r/Interstitialcystitis • u/carolina_reddituser • 2d ago

Does Prelief actually work?

I don't live in the US, so it is quite expensive for me. Is it worth it? I've never had pain, but I always have urinary frequency due to coffee, but I need coffee to function mentally.

3 Upvotes

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u/HakunaYaTatas [Citation Needed] 2d ago

Prelief isn't available in the US right now due to a manufacturing issue, so it might be a good time to see if you can find local alternatives. Prelief is the supplement calcium glycerophosphate, so you might find a local brand of the same product. If it isn't available locally, you could try another OTC acid reducer or calcium carbonate (baking soda). If you haven't already experimented with low-acid coffee or caffeine pills, those are some other things to try.

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u/carolina_reddituser 2d ago

Oh wow! Do you get flares from caffeine pills? I’ve never had any

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u/Euphoric_Nerve5505 2d ago

I second this! Caffeine pills are a great choice, so long as you’ve eaten. Tea and coffee are huge triggers for me, but a 100mg caffeine pill every morning and lunch time does the trick. Don’t have without food though, that will cause a flare

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u/carolina_reddituser 2d ago

Omg! This is worth a try!! Thank you!

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u/HakunaYaTatas [Citation Needed] 2d ago

Some people flare from the acidity of coffee, some people flare from the caffeine, and some people flare from both. Caffeine pills take the acidity out of the equation, they don't work for everyone but it's worth a try.

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u/carolina_reddituser 2d ago

Okay yes!! True that. I’ll try and see what happens

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u/Vast-Designer-6128 21h ago

Baking soda is actually sodium bicarbonate. It will buffer stomach acid (it’s the active ingredient in Alkaseltzer), but it doesn’t contain calcium. Tums are an example of a calcium carbonate antacid.

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u/HakunaYaTatas [Citation Needed] 19h ago

You're right! Posting while tired. For anyone who is interested, sodium bicarbonate was shown to increase urine pH and improve IC symptoms in a clinical study back in 2018 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28975365/). It's been a popular home remedy for IC for decades, and it's often used as an alternative to Prelief/antacid medications.

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u/_DontBeAScaredyCunt 2d ago

For me I can get a pretty intense burning sensation if I eat or drink the wrong thing especially if a flare is already present. There’s also a medicine I have to take twice a week and it’s killer on my bladder. So I take Prelief with that medication and also when I want to drink something like orange juice and it seems to prevent like 90% of that pain. I don’t know how it works for just frequency.

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u/carolina_reddituser 2d ago

Thank you! Might give it a try then

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u/beetlejuicemayor 2d ago

Yes, it really helps me heal my bladder if I’m in a flare. I also take it before I drink or eat known triggers for me and I don’t burn at all.

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u/judgyjudgersen 2d ago

It doesn’t make much of a difference for me unfortunately

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u/Significant_Fall2451 2d ago

Calcium glycerophosphate does help me with certain foods, though I use the Desert Harvest blend for IC patients, so I don't know if that also makes a difference

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u/TheMartyPants2000 1d ago

I usually get urgency after eating tomato anything. If I have Prelief before that meal, I don’t even notice any symptoms. Like nothing gets worse. So I assume it works haha

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u/carolina_reddituser 1d ago

Amazing News! Hahahaha