u/DawnInJune

I'm at the very beginning of my post-uti IC related symptom journey, and I don't know for sure what a flare is referring to. I assume it is different for everyone, but can anyone tell me more about their experience with flares?

I'm looking for information like:

1. Do you make all the lifestyle and med/supplement changes every day, then a flare is when it breaks through? or after a flare do you return to regular life until the next one and treat as such?

2. How long do flares last? Is it that you're feeling mild symptoms every day and a flare is just when it suddenly gets worse? or more like, you feel normal and pain free and then a flare means you feel symptoms again?

As of right now, my symptoms seem relatively mild compared to a lot of people here. I feel pretty normal with nsaids. I'm just looking for some clarity about what I can expect long term, because I don't want to be on nsaids forever. Thank you thank you thank you so much in advance!!!

I’m a 26 year old woman, and in college I would get UTIs pretty frequently, but I had a couple good years of no infections. Last year, I had an unlucky bout of 1 that wasn’t fully treated w bactrim leading to a second one, treated with nitro. I got another a month later and it cleared up with nitro again. Unfortunately, for weeks afterwards I had no infection symptoms, but I had pain and swelling near the exit of the urethra (vulvodynia). I took the UTI test strip at home, and it showed trace leukocytes but no nitrites, so I went back to the doctors. The doctors ruled out infections then just kinda shrugged, which was fine because it went away.

this leads me to today. I got another UTI April 4th and treated it with Nitro, but I am still having trace leukocytes in urine with no nitrites and normal urine culture (It’s may 11). I’m having a hard time telling if it’s IC or not because only some of the symptoms overlap; for example, I do not have any pain when urinating, only externally afterwards bc of swelling/leukocytes. I also don’t feel anything when my bladder is filling or emptying. I feel a slight increase in feeling the urge to pee when I don’t have to, but it’s not “real” and I don’t feel the need to act on it. I feel a bit more “aware” of my bladder/a feeling of heaviness, but I kind of assume that has something to do with the leukocytes.

However, these symptoms are much more noticeable than last time. My question for you is, do you think it will go away post UTI like last time or do you think its IC? Is there something else I can do (lifestyle wise, asking the doctor about, etc) that could help me get to the bottom of this? Thank you in advance!!