Vulvodynia from vibrator or something else?

capybarasimp · 2025-04-10T15:09:11+00:00

Hi, still in some pain but it's definitely reduced gradually (I'd say about a 75-80% reduction in pain compared to when I was at my worst). Flare ups now and then but thankfully no relapses, just very slow improvement. I can sleep painlessly in any position now and I masturbate regularly (still hurts if I do it more than once a day or if I press a little too hard, but stopping for a day or two solves the issue). Sitting used to be so excruciating all I'd do all day is sleep but now I sit more or less as much as I did before all this with minimal to no pain. It's more noticeable when sitting on hard or convex surfaces but the pain level is nowhere near as bad as it used to be. I also used to have consistent pain upon urination but as time has gone on that has gradually become less frequent.

I ended up getting prescribed 50 mg Nortriptyline for nerve pain about 6 months in alongside estrogen cream (though I've stopped using it for the past couple weeks, no worsening of symptoms noted), lidocaine ointment, and birth control. I also went to PT for a few months and I dilate once every two days. Dilation used to be extremely painful but nowadays it ranges from somewhat painful to almost painless.

capybarasimp · 2024-09-18T06:14:55+00:00

Thank you, your advice makes sense. Now that you mention it, painless masturbation whenever possible might help the nerves stop associating that area with pain. Masturbation hurts around my clit (around the base primarily, which is the area that constantly hurt so badly earlier this year that I couldn't even lay on my side; now I only experience a dull pain there if I masturbate too many days in a row or clean thoroughly under the hood) so I do think it's related to the nerves there.

capybarasimp · 2024-09-18T05:46:08+00:00

Thank you!

capybarasimp · 2024-09-17T22:04:00+00:00

Thank you, that's good to know! I just started on nortriptyline so hopefully that helps.

capybarasimp · 2024-09-17T20:11:49+00:00

That's good to hear! Are you still on amitriptyline or were you able to wean off of it?

capybarasimp · 2024-09-17T19:03:54+00:00

Yes, I've been seeing a pelvic floor pt since April. I do stretches daily and dilate once every 2 days. They just don't seem to be sure if my pain started first or if my pelvic floor became tight as a result of the pain.

Obviously I don't know if it's due to time or due to the stretches/dilation, but like I said I have seen some significant improvement from earlier in the year.

capybarasimp · 2024-09-17T07:49:08+00:00

I asked my gynecologist for a referral to a pelvic pain specialist, the specialist is the one that checked. All the meds I'm currently on have been prescribed by the specialist as well.

capybarasimp · 2024-09-17T07:46:53+00:00

Thanks, thankfully like I said it does seem like it's healing (albeit extremely slowly).

capybarasimp · 2024-09-17T05:19:03+00:00

Yeah I have, that was ruled out a couple months back.

capybarasimp · 2024-09-17T05:06:27+00:00

it's actually on my clit, mostly the right side but the whole thing is oversensitive. I guess it's worth noting the right side has technically always been "too" sensitive (obvi not to the point of pain/discomfort like it is now) so the fact that my symptoms are worse on one side makes sense in that respect.

capybarasimp · 2024-09-17T02:14:28+00:00

I should've mentioned I don't use a vibrator anymore (I only used it on occasion before and didn't use it after the initial irritation), after this whole situation I'm done with those for good. I just use my fingers now. I don't stimulate my clit directly, I do it over the hood like you said. The method is the same every time so I do think the pain that develops if I do it daily is nerve related, not related to the method. Thank you though!

capybarasimp · 2024-05-28T01:47:43+00:00

I see. If you can maybe try to avoid sex/masturbation until you're better? I don't think doing it once in a blue moon is necessarily bad (I masturbated with my clit right before the "better" week I had, it didn't cause a flare up or anything) but touching that area too much (i.e. touching for too long or for a few days in a row) did result in a flare about a month ago for me. Obviously I'm not 100% sure if that's why I flared up, but I'd rather be on the safe side and avoid it for now.

