3. Pain during sexual intercourse
While other symptoms such as a strong urge to urinate and chronic pelvic pain can be more constant, they don’t stack up to this symptom when it comes to how severely they disable the patient. Most patients who suffer from interstitial cystitis have said that the other symptoms of the condition are at least bearable with proper treatment, but that the pain they experience during sexual relations has put a significant strain on their marriage and all but killed their sex life.
There have even been some studies showing that patients with interstitial cystitis are more likely to be the victim of infidelity due to their inability to cover their spouse’s needs. There are some treatments currently in development that may be able to relieve the pain over a long period of time even during sexual relations. Patients have said that if they could remove a single symptom, it’d be this one.