Smoking and Blue Jeans

So, I decided to buy a nice new pair of flared jeans this weekend, and decided to wear them to work today. Big mistake

I don't need to describe what happens next, I just wish I could keep to all these rules we have a bit better!

Also, are there any smokers on this forum? I find sometimes that if I have a flare-up, smoking usually makes it worse. Any others got this problems?

Hope you're all having a more pain-free day than myself at the mo, currently sitting at a desk wincing with a bit of a weird expresion on my face!

yep leggings all the way for me at the moment!...but that also has to do with the fact that ive put on a stone and half since getting bad with this (no exercise, no job and comfort eating....i'd love to blame the meds but I cant!!

I just started weight watchers yesterday and already gone over with points yday with smarties and other things, and today I had a massive mcdonalds, damn me and my mouth it needs stapling shut! Im trying to get back into doing some art pieces today but seriously lacking in enthusiasm!!

maybe keep the jeans for nights out? thats what id do if i could fit into them then inf they do get too painful you just drink more vodka and it numbs the pain - actually ignore that crap advice

Not too long to go til end of ur work day hopefully Julia. When it hurts loads I end up pulling at my leggings/trousers at the crotch to make them looser, I swear people must think im an oddball!

Only smoke when I'm very drunk

I know exactly what you mean about jeans, mine are all packed away for now and I'm currently looking at what I can wear through the winter because I don't wear skirts! I've settled on a pair of thick leggings and a pair of bi-stretch black bootcut trousers so far but I'm going to really miss my jeans, I live out in the sticks so jeans and wellies are usually my winter gear!

I smoke and to be honest I've been wondering if smoking is part of the problem, you know the whole "impairs the immune system" angle? But I'm sure there's alot of women with vulvodynia who don't smoke so I'm not sure it's really related except for maybe decreasing how well we breathe and the diaphragm and pelvic floor connection maybe? I don't notice a difference if I hardly smoke any or smoke more so it doesn't have any immediate effects on me but nor does drinking either, a glass of wine doesn't make any difference to me and I know it does to some women.

Have you had your pelvic floor assessed? Sorry if you've already mentioned it but I can't recall if you have or haven't.

I do the pulling at the crotch thing too Naomi! Not very classy is it?

hahah I do the pulling on crotch thing too!

I dont even go near jeans anymore..Have chucked em out! Yes it is leggings all the way!!! I thank God they are in fashion!

Now on nights out you can still wear leggins with a nice top. The other day at work I wore a skirt, but no tights just hold up stockings..They stayed up and I felt comfortable. It also makes ya feel quite sexy with the stockings underneath! Now a nice skirt would look great on a night out!

I do smoke but am hoping to give up. I dont find any difference in how much I smoke with the Vulvodynia apart from a sore throat if I do smoke too much.

I should give up! I really need to, but the stress with this and my panic attacks anyway makes it sooo hard

Ha ha! OK.. Naomi, what is a stone and a half? Can you convert this to pounds? and what are wellies? I need a dictionary for you ladies from England. As for jeans, i do wear them, but not tight ones. this week i've been uncomfortable, so any pants that are tight in the area are uncomfortable. i have yet to wear leggings. but you're right, they are in (thank God). I'm w/ Naomi...i love the vodka and when i drink a lot and i'm w/ smoking friends, i bum a cigarette or several. i have never seen any evidence in research reports suggesting that there is a connection between smoking and Vulvodynia. For those of you who can sit on a foam donut, i highly recommend having one at work and home. i could not make it through the day w/out it. today i had to sit quite a bit w/out my donut (i'm too embarrassed to carry it around to meetings w/ me). as a result of all the sitting today and working out a few days ago, i am burning...ouch and damn this Vulvodynia! ok..enough said..ttysoon.

A stone and a half is 21 pounds, but more importantly wellies are wellington boots, I've looked this up online so I may be wayyyy off the mark here but it suggests Americans call them "gumboots"? How funny, I'll have to find a picture of some and have it as my avatar!!

