DMSO - A Love Hate Relationship

On Monday if all goes according to plan  I will pick up my DMSO from the pharmacy and go to the doctor's office for an instillation. I both love and hate DMSO. Here's why. I love that it makes me feel almost "normal" for several weeks. That is, after a DMSO treatment I don't feel my bladder every waking minute of the day. Most people are only aware of their bladder when they feel the need to void,  lucky bastards. While I do get occasional instills of Heparin andSolu-Medrol, they aren't as effective for me as the DMSO. So that is why I love it, simply because nothing I have done as worked as well.

But DMSO also has a dark side. First off, it hurts and burns like hell to have it inside the bladder. God forbid the doctor accidentally drip any of the medication on to my labia, which has happened, because it burns like fire. A treatment of DMSO usually involves at least one does of Tramadol about one hour before the instill, this helps reduce some of the pain. Then I get to hold this searing liquid in my bladder for an hour. I swear when I void that stuff, I can feel the pain release as far as my finger tips. So I think I have established that the pain is pretty freaking nasty. If that were DMSO's only negative side effect, well that would be bad enough. Sadly however, its not, DMSO leaves me smelling like rotting broccoli and sulfur. No amount of perfume or mints can cover this odor. The smell is like a gift with purchase, except that gift sucks and the only thing I am purchasing with all this pain and aggravation is a few weeks during which my IC symptoms are relatively mild. Its worth noting that I still have to strictly adhere to the IC diet  just one chocolate and all my hard work would be for naught.

Lately I have started taking a "super greens" supplement for a day or two before, the day of, and the days after the DMSO treatment. I have noticed that this helps reduce the amount of time that I smell like a old fart. I am forever thankful to Pigeon for bringing me the super greens and convincing me to give them a try. This time, I started taking them yesterday and my hope is that I will only smell bad for a day or two at most. Whereas, I usually smell bad for at least three days. Since when I smell bad I tend to sequester myself in my home until the coast is clear, DMSO takes me out of my life more than IC does. When I am in  flare I will usually still try and go out, but when I smell bad I feel awful subjecting others to the smell. Its really annoying,

So that dear reader is my love hate relationship with DMSO, if your doctor recommends it I would say try it. For me nothing has worked better. If you are on DMSO I would be curious to know how it affects you and how you deal with the side effects.