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» Hope to all my suffering ladies
'When Sex Hurts' A book that will literally change your life, using Instillagel and beware of the contraceptive pill!! EmptyFri Oct 23, 2020 12:04 am by ringostarr26

» Please tell me this can get better
'When Sex Hurts' A book that will literally change your life, using Instillagel and beware of the contraceptive pill!! EmptySat Jul 18, 2020 7:38 pm by sammykramer

» By no means cured, but doing much better!
'When Sex Hurts' A book that will literally change your life, using Instillagel and beware of the contraceptive pill!! EmptyMon Mar 16, 2020 1:26 pm by tinkerbelle2

» How I cured my Vulvodynia!
'When Sex Hurts' A book that will literally change your life, using Instillagel and beware of the contraceptive pill!! EmptySat Dec 07, 2019 11:54 am by Millie

» 7 months since the diagnosis
'When Sex Hurts' A book that will literally change your life, using Instillagel and beware of the contraceptive pill!! EmptyWed Aug 14, 2019 2:38 am by agtoronto

» Gabapentin Gel. or other topical creams
'When Sex Hurts' A book that will literally change your life, using Instillagel and beware of the contraceptive pill!! EmptySat Jun 15, 2019 5:22 pm by mary jane

» IMPORTANT FOR UK SUFFERERS
'When Sex Hurts' A book that will literally change your life, using Instillagel and beware of the contraceptive pill!! EmptySat Jun 15, 2019 5:21 pm by mary jane

» Help New Diagnosis
'When Sex Hurts' A book that will literally change your life, using Instillagel and beware of the contraceptive pill!! EmptySat Jun 15, 2019 5:07 pm by mary jane

» 6 days post Vestibulectomy - Is this normal?? please tell me about your postop healing process!
'When Sex Hurts' A book that will literally change your life, using Instillagel and beware of the contraceptive pill!! EmptyTue Jun 11, 2019 12:56 am by VVSSufferer

Gabapentin Gel. or other topical creams

Thu May 10, 2018 9:43 am by Rosie21

Hi I have been suffering for some years with this abominable pain. I have tried most of the systemic drugs , I asked specialists and Doctors if I could at least try a topical treatment but because this requires a special prescription have been refused Has anybody had a chance of trying these? Thank you I will try to put a link on to some of the research into Gabapentin Gel. Thanks.

Comments: 2

Putnams 'bony parts' cushion or Putnams 'Dr Huff' cushion - which is best?

Sat Aug 01, 2015 4:17 pm by Fielder

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie.  I live in the UK.  

I'm trying to work out the best cushion to get for my vulvodynia.  I suspect that I could have pudendal nerve involvement (the aching and burning pain is from vagina to clitoris) and I have rectocele and some tailbone pain too.

I have seen some good reports on older threads regarding the Putnams pressure relief cushions....with some ladies …

Comments: 11

An absolute success story- please read!

Fri Mar 08, 2019 10:57 pm by Persevere1990

Dear All,

I posted on here back in March 2017 having just got a diagnosis of vulvodynia after a few months of relentless and acute pain. I was desperate, I was hurting, I was scared I would never know life without pain there again.

I tried creams, acupuncture, numbing gels, frozen pads, baths with various internet recommended concoctions- convinced myself I had lichen sclerosus, herpes, thrush- …

Comments: 0

I'm sorry im rambling

Thu Feb 21, 2019 5:49 am by Jet227

hey, im 19, ive been struggling with this almost a year. The first week I became itchy I went in to check about a yeast infection another week later. I have been to 10 different doctors a total of about 15 appointments for this problem for the past 11 months. I have been tested for everything including having a biopsy. I was first told basically to just go home and use hydrocortazone, then I went …

Comments: 1

New member need advice please

Thu Feb 28, 2019 11:33 pm by PANDORA123

Hello, I have just been diagnosed with unprovoked vulvodynia. Im really scared and worried. It burns a lot and it hurts to sit down. I have been prescribed amitriptyle 10mg. Can anyone give me some hope that I can get better from this condition. Feeling low and depressed.

