interstitial cystitis
Interstitial cystitis and vestibulitis cause a great deal of suffering. Customary treatments are low-yield and include eliminating oxalate-rich food such as berries and spinach. 15% of women are thought to now have vestibulitis.
The book “The Interstitial Cystitis Solution” by A n g e l a K i l m a r t i n sets forth the true cause of IC as being infection by mycobacteria or mycoplasma or ureaplasma. She believes IC is sexually transmitted, but I don't think that is always true. The following is from the book:
IC originates as a Sexually Transmittable Disease either by genital or oral / genital contact. It only needed the one initial contact perhaps many, many years ago, to set up a colony of Mycobacteria and cause years of pain. It is my contention from seeing and treating many patients that mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas are the result of some kind of sexual congress either oral or genital or both. In my opinion it commences from a dirty foreskin somewhere and this initial dirty foreskin infects countless vaginas and other penile skin during the course of a modern sexual lifestyle.
I maintain that Interstititial Cystitis is not mere inflammation. Specific lab cultures and in one case bladder biopsies, have shown our initial suspicions of Mycobacteria or Ureaplasmas to be correct. Effective use of strong courses of the sensitive antibiotic treatment has won the day with every single IC patient fully recovered.
A Myco/ureaplasma test bench costs a lot to initiate, the
bacteria are very hard to grow and observe, most labs are not so equipped, and few professionals are acquainted with it. The swab must be tested within an hour.
“Ureaplasma and Mycoplasma as a group of organisms are the least investigated and
are probably the greatest cause of more chronic urinary and gynaecological problems
than any other class of bacteria. They should be considered as a cause of I.C. in women and Non Specific Urethritis in men. They may also be a causative organism in Bacterial Vaginosis and vaginitis thought to be caused by Candida. There are presently no routine culture facilities for identifying such bacteria in the British National Health Service. A High Vaginal Swab may yield ureaplasma even if the urine sample is shown negative. Culture facilities for M.genitalis, M. hominis and M.urealyticum should be introduced as a matter of urgency.”
Dr Fred Lim, Private Consultant in Genito-Urinary Medicine.
In culture these two genital infections require great culture care. Dark-field or phase-
contrast microscopy should be used with temperature set between 360 and 380
Centigrade. They can be grown on a blood agar plate but for over six hours because
they are very slow growers penetrating into the agar so that they look a bit like a fried
egg. In a broth culture U.urealyticum may only take one hour to grow but
M.genitalium and M.hominis may take six hours. The culture medium is complicated
and includes several ingredients including yeast extracts, horse serum, blood, glucose
and others.
Remember also to check for a lab near you that can test for urine Mycoplasmas at all! They are few and far between and you may have to travel! Try to arrange for onsite testing in this case as samples must be fresh and dark in colour without storage at all.
Mycoplasmas may well be the causative organism behind the ubiquitous Bacterial
Vaginosis and indeed, I had that diagnosis off two State swabs before insisting on a
private clinic swab for Mycoplasma. It turned out to be M.hominis and I’d had it for
at least three years!
Of the seven known genital mycoplasmas, Urea urealyticum and M.hominis are very
commonly found in the general population probably giving rise to medical and
laboratory disinterest. Even if the lab sees evidence of colonization they may well not
be reporting it back because it is regarded as normal flora.
M.hominis has been found present in cases of pyelonephritis, kidney disease, and
U.urealyticum which is more usually seen in urine samples, can be found in some
types of bladder stones.
Mycoplasma causing Non specific Urethritis
In men, about 15-20% of cases show U.urealyticum as a cause for non-gonococcal
Urethritis
If the biopsies show positive for Myco or Ureaplasma hit it hard with VD strength Doxycycline .One of the patients I cared for, who travelled to see me from
Houston, Texas, passed her first pain-free urine in twenty years after a ten day dose of
6 capsules a day. Her urine samples, vaginal swabs and a bladder biopsy all showed
Ureaplasma urealyticum. All the patients I have ever counselled with so-called Interstitial Cystitis have been found to have a species of these two organisms, Mycoplasma or Ureaplasma, upon correct urine sampling and vaginal swabbing.
Blood samples are not location-specific and are consequently useless despite
company protestations on their websites. Only urine samples and vaginal swabs,
very freshly taken and on the specific bench within an hour can show genito-
urinary Mycoureaplasmas.
I am constantly finding that the VD dose of 6 x 100mg per day is the only one that
works; anything lower and the patient does seem to need repeated and unhelpful
courses. These never hit hard enough to finish the organism off and I think that
Mycoplasma may quite quickly become accustomed to the lower doses.
As the Mycoureaplasma dies, the infected and inflamed areas merely slough off, ‘fall
away’. This is now dead skin and is ready for excretion either in urine or as vaginal
discharge and within menstrual discharge.
Your sexual partner MUST also take a high dose to stop future transmission and re-
infection. Condoms are recommended when sex resumes. Circumcised men
are less likely to carry it but even so, may carry the organism, too, if they were once
infected by an infected female. Repeat episodes between you must stop because Doxycycline may eventually stop working.
• Re-infection also leaves permanent miniscule scars into which bacteria gain
easier entry each time to kidneys, bladder or urethra
• You must both sort this permanently because re-infection may have dire
consequences socially, sexually and for antibiotic resistance. Your quality of life may be determined by an unclean and bacterially contaminated foreskin. Merely using a condom before ejaculation is no protection whatsoever because oral sex and initial penetration may have done the damage already.
Cultures and Biopsies
Full blown so-called IC has horrendous impacts upon victims’ lives. Bladder biopsies
taken from such victims usually show granulated or ulcerated patches which then
apparently confirm to any presiding physician that this is his idea of a verified case of
IC. A biopsy is removal of a small piece of skin or tissue from any organ, in this case
the bladder wall.
Whilst not every victim is biopsied at the ulcer stage it is perfectly possible to biopsy
granulated, reddened bladder wall patches, IF the surgeon has any inkling of what he
should be requesting a biopsy for!
How to set up ideal biopsy preparations
Do a full Kilmartin Bottle Wash so that instruments don’t push new bacteria inside,
• The operation should be performed in theatre within the same building as a
laboratory bench able to culture mycoplasmas and ureaplasmas
• The system and hospital should be known as efficient
• A member of staff in the theatre must be dedicated to walking your biopsy
specimens straight into microbiology
• Specimens should go quickly into specific broth or onto a culture dish with
the correct mediums for accurate organism enrichment and growth
• The surgeon or presiding nurse should have written “all bacteria, fungi,
PLUS Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma” on the specimen container
• Before anaesthesia, the patient should double check that this has been done
accurately
• Ask to see the containers!!! If they do not say Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma,
sit up and refuse the anaesthetic
You won’t want to go through anaesthesia and recovery for six weeks again simply
because some fool in theatre has ‘forgotten’ to do this or because the surgeon is
behind schedule and can’t be bothered!