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Maintaining a healthy and attractive weight throughout one’s life is a challenge that many people face. Those of us with IC however, have an additional challenge: Not only do the metabolic changes of aging cause extra pounds to appear, but we may also gain weight when we get IC. That hardly seems fair does it? After all, we are already burdened with a chronic illness. We sure don't need another source of frustration and lowered self-esteem.
Those extra pounds can be a health risk too-perhaps even a threat to our life. Being overweight increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and even some kinds of cancer.
Four Reasons Why IC Make us Heavier:
There are several reasons why we gain weight when we get IC:
1. First of all , the worse our bladder symptoms are to become a couch potato(When your bladder is aching or your urethra is burning, you would much rather lie around with heating pad than go for a walk.)
2. When we begin to avoid foods that cause bladder symptoms, we may inadvertently substitute other foods that are more fattening, or get lazy about eating a healthy diet. It takes effort and planning to eat a healthy diet (whether or not one has IC) and putting out the effort when you are hurting is hard to do.
3. Being diagnosed with a chronic illness may negatively impact our self-image and our relationships with the people we care about. We may react to the diagnosis by becoming psychologically depressed. And like other depressed people, we isolate ourselves, exercise less, and perhaps eat too much to avoid feeling our emotional pain.
4. Lastly, some of the medications we commonly take can contribute to weight problem.