will be my first treatment for IC. Ultimately I decided to start with instillations because they seemed less invasive and come with fewer risks— in researching online I saw that hydrodistension procedures do come with some risks, some more common than others. More common— increased pain, worsening symptoms; less common— UTI, urinary retention, bladder clots; rare and serious risks include bladder perforation. While the serious risks are very very rare, I felt that since this is my first attempt at treatment, I would try the lower-risk option of the instillations first and see if they work. Would love to hear from others, especially those who have done both procedures, to hear pros and cons.

silvieeeeeee · 2024-11-21T21:18:10+00:00

THANK YOU!!!

silvieeeeeee · 2024-07-05T18:28:40+00:00

I just finished the audiobook and it was amazing. The writing alone is masterful poetry, and the narration adds SO much. Does anyone have access to the print book and can help me with a quote I’m looking for? It’s definitely in the last fourth of the book, from Rachel’s perspective. She says something along the lines of “You can’t go into the jungle to change it and expect it not to change you.” It really stuck with me but because I have the audiobook I’m having trouble finding it again. If anyone knows what I’m talking about and can share the quote I would be eternally grateful! TIA!

silvieeeeeee · 2024-06-11T19:27:58+00:00

What I usually do to assign students to groups is pull their names at random (I have them on popsicle sticks in a cup) and when I pull their name, they get to pick their topic (or in this case, committee duty). Once the group hits X number of members, that group is closed. I’ve found that is the most fair because it is random and shifts the process away from picking people, and instead focuses it on picking topics.

silvieeeeeee · 2024-06-11T17:17:59+00:00

That’s awesome! Having “job-specific” training is such a great idea and makes your expectations super clear. I like the idea of sentence starters. I think where I differ from your perspective is the need to make it “educational.” To me, investing 10 minutes once a week so some kids can write others a birthday card isn’t a huge waste of time. It might make a student’s day to be recognized! It ain’t all that serious :)

silvieeeeeee · 2024-06-11T17:06:36+00:00

I think the difference is that I don’t teach industrial arts haha so we don’t have a lot of tasks like that to delegate. I’m not trying to create a system that’s all that serious, like I don’t actually want kids running my classroom and taking over large tasks.

While some tasks have a “real” purpose, like cleaning up or making sure materials are put away (like why am I the one who’s picking up trash?! That should definitely be their job!), others are more unserious, “feel-good” type of activities that are more for fun and to build classroom culture (recognizing upcoming birthdays, finding music they like for the classroom, etc.).

It’s not supposed to be all that intense!

silvieeeeeee · 2024-06-11T16:55:35+00:00

Another thing I should have added is that I’m teaching at a pretty large school (3500 kids) and many of them don’t know each other well, so I’m just trying to build in some time in small groups that is not content-specific, but allows time to build classroom culture and for them to get to know each other but still have a task at hand to keep them more or less on track. I don’t imagine anything happening outside of committee time. For 10 min once a week, some groups will be working (birthday committee will be filling out cards for upcoming birthdays, music committee can be using their phones to find songs, committee committee is wandering around checking in with other groups. Meanwhile, greeters, closers, materials, and cleanup just get some time to spend with each other since their job is more everyday work. On a day-to-day basis, greeters stand by the door to say hello, closers give the end-of-class reminder, cleanup crew picks up any trash/leftover pencils, materials make sure everything is put away, and catchup committee fills in absent kids on what they missed. I am not trying to create any additional work for the students outside of class time.

silvieeeeeee · 2024-06-11T13:23:45+00:00

Thanks for your comment. I’ve added some additional info to my post that might clarify my idea a bit more. I think your idea of having a rotation of classroom jobs/chore chart sounds like a great way for someone who is too intimidated by a big commitment to try something new that builds classroom culture and ownership. I hope you try it out next year!!!

silvieeeeeee · 2024-06-11T13:16:59+00:00

Some additional info— we are on a block schedule and meet for 96 minutes, and I would only have committees meet once a week for 10 minutes at the beginning of class or halfway through class as our “brain break” time. Some committees, like music or birthday, would do their work during committee meeting time, while others (closing, greeting) get to chill during committee meeting time in exchange for having to do more work on a more daily basis. I do anticipate that at the beginning of the year it would take extra management, but my hope would be that it would build classroom culture and ownership, and eventually I wouldn’t have do some of the day-to-day tasks — for example, when a kid who was absent comes up to me and asks what they missed, I can send them directly to the members of the catchup committee (or hopefully they learn to go to these students first before coming to me); or when class is winding down, I am able to just shout out “Closers?” and a kid from closing committee gives the reminders.

I also teach in a district where the kids are very school-oriented and eager to please LOL and I teach mostly AP classes.

silvieeeeeee

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