Thanks

Comments: 5

MonaLisa Touch

Fri Feb 08, 2019 7:35 pm by rl2091

Hi All,

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the MonaLisa Touch treatment for Vulvodynia? My pain started when I went on HRT(pill) for anxiety mainly and my pain abruntly stopped when I stopped HRT. However, when I started on the HRT patch (at my dr's suggestion), the pain returned and has never left. That was 7 years ago. I found MonaLisa Touch on the internet purely by accident …

Comments: 3

Diagnosed Recently

Tue Jan 08, 2019 3:55 pm by flissyg

Hi All,

I’m so glad I’ve found a place where there are others who understand how I feel!

So this is my story:-

I’m 36,  and 4 months ago, whilst innocently sitting in bed reading I experienced a very sharp stabbing pain in my clitoris. It last only a few minutes and then subsided as quickly as it came on. It put it down to “one of those things”.  The following morning I woke up …

Comments: 4

New and need advice and help

Wed Dec 05, 2018 3:26 pm by Cin124

Hi everyone,

About three months ago, I started having vaginal and vulval itching. Then, about two months ago, my vulva started to feel painful and look swollen, so I went to the doctor. I was tested for herpes, chlamydia, and gonorrhea which all came back negative. I also had to do a vaginal swab test and the only thing that came back positive was yeast infection. I was prescribed hydrozole …

Comments: 6

New here would very much appreciate advice at the end of my rope

Wed Jan 09, 2019 9:09 pm by Jma990o

This might be a little long but it's been such a long time I've even been able to talk about my problems openly thank you in advance for any helpful advice.
So ok I'm 24 I've been having this problem for over two years seen quite a few doctors and obgyns alike and nobody will take me seriously I have had a few utis and yeast infections and even bv once and this all started after one of the utis …

Comments: 3


'When Sex Hurts' A book that will literally change your life, using Instillagel and beware of the contraceptive pill!!

+5
JemimaSurrender
Kam10
Sarah001
shortstuff
Sapphire21
9 posters

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Post  Sapphire21 Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:18 am

Hello everyone,

I have been suffering with Vulvodynia for 4 years now and really wanted to share with you the book 'When Sex Hurts' by Andrew Goldstein and two other doctors. It basically lists lots of different reasons and cures for Vulvodynia and gives advice on how to ask doctors for the help that we need. Reading other posts on here, I can see that lots of other people have had awful experiences with doctors quite frankly not having a clue, and this book really really does help.

Also, if any of you experience pain just at the entrance to the vagina and if the pain started around the time of taking the contraceptive pill, then get yourself tested for low free testosterone. I struggled with this as most doctors only tested me for testosterone, and I had to get certain things tested separately (all of which are mentioned in the book) and then get a specialist to do a calculation to find out my free testosterone levels, but eventually got tested for it. And despite being told by my gynacologist that women my age (21) don't have low levels of free testosterone, I did have low levels and Dr. Goldstein says in the book that this can cause pain. However it is difficult to rectify it, we don't have the treatment he suggests in the UK. I was prescribed testogel, which is a gel for men and can cause male like side effects with women (like unwanted hair and voice breaking). However, I have not used it yet as I am scared, I will be seeing my doctor in a few weeks and so will speak to him more about it then. I am quite a worrier and so the small dosage that women would use probably won't cause problems, I just need to clarify a few things with him and make sure that it won't affect me in a way I don't want it to, or increase my testosterone levels which are normal.

I should add, I think this cause of Vulvodynia is quite rare, but you never know if your free testosterone levels are low too it could be affecting you!

So yeah, basically buy the book it is amazing! And consider your options with your doctor if your pain started in the same way mine did, and show him/her the book!

I have been given Instillagel for the time being, it is a numbing gel and there are discussions about it on here already which are very helpful, apparently it takes away the pain without taking away the pleasure! I will be trying it out on Valentines day, so hopefully it will be a success!

