The Better Bladder Book: A Holistic Approach to Healing Interstitial Cystitis and Chronic Pelvic Pain

This book had some helpful and useful information. There were a couple of things I did not like about it. Right away I felt like if I have IC I’m doomed to have other terrible debilitating conditions such as MS or Parkinson’s. Also I felt like because this book was published over ten years ago, some of the information was outdated. For example she says you will never get better if you keep drinking coffee. That’s just not true. I have been drinking decaffeinated low acid organic coffee and have had no issues with it. Also there’s a product called Prelief that you can take before eating or drinking acidic foods. This book may be helpful to some but for me it was scary and misleading. I’m looking for facts not possibilities.

Well, let me start by saying that for years, I have had severe IC as well as Bladder Infections (both). These struck about every two months. Sometimes it was a full blown bacterial infection (I was tested), some were IC with the symptoms only. The pain has been severe at times. So, before I discovered this book, I spent HOURS searching and reading though sample eBooks about IC. They just not do it for me and then I discovered this book.Reasons that I am glad that I found this book:1 It is written by a woman who has had this condition and truly understands the pain and suffering of this condition.2 She is a nurse and has medical training.3 The author understands that there are certain trigger foods that aggravate this. I took notes and realized that when I ate these foods etc, that my symptoms grew much worse.4 There is so much information in this book, just like a road map to follow to become better and really manage flare-ups. This book has given me hope and it is helping my IC.5 Before I read thus FULL BOOK, I had the free sample, which I highlighted and read over and over. Yet I needed the full book so I gladly spent the 10 dollars....so worth it.6 The writing us conversational and easy to follow. In fact, it is so well researched and written, that it is now my textbook/goto book for IC treatments.Bottom line: If you have IC, I recommend this book to you. Personallhy, there is hope for me and with what I have learned while reading this book, I believe that I will have less and less IC flare-ups.

I thought Wendy did a fantastic job explaining the correlation between gluten and IC, although with my IC I find I cannot tolerate any grains and just following a gluten free diet does not take away my pain. I have been trying to heal for over 3 years now naturally, and I have had IC for 5. I have tried many of the things Wendy has suggested to no avail, yet that is. I am giving this book 3 stars because I believe there is too much focus on the gluten free diet, and I did not think there was enough of a biography on exactly how she got healed. She does a great job stating different options out there, but I would have like to see more of a summary and timeline of how she got well. Many people with IC need to follow a much stricter diet than a gluten free diet to get well. Sugar (any sugar) feeds bacteria and yeast. Not only do you need to give up refined sugar, but until much healing has occurred you should not be consuming any sugars, even natural. This is course is only my experience and I know she is only telling of hers. The diet I have to follow consists of about 8 vegetables and meat. Those are the foods that I am not allergic to and do not make me flare. Its important that you do an elimination diet to figure out your flare causes, not just following a gluten free diet. The gluten free diet does not help take away my pain, although I do follow a grain free diet because I get terrible GI bloating with any grains. The Gaps diet explains wonderfully the concept of not eating grains and how it contributes to autoimmune condition's,such ones like IC. Also, there was not a ton of focus on detoxing in this book and I believe this is also a key to getting better with IC. Overall, a great read for anyone with IC, but I just wanted to make a few more points. Leaky gut syndrome is behind most of the imbalances she spoke about in the book and this needs to be explored when healing. I will update in one year, when I am finished with my detoxing to let you all know if it worked and what I did.

I cannot say enough amazing things about this book. I suffer from IC, and one day I was in excruciating pain, praying for direction, for a miracle. I got online and started searching for resources, and this book came up. I immediately purchased the electronic version and began reading. I could not believe the WEALTH of resources that Wendy has for IC. She nails every aspect of this condition, from the mental piece, to the physical. She talks about herbs, testing, medications, exercise, diet, etc. and the "whys" of them all. It is a simple, organized, intelligent compilation of everything you could want to know if you suffer from IC or another related ailment. BUT HERE IS THE BEST PART! I feel like every single doctor I visit with knows about 1% of what Wendy does when it comes to IC. I thought throughout my entire reading of the book, "I WISH I COULD JUST TALK TO THIS WOMAN! SHE TOTALLY GETS IT!" So one day, I was feeling desperate and Googled Wendy's phone number. I left a message with my contact information, and she returned the phone call within a week! She is SO cool and down-to-earth. She even had a broken arm but found the time to call me back during one of her evenings! She does phone consultations, so I would recommend them highly! I cannot believe how much support I feel just knowing that someone out there has paved the way for IC sufferers like me who feel constantly misunderstood and hopeless at times. I think the greatest thing I have taken from the book is that many IC sufferers cannot tolerate gluten. No one had brought this to my attention beforehand. I have eliminated gluten and am already starting to feel better. Please add this wonderful book to your collection on your healing journey!

