New and have a question about Vaginismus and birth control

[ruggies]

Hi, I am 28 years old and have had pretty severe vaginismus for as long as I can remember but only discovered what it was one year ago. I went through physical therapy for about 8 months and recently have started successfully having intercourse. I also found that I still have to keep up with the dilator practice.

I chose the pill as a method of birth control and I have been very unhappy with it. I have severe side effects with pretty much any pill, one of the worst being the lack of any sex drive. This also eliminates my desire to keep up with the dilators.

I have decided the pill is not the method for me and am looking into other birth control methods that will have fewer hormonal side effects. From my understanding the IUD is a localized hormone and could produce fewer side effects. What has been the experience of people with vaginismus and an IUD? Will my vaginismus complicate things and will I be able to feel it all the time? Are there other birth control methods that won’t completely eliminate my sex drive and will be more comfortable? Basically, I am terrified of an IUD.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Heather34]

Hi ruggies! Welcome to the Forum and thank you for your post. It is so, so wonderful that you are now having pain-free intercourse! Huge CONGRATS!!!! I, too, am vaginismus-free and able to have pain-free intercourse after struggling with it for my entire 11-year relationship/5-year marriage and thank God every day for this. As for birth control options, I found an excellent website that has so many different comments on IUDs and even a link to a page for IUD divas which has even more information:

http://vaginapagina.livejournal.com/10157545.html#comments#comments

While I have never used an IUD personally, I can definitely see the benefits that you mentioned (i.e. fewer side effects than the pill). Ladies, what other methods of birth control have you used (other than the pill) that you would recommend here???