I hope this is helpful.

Sapphire21

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Post  shortstuff Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:44 am

So glad you found a doctor willing to give it a try!

Let us know how it goes!

shortstuff

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Post  Sapphire21 Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:19 pm

The testogel? Yeah I am lucky, I do feel he just gave it to me without any explanation of what I should be doing with it. And I have had contradictory opinions on how exactly I should use it so I do feel a little annoyed, but at least I have it! And hopefully in a few weeks I will be confident enough to use it. In the mean time, I hope instillagel works!

Thanks for your reply

Sapphire21

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Post  Sarah001 Sun Feb 12, 2012 1:13 pm

I agree that book is definitely one all V sufferers should read. I doubt my doctor would test for testosterone issues as I can't even persuade her to test basic hormones but mine didn't start that way anyway. Are any of the natural testosterone creams any use to you? I know they sell some but how effective they would be I'm not sure.
Sarah001
Sarah001

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Post  Kam10 Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:35 pm

I got this book from my library and just started reading it yesterday. Though I'm not far along I really like this book and might buy my own copy.

I skipped ahead to skim the hormonal part, and I too and am going to make my doctor test my free testostrone levels.

I have no clue if this is my problem, or if it is, my only problem (also have tense pelvic floor), but I do want to rule it out. My specialist doesn't believe birth control causes problems with my V. I asked about this a couple times. She did say my cells always appear to well estrogenized under the microscope, so estrogen isn't my problem. Upon learning that I decided against dicontinuing my birth control. However, upon reading in When Sex Hurts that testorone levels matter, I am going to bring this up again. I don't want to stop the pill until I get tested. I don't want to mess with my bc method without proof this is my problem since my husband and I aren't ready to be parents yet.

Sapphire, good luck with the treatment. I hope it goes well and you found the root of your problem. Also, are you using another birth control method now? If so, what? I'm curious to know what other options are out there.

I'm not sure when I will go to my doctor again. I'm for sure waiting until winter is over so I don't have to drive 2 hours in the snow to make my appontment. Also depends on my progress with my physical therapist. I'll try to remember to update eveyone on whether I got the testrone test and what the results are.
Kam10
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Post  Sapphire21 Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:09 am

Hi Sarah,
I am suprised that your doctor won't test you for hormones. But if you say that yours didn't start like that then it is unlikely it would be free testosterone. However, it could be another hormone problem? I have no idea obviously, but I guess it makes sense to look at all possibilities, would your doctor listen to you if you said you had read about hormones causing problems and just wanted to do it to put your mind at ease? Over the last four years I have learnt to try and trick doctors into doing what I want haha! I make out that I am probably wrong but it is playing on my mind and making me more nervous when I try sex so would you just test me to prove me wrong? And I have found that that works! I found out incidently when they were testing me for all sorts of hormones that I also have slightly raised prolactin levels. I have no idea if it is connected but I do know that it contributes to less natural lubrication, which obviously doesn't help.

I haven't heard of natural testosterone creams, what are they? The one they gave me is testogel, but like I said I am scared it wil effect my testosterone levels and as well as my free tesosterone levels.

And Kam, my doctors also told me frequently that the birth control pill won't have caused my pain. In fact, my specialist told me she would test me for it but didn't actually do it! So I went to my GP and got her to do it and when it came back very low my specialist told me I had 'englightened' her. Not quite an apology, but hopefully it will help other women she sees. Make sure you get tested for all the separate hormones that are needed to calculate free testosterone (listed in the book) and make sure the calculation is done correctly! I also have normal estrogen levels. Did your pain start on or around the time you went on the pill?

The only birth control I use now is condoms. But tbh, it has been years since we tried because it is too painful. So really, I guess my contraception is abstaining from sex all together! But we will be trying again using instillagel (the local anasthetic gel) so I really really hope that it works.

