Comparing Elmiron vs Phenazopyridine

For Interstitial Cystitis: Sure glad I researched and found this medicine. All others were awful. I do warn you though that Elmiron takes about 2 months to work and I have to continue taking it forever. I usually give up on medicines if they don't work in a week, sure glad I gave this a chance. There are zero side effects. You must follow directions about taking an hour before eating and you must stay away from alcohol and caffeine religiously. I found that if I stay away from irritants I can decrease dose to only one a day, but as soon as I have a coke or beer or chocolate I get a flare up for a month or more.

For Interstitial Cystitis: The drug does work, which is awesome, but the price is out-of-hand and the side effects finally caused me to have to stop taking it. Dry eyes (so bad I was contemplating getting stents in my tear ducts), exhaustion, some hair loss, achy muscles, and again, the exhaustion. I took elmiron for 4 months (the brutal side effects started up about a month in. I could only handle those for 3 months). I'm ok now, but in on a pretty limited diet, NOTHING acidic. No alcohol, no soda or anything fizzy, tea, coffee, and I check ingredients... no citric anything, vinegar, or spicy or heavily salted...basically I've radically modified my diet. If I can't pronounce it, I don't eat it. It's boring, but better than the bladder spasms or the elmiron side effects. I also take aloe vera supplements, collagen, fish oil, magnesium, and drink marshmallow tea.

For Dysuria: I took it for the first few days(for pain) along with an antibiotic for a uti, and this med worked ok, I guess, but it made me ... So... Nauseous! Eating before did not prevent it. I had to deep breath through pursed lips for an hour or two after taking a pill

For Dysuria: Well, let me tell you the bad news. Everything taste different. I ate a piece of cake and quickly spit it out. I'm itchy :/ and everything is orange.....everything. But I had severe kidney pain and it vanished over night. I took my medicine immediately after eating and did not notice any nausea. There's a slight itching in that "area," but that's common with a UTI. Hope this helps!