I have no relief or help! :(

I just need to rant somewhere that I know people will understand. I have no insurance and no money, and so I deal with my vulvar vestibulitis and interstitial cystitis on my own. Today I was at Planned Parenthood because they can test me for UTIs for free, and I had some suspicious pain and its hard to tell the difference between IC symptoms and an actual infection.

Long story short I broke down crying with the clinician because my pain has been so unbearable this week. She did a full exam and mostly just stared at me with glazed over eyes and said things like, "Well, the vagina is very happy!" "I see nothing wrong, your vulva is absolutely healthy" and that I should try Excedrin because she thinks that could help with skin problems.

Then I spent over an hour this evening wailing and crying out in pain, because it was the worst pain I had ever experienced...on a scale of 1-10, this was an 11. Several times I begged my husband to take me to the ER, just to take it back because I knew it would be time and money wasted because they arent gonna be able to help me.

It is incredibly frustrating to have no access to any worthwhile healthcare, yet be turned down for every program out there because I'm not POOR ENOUGH. Its been a hard week and I am worn out, and I just wanted some words of encouragement.

All I can do is send you big hugs and join you in being utterly pissed off about how unfair it all is. I was just reading some recent research on vulvodynia and thinking.. this should have been done years ago. Why are we only just beginning to be taken seriously?

Try not to let clueless medical professionals get to you. They are just too ignorant to recognise that there are things they don't know. Though there is no excuse for lack of empathy.

I hope your pain improves very soon x

I don't know where you live, but I'm in the US and COMPLETELY understand the frustration with having no insurance. Health clinics SUCK. Most don't care AT ALL, and I have been treated terribly at them as well. For one, I was told it was in my head and to force myself to have sex to prove it to myself. Turns out I also have herpes, which they refused to test for because I wasn't "at risk". Way to go docs!

Have you tried Patient Assistance Programs through the local hospital? I didn't know these existed until I had to a biopsy through the clinic. I know you said you make to much, but I wonder if you meant for government assistance. The one through my hospital had a fairly high income level...

I just got health insurance for the first time, and even that's been frustrating because I have to wait so long for authorizations and the like.