In many different encounters with IC patients over the years I’ve found that there is often a feeling of ungroundedness from lack of direction, a feeling of being without a rudder, and the uncertainty as to whether this problem will ever go away
This feeling gives a sense of insecurity about the future (will I have this the rest of my life?), a feeling of hopelessness, and overall anxiety born out of the fear that IC will never go away There is a feeling of loss of control over the body (not making to the bathroom) due to not knowing what has been done to cause the symptoms in the first place
There can be insomnia due to this free floating anxiety that is difficult to manage And all of this is an energy drain leading to fatigue and loss of get up and go (as one described “bone weary”) This leads to a sense of failure, restriction, and exasperation, anger, and irritability
But what if this feeling went away? All respond that to have this anxiety lifted would be miraculous and they would be ecstatic, elated, energized and be able to dream again They would be able to contribute again One patient said, “It would be like getting a ‘Get out jail’ card” or like “winning the lottery”
Even though many respond that the symptoms are accelerated with stress, deadlines, and troubled relationships the matter science cannot offer an answer as to why this occurs But the energy science using the VPK energy paradigm sees that mind is in every cell of the body So in IC what happens in the mind, happens in the bladder!
For example, Vata, the energy pattern of movement has the qualities of cold, light, mobile, dry, rough, subtle, and clear The body is thin (light) and the mind is subtle, light, and mobile making it very creative but susceptible to anxiety and fear
Can you see how stress could then cause bladder symptoms? If the mind is light and mobile then so will the bladder become those same qualities, light and mobile translating into frequency and urgency And if this Vata energy stimulates the hot quality of Pitta then you’ve got a flare
Mind turbulence creates body turbulence so the key in this situation is to reduce the mind’s activity Here are 5 ways to do that
1 Meditation using breath awareness If you have trouble sitting for twenty minutes in the morning and evening just do 5 minutes and build up your tolerance If it’s just not possible to sit then try just being aware of the breath during daily activities Mental turmoil is the result of too much pent up energy in the mind Meditation helps release this energy and consistent practice helps keeps this energy reduced This therapy improves creativity, attention span, memory retrieval, and learning ability Due to these effects it brings about a sense of confidence and courage that you can do this!
2 Breathing techniques There are mind settling breathing techniques such as alternate nostril breathing or making the sound of a bumblebee that can calm the mindbody
3 Herbs There are a number of herbs that placed with specific carrying agents that calm the mind Brahmi, shankha pushpi, saraswati, and jatamamsi all have medicinal benefits on the mind, producing a calming effect
4 Daily oil massage The use of self applied oil massage in the morning before showering can ground (heavy) the body because it counteracts the light quality of the mind
5 Nutritional format And don’t forget that food can produce a calming effect to the mind Using foods that don’t aggravate your IC will surely not aggravate your mind as well
This is a whirlwind tour of how to calm the mind but it gives you some approaches to improving your quality of life while you make progress with your IC using other techniques that I have described earlier
If you’re interested in going deeper into this topic you can set up a free consult to see if this can be of help for you Just go to Services/Resources
All the best To Health as a Skill Love DB
In a recent article the Washington Post(https://wapo.st/30TtyIT) reviewed the reasons people are reluctant to take the COVID vaccine. One significantly addressed reason in the article is that many antivaxxers are followers of alternative health social media platforms that sow misinformation about the current vaccines which mislead their loyal followers who have grown to trust the messaging as reliable and trustworthy. In the past while heavy metal adjuvants such as mercury and aluminum may have had significant effects in...
read moreLast time we talked about a long list of Ayurvedic lifestyles that will enhance immunity Here’s a shortlist of trace metals that are important in immunity which is the only way we individually will improve our immunologic response when infected by a viral load such as COVID 19 Nasal breathing Many of us breathe through the mouth The simple transition to nasal breathing can enhance nitric oxide which improves immunologic response among other things Neti use can improve immunity directly and indirectly Because it clears ...
read moreIt’s now surprising that as we have been discussing the microbiome and how healing it can lead to healing ICPBS that treating the microbiome can be instrumental in protecting yourself and loved ones during this COVID 19 pandemic now going on in the US Here’s a video link for more information: And below is the supporting information referred to in the video THE RELEVANCE OF AGNI AND GUT MICROBIOME TO HEALTH From an Ayurvedic perspective our digestive strength and function (agni) is central to the disease process....
