Questions for January and February 2015 Patients

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Home Forums Vaginismus Support Group Daily Questions About Vaginismus Questions for January and February 2015 Patients

Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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  • #9319
    Heather34
    Participant

    Hi ladies. For those of you who have your procedure coming up in January and February, please feel free to ask any questions at all that you may have pre-procedure. It can be anything at all from what it is like to do the dilating to what fun things there are to do in New Hampshire, Boston, and the whole New England area while you are here. I look forward to reading your posts.

    #13607
    11847
    Participant

    Hi,
    I have my procedure February 16th, I’m looking forward to it and I’m also extremely nervous about it. I hope it’s succesful. Please let me know if there’s anything else I need to know.

    #13609
    Heather34
    Participant

    Hi 11847. I am so, so excited for you to have your upcoming procedure in February. Please know that everything will go so well and I am here for you. I was also very anxious prior to my procedure in June. Some things that helped beyond words was the support received from Dr. Pacik and all of the staff. They knew how nervous I was and did everything in their power to help me relax more and were seriously so, so reassuring plus helpful. I was also given IV Verced which took away my physical symptoms of anxiety that had always been so bad at other doctor’s visits and were very bad that morning. This helped me tremendously. I also was able to have my procedure first. Dr. Pacik introduced himself and made me feel so much more calm which I thought was impossible to do. The procedure literally took about 30 minutes and was over with and I was then on the other side of vaginismus. Thank God and thank Dr. Pacik and the amazing staff. Sending you support and hugs!!!

    #13640
    Heather34
    Participant

    Hi 11847. Just letting you know I am thinking of you and seriously KNOW that everything is going to great for you tomorrow!!! Sending you positive thoughts and big hugs!!!!

    #13647
    11847
    Participant

    Hi heather Thanks for your positive comments. I’m now 3 days pp and I’m having a really hard time with the pain. I had a thick hymen and had to have it cut twice, I’m wondering if this is contributing to it. Putting in the dialator is so painful, I’m hoping it will go down when the Botox kicks in. Any suggestions?

    #13649
    Dr. Pacik
    Participant

    Sorry to hear about the pain. As long as you have considerable pain just use the smaller dilators for about a few days to a week before advancing to the larger dilators. You can take ibuprofen for the pain. Discomfort can take place after hymenectomy but may also be related to impeding menses.

    #13650
    Heather34
    Participant

    Hi 11847. Huge, huge CONGRATS on having your procedure! I am so very happy for you!!! Please know that all of what you are feeling right now post-procedure (so happy to write post-procedure) is very common. Remembering back to after my own procedure in 2011, I had to dilate with the pure romance dilators while lying down on our couch for a while. I always felt like they were the most comfortable to have in while standing or lying on my side on the couch.

    Post-procedure, I noticed that dilating got a lot more comfortable as the Botox kicked in and the more days that I did it. I found it to be a roller-coaster at times in my first week post-procedure – a couple of days very good dilating with little pain and then a day that was very uncomfortable and then back to less pain the next day. Dr. P has written about this roller-coaster that occurs and I wanted to share a couple of helpful posts with you.

    Mabel 1226: I think the best way to think about this is this: the muscles in our vaginal walls have never really been stretched before. I keep telling myself I wouldn’t expect my body to be able to run a marathon if it had been in a wheelchair for 20 years. I, too, felt “guilty” for starting back at the purple before going up again. I am now 54 days post-procedure and still can’t get the blue glass in unless the pink glass has been in for 2 hours. One step at a time. You’ll get there in your own time and in your own way. Don’t get discouraged!

    Dr. Pacik: Post procedure dilation is a “roller coaster” ride during the first 1-2 weeks after treatment. The muscles are still tight and “talking back” as they are being stretched. Since most women feel they will be the one person for whom Botox does not work, any difficulty with dilation immediately verifies these feelings. Then the muscles loosen up as the Botox is taking effect and the week or two of dilation is starting to be noticeable with less pain and therefore less anxiety. Now it is just a question of continuing with the program of dilation, and most of my patients at this stage begin thinking of transitioning to intercourse.

