Some questions about HBC

I haven't been here in a while, generally things have been pretty good. My pain is not at all gone, but is manageable right now because I have sort of settled into my routine of using the lidocaine and taking amitriptyline. I still have pain with penetration, but the meds have taken it from a 10 to about a 6, and the lidocaine takes most of the rest away so I'm generally okay.

HOWEVER. I was wondering about the connction between HBC and vulvodnia. I have read about this before, and I'm pretty sure it has been mentioned here in the past. I was taking microgynon for years, and it worked brilliantly. I started taking it because my periods were horrific and making me violently ill, and the microgynon made that stop. When I turned 21 though, it stopped working. Every month I would have all of the symptoms you experience before a period -- cramping, lower back pain, really sore boobs -- and this stuff would stay with me all month. So I went to my GP and she said that natural horomonal changes take place in your body when you hit your early twenties and that it can affect the way HBC works so she switched me to Loestrin. Loestrin seemed fine at first, but shortly after starting the same thing happened. Only this time there was breakthrough bleeding that lasted for weeks. I decided to go back to my GP to be switched to something new, but I couldn't get an appointment in time and my withdrawal bleed was due to start on the day of an important interview so I thought "I'll just stack to skip this period, and when I come to the end of this pack I'll go back to the doctor". I figured I could endure the weird symptoms for one more month. But since Loestrin was messing me up way more than the microgynon ever did, and since I had some microgynon left over from before, I decided to just take the microgynon this month

Bad idea. The day after I started, I felt a burning sensation in my vagina. Sort of like when I am having a flare-up after penetration. It has been with me for the past three days now. It is not terribly painful, just an uncomfortable constant burning. This is worrying me, because my pain has never been constant before, it's usually only provoked. Again, it's not severe, and when I'm lying still I'm not really aware of it. It's just an uncomfortable niggling burn that is a little scary because the last thing in the world that I want is for this condition to get worse. I haven't tried any kind of penetration, so I don't know if my prrovoked pain has worsened, but I don't think it has because when I shower and am sort of 'feeling around' down there everything feels normal and I'm not in any more discomfort than usual. Anyway, I stopped taking the pills immediately and have decided to just go HBC free for the next few months to see if my periods have improved since my teens. If I can handle them now, then I'm staying off HBC for good.

I was just wondering if anyone knows more about the HBC/vulvodynia connction? I know I have heard that for some women their pain began when they started taking HBC, or was worsened. Is that something that is permanent? Or does it go away if you stop taking the pills? My vulvodynia definitely was not caused by HBC, it started way before that. But this burning is worrying me.

Hi, I can't give a great answer to your questions but I just wanted to say that the first pill I went on was microgynon, then I have also been on 2 others for like a month or 2 at a time (a few years ago), but I haven't been on the pill since I was 16. I am now 19 and I have constant pain that means I'm always stuck in the house with pretty much no life. To my understanding, I think that the pill initially caused a bad bout of thrush, which damaged my nerves and I am now stuck like this (for the time being hopefully no longer!!!!!!!) even though I haven't been on the pill for around 3 years and was only ever on it from age 15-16 anyway. So I would advise you to (if your periods let you!) definitely stay away from the pill, and from reading other womens stories 'flare ups' with provoked pain like yours can last for a few days. So try to steer clear of the pill if possible (maybe ask doc of any other ways to calm periods down?) mine were always awful but since being on the pill, they have never gone back to being as heavy as they were when I was younger, so hopefully the same will happen with you if you come off the pill altogether. Don't worry too much about it being constant pain for a few days, if your problem has always been provoked I would presume that perhaps you changing the pill pattern caused a bit of a change in your bodies balance of 'stuff' (crap with scientific language sorry haha!) and caused this flare up and it should go down soon. But I can't stress enough how much I hate the pill as I do blame it for my pain, and in (sort of) answer to your question about the link, I think it just upsets the balance down there which causes thrush thrush thrush and other probs which then lead to more problems.

Sorry I realise I got a bit carried away there typing away! But overall, I think it would be a great idea to ditch the pill and with any luck, as your pain is usually provoked only, it might go away once the pill is totally out of your system, or atleast go back to being provoked only. These are just my thoughts, but I think lots of people definitely agree that the pill is a no go for us pain sufferers, good luck with everything and I hope it all settles down for you asap!

I started on Microgynon when a teenager and it stopped working when I hit 21 then it was pill after pill for me and they all caused bleeding until I started on Yasmin which was fine for a few years but then the bleeding started on that too. I haven't been on the pill since my early thirties (I'm now 38) and my V didn't start until I was 36 so I don't really think for me there is a connection but some women are alot better off the pill completely.

My pain started as provoked and while I was waiting for my dermatology appointment it spread and worsened and became generalised unprovoked but it doesn't mean yours will, you have to give it time to see what's happened with all the pill stuff you've recently been through. However I would say if you haven't looked at pelvic floor options I would just in case that's what's happened, if penetration causes pain you may well be tensing and that can take it from provoked only to unprovoked if it gets bad enough so if it has become constant please do look into that angle. My physios (Women's Health) don't think lidocaine and sex are a very good idea because it doesn't stop the tensing up and sex can make the pain worse after the lidocaine has worn off so you then clench because of the extra pain. According to the 3 I've seen it's a very old fashioned method and not recommended if there are any pelvic floor issues.

Thank you both for your help. I do intend to stay away from it as long as I can now. I am hoping, like you suggested, that since I was a teenger my periods will have calmed down and will now not be so horrible.

Sarah -- I have been to physio in the past and now have no problem tensing. I used to be really bad and have absolutely no control of the muscles but I saw a physiotherapist for several months and did some biofeedback which taught me how to control them and now it's not an issue for me. When I first started using the lidocaine it would not remove all of my pain because, as you said, it didn't stop the muscles from spasming and contracting, but now that I am able to relax them at will, there is no longer any problem with that. Thaank you for the suggestion though.