read moreFrom previous blogs the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, chronic prostatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and vulvodynia) is a neuropathy that stems from an imbalance in the agni of the colon specifically the rectosigmoid and rectum. This leads to an energetic imbalance in the colon leading to an imbalance in the pelvic nerves. In the last blog we discussed the role of the common probiotics in today’s marketplace by way of the handout offered to subscribers on request These common probiotics are...
read moreFrom previous blogs the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, chronic prostatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and vulvodynia) is a neuropathy that stems from an imbalance in the agni of the colon specifically the rectosigmoid and rectum. This leads to an energetic imbalance in the colon leading to an imbalance in the pelvic nerves. In the last blog we discussed the role of the common probiotics in today’s marketplace by way of the handout offered to subscribers on request These common probiotics are...
read moreBacteria populate the gut in increasing numbers from the upper smalll bowel to the densest population residing in the colon which are “good and bad guys” From previous blogs the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, chronic prostatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, anf vulvodynia) is a neuropathy that stems from an imbalance in the agni of the colon specifically the rectosigmoid and rectum. This leads to an energetic imbalance in the colon leading to an imbalance in the pelvic nerves. From an AY...
read moreIn the world of Ayurveda the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic prostatitis, fibromyalgia) arises from a disturbance in the ability to digest food. This impaired digestion leads to toxic buildup that then leads to toxins collecting in areas outside the bowel. One of the areas where this buildup occurs in the pelvic nerves surrounding the large bowel. This leads to all the bladder symptoms that occur in IC such as urinary frequency, urgency, and episodic burning on urination but also the...
read moreThrough the Ayurvedic lens of seeing disease in the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, GERD, IBS, fibromyalgia) the GIT(gastrointestinal tract) is inflammed with acidic blood pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 Alkalinizing the GIT using diet is fundamental to healing the disease This also helps heal over time the microbiome that is universally affected in these conditions A unique combination of alkalinizing greens and protein can make a complete meal or as side dish for other foods on the table(can...
read moreIt’s not just one thing that you do energetically to heal a problem but a multiplicity of things because it takes a multipliticity of things to cause IC in the first place Neti is one on those things Kapha is the energy pattern of stability in the physiology It is composed of the qualities of heavy, slow/dull, cool, slimy/smooth, liquid, dense, soft, hard, static, and sticky Think of the mucous from the common cold and you will have a good understanding of the qualities of Kapha which supports bodily structures When Kapha becomes...
read moreWishing you all the best of health in your journey to eliminate the energy imbalance of interstitial cystitis from your life And the best of holiday cheer in sharing this season with your loved...
read more
The accompanying graph depicts what happens in the formation of any disease process of imbalance There is a gradual buildup of excess qualities such as the hot quality in IC This can occur over years of unconscious choice making that leads to at first GI tract symptoms that then eventuate in dissemination of the quality(ies) to various parts of the body
In the case of IC the dissemination of the qualities of hot, light, mobile, dry, rough, and subtle to the urinary tract leads to the early symptoms of bladder wall irritability and pain that takes you to the doctor thinking you have a UTI
As the hot quality along with others progresses over further time the symptoms become flares that become unpredictable and ever more painful to the point of incapacitation At this point the disease is in its full manifestation and as depicted in the left hand side of the graph these qualities are most often delivered in the foods that are eaten
From the above you can see that if you don’t do anything with the nutrition that you have been unconsciously taking then all bets are off that you will have any success long term So the fundamental shift in food choices is important and probably the most difficult for IC patients since the shift requires giving up comfort foods and “friends”
1 As you can see once you stop the aggravating foods that are delivering the qualities that are responsible for your symptoms the ceiling begins to be lowered and instead of the spikes off the top of the chart they begin to come down to lower horizontal lines The ceiling for symptoms is lowered and so are the symptoms themselves
2 Next avoiding food incompatibilities that overproduce acidic loading can again reduce the chances for flares in the future
3 The third chronic thing to do is help the body eliminate the qualities from the urinary tract by using aloe vera gel on a regular basis I have written about that earlier
4 Using CCF tea to bathe the urinary tract mucosal lining with these herbs on a regular basis helps calm and soothe the irritated bladder muscle leading to again a reduced ceiling When you drink this CCF tea on a regular daily basis this goes a long way toward medicinally medicating the bladder
The ground state is now established with the above chronic work but as you can see we’re not out of the woods yet because there will still be more releasing to go which will mean flares but gratefully not as severe as the ones before you began doing the chronic maintenance work as described above
1 The castor oil pack placed over the two large pelvic and bladder marma(accupuncture) points help cool off the pelvis and bladder Adding a cooling aroma such as jasmine, sandalwood, or peppermint can be beneficial as well Ani marma can also be effectively treated with cooling aromas Ani is located at the inside of the elbow at its crease and massaging for a minute or two can help with pain
2 Eating foods that are cooling and trying cucumber milk or other recipes to cool off is good to do and you can try these recipes:
Coconut Milk Smoothie
1cup coconut milk
1cup sweet strawberries, cherries, or other berries available in season
0.5 tsp sucanat
1 Tablespoon coconut flakes
Blenderize and add water to change consistency
Cucumber Milk
Cut up a half of a cucumber and blenderize it with a cup of room temperature cow’s milk with a 0.5 teaspoon of cumin or turmeric. Milk acts as a taxi cab to take the cooling qualities of the cucumber to the urinary tract.
