Hello
Thanks for your comments and hope you will get better.
I too have vulvodynia, hence my interest in writing about this subject. I have had it since 1989 so that's 22 years now :( Although back then it was not diagnosed, I don't think many doctors had even heard of it then. I was diagnosed in 1996 and that was after many mis-diagnoses and one doctor saying it was all in my head. Like you with your fibromyalgia, I also have other problems (hyperacusis and neuralgia, both nerve disorders, same as the vulvodynia). It frustrated me greatly to read in the Townsend Newsletter that women with vulvodynia are normally healthy because there's so many I've heard of who also have other issues and a paper I read that said the immune systems of women with vulvodynia are abnormal in comparison to healthy women, so I think the doctor in the Townsend newsletter was incorrect.
Half the time I am tested I show positive for candida or e-coli, yet aggressive treatments for months with diflucan do nothing (I had a six month course once and still tested positive for candida). The doctors say they don't know what has caused my vulvodynia but I feel it has an infectious root. My symptoms decrease dramatically when I use tea tree cream which is anti-bacterial, so that further makes me suspect a chronic bacterial infection that just won't go away and has damaged my nerves.
Like you, I am just beginning to consider detox as a possible solution (chelating of metals, probiotic and mineral support, epsom salt baths and modification of my diet - I haven't done any of these things yet but am about to embark on them). My gynaecologist is also sending me to an acupuncturist as he says they have had some successes in curing with that - perhaps you could try that too?
I hope your journey through the vulvodynia puzzle is shorter than mine.
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Hello
Thanks for your comments and hope you will get better.
I too have vulvodynia, hence my interest in writing about this subject. I have had it since 1989 so that's 22 years now :( Although back then it was not diagnosed, I don't think many doctors had even heard of it then. I was diagnosed in 1996 and that was after many mis-diagnoses and one doctor saying it was all in my head. Like you with your fibromyalgia, I also have other problems (hyperacusis and neuralgia, both nerve disorders, same as the vulvodynia). It frustrated me greatly to read in the Townsend Newsletter that women with vulvodynia are normally healthy because there's so many I've heard of who also have other issues and a paper I read that said the immune systems of women with vulvodynia are abnormal in comparison to healthy women, so I think the doctor in the Townsend newsletter was incorrect.
Half the time I am tested I show positive for candida or e-coli, yet aggressive treatments for months with diflucan do nothing (I had a six month course once and still tested positive for candida). The doctors say they don't know what has caused my vulvodynia but I feel it has an infectious root. My symptoms decrease dramatically when I use tea tree cream which is anti-bacterial, so that further makes me suspect a chronic bacterial infection that just won't go away and has damaged my nerves.
Like you, I am just beginning to consider detox as a possible solution (chelating of metals, probiotic and mineral support, epsom salt baths and modification of my diet - I haven't done any of these things yet but am about to embark on them). My gynaecologist is also sending me to an acupuncturist as he says they have had some successes in curing with that - perhaps you could try that too?
I hope your journey through the vulvodynia puzzle is shorter than mine.
Best wishes and good luck to you,
Joanna.
April 19, 2011 - 3:28pmThis Comment
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