I also have really tense pelvic floor muscles, and so many doctors have told me that this is my problem - the pain started at one point for whatever reason, and now my body expects pain and so cleanches up and it has just got worse and worse. I completely agree that my pelvic floor muscles are tight because of the pain, but I know that this is not the cause of my pain and I need to rectify both the cause and the consequences before I can get better. I stopped my physio as I felt it was pointless me doing all these excersises and relaxing my muscles when the initial pain was still there.

I had hynotherapy tapes made specifically for me and I go to yoga classes, both of which really help me relax and make my muscles less tense. This makes the pain less, but the initial pain is still there and it is too bad to ignore.

Good luck.

Sapphire21

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Post  JemimaSurrender Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:04 am

Hey Sapphire...

Firstly, I spotted this book on Amazon a month or two ago and thought I should buy it but I never got around to it. I'll have to give it a go now though, it certainly seems worth it.

As for the hormone bit...

I put a post up not long ago on another thread but I can't find it again now. My pain started after taking the pill for around 18 months. After about another 6 months of pain I saw a gyno who told me that my oestrogen (if that's the right one/spelling!) was extremely low and to stop the pill and I'll be fine. After three week I was cured and happier than ever. After 9 months my symptoms returned and I'm still in the same position 2 and a half years after, despite not putting any hormones into my body for the last 12 months.

I've had my levels tested a few times, but not for a good while. I've not heard a mention of free testosterone either though so I'll make a point of bringing it up next time I go. In some ways, I'll be really pissed off if it turns out my hormones are still the cause and no one's picked up on it!

Thanks for the nod!

JemimaSurrender

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Post  Kam10 Mon Feb 13, 2012 1:20 am

Sapphire21 wrote: I also have normal estrogen levels. Did your pain start on or around the time you went on the pill?


This makes me feel less crazy. Before I had V I normally tended to trust doctors. Now I'm so skeptial about anything they tell me. That makes it hard to know when to trust them and when to insist I get certain tests done. I know there is a lot of bad information out there and it's important to listen to doctors sometimes. However, with this condition I get to tired of how narrow minded doctor's can be, even the good ones. Why are doctors quick to shoot down some ideas when no one really knows what causes this condition?!

I was on birth control for about 1 and a half years before I got V, specifically Vestibulitis. I also was taking less placebos at one point after my obgyn (who turned out to be a complete insenstive idiot) had me worried I could still get pregant while taking the 7 placebo pills. I wonder if this had anything to do with it since it messed with my cycle and gave me bad cramps. Hard to say since the V symptoms didn't happen until months after I was messing with my pill. I was told it would've shown up sooner if there was a connection. I also have since went back to talking 7 placebos and the pain didn't go away. I'm not sure if it's reasonable to believe that the pill gradually changed my hormones over the years to develop this problem slowly or not. I still think it will be best to get my hormones tested, if nothing else, to rule it out.

I also started doing yoga. My physcial therapist said it would be good for me. I'm doing someting called Yin yoga. I find it really relaxing, but I just started so I haven't seen any effects yet. I expect that will take a while.
Kam10
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Post  shortstuff Mon Feb 13, 2012 3:04 am

Kam, I read somewhere that stress can also throw hormones out of wack. Were you under a lot of stress when your symptoms started?

shortstuff

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Post  Aussie Mon Feb 13, 2012 6:31 am

I feel better off birth control.

My free testosterone was fine.

Aussie

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Post  Sapphire21 Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:17 pm

Hi Jemima,
Well apparently if free tesosterone is affected then it should go back to normal (the book says it can take months or years) but mine is still low 4 years on. If you do ask your doctor to test you for it, make sure they don't just test for normal testosterone cus they kept doing that to me! I think I have said before, the book has all the info about what specific hormones to get tested to calculate free testosterone levels from.

