Diet... what are the triggers???

I was doing very well on amitriptyline, until i had my period 2 weeks ago. The pain had returned, I thought it may have just been irritation from using pads.. but a week after I'm still in pain. I am thinking it could possibly be something in my diet. I eat quite a healthy moderate diet, no refined sugar and no yeast, lots of protein (chicken, fish), fresh veggies and veggie juice, rice, but I do also have coffee and I have had a fair bit of salt in my diet for the last few weeks. Does anyone else find that salt, coffee, or any other foods could possibly cause flare-ups???

Depends on the individual, some things are triggers for some women and not for others. I tried cutting out coffee for a couple of months and it didn't make any difference so I went back on my 2 cups a day and again no increase in symptoms when I reintroduced it. You could try the low oxalate diet if you think that might help (again tried it and not a help for me but some women swear by it) or you could cut out a single item for a while and see how you get on.

Diet plays a very major part for me in my pain management!

I avoid the following things like the plague:
-orange juice, cranberrry juice, most fruit juices
-pop/carbonated drinks

I am very careful with the fruits I eat. Almost all are too acidic. The worst are:
-citric fruits (oranges, lemons, limes, grapefruit)
-pineapple
-strawberries
The riper they are the less acidic they are. I eat bananas, pears, blueberries, watermelon. Apples depends on the kind. McIntosh are worse, Golden Delicious are better.

Be careful of anything tomato-based:
-soups
-ketchup
-sauces
-salsa

And avoid spicy food! Or with vinegar. If you end up eating any of the above (sometimes I just can't resist a little) drink LOTS and LOTS of WATER with it!!

Apparently caffeine is also bad but I am not a coffee drinker so I can't tell you on that one.

I find when my menstrual cycle starts- i tend to have vestibule flare ups

its so annoying
and this month it seems worse
mainly on one side
left

my right side this far seems okay

well- took some Excedrin and my herbal from my acupuncture
and praying it kicks in
i cant really use my estro cream while on my period..

ahh i wish us women didnt have to deal with this

well maybe thats it Melissa, I was convinced it was something i was doing that stopped my meds from working, but it could very well be to do with my menstrual cycle, that is the time when i noticed my pain returning.

My pain seems to be worse in the week leading up to my period. As for diet, the only thing that I have managed to identify as a trigger so far is Orange Juice!

When I was really raw and in bad shape my triggers were:

All High Oxalate Foods (especially chocolate, spinach, nuts and rhubarb, but also whole wheat, potatoes, carrots, etc.)
Eating too many "medium" oxalate foods in one day
All high acid foods, but especially tomatoes and tomato products, vinegar and orange juice

I usually had a bad flare-up 6-24 hours after high acid foods and 24-48 hours after high oxalate foods. I found this out by keeping a food journal and starting to see patterns over the years. When I cheated on the low oxalate diet I would also have flare-ups which allowed me to see how oxalates also triggered my pain (and especially burning sensations).

After following a low oxalate diet for a number of years, my pain levels improved by about 80% and I no longer had the raw/burning feeling and severe pain. I also no longer am sensitive to high acid foods. I now eat tomatoes and vinegar A LOT in the summer with very little problem. I also can tolerate most medium oxalate foods if I don't go crazy and eat too many in one day. My thinking is that the high acid foods were triggers because they made my raw, painful tissues hurt even more (they make a bad situation worse), but that high acid foods and drinks are not the reason I had vulvar pain in the first place (for me, this was an oxalate metabolism issue).

Hope this helps.
Heidi
http://lowoxalatefamily.wordpress.com

Hello to all! Well i agree with chinchilla! You can try to avoid juices, instead drink a lot of water this is really helpful for me!

im not sure on allergies or triggers but i just forked out 200quid on IGG testing (delayed reactions to foods) to see if that shows up anything. 113 foods which are common in todays diet.

will let u know if that helps.

i think it was from York Testing, in the uk

xxxx