vaginismus and vulvodynia

[chipie.livejournal.com]

Hi VP!

I have volvodynia/vestibulodynia as well as vaginismus.  In my case, I mainly have pain with intercourse.  Other things (like using a menstrual cup) are kind of painful, if I think about it, but I don't notice.  I susepct that when inserting a menstrual cup or something small, it's the vulvodynia that I'm noticing and can ignore.  With intercourse, vaginismus kicks in, which is more painful.

I got diagnosed with vulvodynia first.  Then I was part of this treatment program, and one component was physiotherapy (using biofeedback).  Using biofeedback, I found out that my muscles are really really tense (10 times tenser than normal, according to the scale we were using).

Once I started paying attention to my pelvic floor muscles, I noticed that they are constantly tensing and releasing.  It's really frustrating.  It will happen several time every minute.  Based on that information, I concluded that I also have vaginismus, although no doctor ever formally diagnosed me.

The physiotherapy seemed to help a bit.  I thought I was improving a lot, but everytime I'd go, my muscles would be just as tense as they used to be.  That was quite disappointing.  I've moved now and I don't have access to a physiotherapist, so I'd like to look at some other options.

It doesn't seem like there are many treatment options for vulvodynia, so I've decided to focus my energies on dealing with vaginismus.  (I am vaguely trying to use lydocaine several times a day for the vulvodynia though.)

Has anyone here successfully treated vaginismus?  How? 

Has any one gone through the vaginismus.com treatment program?  Was that successful?  Are there other options I should look into? 

Thank you so much!  I've been working on dealing with these issues for a few years now, but not very seriously.  I kept getting discouraged and distracted.  I finally feel that the time is right for me to focus on this. 

Painless Bump on Pubic Mound Region

[thanatical.livejournal.com]

Hello,

I have a painless raised bump on my pubic region where my hair is. It might have showed up a few days after shaving (though with a trimmer, not an actual razor. Or well, I took the trimmer part off it and shaved with the metal part underneath - stupid, I know). Anyway, it's completely painless, dark compared to the rest of my skin, and it has hairs growing out of it. It's maybe 1/4 of an inch long. It *seems* to be superficial. I pinched underneath it and there's nothing, and it seems attached to the skin, I hope. It is not really movable and stuck to the skin. It's a tiny, tiny bit sore when I touch it sometimes, and if I push on it hard, it's a little soft (maybe - I can't really tell. It's hard to the touch otherwise).

The thing that scares me is that it's more of an elongated bump than a circular one. It's not perfectly round, and more ovalesque even. There's only one of these. I'm not sure what this is.

I've never had a UTI and it has been over a year since I last had sex. I don't have an STD. Any other information you might need to know?

Thank you so much for your help!

EDIT: It's been around for maybe two weeks or so.

help, i'm normal.

[rosewein.livejournal.com]

I posted earlier with weird cycle symptoms, (loss of hair at menses, stomach upset at fertile times and what seemed like worse water retention than in the past) I saw a doctor and requested a hormone test, and my thyroid, and my iron(i suffer with low levels)
the only text that came back positive was the anemia, now i'm in the UK and the actual numbers on my tests remain a secret, i can ask but they won't mean much to me.
but if my hormone levels are fine is it possible i'm more sensitive than normal to them? and if so is there anything i can do?

(no subject)

[fleckerbug.livejournal.com]

Hi. I'm a nursing student writing a short 'teaching topics' paper for my maternity rotation. MY topic is contraception. Anyway...how would you categorize an IUD? I suppose the Mirena would be categorized as hormonal (but non-systemic), but how do you categorize the Paragard? Would they even be categorized together (categorizing them together would work a lot better for me since I've already written up the explanation for the both together.