Cilantro Smoothie
2cups of cilantro(this is the leafy part of the coriander plant and cooling)
1cup of kale
1cup of carrot
0.5 teaspoon of cumin
Blenderize to pleasing consistency
Add water as needed
—————
3 Sipping on freshly grated ginger that has been steeped in hot water can be cleansing to the GI tract and help bring the hot quality back to the GI tract where it can be eliminated
4 Getting plenty of rest during these energy draining times is very valuable and avoiding any exercise.
5 If you live in a hot climate such as Florida, Texas or the Southwest, it’s important to stay out of the heat Use sunglasses as often as possible.
6 If it can be tolerated using targeted herbal therapy instillations to the bladder lining can be therapeutic as well
7 Lastly take time during an acute flare to nourish yourself Try not to be impatient but compassionate with the body as it sheds this unwanted hot quality
8 Continue to do the maintenance work as above
All the best To Health as a Skill Love DrBill
In a recent article the Washington Post(https://wapo.st/30TtyIT) reviewed the reasons people are reluctant to take the COVID vaccine. One significantly addressed reason in the article is that many antivaxxers are followers of alternative health social media platforms that sow misinformation about the current vaccines which mislead their loyal followers who have grown to trust the messaging as reliable and trustworthy. In the past while heavy metal adjuvants such as mercury and aluminum may have had significant effects in...
read moreLast time we talked about a long list of Ayurvedic lifestyles that will enhance immunity Here’s a shortlist of trace metals that are important in immunity which is the only way we individually will improve our immunologic response when infected by a viral load such as COVID 19 Nasal breathing Many of us breathe through the mouth The simple transition to nasal breathing can enhance nitric oxide which improves immunologic response among other things Neti use can improve immunity directly and indirectly Because it clears ...
read moreIt’s now surprising that as we have been discussing the microbiome and how healing it can lead to healing ICPBS that treating the microbiome can be instrumental in protecting yourself and loved ones during this COVID 19 pandemic now going on in the US Here’s a video link for more information: And below is the supporting information referred to in the video THE RELEVANCE OF AGNI AND GUT MICROBIOME TO HEALTH From an Ayurvedic perspective our digestive strength and function (agni) is central to the disease process....
read moreFrom previous blogs the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, chronic prostatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and vulvodynia) is a neuropathy that stems from an imbalance in the agni of the colon specifically the rectosigmoid and rectum. This leads to an energetic imbalance in the colon leading to an imbalance in the pelvic nerves. In the last blog we discussed the role of the common probiotics in today’s marketplace by way of the handout offered to subscribers on request These common probiotics are...
read moreFrom previous blogs the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, chronic prostatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and vulvodynia) is a neuropathy that stems from an imbalance in the agni of the colon specifically the rectosigmoid and rectum. This leads to an energetic imbalance in the colon leading to an imbalance in the pelvic nerves. In the last blog we discussed the role of the common probiotics in today’s marketplace by way of the handout offered to subscribers on request These common probiotics are...
read moreBacteria populate the gut in increasing numbers from the upper smalll bowel to the densest population residing in the colon which are “good and bad guys” From previous blogs the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, chronic prostatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, anf vulvodynia) is a neuropathy that stems from an imbalance in the agni of the colon specifically the rectosigmoid and rectum. This leads to an energetic imbalance in the colon leading to an imbalance in the pelvic nerves. From an AY...
