chronic pain-right labia

Hi October3

I`m so sorry about what you are going through.

I don`t know how much help I can be but wanted to tell you my story. I have very bad pain around the vulva/vagina areas. With me I haven`t found anything wrong, I have been diagnosed with vulvadynia. I have tried most anti-depressants, nerve medications and muscle relaxants. I have had no help from anti-depressants or nerve medications, valium helped for a month or two. It took me four years to find anything that would touch the pain, I had to go to a pain specialist and he was the only person who would put me on opiates. After that my quality of life has improved a lot. I can now go to work and function without just thinking about how much pain I`m in, I have days now where the pain is minimal. Having said that, I still have days where the pain is unbearable and the medication does little or nothing to help, but most days things are a lot more manageable. I don`t know what sort of medications would work for you as everyone is different, but please don`t give up on finding something that will help. During the four years I didn`t think I would make it through but finally I found someone who could help. It`s a very good thing you`re going to see a pain specialist. I`m sorry it`s such a long wait. In the meantime I would suggest you keep going back to your GP and insisting that you are in unbearable pain and can`t go on. I also found a GP who was very sympathetic one day between visits to the pain specialist when I had a severe attack of pain and he gave me medication without hesitating, it is rare but not impossible.

Let us know how you get on. Hang in there.
Love Di xx

I know that feeling and still have it even though things have got better. When the pain is bad I just want to curl up and sleep. I was at my wit`s end looking for treatments that would work and sick of having to go back to the doctor twice a week just to be told the same thing every week, they don`t know why I have pain like that, they`ll do more tests and try another medication. I pleaded with them to give me something else once I`d tried all the other alternatives and they just said they didn`t want to because I was young and they didn`t want to give me narcotics if they could find another solution to prevent that, even though I said straight out to them I`m in so much agony at the moment and it`s been going on for so long that I don`t think it could be cured and I honestly didn`t care if I got an addiction because it couldn`t be worse than the pain. Now I know that I should have mentioned `dependency`as there is little evidence of people having addictions to pain meds if taken as directed. But when I saw the pain specialist he was so sympathetic and he said that he didn`t want to make what I was going through sound trivial but he said pain medications are like shoes, there are many models and if one doesn`t fit you try another one until one does work, and he said we will find something that works, that gave me hope. Then after I saw him I`ve been lucky to have found a few other doctors who genuinely care. They are out there but hard to find! I know how hard it is to fight for yourself when you feel like this.

One thing that might help a little is xylocaine if it`s an outside area hurting, it`s an aneasthetic gel, it`s with prescription in the US, but I don`t see why a doctor would not give you that if you asked to try it. I had some success with it, it completely numbed the area but after awhile it only worked for about half and hour and wore off and did nothing the second application. Have you tried muscle relaxers like diazepam or xanax? I`m guessing the doctors would be more likely to give you them and they may give you some relief. Can you see a gynaecologist in the meantime?

Keep posting. You are in the right place for support here especially when you can`t cope. Love Di xx

Hi October and welcome to the chronic pain forum. I am sorry that you have to be here but very glad that you found. Everyone here suffers with pain of some kind and understand what it is like living with chronic pain, we all speak the same language about pain.

I cannot imagine what your kind of pain is like. I am assuming you do not live in the US since you said there is a 2 year wait to see a dr. Is it that way on all specialists? What are you suppose to do for care and treatment during the long wait? My heart goes out to you over such circumstances.

I just wanted to pop on and tell you hello and welcome aboard. I do hope you can get some kind of relief real soon. Take care...Susie

i'm in us and when they put you on disability there is a 2 year wait to get health insurance such as medicare.I don't know why so I can't get to doctor unless i pay cash or Marry Donald Trump and that idea won't work.

Thank you for your help.

thanks straydog.Doctors do charge a lot-some 150. My husband took a big pay decrease with the bad economy and makes low pay now but he makes just enough to disqualify us for medicaid.He is right on the edge of the cut off. Thanks fpr the help,I'm writing it all down ona list here.I am desperate for relief-I can't even sit through church and i'm in my 40's.I'v had this severe now for 2 years,had to leave my good job that I loved.Thanks again to all of you here.

thanks also to d43-i just put the last of the licoanie on-they want 45 dollars a tube and my husband is broke now.I can't put my legs together and i wake up at night in pain.writing down all your help,ty.

I also wake up in the night sometimes in agony and sometimes can`t move, it takes me about half an hour to get up and I have had times when it`s taken 2 hours to get up, so I can sympathise. 45 dollars a tube, that`s outrageous! I wonder if they make another brand that is cheaper. I`m not in the US so I don`t know how it works there but it sounds like it`s very hard with the insurance and expensive medications. Also it sounds like it is harder to be a pain patient in the US, I think there are more rules about pain pills from what I`ve read on this site. Though in other countries there is stil the stigma of being a pain patient and doctors are very scared of pain pills.

Another thing that helped me for a little while was valerian, you can buy it at health stores, I got it in a tea form and it worked a bit like a muscle relaxant, it was also good for sleep. You can get it in tablets too. I find heat helps a lot so hot water bottles and baths are very comforting. If heat helps could you get a heat patch to help you sit through church?

Take care, Di xxx

October3,

Hello, and its nice 2 meet U, welcome :) I can empathize with U & pain in that region. I had an Hysterectomy & Bladder Lift (w/sling)2004. Then in 2009 my colon tore thru my vaginal wall & then the colon + bladder fell out of my vagina. This was severely painful. So I then had 2 have a complete reconstruction. Putting in more sling 2 not only lift my bladder but 2 also lift my intestines.

I have given birth too 7-kids, & sadly enough the destruction & damage from so many pregnancies & vaginal births. Pleez don't get me wrong, my kids & grandkids are my life.

I have unbearable pain (with my bladder, urethra, urination, intercourse still from all this...I have been diagnosed with Pelvic Trauma & Dysfunction.

For the past 6-months I have been doing Biofeedback weekly, in which, this has NOT helped me in anyway. I couldn't function @ all if it wasn't for my Doctor prescribing a compound that is made into pain-relief suppositories for inside the vagina.

I'm sorry if I wrote too much... Perhaps U can find the same pain relief. Good Luck & keep coming back to the healingwell site.

Serenity

Serenity,can you please tell me what those suppositories are called so I can ask the dr for them when i go.I have a bulge too-I sometimes wonder if it's my colon but they say they don't know on the right labia area-did your colon bulge out your labia area?

Hi Di,I discovered the muscle rub icy hot by accident.Someone mentioned to me that she had terrible nerve pain in her hands and when it got real bad she applied muscle rub on it so one night out of desperation I applied it to my right labis.After the intial burning wore off it actually helped.But I have to be careful not to get it into my vaginal area or I'm on fire! I use it sparingly when i have to sit for awhile like at church,otherwise I wouldn't be able to go at all. Tramodil didn't work for me at all,lortab did but doctors here are paranoid from the drug addicts so they tell everyone to go to pain clinic and they are costly-have to wait till April.It's amazing to me so many women like me have these problems yet not enough is being done and I am so glad I found you here because I can't talk to others about it since it's embarrassing.And doctors act like nobody else has these problems yet many do.I will try that raspberry tea too-I'm writing it all down.I'm desperate for relief.I hope I can help you too when i get to dr in april i will tell you when something works so you can try it too.Ty from OCTOBER3.

Thanks white beard.I'm gonna go call my pharmacy-wal-mart and see if they have that derma plant ointment.I hope so,ty from october3.