What worked for me!

Hi Ladies,

I suffered with vulvodynia for at least a year before I found what worked for me and now I am pretty much painless. It is such a awful condition to have and I always note how grateful I am that I have basically cracked it.

I posted on here a year or so ago and probably posted the same thing- but I wanted to post again to new members, or those that didn't try what I'm suggesting.

OK so after various doctors, dermatologists, etc etc I decided to pay privately for a gynecologist in Sloane Square in London (super posh!) and he helped me LOADS. But I can pass this wisdom on for you guys, so the three things that helped me (and I think you need to do ALL of these- at the same time! however difficult at first they may be)

*Take Amitryptiline- or other antidepressent prescribed for pain.
*Wash everyday- with Vagisil
*Use dialators

Ok So i'll go into more detail below:

Amitriptyline- now I was worried at first, taking an antidepressent for pain?! But it really does work. You have to start on a low dose and then build up (TALK to a doctor before obviously!) I had a few weeks of feeling tired and weird on them, then the body gets used to them and is FINE. I built up to take 75mg daily, and now I only take 50mg daily because I don't need any more than that! Sometimes it may take some trying of different antidepressents for one that works for you. amitriptyline for instance has been around for years.

Wash Everyday- Very necessary, wash EVERYDAY with vagisil. NOT soap! Someone told me they wash down there three times a day with soap, no wonder they were uncomfortable! You have to clean the area everyday, and Vagisil is hypersensitive so I think the best one to go for.

Dialators- this I think is the main thing that helped me. You need to put something in your vagina everyday- this is what my gynecologist told me. Now putting something up there can be the most daunting thing- when he told me this I literally gasped and reaaalllly didn't want to. But it is necessary, and now I am so so glad that I did because not only has it reduced pain, but it means that I can now have sex and am generally much more comfortable with that area. The ones I got are like these http://www.ennovations.co.uk/p/41/vaginal-dilator-set-femmax you can't see them there but basically there are different sizes, you start off on the smallest size, apply lubricant, and place in your vagina and rotate for 15 minutes each day, 2 weeks on one size, then you move up to the next size and do that 15 minutes a day for another 2 weeks. This is what I did. There are instructions with them so that will make it more clear what you do.

Now everyone has slightly different cases of Vulvodynia, so these might not work for everyone, or people may need to do things differently with the dialators. But really these are the best ways of reducing pain and I think you should all try them (for at least a couple of weeks).

I hope this advice helps you. Now I still occasionally get a little pain if I have my period, but barely at all- maybe 2 minutes of pain every 3 months!!! and I still can't ride a bike BUT literally I went from pain every single day to nearly never. I hardly even think about my vulvodynia now and am so glad it is out of my life. I have accepted that I may have to be on the amitriptyline for a while, but it is such a low dose that it doesn't effect my life.

Anyway, I hope you all try these things (at the same time!) and wish you all my wishes for your health. After going through Vulvodynia I do feel like a stronger person and am now proud of my vagina!

All the best,

Kate

katemate wrote:Hi Ladies,

I suffered with vulvodynia for at least a year before I found what worked for me and now I am pretty much painless. It is such a awful condition to have and I always note how grateful I am that I have basically cracked it.

I posted on here a year or so ago and probably posted the same thing- but I wanted to post again to new members, or those that didn't try what I'm suggesting.

OK so after various doctors, dermatologists, etc etc I decided to pay privately for a gynecologist in Sloane Square in London (super posh!) and he helped me LOADS. But I can pass this wisdom on for you guys, so the three things that helped me (and I think you need to do ALL of these- at the same time! however difficult at first they may be)

*Take Amitryptiline- or other antidepressent prescribed for pain.
*Wash everyday- with Vagisil
*Use dialators

Ok So i'll go into more detail below:

Amitriptyline- now I was worried at first, taking an antidepressent for pain?! But it really does work. You have to start on a low dose and then build up (TALK to a doctor before obviously!) I had a few weeks of feeling tired and weird on them, then the body gets used to them and is FINE. I built up to take 75mg daily, and now I only take 50mg daily because I don't need any more than that! Sometimes it may take some trying of different antidepressents for one that works for you. amitriptyline for instance has been around for years.

Wash Everyday- Very necessary, wash EVERYDAY with vagisil. NOT soap! Someone told me they wash down there three times a day with soap, no wonder they were uncomfortable! You have to clean the area everyday, and Vagisil is hypersensitive so I think the best one to go for.

Dialators- this I think is the main thing that helped me. You need to put something in your vagina everyday- this is what my gynecologist told me. Now putting something up there can be the most daunting thing- when he told me this I literally gasped and reaaalllly didn't want to. But it is necessary, and now I am so so glad that I did because not only has it reduced pain, but it means that I can now have sex and am generally much more comfortable with that area. The ones I got are like these http://www.ennovations.co.uk/p/41/vaginal-dilator-set-femmax you can't see them there but basically there are different sizes, you start off on the smallest size, apply lubricant, and place in your vagina and rotate for 15 minutes each day, 2 weeks on one size, then you move up to the next size and do that 15 minutes a day for another 2 weeks. This is what I did. There are instructions with them so that will make it more clear what you do.

Now everyone has slightly different cases of Vulvodynia, so these might not work for everyone, or people may need to do things differently with the dialators. But really these are the best ways of reducing pain and I think you should all try them (for at least a couple of weeks).

I hope this advice helps you. Now I still occasionally get a little pain if I have my period, but barely at all- maybe 2 minutes of pain every 3 months!!! and I still can't ride a bike BUT literally I went from pain every single day to nearly never. I hardly even think about my vulvodynia now and am so glad it is out of my life. I have accepted that I may have to be on the amitriptyline for a while, but it is such a low dose that it doesn't effect my life.

Anyway, I hope you all try these things (at the same time!) and wish you all my wishes for your health. After going through Vulvodynia I do feel like a stronger person and am now proud of my vagina!

All the best,

Kate

Kate,

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing your story. I had a bad experience with anti-depressants so I have to ask...Do you think JUST the dilators will do it? I am using something almost exactly like vagisil. I am just worried about the anti-depressants.

It's hard to say.... but personally I do think that you don't have much to lose if you try the dialators... you need to get used to having something in your vagina everyday. That was one of the main points my gyno was saying to me. At least if it doesn't help the pain, (Which I think it WILL) then you will be more confident in that area anyway....

Can I ask what happened with the antidepressents? When I heard about them at first I was very worried, but a lot of the time the pain dosage is much less than the dosage for mental issues. Have you spoken to a doctor re antidepressents? There are lots of different ones out there so you could find some that work for you.

All the best,

Kate