About IC/BPS
A Life-Altering Condition in Need of a New Pain Management Option
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IC/BPS is a chronic condition characterized by increased urinary urgency and frequency, nighttime urination, bladder pressure and severe pelvic pain. Between 4 and 12 million people in the U.S. — most of them women — suffer from IC/BPS.1

Treating IC/BPS is complicated.

Signs and symptoms of IC/BPS often resemble those of other ailments.

Treatment is harder because the exact causes of IC/BPS are not known, although researchers believe many factors contribute to it, including:

  • Autoimmune reactions
  • Bladder lining defects
  • Heredity
  • Allergies
  • Other chronic pain disorders that can affect the lower abdominal region, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or fibromyalgia

1Interstitial Cystitis Association, “Who Gets IC/BPS?” https://www.ichelp.org/understanding-ic/learn-about-ic/who-gets-ic/.

The pain and symptoms related to IC/BPS may be so severe that they impair your quality of life and may cause great frustration for you and your family. IC/BPS can make daily life difficult and painful, by resulting in:

Reduced bladder capacity

Stiffening of the bladder wall causes the bladder to hold less urine, which causes you to urinate far more often.

Frequent urination and pain

Social activities, work and other aspects of your daily life may be negatively impacted by the pain associated with IC/BPS and frequent need to urinate.

Sexual intimacy problems

Frequent urination and pain may strain your personal relationships and adversely impact your ability to be sexually intimate.

Emotional troubles

Chronic pain and interrupted sleep due to frequent trips to the bathroom at night may contribute to emotional stress, irritability, anxiety and depression.

When treatments fail, patients are often prescribed pain killers (i.e., opioids) to relieve the bladder pain caused by IC/BPS.

Long-term use of opioids, however, can cause you to build up a tolerance to them — which may make them ineffective — while also carrying the added risk of addiction.

Even after trying multiple ways to manage the pain associated with IC/BPS, many patients find themselves frustrated with the discomfort and life interruption associated with the disease. Those patients who have not responded to other therapies may be interested in this investigational treatment, which is being studied as an alternative to more invasive pain management options (catheterization, for example).

After struggling with IC/BPS for years, it’s time for a new option.

The IC/BPS clinical study sponsored by Ironwood offers an opportunity for you to help study an investigational drug that may provide patients with pain relief while under the monitoring and supervision of dedicated research professionals.

How Do I Join?