read moreIn the world of Ayurveda the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic prostatitis, fibromyalgia) arises from a disturbance in the ability to digest food. This impaired digestion leads to toxic buildup that then leads to toxins collecting in areas outside the bowel. One of the areas where this buildup occurs in the pelvic nerves surrounding the large bowel. This leads to all the bladder symptoms that occur in IC such as urinary frequency, urgency, and episodic burning on urination but also the...
read moreThrough the Ayurvedic lens of seeing disease in the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, GERD, IBS, fibromyalgia) the GIT(gastrointestinal tract) is inflammed with acidic blood pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 Alkalinizing the GIT using diet is fundamental to healing the disease This also helps heal over time the microbiome that is universally affected in these conditions A unique combination of alkalinizing greens and protein can make a complete meal or as side dish for other foods on the table(can...
read moreIt’s not just one thing that you do energetically to heal a problem but a multiplicity of things because it takes a multipliticity of things to cause IC in the first place Neti is one on those things Kapha is the energy pattern of stability in the physiology It is composed of the qualities of heavy, slow/dull, cool, slimy/smooth, liquid, dense, soft, hard, static, and sticky Think of the mucous from the common cold and you will have a good understanding of the qualities of Kapha which supports bodily structures When Kapha becomes...
read moreWishing you all the best of health in your journey to eliminate the energy imbalance of interstitial cystitis from your life And the best of holiday cheer in sharing this season with your loved...
read moreIt is estimated that many people with fibromyalgia(FM) have an IC like symptom complex in mild form as well only to exacerbate as the years progress 
As a matter of fact that’s why IC is now looked upon as a syndrome of diseases rather than an isolated disease of the urinary bladder The energy science due to its way of looking at disease doesn’t create disease labels but sees all problems in the body as imbalances of qualities and hence with such a system of healing leaves clustering of disease labels as the way to understand how to treat
So if the imbalance is just Vata and Pitta in the urinary tract it’s just IC(if Vata is predominant you will experience frequency and urgency but not burning pain labeled as overactive bladder OAB) But as you will see if you see Vata and Pitta both affect the muscles of the body along with ama then FM can coexist with the IC symptoms
Fibromyalgia is rheumatoid arthritis(RA) like pain that doesn’t involve the joints All of the complaints are related to the muscular and connective tissue system with the accompanying aches and pains The commonality between RA and FM is ama
The bodily systems are fully exposed on the tongue By scraping the tongue in the am and checking it out you get a snapshot of how the body is If you’ve been traveling and you have had cracks and crevices on the tongue these become more prominent If there have been several days of heavy eating the tongue will show more coating due to the digestive strength being weakened It’s a very good way to monitor your health on a day to day basis
So if you see a brownish, yellowish, or white coating on the tongue it implies that there is undigested material in the GI tract that needs to be digested This material is called ama and is a significant contributor to chronic disease If you have a coated tongue the first step in recovering your health is to clear ama from the GI tract which I’ll spend some time with you in the future
Once the qualities of Vata become excessive in the colon where Vata primarily localizes Vata due to its mobile quality carries this toxic residue of undigested material through the lymphatics and blood to the muscular tissue This produces irregular temperatures due to this ama in the blood stream(it’s like the fever experienced with overeating) Vata localizes with its ama load in certain Vata predisposed areas of the body, namely the shoulder and pelvic girdles
Pains of FM vary As in the bladder if just Vata is involved then clinicians label the problem as OAB And so if just Vata is involved then the pain of FM can be variable, migrating, and excruciating If Vata in the colon is blocked by excessive hot or Pitta then the pain will be burning and sucking, accompanied by a metallic taste in the mouth(Pitta in the blood layer), experiencing a smokey aroma, and notable irritability If Kapha and Vata are involved the pain will be dull but will be sweet because it lets you sleep
From an energy science perspective the subconscious mind is located in the connective tissue of the body All the tissue that connects the muscles together, attaches them to bones, and maintains form of the body is related to this connective tissue system that we call fascia So fascia is the subconscious mind and those emotions that you don’t want to face get pushed into the fascial layer
This is why when Vata enters into the fascial layer of the body it creates instability, anxiety, and fear This is due to the mobile quality of Vata but leaves you the owner of the body very ungrounded because the subconscious mind is ungrounded
It is not infrequent that people go into yoga poses and experience emotional releases due this very fact
But if Pitta is there with Vata not only may you experience anxiety but also anger and irritability And if Kapha is present with Vata then you may experience inertia, lack of motivation, lethargy, and mental fatigue
So this is an overview of FM and its relationship with IC and you can see why it would be so easy for these conditions to overlap The ama condition of FM differentiates itself from IC where there is no tissue layer for the ama to localize In IC the ama has no place to localize and so it’s simply passed through in the urine But it can’t do that in the bodily tissues There’s no place for it to be removed so it has to accumulate in some tissue to which Vata has carried it
The treatment for FM and IC together doesn’t vary much more than if you were treating them as separate diseases You first have to get rid of the ama which I will talk about in future blogs
Until next time To Health as a Skill Love DrBill
In a recent article the Washington Post(https://wapo.st/30TtyIT) reviewed the reasons people are reluctant to take the COVID vaccine. One significantly addressed reason in the article is that many antivaxxers are followers of alternative health social media platforms that sow misinformation about the current vaccines which mislead their loyal followers who have grown to trust the messaging as reliable and trustworthy. In the past while heavy metal adjuvants such as mercury and aluminum may have had significant effects in...