And Kam, I sadly feel exactly the same. This whole thing has made me hardly trust doctors anymore. I completely appreciate that this is an under-studied area of medicine, but I can't stand it when the doctors just don't listen to the things you have found out from your own research. And yeah there is bad stuff out there, but if you concentrate your research carefully and only read genuine stuff from doctors or read stuff that other patients have tried that their doctors have given them (like this forum!) then I really don't see why they don't listen to you.

And I agree, that it probably does make sense that hormones could change gradually over time, but obviously I don't know, I don't have a very scientific mind! But getting tested can just rule it out if nothing else.

Aussie, so did your pain start around the time you took the pill?

I don't know whether anyone else has had psycho-sexual counselling, but I was offered that and personally didn't find it that helpful, although I imagine lots of women do. I sought out regular counselling through my university and I found it really helped to talk things through with somone that wasn't connected to me in anyway at all.

Sapphire21

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Post  JemimaSurrender Mon Feb 13, 2012 11:45 pm

Sapphire21 wrote:
I don't know whether anyone else has had psycho-sexual counselling, but I was offered that and personally didn't find it that helpful...
I've been offered this and am waiting for an appointment at the moment. I'm quite looking forward to it though. Aside from this forum, the only person who I talk to about everything to do with the condition is my boyfriend, and obviously I can't talk about the relationship side of it to him else everything about us will become about the condition.

So yes, I'll just be glad to have someone to listen to and give a neutral side to all the hassles!

JemimaSurrender

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Post  Aussie Tue Feb 14, 2012 1:38 am

I was on the pill for 4 years before the pain started. I was screwing around with it though (taking extra pills over my honeymoon) when it started.

It's poison anyway I don't know why anybody would use it for contraception. Shutting your ovaries down for a period of time just because it is convenient is ridiculous. I was ill informed and ignorant at the time.

No wonder 1 in 6 of us are infertile. I have been off it for 9 months and I am still not ovulating.

Aussie

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Post  Sapphire21 Tue Feb 14, 2012 3:27 pm

Yeah I know exactly what you mean Jemima. It is really nice to speak about it with someone other than your boyfriend. I made the mistake of telling one of my closest friends, who can't keep her mouth shut after a drink so that has put me off talking about it with anyone other than my councillor. And my boyfriend of course, although as you say we can't talk about it all the time.

I think with regards to the pill that I have been unlucky. Maybe more women suffer as a result of the pill than we know of, maybe they put their problems down to something else when actually the pill is harming them, or maybe the pill is just fine for most women that take it. I really don't know but I guess it is the same with any drug, some people react badly to it and others don't. I know that my mother struggled with ovulating (which is apparently hereditary so I am likely to struggle with that too) but she did conceive in the end. I really hope that this will be the case for you.

Sapphire21

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Post  JemimaSurrender Tue Feb 14, 2012 8:52 pm

Ahhh can't even imagine telling one of my friends! I think part of it is a trust issue (but only because I don't think they'd realise how serious it is and might tell someone) and the other part is pride! As bad as it sounds, I don't want anyone else to know that me and my boyfriend don't have sex!

Anyway, on another note...

Has anyone tried estrogen pessaries? About a year ago I was given them by mistake by an incompetent (and extremely inappropriate gyno) despite it saying on my notes that I was avoiding estrogen. Anyway, I tried them and they actually did help for a while, then they stopped. I tried them again a few months after that and they had no effect at all. I guess my estrogen was low the first time then it had evened out and so the pessaries weren't necessary.

But I was just thinking that maybe I'd like to try them again. The last gyno I saw said to not take any tablets, self medication, shower gels, anything that might irritate... But I'd hate to think I could be feeling better in a night if they did work. I guess doctors are sometimes (often!) wrong so I might give them a go for a few days...




JemimaSurrender

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Post  Kam10 Wed Feb 15, 2012 2:12 am

shortstuff wrote:Kam, I read somewhere that stress can also throw hormones out of wack. Were you under a lot of stress when your symptoms started?

I was really stressed out when the pain started. I'm always a little high strung though, so I don't know if it was worse than usual. But I was engaged and planning a wedding, which had its very stressful moments.