Oh yes and on the clothing front I spend my days at home in jazz pants, you know the exercise trousers with a bootcut? Much nicer than normal jogging bottoms in my opinion!

i too am a member of the crotch pulling club.. thank god it's not just me!

re: pelvic floor, i had a thought the other day, maybe it's connected, maybe it's not. but I had some physio just over a year ago as was doing quite physical drama training and the physio found out that i had pretty much no 'core' muscles, to the point where my calves are very muscly because i don't really use anything above it! he was getting me to do pelvic floor exercises and lifting my hips up and down etc, and trying to engage my pelvic floor muscles to move my legs up and down whilst lying down........

maybe this is the cause of all my problems?!?!

It really does sound like you need to get those muscles assessed. My core is awful because my pelvic joints are loose so I've got problem muscles all over. With regards your pelvic floor I really think booking a session of biofeedback to estabish exactly what the muscles are doing (or aren't doing!) would be a great idea. There's a massive connection between the pelvic floor and vulvar problems and in Dr Glazer's article he even goes as far as saying you can pretty much identify which women have vulvodynia by the resting tone of the pelvic floor so clearly it's extremely relevant! If a muscle is very weak it often goes into spasm as a way of trying to provide stability. I have to say though don't just do basic pelvic floor exercises without knowing what your muscles are doing, I was doing those and had no idea I wasn't releasing the muscles after each contraction until I could see it on the biofeedback screen. So essentially I was makng the spasm worse! Not what I needed at all.

sounds like a good option; did you get referred to biofeedback via your gp?

Nooo, oh my word! I'm not certain the NHS have biofeedback machines with vaginal probes and I do know women's health physios are very scarce on the NHS so it would have been months of me getting worse just to go and probably find out they don't have a clue how to help me. I pay myself which isn't too bad because you only go in once a month, just look for a women's health physio in your area online and call them and see if they can help. It cost me £50 for the initial consultation but mine was an hour and a half due to all the other problems I have going on then it's £35 every 4-6 weeks after that at my therapists which I think is even going to be possible for me to pay on my paltry benefits!!

Just reviving this thread because of something I've noticed! I've recently been atempting to cut down on cigarettes with a view to stopping completely shortly and I have to say the days where I've managed to cut down to 3 or 4 ciggies my vulvar pain hasn't been so bad so for the smokers on the forum I think perhaps there is a link. I didn't think there was before but as I didn't make any effort to cut down previously I wasn't sure. I'm fairly sure for me it's the circulation issue and I'm getting better blood flow to the area when I don't smoke so much. I'm planning on getting some nicotine patches and using hypnosis at the same time to try and quit the evil weed!

I only smoke when I'm VERY drunk also. In fact I brought in the new millenium smoking cigars. The worst hangover of my life followed that informed decision

I find coffee, wine and stress make things a lot worse. It's almost an instant buzz (???) I was experimenting with vodka cranberry but then the low oxalate diet shizzer reared it's ugly head. I can't quite do the vokda straight without a lot of ice.

I'm doing some temporary work at the moment and the oil company I work for provides a barista. It's hard to resist the lovely coffee.

I wear a lot of dresses these days and mostly leggings the rest of the time. Sitting all day is another challenge - so I walk to the cafeteria for another coffee... hmmmm see the destructive pattern?

seriously, a readily available barista and a stressful job, I wouldnt even consider saying no.
sarah, you havementioned circulation a few times- has there been some research into a link between poor blood flow and vulvadynia? If you have come across some, could you give me a link to it? I have very poor circulation, so that's something I should look into.

The link between circulation and vulvodynia is specifically circulation to the pelvic area. It's mentioned all over online so if you want to read more just google it but it's also mentioned on Dr Glazer's website on the homepage if you want to read that: www.vulvodynia.com

The theory is the pelvic floor spasm they pretty much always find with vulvodynia patients reduces blood flow to the vulva and either causes the problem if the pelvic floor spasms first or prevents the problem healing if it is a secondary response. I'm not sure if poor circulation all over would have the same effect but I suppose it couldn't hurt to try and improve it.