Good few days!!

do you have to get lidocaine on prescription? And do you always use it on a cotton bud rather than direct on the skin. I am a bit confused by this, can't quite imagine having a cotton bud on my girly bits all night?

That is interesting about the co-codamol, I've had that before for headaches and didn't feel too sick as long as I took it with food. Might be worth a try, when my back and bits are both ganging up on me like they have been this week.

That is interesting about the lyrica, I guess we are all different so what works for some won't for others.

did you find it reduced the pain a lot when at the higher dose, what dose were you on when it helped? Did you have any nasty side effects?

The lidocaine situation is tricky as manufacturers keep changing what versions of it they make. At the moment I think you can buy 5% lidocaine as an ointment over the counter (though still having to ask for it specifically) but that was way too strong for me and just hurt. What I have is called Instillagel, which is normally used to numb the area when inserting catheters and that has 2% lidocaine in it. It comes in pre-filled syringes and is quite runny. I’m not actually sure if you can buy it over the counter; my doc prescribed me a box of 10 so I have a good supply.

You can also apply it direct to the skin, which would be the preferred choice if using it before sex I guess. The cotton bud thing was something Wendy suggested years ago, I guess letting it work overnight just gives it a bit longer to do its thing. Having it on a cotton bud helps keep it in there as it’s so runny! The cotton wool is not irritating as long as I cover it well in the gel. I always feel better in the morning after doing this.

Yeah my pain was much lower when I was on 300mg per day. I’m on 150mg per day now and it’s OK, but not great. I’m pretty lucky with side effects, generally. I get wooziness / dizziness when originally going on lyrica & when upping the dosage but it quickly goes off. Sometimes I get a bit fuzzy headed but that may or may not be the lyrica! I’ve worked for the whole time I’ve been on it & it hasn’t been a major issue. The pain would be more debilitating than the side effects for me, definitely.

Liz x