Posted by Alison on 7/1/2011, 3:45 pm, in reply to "Re: female issues"

Hi, Ann, Welcome to the board. It is true that men far outnumber women here, but there are quite a few of us women who have found it very helpful. I used to suffer quite a lot from cystitis, and did think it was linked to my paruresis. I found the answer was to drink a lot of water. My daughter also used to suffer from cystitis (unrelated to paruresis) and was told by her GP to drink an extra pint of water every morning and every evening which worked for her. Surprisingly, drinking lots of water did not make my paruresis worse. I found that I adjusted very quickly, and very soon did not need to 'go' any more frequently or with any more urgency. I discovered this many years ago and have had hardly any episodes of cystitis since. If I do get it, usually because I haven't kept to routine, or in very hot weather when I haven't kept up, I find a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda in a cup of water as soon as I have any symptom usually works for me, but you would need to check that out with your doctor. With regard to the preponderance of men on the board, Andrew's explanation is very interesting and seems likely. I also wonder if sometimes a woman might find the website but be put off by the fact that it seems as though it is a men's problem, and it would be mainly men who would read her posting. Good luck.

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