read moreLast time we talked about a long list of Ayurvedic lifestyles that will enhance immunity Here’s a shortlist of trace metals that are important in immunity which is the only way we individually will improve our immunologic response when infected by a viral load such as COVID 19 Nasal breathing Many of us breathe through the mouth The simple transition to nasal breathing can enhance nitric oxide which improves immunologic response among other things Neti use can improve immunity directly and indirectly Because it clears ...
read moreIt’s now surprising that as we have been discussing the microbiome and how healing it can lead to healing ICPBS that treating the microbiome can be instrumental in protecting yourself and loved ones during this COVID 19 pandemic now going on in the US Here’s a video link for more information: And below is the supporting information referred to in the video THE RELEVANCE OF AGNI AND GUT MICROBIOME TO HEALTH From an Ayurvedic perspective our digestive strength and function (agni) is central to the disease process....
read moreFrom previous blogs the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, chronic prostatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and vulvodynia) is a neuropathy that stems from an imbalance in the agni of the colon specifically the rectosigmoid and rectum. This leads to an energetic imbalance in the colon leading to an imbalance in the pelvic nerves. In the last blog we discussed the role of the common probiotics in today’s marketplace by way of the handout offered to subscribers on request These common probiotics are...
read moreFrom previous blogs the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, chronic prostatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and vulvodynia) is a neuropathy that stems from an imbalance in the agni of the colon specifically the rectosigmoid and rectum. This leads to an energetic imbalance in the colon leading to an imbalance in the pelvic nerves. In the last blog we discussed the role of the common probiotics in today’s marketplace by way of the handout offered to subscribers on request These common probiotics are...
read moreBacteria populate the gut in increasing numbers from the upper smalll bowel to the densest population residing in the colon which are “good and bad guys” From previous blogs the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, chronic prostatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, anf vulvodynia) is a neuropathy that stems from an imbalance in the agni of the colon specifically the rectosigmoid and rectum. This leads to an energetic imbalance in the colon leading to an imbalance in the pelvic nerves. From an AY...
read moreIn the world of Ayurveda the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic prostatitis, fibromyalgia) arises from a disturbance in the ability to digest food. This impaired digestion leads to toxic buildup that then leads to toxins collecting in areas outside the bowel. One of the areas where this buildup occurs in the pelvic nerves surrounding the large bowel. This leads to all the bladder symptoms that occur in IC such as urinary frequency, urgency, and episodic burning on urination but also the...
read moreThrough the Ayurvedic lens of seeing disease in the IC bladder pain syndrome(interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, chronic prostatitis, GERD, IBS, fibromyalgia) the GIT(gastrointestinal tract) is inflammed with acidic blood pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.5 Alkalinizing the GIT using diet is fundamental to healing the disease This also helps heal over time the microbiome that is universally affected in these conditions A unique combination of alkalinizing greens and protein can make a complete meal or as side dish for other foods on the table(can...
read moreIt’s not just one thing that you do energetically to heal a problem but a multiplicity of things because it takes a multipliticity of things to cause IC in the first place Neti is one on those things Kapha is the energy pattern of stability in the physiology It is composed of the qualities of heavy, slow/dull, cool, slimy/smooth, liquid, dense, soft, hard, static, and sticky Think of the mucous from the common cold and you will have a good understanding of the qualities of Kapha which supports bodily structures When Kapha becomes...
read moreWishing you all the best of health in your journey to eliminate the energy imbalance of interstitial cystitis from your life And the best of holiday cheer in sharing this season with your loved...
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