Whether the pill is my issue or not I have no clue. A yeast infection also might have trigged it, which according the book could make me a good candiate for the increase nervation theory. But after reading When Sex Hurts, I definlty think my doctor impropperly dismissed that as a cuase. I want to be tested to know for sure.

Aussie, that's intersting you're better off the pill though your hormones were OK. I wonder why?
Kam10
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Post  shortstuff Wed Feb 15, 2012 11:35 am

JemimaSurrender - I was placed on estrogen treatment (Premarin) and it seemed to help with me as well; the pain was virtually gone for a few months and I would use the cream whenever it felt like it was coming back. HOWEVER, three months after starting the cream, I started developing other symptoms: dizziness (It feels like my legs suddenly dissappear and my body is falling through the floor), chronic fatigue (this has gotten really bad, I can't even function a whole day without napping and i'm only 24), chronic yeast and just an overall really bad physical feeling. My blood tests for diabetes, anemia and thyroid show nothing wrong; I'm actually in good health (the dr. keeps saying). I've been reading a lot about hormone imbalance and in my heart, I know it's hormone related because every symptom fits (including the start of V, which was during a really stressful time that could have thrown me off in the first place) but the docs refuse to test them until ruling everything else out (like pollen allergies. I wanted to scream when he said that). Anyway, I would be cautious about adding any hormones into your body unless they run tests showing you need them. I took myself off of everything (Birth control, at your advice, and the Premarin) and I'm hoping my body just levels itself out.

Kam10 - I was also extremely stressed - I was in the process of breaking off my engagement with an abusive partner with whom I was financially interlocked with and had living in my house. I asked because I'm wondering if the stress was what caused the intial hormone imbalance, which I'm also wondering was further complicated by the pill (which I was also on and had been for 6 years prior).

Anyone else have symptoms start during periods of stress?? Can we find another link between all of us?

shortstuff

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Post  JemimaSurrender Wed Feb 15, 2012 12:05 pm

shortstuff wrote:I took myself off of everything (Birth control, at your advice, and the Premarin) and I'm hoping my body just levels itself out.
That's what I've been trying to do but I've not noticed any improvements and I can't even remember how long I've been off everything for now. I bet it's near a year. Although stopping birth control did help me for a good while so I hope it does the trick for you too!

I'm due to go back to my GP in a couple of weeks so hopefully I can get her to check my hormone levels on the basis that I want to retry the estrogen gels.

For anyone in the UK: Can you get your bloods tested for hormone levels at the GPs? For some reason I've got it into my head that they won't do it and you have to have it done elsewhere, perhaps the hospital. I may have just made that up though!
Also... Does anyone else have the problem that GPs say it's sooooo hard to test your hormone levels because they vary all the time? I've been told it a few times and as a result they've not let me have them done. I'd go in for a blood test every day for a month if it meant they could get a realistic reading!! Jeeeeeez.

JemimaSurrender

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Post  shortstuff Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:33 am

I had the problem with GP not wanting to test my hormones, although he did not give a reason other than, "let's rule everything else out first". I'm going to a new gyno soon and plan on taking all my research articles with me.

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Post  Kam10 Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:33 am

shortstuff, I'm so sorry to hear about your situation with your partner. I'm glad you found the strength to leave. The idea that stress could've triggered things makes sense. Stress always seems to be listed as a trigger for just about every medical problem.
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Post  Sapphire21 Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:45 pm

Hey sorry I haven't replied, been away for the weekend!
Jemima - you can get your hormones tested by a GP, that's what I did. I have been off the pill for 3 years now and still no improvement. In fact, it has got worse but I think that is my muscles being far too tight.

I am scared about putting more hormones in my body to fix the low free testosterone levels becuase I am scared that it will have other bad effects or make it worse. I am also scared that my main problem is my muslces now (because I expect pain I seize up) and so part of me doesn't want to try hormones. But then part of me knows that the pain didn't start from my muscles, and I do have low free tesosterone so it must be contributing to the pain still. Even if my muslces were better I am sure that I would still feel the initial pain that I had.

