Is It Always An Infection?

Everyone agrees that the pain of IC is related to inflammation but it may be surprising to find that all diseases from cancer to diabetes have an element of this inflammation  And this is where we are at in our current understanding of disease from a matter or molecular science point of view  And we as the signpost points are left with no direction

There are many painful molecules that have now been identified that produce inflammation in the mindbody  We have identified many of these molecules  But what causes them to begin to show up in the first place? The answer from the matter science is infection often times because foreign organisms incite a white cell response which produce this molecular inflammatory response

But IC is defined as a nonbacterial inflammatory response  So no infection but inflammation nonetheless  And we are all well aware of many different diseases that produce inflammation without infection such as rheumatoid arthritis

This is why at this point in time the matter science urologist has no answer for your IC  No infection No Cure  Treatable but not curable

Understanding Inflammation Through Energy Science Glasses

If we take off our matter(molecule) science glasses and view the mindbody through energy field glasses we see the mindbody as an energy field

There are three necessary biologic energy patterns according to the science of Ayurveda:  the energy of movement Vata, the energy of transformation Pitta, and the energy pattern of stability Kapha

As we discussed with you earlier inflammation is a result of excessive hot quality resulting in inflammation regardless of whether there is infection or not  

When the energy pattern of Pitta becomes excessive(too much of the hot quality) then inflammation and the excruciating pain of IC is the result

3 Ways To Reduce Inflammation and IC Symptoms

Unless we’re breatharians we routinely do one thing every day:  EAT  This is why foods become so important in the management of this chronic condition labeled as IC   “Label” is a specific term for the broader term inflammation  Other labels used by the matter science urology tradition include chronic pelvic pain syndrome(CPPS) and chronic prostatitis

So you can do 3 things right now:

Go to foodsheal.com right now and take the quiz    Then choose the appropriate nutritional format and print the pdf format off so you have it to follow

Read the incompatable food combination list and print off that file as well and post both on your refrigerator so you can reference them regularly  Incompatible foods produce inflammation

Use aloe vera gel(not the juice) on a regular basis (2T three times per day)   Take it to work, travel with it, and make a ritual out of its use  Why?  This herb reduces the hot quality(think of applying aloe on a hot sunburn) by using the opposite quality of cold

IC and IBS

IC pain and the pain of IBS(irritable bowel syndrome) are interrelated on an energy level because gut problems begin the imbalance that leads to IC symptoms   What happens in the gut in IC eventually leads to problems in the urinary tract

To be aware of this is to begin the healing of painful IC flares  Why?  Because when you begin to understand the origins of your dis-ease then you can be  empowered to take on the challenges to live the life you once had

And we have seen that there are often psychological similarities between those with IC and those with IBS

The Biological Energy Prototypes and IC/IBS

From an energy science medical view Nature is described in terms of the VPK(Vata Pitta Kapha) frame of reference   Everything in Nature can be seen as these energy patterns and they’re composed of primary vibrational frequencies or qualities that contribute to their expression in the mindbody

As we have talked about in the past from an energy science view they represent who we are in the world and we’re varying proportions of these energy patterns of  Vata, Pitta, and Kapha   They are mindbody energy expressions or combined mental and physical characteristics   And the pain of IC and IBS come as expressions of imbalances of the energy patterns of Vata and Pitta

When there is imbalance of the qualities of hot and mobile the Vata and Pitta energy patterns are provoked and may be expressed as IC and IBS first at the gut level then at the bladder   This is the relationship between these two apparent dissimilar dis-eases

When you are in balance there is no excess of these qualities

When we are out of balance or unbalanced, using our example above there’s an excess of the qualities of mobile or hot  In this way we would see more mobility of thought, movement, and the GI tract as in diarrhea; excessive hot in the GI tract suggesting acid indigestion or heartburn, headache, or the painful flares of IC

What Three Things Can You Do Right Now With This Information?