    SP: Dr. Pacik is correct that dilating early on is a roller coaster ride. You are making progress and definitely celebrate every success! Even once you start trying intercourse you will have days where it goes smoothly and days where you wonder if the procedure worked. Stay positive and keep trying. I remember thinking will intercourse ever not have to be a “robotic” process. A little over 3 years now from my procedure I can tell you I rarely have to worry or get prepared to have intercourse. You are doing great and soon you will not even think about all the dilating and struggle. 🙂

    When do you stop feeling SO sore?

    I definitely felt soreness for a couple of weeks post-procedure as there was just so much activity in the area where before there was none. One treated patient wrote a great post with a suggestion for Hydrocortisone cream and this was followed up by Dr. P:

    “Dr. Pacik’s suggestion to use Hydrocortisone Cream has been a HUGE help for me. My lady bits are just so dang sensitive!!! I bought Hydrocortizone10 in the Cooling Gel formula for during the day and I’ve felt SO much better – then I’ve been using the Hydrocoritzone10 in the ointment for adding to my lube mix with dilating at night. I honestly can’t believe how much that’s helped me feel better the last couple days.” –

    “It is common for women to have some skin irritation as a result of post procedure dilation. There is suddenly a great deal of penetrative activity that did not exist in previous years. 1% hydrocortisone is an over the counter topical that is anti-inflammatory and can be purchased either as a cream (faster acting) or as an ointment (longer lasting). It is generally used as a pea sized amount rubbed into the irritated area twice a day and can be used for 1-2 weeks.”

    Finally, I wanted to leave you with one of my favorite posts post-procedure that examines the roller-coaster that is dilating in the immediate days right after the procedure but that it does get much, much better (see below)!!! I am, again, so very happy for you!!!!!! You are doing excellent!!!!!

    Firenze:
    So I officially had (am still having) my first meltdown post-procedure. In my last post, I wrote about how I was having trouble with the blue dilator (#6) and now I’m having more and more problems with pink, #5. Up until a few days ago, I had no problems at all with it. Last night, after dilating with purple, I put pink in, but it was the most uncomfortable it had been until this point. I was only able to keep it in for about 30 min. I slept with purple overnight with no pain or problems and dilated with it for about an hour this evening (again no pain) before trying pink. It took 30 minutes for me even to get pink in! The longest until today, has been about 5 minutes to insert. Once I got it all the way in, it was so uncomfortable, I had to take it out after a few minutes. The weird part is that it didn’t really hurt at all (just resistance) until I got it in that last bit. I know there will be bad days, but I really thought it would be getting easier and easier to use pink, not more difficult by the day. I’ve been upset ever since I took it out. Will backing down for more than a day help? I’m not sure what to do. If anyone else has experienced this, please let me know what worked for you.

    Firenze:
    Hi everyone, I came down with the flu and was unable to share the exciting news that me and my boyfriend were able to have intercourse after 5 years of being together!!! It doesn’t even feel real typing that 🙂 It happened this past Saturday, on Day 11, right after I was having a couple of really frustrating days in a row. It goes to show how much of a rollercoaster this is!
    Late last week, I had been having a lot of trouble with pink (long insertion time and soreness). I took it easy that Friday, dilating with only purple and sleeping with it overnight. When I woke up Saturday morning, I decided to try pink again and it went in much easier and I had a lot less soreness. It seems like the morning is a much better time for me to dilate, so I wish this was more of a possibility for me during the week. Anyway, my boyfriend and I decided to try intercourse after I had pink in for a bit, completely low pressure! We just wanted to see what happened, but I kept saying if it didn’t happen, not a big deal, which helped a lot with my anxiety. We tried missionary and it worked!!! I didn’t have any pain which completely surprised me after I had been having so many issues with soreness. We didn’t try any thrusting and I didn’t want it to end haha. We haven’t been able to try since then because I’ve been sick, and I’m scared and excited to try again! If we did it once, we can do it again, right? 🙂 Dr. Pacik’s program and the botox helped me achieve in 11 days what I had been working to do in physical therapy for over 2 years! Thanks to everyone here for their support!”

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