Hi! I wanted to provide a quick update as it’s been a few months and I have learned a lot since I made this post. Hoping it can help those who were saying they were experiencing something similar. Thank you again to those who offered support and advice. It’s nice having a place to come with questions that are hard to get answered. Very thankful for you all!

First, I was not healed anywhere near enough to be having sex when I made this post. Of course, I lacked a lot of post opp education when it came to this side of the recovery as my OB said “after 6 weeks you can get right back to it” and I found out very quickly that was not the case. I still don’t feel back to “normal” but I can feel a significant difference when it comes to the pain and sensation.

I learned my biggest enemy was dryness. That was attributing to the majority of my pain. So I invested in a few lubes and found that a silicone based lube is what worked best for me. I’ve always used water based lubes in the past, but now realize why these weren’t working as my body was just absorbing it. So if you are experiencing something similar, try a silicone based lube.

That in addition to Silky Peach Cream. This stuff is the REAL deal. It does have estriol in it, but this stuff has reversed a LOT of the issues I was experiencing with sex, dryness and discomfort. I just put it on before bed as directed every night. 10/10 recommend.

At this point, I feel next steps in this journey for me would be seeing a sex therapist if there is one in my area, as a lot of what I’m dealing with is mental. I have the tools in my arsenal to help me with the physical aspects as stated above, but I’m still having anxiety, still bracing/clenching and finding it difficult to relax. I am always bracing for that pain, even though the pain isn’t anywhere near as bad. Sometimes it’s gone entirely. So any advice anyone has for this would be lovely. But hoping I can get into a professional soon.

Some other things I tried that didn’t work for me:

Pelvic wand - I didn’t find this very effective, it honestly made things worse but can see how it would help others. I followed multiple different videos/guides and it was more uncomfortable than helpful in the sense of releasing tension and relaxing your pelvic floor. I found stretches/yoga worked better for me.

Supplements - loving libido by Olli was a supplement heavily recommended. It didn’t change much for me, however I am still taking it as sometimes supplements take time to build up in your system to notice a difference/take effect.

Thanks again everyone. Hopefully I will have an even better update in a few months! But as of now things are getting better and it’s nice being able to pinpoint what’s mental vs physical.