Living with Interstitial Cystitis and Financial Anxiety

You are awfully young to have IC..I was having too many units and the urologist put me to sleep and put the camera in my bladder..I saw the pics but didn't know what I was seeing..the tiny cracks in the lining..allowing the acid to touch the nerve endings..tramadol kept me fine and I worked the last 8 years, service truck route..hard work but never missed a day..trying to find another med now..I can't drink liquor or salsa..things that make more acid..had a mixed drink and paid dearly the next day..wasn't worth it..make sure your diagnosis is correct..

it's a terrible process and will probably take a few years, but you could always try applying for disability? applying doesn't mean you can't ever work again if your condition improves, but right now it sounds like you can't hold a job because of your illness yeah? if you do decide to pursue that route, i have three big pieces of advice: 1. read up on it before applying. there's this amazing website called "how to get on" - it's more aimed at fibro, me/cfs, and eds than ic, but there's a lot of handy tips and resources regardless. i wish i'd known about it before applying. it should be pretty easy to find on google. 2. get a lawyer BEFORE you apply as well. sounds like it would be too expensive but its pretty common that they just take a percentage of your backpay, and they only get paid if they win your case. you might struggle a bit to find one but it's absolutely necessary if you want the best chance at getting approved. even with a lawyer it can still take a couple years - i'm in phase 2 of 3 and it's already been over 15 months since i applied. some other basics include things like... you can still do very minimal work while applying, but if you do too much it'll look suspicious so don't overdo it. you will probably be denied at least once, most likely twice before you get approved, so don't get discouraged if you have to appeal a denial. your lawyer will be able to help you make a case based on your illness but make sure you disclose your other conditions and how those limit you even further - the ssa doesn't give a single fuck how sick you are, they only want you to prove that you cannot do work because of your condition(s). 3. DOCUMENT. tell your doctor about how your illness keeps you from work if you haven't. have on record what remedies you've tried. which, by the way, if you haven't tried aloe vera capsules (desert harvest is highly recommended, but i use 100mg a day of swanson brand since its cheap), bladder rest (you can find it on amazon, it can decrease the inflammation) and pelvic floor therapy (this one might be harder to afford but you may be able to learn some helpful techniques online) those were IMMENSELY helpful for me. you can also use azo and your painkiller of choice during a flare to make them more tolerable. i've been able to go back to eating more acids thanks to all of those. and if you haven't, i know it's hard to change your diet when you're poor, since you kind of just have to eat what's cheap, but avoiding certain trigger foods (carbonated beverages, coffee, alcohol, vinehar, lemon juice, cranberry, tomato are all big ones, you may have others too) may also help. i hope all this is helpful to you - i'm in a similar position of living on my partner's income (which isn't a living wage for 1 person, much less 2) and with no income of my own it's always a scramble to figure out where my money is gonna come from and how i'm going to afford my bills. if you can drive, on-demand work like doordash, grubhub, and uber eats are good ways to get some income - not a whole lot mind you, and after gas costs it can be less than minimum wage, but i could earn between 50 and 90 dollars in an evening with those when i drove and they can be stopped as soon as a flare comes on. it's not a very fun job either but it's something. there's also stuff like petsitting and babysitting (rover is a good choice for dogs, care.com has a wider array of care), freelance writing (ever wanted to write clickbait articled? try steadycontent), and you can do other online gig work like gridspace mixers, amazon's mturk, and surveys (i like qmee but there's tons of options out there). i have tried all of these myself and none of it is substantial, nor would it replace an income for people who are disabled and can't be gigging 12+/7, but the freedom of schedule allows you to work around your illness. you might also look into social programs if you haven't - food stamps or banks, rent/bills assistance, and other help is available in many counties. google is your friend there. let me know if i can clarify on anything!