1  Take this energy pattern test and thank God you can’t fail the test!

2 Choose the nutritional format best for your energy mindbody makeup- you’ll see that when you take the quiz

3 Make a deal with yourself that you’ll do one thing to change something that is not consistent with the nutritional format you choose

IC and Sexual Intimacy

As you know the pelvic pain from IC can be so severe that it precludes having normal sexual activity  In a survey done through the ICA organization 90% of IC patients report problems with intimacy   And the majority of women(50-85%) have associated vulvodynia or pain specifically related to the vagina

The fear of bringing on the pain and a flare can lead to avoidance and resulting isolation

Some have reported breaking into a cold sweat due to anxiety just with foreplay   And this can obviously put a severe strain on a marital relationship unless one is fortunate to have an understanding spouse who doesn’t want to inflict pain to his best friend

But for others it can lead to failed relationships or inability to find new ones   As one IC patient told me, “I feel like I’m damaged goods”   Others express a sense of loss of womanhood much as men are fearful of the same for themselves

As we know the matter science approach to the chronic IC problem is unfortunately not helpful since this model doesn’t deal with chronic disease well

But sexual intimacy need not be dead   The energy science can successfully deal with pelvic pain and hence restore intimacy once again

The Energy Science Take on Pelvic Pain

We have discussed the energy and matter science approaches in doing their work   The energy science approach is about balance of qualities; too much hot(responsible for the shearing pain) balanced by delivering the cold; too much subtle balanced by the gross quality(the energy field is subtle and the matter biological field gross);  too much mobile(responsible for the urinary frequency and pain) balanced by the stable or static quality

In energy science parlance we can call these qualities primordial vibrational frequencies

So the symptoms of IC in the pelvis from an energy science view is related to an imbalance of qualities   Now you can see how different these two healing disciplines are when we compare their ways of doing their science

The Energy Science Approach to Pelvic Pain and Vaginal Pain

There are many different tools available from the energy science of Ayurveda to balance the qualities that are imbalanced and localized in the pelvis   Of course the foundation is changing one’s nutritional format and looking at poor food combinations that we have talked about in the recent past

But there are other energy science treatment options to explore  for vaginal pain   Herbal supplements can be used orally or topically   In matter science circles the use of suppositories as a means of delivering pharmaceuticals is commonly done today   Along those lines herbs can be delivered rectally in the form of a low volume enema called basti in the energy science terminology

I have managed patients who have reported remarkable results with medicated enema   I have even had an IC patient report to me that she was having so much pressure that she tried an enema and much to her surprise experienced relief of pelvic symptoms at least for awhile

So if we see the mindbody with fresh eyes we will make available to ourselves new modes of treatment that can bring about astounding results

Sour Taste as Inflammatory and Degenerative

The sour taste provokes painful IC flares   The problem is that acidity is hidden away in matter science dietary recommendations   It’s also widely known that cultural diets that favor a more alkaline nature tend to promote within cultures greater longevity (eg Asian diets)

Animal based protein diets  which are high in acidity(fatty acids) demonstrate decreased longevity   From an energy science perspective this is not about vegetarianism; it’s about what increasing amounts of acid loading does to person   Not only does increased dietary sour decrease longevity, but it can provoke painful IC flares

Energetically the sour taste is the acid taste in Nature so from an energy science nutritional view meats rich in fatty acids are not the only culprits

Any acid in food carries energetically the sour taste  Even though we consider sour fruits acidic due to the citric acid(eg grapefruit), we don’t think of tomato(primarily in the seeds), banana, nuts, mayonnaise, red meat(dark chicken, dark turkey, beef, duck, lamb, and pork) and egg yolk as sour   Even though they don’t taste sour, energetically they physiologically produce the effects of sour   For more guidance you can go to icdiet.com or foodsheal.com for a more complete list

From an energy science view all six tastes should be present at a meal for it to be balancing so a wee bit of sour is not a problem as experienced say in a churan

For Pitta Vata(PV) some the sour taste is important in moderation – not all the time but 1-2x per week

For a Pitta Kapha(PK) energy makeup the sour taste should be kept to a minimum

What happens when the physiology sees too much of the sour taste?  Energetically we find inflammation such as seen in IC, chronic prostatitis, vulvodynia, IBS, GERD, and fibromyalgia in the body and psychologically there is judgement, criticality, jealousy, and hate

As we can see the sour taste can lead to degenerative changes even in PV due to the inflammatory nature of the taste if it becomes excessive for that particular physiological pattern

A simple rule:  Eat according to your specific mindbody energy pattern

IC and More Nutritional Antiinflammatories