I tried the instillagel (numbing local anasthetic) and it didn't work Sad I had the same pain I always have. My boyfriend said that if my muscles were tense inside then the gel wouldn't help because it isn't touching all the muscles underneath the surface of my skin, which I think makes sense. Does anyone know of any other alternatives to insitllagel? It didn't even make parts of me that don't hurt slightly numb.

Oh and shortstuff, if you can try and make your gyno look through your research properly. The amount of times they have just scanned mine and smiled politely and passed them back to me is just ridiculous.

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Post  Sapphire21 Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:48 pm

JemimaSurrender wrote: As bad as it sounds, I don't want anyone else to know that me and my boyfriend don't have sex!



I'm exactly the same! Why do we feel so embarrassed about the fact that we don't have sex with out partners?!

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Post  Kam10 Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:29 pm

Sapphire21 wrote:Hello everyone,
I was prescribed testogel

Sapphire, Have you started using this yet? I got my doctor to test my low free testosterone and it was low. I was given a cream of .02 percent estradiol and .1% testosterone from a compounding pharmacy. I also stopped the pill. I took my last pack like normal, and started using the cream when I got it, which was around the same day I took my last pill. I noticed my period has been acting wierd. I had blood in the discharge Tuesday, a sign it's about to come with the next few hours, however the next day my period still didn't come (not pregenant, haven't had sex in months). Usually I get my period the Tuesday or Wednesday after my last BC pill of the month. I decided to stop using the cream in case it was interfering with my cycle. I stopped the cream last night and got my period this morning. I plan on avoiding the cream until after my period is over and start the treatment from scratch at that point. Did you notice any changes to your cycle when you started the cream?

Does anyone else have experience taking testorone cream? Is it normal to have it interfere with your peroid, or am I being paranoid and over reacting?

I'm getting nervous becuase I want my hormones to return to normal, not have a new treatment mess them up more. I know I should give it a few months before I start to panic, but I'm a worrier and can't help it. I do plan on talking to my doctor if a similar occurence happens next month.
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Post  Sapphire21 Thu Apr 19, 2012 10:30 pm

Hi Kam, no I have not used it yet - the treatment I was given was a gel not a cream, but if I am honest I am too scared to use it. I am worried it will affect my tesosterone levels which are normal, and all I want to change are my free testosterone levels. It is all so frustrating because I am too scared to mess with my hormones anymore than they are already messed up, yet desperately want my free tesosterone levels to change.

Please do let me know if you continue to use it and it works for you. You say you have a cream, is this a cream for women? Because my gel is for men but I am supposed to take small amounts out of each sachet (1/10) everytime I use it. I believe this is all we have in the UK, are you based in another country?


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Post  Kam10 Fri Apr 20, 2012 2:43 am

Thanks for responding. Mine might actually be a gel, I think I'm using the term cream too loosely. I live in the US. The cream was put together at a compounding pharmacy, so it's not a manufactured gel made under a brand name. I think they hormones are in methocel gel. The name got cut off on my label, but I think that's what they told me over the phone when they were collecting my information. I apply it to my vulva twice a day, and so far it hasn't irritated me.

I'm sure I'm over reacting to the whole period thing, but felt I had to ask in case I wasn't. I'll try to remember to keep you updated. I'm not sure what my total testestrone levels are. I asked for a copy of the lab report, but they only listed the free testestorone. I also don't know if I'll go back to normal off the pill or not, so I'm a little worried of getting too much testestrone if my body corrects itself, but I'm trying not to worry about that. I'm sure the gel is safe and if I start noticing any side effects and I call the doctor right away things will be fine. But yes, I know where you're coming from. The thought of over correcting the issue can be scary. At the same time, you never know if it will help unless you try it. Only you know what is right for you though.
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