Case Study: Patient with Interstitial Cystitis, By Satya Ambrose, ND, LAc
How would I treat a patient with interstitial cystitis? To me, this is like fibromyalgia of the bladder. First I want to localize the inflammatory source by addressing the gut (GALT and MALT). Of course the gut and the bladder are juxtaposed and the gut controls inflammation, so there's usually something wrong there. I do gut flora analysis, change the diet (removing allergens and inappropriate food) via the anti-inflammatory diet, and check for nutrient deficiencies. If I find unhealthy flora, I use the necessary antibacterial, anti-fungal and possibly anti-viral treatments. I then treat the inflammatory infection and find out why it is there. I have my favorite antibacterials: berberine, garlic, or nano silver. But it really depends on the organism found. For yeast, there are all kinds of things that we can use, but I like the same herbs for bacteria and yeast and often viruses too, like berberine. If someone has parasites, then I will use pharmaceutical drugs for worms and herbs for the others, like Entamoeba histolytica, or cryptosporidium. Herbs like Oregon grape work very well. But it is very important to know the organism, because I think we are more able to treat the infection if we know the organism. If there is Lyme, I treat the bad gut bugs first, like worms, and then do the long laborious treatment for the spirochete and its co-infections. With any removal of pathogens, it's important to maintain good detox pathways with fiber and other support to remove the neurotoxins. Chlorophyll is a great tool for reduction of neurotoxins and can be gotten from chlorophyll tablets or juicing, if tolerated. Keeping blood flow is also important, so herbs like cinnamon, cayenne, Chinese sage, and butcher’s broom will help maintain blood flow and allow healing. If there are biofilms, I will use enzymes or natto or lumbrokinase to open up blood flow or people don’t get better.
There are some nutrients I think most of us need, like vitamin D and methylated B vitamins if they're low. Also good fats are really essential and a bit hard to get. I will use fish oil, if appropriate, because actual fish has become so toxic. It's very sad that such wonderful food and creature has become contaminated. If someone eats fish, they should detox. I think we should probably all start carrying Geiger counters. I don't know how to make that one happen. But we should all drink rooibos tea because the red Flavonoids are very protective from radiation. I have 3 cups mixed with my green tea every day. There's also toxic contamination in green tea too, as the places where it's grown often have heavy metals contamination. Overall, we just need to detox regularly. We should do saunas and juicing and take milk thistle to protect us, and try to keep our bowels healthy and clean. I remember Dr. Christopher giving everybody 42s (rhubarb and aloe caps) at the beginning of conferences and during the conference everybody would have a major "cleanse". The retreat centers learn to have extra toilet paper and plumbers on hand.
Towards the end of the treatments, I will try to restore balance by giving cultured vegetables, probiotics, and possibly "bacteriophage" for GI bacterial infections that are difficult to get rid of.
Bacteriophages are found in soil based organisms and fecal transplant. They can be purchased from Tbilisi, Georgia where they are an over the counter medicine, but I get them from the university research program there. They are used in parts of Europe, like France and Spain, as well as in Brazil and other parts of the world to treat bacterial infections that are not responding to any other treatments. They are inexpensive, but difficult to get here in the USA. I'm involved in a clinical study to show their effectiveness and safety. They will kill only the counterpart of the specific bacteria that needs to be eradicated. The bacteriophages have very few side effects. They don't seem to cause any harm to humans. They've been used since the early 1900s before antibiotics were used. They were also being developed as an antibacterial. Once antibiotics were discovered, they stopped being used. They’re definitely part of normal human micro flora, which is where we get soil base organisms.
The IC patient (interstitial cystitis) had been self-catheterizing for 10 years because her urethra was so swollen. She could not urinate unassisted. After many hospital visits, a nurse showed her how to catheterize herself. When she came to visit me, I had never seen anything like her condition. She had tried antibiotics with no positive results. It seems that the basic formula works often for everybody, with some modifications. After we did a GI test, we found out she had dysbiosis. I treated the gut flora first by using a berberine, artemesia, and garlic compound. This really improved her condition along with an anti-inflammatory diet. But she was not completely better. We did nutrient testing and found she was missing a lot of nutrients, more than I've seen in other people. We gave her the following nutrients: glutathione, magnesium, and B vitamins and more. We eliminated allergens, non- organic foods, and GMOs through the anti inflammatory diet and gave her bacteriophage to remove bacterial flora that was abnormal. We did acupuncture to help reduce her pain and inflammation as well as her emotional anxiety, which was connected to this very scary loss of control of her body. The results were phenomenal. She no longer needed to catheterize.
Currently she hasn't catheterized in more than two years. She lost her extra weight. She's had the energy to exercise. Everyone in her small town wanted to do what she was doing as she looked so good. The whole culture around her has changed, including her family. The store in her little town gets organic vegetables now and helps her find the food she needs. Her family's blood-pressure has gone down, they have lost weight, cholesterol has normalized, arthritis is going away, and lifestyle habits are being addressed. This is a phenomenal thing when one beloved person has such an amazing response, it impacts everyone around them. What a joy for all concerned!
