New here- my story

Hi all,

I'm 28, from Australia. I've been diagnosed with crappy condition for 5 years but I suspect I've been suffering for much longer. I'm too sure what triggered it in the beginning. When I was initially diagnosed it was a continuous pain, anything and everything would aggravate it, but after taking endep it reliever it to a point where only provoked pain through sex or examination.
I've been with my husband the same amount of time, it's been such a struggle, since he was my first everything.
I decided to come off endep as I felt like it had plateaued and started gabapentin but that hasn't helped at all.
Ive seen my specialist and all they want me to do is do my physio.
Just feeling quite down at the moment. Has anyone become pain free completely from physio?
My husband wants me to get the operation, but I'm a bit scared it'll be botched and won't even help.

Hi! I'm sorry to hear you've been suffering with this condition for so long. I'm not currently receiving physical therapy, but my specialist did tell me I would have to do home dialator therapy once my symptoms have calmed down a bit. So unfortunately I can't comment on PT myself, but I've heard it works wonders for some women. You can try searching this site to read through what women have said about it

Surgery is an extremely serious decision that, obviously, shouldn't be taken lightly. If you do choose that route, I hope you do it for YOU, not anyone else. I hope you find relief!

Thanks for the reply. I'll have a look through and see if anyone has had success with just dilators

I'm improving a lot with physio (including dilators) and taking duloxetine. It's not a quick fix, but well worth trying physio.

Hi,

Can I ask where in Australia you are located? I'm in Melbourne and after visiting several unhelpful GPs/Family Planning I've decided to bite the bullet and try and get a referral to the Royal Women's. I know of a few physios that specialise in pelvic pain but I think they tend to focus more on vaginismus than vulvodynia - either way feel free to message me if you want to talk about anything.

Hi I'm from Melbourne. I do get seen at the Royal women's. The physios and sexual counsellor are lovely there, though the vulvar derm doctors (consultant in particular) are idiots in my opinion.
Yes I agree they concentrate too much on vaginismus. Thank you so much for the offer.
I'm feeling a bit better seeing all the lovely comments