Bloating is VERY common with IC patients, I usually look 5 months preggers
I have also gained some wieght,,but that is probably due to depresion & trying to cope with everything thats going on ... It can be very frustrating~
Yes, it is very frustrating, I stick to my diet and workout...but I'm still bloated, I feel like I look 6 months pregnant....and my weight goes up and down even though I'm eating right...I hate this bloated feeling...I even took water pills for a few weeks because I thought I was retaining fluid, but they didn't help.
Yes this is something I am certainly dealing with. I chalk a lot of the weight gain up to the number of meds I take, and the bloating to IC first and IBS second. I am bloated due to IC (despite following and benefiting from the IC diet and the IBS diet) so often that I have developed stretch marks because of it (seriously!), and also often look a few months pregnant! I call this symptom "IC belly", and while painful, it is more aesthetically frustrating than anything else. And they say you can't see IC (lol)!
I have been on Elmiron for about a year and a helf now, I find it is very helpful in terms of reducing frequency and cutting down a bit on urgency. It really doesn't do much in the pain department though.
It took about 4 months for Elmiron to start working for me, I was more than willing to give it up to a year though.
I take it in conjunction with a few other IC medications like hydroxyzine, which I take before bed. It makes me groggy as all get out, but it does cut down hugely on night trips to the bathroom (I went from 20+ to really good nights these days of less than 8 trips!) I started on hydrox (at my insistance) just a few days after starting Elmiron. The two have a proven track record of working hand in hand. But (as you surely know) not evey ICer responds to the same treatments in positive ways.
Interstitial Cystitis 