This book is exactly what we (IC and bladder sufferers in general) needed! There are so many things I find great about this book that it's hard to know where to begin.First off, Wendy Cohan is a registered nurse, which is great because it means she's a legit medical professional, but equally as important, she is an ex IC and chronic pelvic pain sufferer herself. This is incredibly evident from her depth of understanding of the IC experience and all of the physical and emotional turmoil that comes with it. From her first-hand advice that cranberry juice only hurts those with IC (yes, finally someone said it!) to her candid disclosure about the bleakness the future seems to hold when one is dealing with chronic bladder problems, her first-hand experience really comes through while you read.One thing I also really love about the text and the author's style is the perfect mix between the use of conventional and alternative approaches. Most health authors seem to pick a side in the debate and then they try to sell you on it. Whereas with Wendy Cohan I feel like it doesn't matter if it's allopathic, homeopathic or just, well, idiopathic, she proposes the cure that is most likely to give the most benefit and healing for the least amount of harm and side effects. No picking sides here. Certainly, this is somewhat borne out of the author's background. Having worked in healthcare all of her life, she is unlikely to disdain it completely. Having had little healing through it though, she was pushed to alternative medicine which seems to have contributed significantly to her healing, thus she is unlikely to reject those approaches either. However, I believe that even given the circumstances, it is a rare person who succeeds to marry two opposing sides so gracefully. For this, I laud Wendy Cohen because no amount of IC experience or late night nursing shifts can accomplish that open-minded blend of viewpoints on their own.Another thing I really enjoy about this book is its realistic, yet uplifting and reassuring tone. You really do finish the book with a new resolve for your recovery (or at least I did) and not in a delusional type of way. A well-supported rationale for the illness, paired with a franc explanation about the difficulties of recovery and a wealth of proposed ways to tackle the multitude of contributing factors gives you hope and things you can do to help yourself, while keeping your expectations realistic.Of course, none of this (the uplifting tone, the synthesis of approaches or the author's experience) would have been of much value on its own if the advice given wasn't helpful or plentiful. And I have to say that it is indeed both! Less than a third into the book I had to start a separate list of the little tips and suggestions that she gives throughout because there were so many of them, I couldn't keep track! Having implemented quite a few of them at this point, I also have to say that to me personally they have brought much relief (still working towards healing though).So I have nothing but good things to say about the book. The one thing that should be kept in mind, however, is that this is not a read-it-and-forget-it type of text. This is actually a very detailed and action-oriented instruction manual. It takes a lot of work, effort, time and resources to implement the suggestions in their entirety. But I would argue that anyone expecting otherwise in the context of healing a chronic illness, was already due for a reality check anyway. Time, effort and dedication, I am learning, is indeed a mainstay in recovery from a difficult to treat chronic condition. To this point I will let the author's own words sum up the idea better than I could: "It takes work and commitment, but let the work of getting well replace the difficulty of living with chronic illness."Indeed!

A very thorough coverage of the issue with extensive explanation but unfortunatlley the academic style makes it too complex for the normal public. I would welcome a highly simplifed second edition with more practical direction for sufferers seeking to assume self-control, or a workbook with extant referencing to this edition.

So interesting. Well written and easy to follow. Good ideas. Would recommend to anyone struggling and frustrated with IC or CBPS

Written in language easily understood. Saying things about the connection between wheat intolerance and cystitis which now make sense on looking back. My GP doesn`t believe there is a connection but facts prove it.

Really helpful information