Health Bulletin #1: The disease that poses as a UTI—and affects more than 1 in 300 women

Posted by Katie Gutierrez Painter Categories: Advice, Editorials, Health, How To

I’ve been thinking about the best way to start blogging about health issues that really matter to women. And I decided that, in addition to product reviews, exercise and eating advice, etc., it’d be a good idea to spend some time each week focusing on a particular health threat. Why not start with one that’s close to my heart (and bladder)?

One lovely Sunday morning about seven or eight years ago, my mom cornered me before breakfast and asked if I could have gonorrhea. I sputtered and shook, furious that my own mother could think I had an STD. I told her that I hadn’t put in the dirty work for that one, and we awkwardly moved on. But the truth is, her question was valid. For about a year, I’d been getting frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs), but as of late, every test had come back negative. No bacteria, no infection; I was fine. Fast forward four years. I had just graduated from college and reached a sulky sort of resignation that I would simply always have “my” symptoms: stinging pain when I peed, urgent/frequent urination (often with nothing to show for my effort), and pain in my bladder/pelvic region. Then my grandmother said the two magic words: interstitial cystitis.

Click to continue reading Health Bulletin #1: The disease that poses as a UTI—and affects more than 1 in 300 women

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