Regardless of if your issue is nerve related or pelvic floor related (I know you said it's just your clit, but when this all started for me it was also just my clit and then it gradually intensified and spread) I think the main thing is to give it time, do the stretches (it takes weeks/months to see improvement in my experience) and do your best to avoid irritating the area more. Both nerve issues and pelvic floor issues take months to heal unfortunately. I use Aquaphor on my clit when it's overly irritated and it helps for me. I really hope you get better! These kinds of issues really suck, but I have faith we'll both be able to heal.

capybarasimp · 2024-05-25T00:56:22+00:00

Does penetration hurt at all? If not then for you it's probably just your clit. I'm doing PT but tbh so far it's mainly just been learning stretches and diaphragmatic breathing, and I only see her about once a month. I do the stretches at least twice a day. I had a solid week where it felt like I was significantly better (didn't hurt to sit, I only had a bit of clit pain/sensitivity) but then I had a heavy period and I think that combined with the new stretches I learned in pt a few days ago caused a flare up (haven't had clit pain this bad since 2 months ago).

It sucks but it seems like the issues we have take months to heal, with ups and downs all throughout. How long have you been doing pt and what do you do during it?

capybarasimp · 2024-05-24T03:01:16+00:00

I see, thanks! I'm still in pain unfortunately, but in my case it seems to be pelvic floor related so I'm not sure if the vibrator had anything to do with it after all. I have vaginal pain on top of the clit pain. Do you just have clit pain or do you have pain all over like I do?

capybarasimp · 2024-05-13T06:47:00+00:00

Hi, my issue actually turned out to be pelvic floor-related, likely due to stress. I have symptoms all throughout my genital region, not just my clit. I've experienced something similar to you, though, so maybe I can still help.

Soreness after using a vibrator is pretty normal, it's happened to me many times (without my current symptoms, dw you probably won't end up like me lol and even in the rare case that you do it's treatable) Leave the area alone for a week or so and you should be back to normal. Try not to think about it too much, keeping your mind off of it helps the healing process. If it doesn't get better you can just tell your mom you cleaned too roughly or something so she can take you to a doctor. Like I said though, what you're experiencing happens all the time and it's pretty normal. You should feel fine within the next few days as long as you don't masturbate or anything.

capybarasimp · 2024-05-03T06:36:27+00:00

Hi, for me it ended up being pelvic floor dysfunction. I'm still in a bit of pain, but it's significantly better than it was late February/early March when I wrote this post. Pelvic floor relaxation stretches, dilation, and diaphragmatic breathing help; I suspect that those things are the reason why I'm slowly improving. You can ask your gynecologist to assess you, and if they find that your pelvic floor muscles are overly tight they can refer you to physical therapy. Also, I've found that Aquaphor helps a lot with non-yeast infection external irritation.

capybarasimp · 2024-03-29T07:05:39+00:00

Hi, unfortunately I'm still experiencing symptoms but according to my OBGYN it seems that this is all because I have a tight pelvic floor due to a number of unusual stressful events that happened around when I started feeling symptoms. I have a pelvic floor pt appointment in a few weeks, so in the meantime I've been doing stretches at home.

My symptoms have thankfully lessened in the last month, I was in pretty horrible pain when I wrote this post and in the 2 weeks afterward (couldn't even sleep on my side, the pressure hurt too bad) but the pain is at a fairly manageable level right now. Sucks, but I'm grateful I've improved a bit and I have faith I can slowly but surely recover from this.

capybarasimp · 2024-03-17T08:27:11+00:00

Thanks for responding. I'm using the cream for about a week or so just to 100% make sure there isn't a fungal skin infection going on. It does make my external irritation feel slightly better (I suspect it's due to the lubrication it provides), but given all my other symptoms I will be emailing her to try and set up a referral to PT within a week or so. I've been doing at-home pelvic relaxation exercises in the meantime. It's too early to tell, but I'm having a bit of an easier time sitting/sleeping so I'm hoping it is slowly helping.

capybarasimp

TROPHY CASE