IC natural treatment????

[starlight]

hi shelley, it's starlight...ok, here we go! I recently, with all this insane sickenss going around, had ended up, with a "minor" UTI, which always made my bladder feel full like a water balloon, that went on for a few days, and the need to constatnly urinate, with only a little urine however, you know, the typical UTI stuff....ok, so, my dr. gave me Cipro...well, i took it (stupidly) for about 3 days, and it made me sick! ok, so, he said to stop taking it, and he'd give me some other kind of antibiotic...here's the thing, I was and still am very reluctant to get on the antibiotic "train", bec. as you know, this is not good! so, I decided to treat it natrually, as best as i could...i drank PURE cranberry juice all day and night, i took 4 drops of oil of oregano in a tsp. of honey a few times a day, and drank a lot of water....and tea etc.....ok, well, it took a few more days of this "torture" but it seemed to subside...YIPPIE!
but it seemed to have "left" me with something, my dr. seems to think it's IC....now, he's not sure! this is his best diagnosis. I have really researched this, bec. it makes me nervous, and i have this very strange uncomfortable feeling "down there", not pain, no burning or stinging, but inside there "somewhere", maybe the bladder, but more down in the urethra.....it's a hard feeling to describe. it's aslmost as if, i can't , relax those muscles no matter what i do!!!!! i mean, i've even taken xanax, just to see, if it would help relax those muscles, and well, not really.
My lower abdominal muscles are SO TIGHT, and so is my urethra...


it's weird....i read on the IC site, that these are all the symptoms for IC, as well as a UTI.....but, then, i had also gotten these mucus "strings" in the urine...i've had that twice since late Jan.....now, on the IC site, they say, YEP, that's common with IC! so, now, I can't go on with this! this feeling is driving me nuts! it's not a full bladder feeling anymore, thank God.....and at least right now, i don't feel the constant need to urinate....but it's strange, shelly i can drink a full 8oz. glass of water, and instead of having to empty my bladder NORMALLY (like i used to) within, say a half an hour, maybe 45 min.s....ok, NOW, it'll take maybe about an hour and a half, or longer,.....and MAYBE a lot of urine will come out...other times, only a little, which again, is a UTI or IC syptom!


now, they say on the IC site, that if you get these flare ups....get a urine check test kit from the pharm....and test to see if there is an infection..ok, first,...what is your opinion of that test...they say it's 99% - 100% accurate! so, i'd like to be able to do that,.....they say, you should always check to see, just in case it COULD be an actual UTI....ok, fine, but i just hope those things are accurate...

secondly, whta can i do, naturally to alleviate this weird feeling in the urethra....i swear shelly, there have been times, over the last year or so.....where, i knew i had to urinate..ok, so you're sitting there, and it takes a few seconds, and you can actually FEEL the urine coming down the urethra, like normal....BUT, then it sort of ACCUMULATES at the opening, and after there's enough pressure behind it, it sort of BURSTS out of the opening......there is no pain, or stiniging, or burning...just as it it bursts out, after it's accumulated in there for a few seconds....almost as if a water balloon were to burst open at the bottom, it's weird.

so, what do you think? what should I do? what can i take for this....

i am presently still takeing the oregano, the cranberry pills,,,the D-Mannose ....the water.....all of it...........

thank shelly