Vulvar Vestibulitis/ Vulvodynia & Natural Birth - Page 2

[kat.c.stevens]

Hi ladies,

So, it's been a year now since I gave birth naturally to my son at home in our tub.  For any who are still wanting info about this, I will share what I have experienced since I first wrote this thread.  In a nutshell, my son's birth went really well.  I labored for 9 hours, was in transition for about 5 of those hours, and pushed for 30 minutes.  Honestly, the pushing contractions hurt like the dickens, but not "down there."  They pretty much hurt everywhere else.  I remember feeling a little stinging/ stretching as I was pushing and I thought, "Hmm, I bet the ring of fire is coming," but it never got worse than that, and then he was out.  I had a 2nd degree tear which healed up just fine, and honestly, sex is WAY less painful now than it was in my entire life before giving birth.  Granted, it can still sometimes feeling stingy, but it is worlds better.  I hope that is an encouragement to any who were/ are in my boat!

~ Kathryn

[bellaresop]

Hi. I am 28 weeks pregnant and I have vulvodynia. I've read responces on here and vestibulis...but I have Vulvodynia and sex for me is very very painful. I am concerned about whether or not

I can have a vaginal birth even with an epidural. I have to see 6 different OB's and none of them are very helpful to me on this subject. I've been considering a C-Section but I'm still unsure

whether or not which one is the right choice for me. The thing I'm most concerned about is whether or not I could actually do the pushing. I hear that most women have to have stitches in the vaginal area that obviously take awhile to heal. I'm worried about that making everything worse. I also have chronic yeast infections (again not fun) and I'm worried about that as well. Any info on this or advice would be very helpful.

[naturalmomWA]

Hello, I'm 30 wks pregnant and hoping to switch to a home birth.  I have a lot of anxiety about the hospital and have had so many bad experiences with painful pelvic exams and nurses/docs who don't understand Vestibulitis.  I'm worried I won't feel safe and comfortable and that that will make the pain worse and my labor not go well.  I'm also really scared to be at home and not have the option of an epedural if I can't handle transition.  I'm currently having a bad flare up of my symptoms because I had sex with my husband last week (after months without).  I'm having so much burning and pain that I'm just feeling so scared about my abilities to deliver.  Also I've been nervously using steriod cream, which has reduced my symptoms in the past but it's not working yet.  Also I'm worried about side efects to the baby.  My doc says just be carfefull not to use very much.  I would love some advice.  I'm also curious if you are still having pain free or almost pain free sex this long after your birth?  Thanks so much and good luck to everyone on this thread! 

[Burnbake]

Hi there.

Thought I would join in here as I also have this condition and am 37wks pregnant and beginning to worry. I can't offer much advice or new info at this stage but it I think it is good to share experiences with people who understand.

   A gynecologist diagnosed me with this about 3-4 years ago. All my pain sits around my outer urethral area (right on the very tip of my pelvic bone) so sex is painful, esp with initial penetration. I do still manage to enjoy, sometimes its worse than others. But it nearly always interferes to some degree and there are certainly NO marathon sex sessions!

   Bellaresop, my gynecologist prescribed me a 3 week course of Fluconazole which of all the things I tried had the most amount of effect on the condition. He said that sometimes the candida infection gets deep into the cells and can exist there without the person even having thrush symptoms. Other people have written on this thread and also talked about anti-fungal medicines having a good effect. Only problem is I don't think you can take this medication when pregnant.

   You could try something called Grapefruit seed extract or Citracidal. This is highly regarded as a natural treatment for all sorts of bugs and viruses and there is a lot of info on the Net about it. I can't say I have had any success with it as I am a bit rubbish about persevering with things. I plan to try it properly one day though! I am certain that Fungal infections is part of my problem. I have had athletes foot for more than 10yrs that never really goes away completely. I get the occasional thrush symptom too. I definitely eat too much fruit and sugar but I honestly feel that giving up fruit of all things is one for the 'too hard' box!

Naturalmom I feel the same as you about all these fears I have. Its really hard to just tell yourself to relax and let go. The fears are real and I don't know how best to deal with them. Control of the mind is really hard and the more your try to control it, it seems it just gets harder? Lots of people talk about hypnotherapy but I honestly feel that I am not the sort of person who would respond to it favorably. For me the more I think about stuff, even when trying to be positive, the worse it gets. Take breathing techniques for example. I have had mild anxiety in the past which causes me to hyperventilate a bit. If I try to do relaxation techniques and focus on my breathing it makes me feel WORSE! So I can't win and for my most of my pregnancy I have just chosen to NOT think about the birthing part. But as the date looms closer this is getting quite hard!

I am very encouraged by the thought that childbirth has resolved the problem for some people. I think that as showering or bathing after intercourse tends to relieve the pain of vestibulitis then it is a MUST during childbirth. I also plan to investigate perineal massage and there have been women who have talked about using evening primrose oil internally after 37 weeks to prepare for childbirth.

Good luck ladies and I look forward to reading about yours and others' experiences.

[naturalmomWA]

How did it go Burnbake?  I'd really like to hear how your delivery went and how your are healing.  Also I just wanted to share what's going on for me lately and see if anyone has similar symptoms/history and advice.  My latest "specialist" Gyno thinks my issues are allergy related but not food allergies.  Which makes some sense to me but actually made me wonder more about food allergies.  I don't notice my symptoms worse after foods except coffee, which I quit but my symptoms are always worse at night.  They usually get worse around 6 weather or not I've eaten or not.  My symptoms are much better during the day and I'm sometimes symptom free.  I can't have sex at all anymore without enduring weeks of constant intense pain afterwards.  The actual sex doesn't hurt that bad if I'm not in a big flare up but I pay for it afterwards.  We no longer use any lubes or condoms because they became suspect triggers, just lots of arousal and careful slow movement to start.  Anyways, I'm too afraid to try sex again while pregnant in case I get the weeks of pain again. I've been on a lot of medication throughout my pregnancy which concerns me.  Everyone always thinks about yeast for me even though I've never had a yeast infections.  I was on fluconozole for three weeks with no change in my symptoms. I've been taking zyrtec  for my possible unknown allergies and tylenol PM for allergies/pain and so I can get some sleep.   I only have 4 1/2 weeks to go!  I'm going to try natural birth without meds.  I really really really hope I will be like some of you who are now pain free after childbirth but I suspect my issues are not muscular (so did the physical therapist).  Anyways I'm so happy for those of you who've figured out your triggers and or become syptom/pain free!  I really hope we all get this figured out.  Please continue to write if you've gotten better and if you're still struggling!  <3

[lokifisk]

I was just diagnosed with Vulvular vestibulitis and I'm 14 weeks pregnant. I had to go to a naturopathic doctor to get the diagnosis snd to learn there is a cure! She gave me the book When Sex Hurts. I highly recommend this read! Full of amazing info! I am wondering how necessary it is to have a person who is knowledgable about the condition deliver your baby. I would love to have a home birth but worry that midwives will have not heard about vestibulitis.