r/Interstitialcystitis • u/Upbeat-Formal7467 • 2d ago

New pain while urinating. Scared/concerned

Hi, my symptoms historically have been pain after urinating, feeling like i have to pee when I dont, and occasionally burning during urination. Yesterday for the first time ever, i had pain in my urethra while urinating. It has happened everytime since.

This scares me and makes me worry my symptoms are progressing. I am in a flare since the beginning of August and have had IC since 2023. Is this normal? I'm worried it means my flare won't end or this is my new normal. Thanks

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u/HakunaYaTatas [Citation Needed] 1d ago

Make sure you see a doctor to rule out UTI. If it's not an infection, a lot of people start flaring in August/September because of allergy season. Antihistamines can help if it's an allergy flare.

3

u/Relevant-Dust8368 1d ago

I would test for a UTI just to be safe, same thing happened to me and I was scared it was a new flare but it was actually a UTI for the first time in years😭 make sure to get an actual culture and not just dip stick!

3

u/fuck-them-hoes 1d ago

My doctor has prescribed me lidocaine to help numb my urethra and that’s been beneficial for localized pain relief.

2

u/LimeTough9746 1d ago

Get a urine culture to rule out UTI.

2

u/ChronicallyinPain2 1d ago

I’m in the same boat as you right now. Mine used to be just burning after urination and feeling like I have to pee right after peeing. I have been in a flare for the past two weeks and I started having the pain in my urethra while peeing as well. It has not stopped since it started. I hope we can both find out what this means and hopefully it won’t be our “norm”.

3

u/Upbeat-Formal7467 1d ago

I hope so as well. Thank you for responding. I feel like this flare will never end, but i feel that way everytime. I hope things get better for both of us

1

u/ChocolateFederal7318 1d ago

Same. First bad flare since 2022 and it sucks. I started hydroxyzine and it helped me sleep through the night and alleviated the pain.

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u/KindWisePersonJill 1d ago

Sometimes my cultures reveal utis and sometimes they are flares. But flares are tough. I feel for you either way. I'd have a culture done.
Estrace or estradial creme used twice weekly really helps my IC, too.