However, the clinical picture is mainly diagnosed in women. According to estimates by medical experts, 2.3 million people suffer from this disease in the USA alone. In Germany the number of patients is supposed to be more than 500,000. In the early stage of the disease frequency is sometimes the first symptom of disease. One has to urinate urgently, although one has just been to the toilet.
Pain occurs in the lower abdomen, in the urinary or vaginal tract.
Pain is frequently also suffered during sexual intercourse. In many cases patients have the feeling as if somebody were permanently cutting the bladder and the urethra with a razor blade. The pain is similar to that of a bacterial infection but much more profound. It can be compared to the pain of a severe cancer and in many cases it can only be suppressed by taking morphine. Some patients have in addition also muscular and articular pain, migraine, allergic reactions, colonic and gastric problems.