The Tissue:
For those of you who’ve tried following the Interstitial Cystitis Diet you know what I mean when I exclaim, “Arrrrrrrrgh!!!”
I’ve been diligently following the IC diet for 6 months now. I am following the one on the Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA) here.
Basically, it says to avoid acidic foods, foods or drinks with caffeine in them, anything with a lot of sugar, most processed (or vitamin enriched) foods, spicy foods and most salty foods. 
The list is exhausting and not a perfect match for everyone. My personal list would look very different since I figured out (or so I think) that some of the forbidden foods don’t bother me at all, while some of the okay foods cause flares up! For example, the list says that Avocados should be okay. Avocados are a very nutritious food and I love to eat them but last time I tried one, 3 hours later my bladder pressure came back! So I looked it up and figured out that avocados are high in potassium and some people have said that too much potassium in food can irritate the bladder (hence the potassium chloride test some doctors do to diagnose people with IC). So avocados went out the door along with a bunch of other foods I loved to eat! (namely chocolate!! and fruits!)
So now everyday is a battle to try and figure out if something I ate caused my bladder pain for the day. Going out to eat is a pain in the buttocks. Trying to get variety into my diet is completely frustrating. I even stopped chewing gum! Sometimes I think I’m over thinking this diet, sometimes I’m right, so I slowly began adding foods back into my diet that I realized can’t possibly be causing my pain (like olive oil).
Anyway, I will talk more about the IC diet in future posts. I just felt like expressing my aggravation! I miss chocolate soooo darn much. Oh and strawberries! and kiwis! and tomatoes … well you get the point.
This is my experience as well. When I eat high potassium food like avocados and bananas I get the sore weak uncomfortable bladder that has to urinate often. Its hard to stay on a diet that lacks fruit. I used to be okay with a barlett pear but even they sometimes can trigger the cystitis. I eat alot of cauliflower instead of broccoli for example for I think the broccoli triggers bladder sensitivity. Its a hard road but its possible to be normal if you stay on a rigid diet and don’t deviate.
It really is hard not to eat fruit anymore isn’t it. I love fruit! I also eat pears occasionally and most of the time I don’t have problems and I definitely agree with you on the broccoli note. Broccoli also irritates my IBS which I believe in turn irritates my bladder. Now that I’m getting better and having periods of less pain I am eating a bit more of the semi-ok foods on the diet list but I am taking a lot of Prelief at the same time (haven’t tried any more fruit yet though). Do you ever feel like you’re lacking or depriving your body of certain vitamins and nutrients because of this limiting diet?