Allergies to wheat, corn, rye, oats and barley are common. Other patients with milk allergies and lactose intolerance may experience a severe response to these foods. If you suspect that food allergies play a role in your IC symptoms, you should consult a doctor or nutritionist who specializes in food and environmental allergies. If you have eaten a forbidden food or tried a new dish only to discover afterwards that it has brought on symptoms, take one teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water. This helps to alkalinize the urine and prevent the acids in urine from irritating the bladder.
Some patients take baking soda as a preventative before consuming problematic foods.
Those who have heart conditions, high blood pressure, or other medical conditions affected by salt intake should consult their doctors before taking baking soda because of its high salt content. If you have a flare in symptoms after eating, you should also drink plenty of water to dilute the urine. Conclusions Making the changes necessary in the diet to help control IC is a challenge, as are so many aspects of this disease. Don't get discouraged if you do not discover your ideal diet even after a few weeks of trial and error. The process takes time and patience, but if you are like many others with IC, it may pay off in a reduction in your symptoms.