I had my "annual" with my regular gynecologist on Wednesday. I hadn't seen her since May of 2006! That's terrible. When you see a gynecologist on a painfully (yes, bad pun intended) regular basis, you forget there are other important reasons to see a gynecologist. Oops!
I warned her that I was in some pain that morning and to go easy on me. She used her smaller speculum, but you could have fooled me. It hurt like crazy. I think that thing should be lubricated before it gets inserted. She did all the standard STD tests, leaving out HPV. Apparently it's so common in women in my age group that they only see fit the check for the virus if the pap test comes back irregular. I knew HPV was common, but I had no idea it was THAT common.
Since my gynecologist also handles pregnancy and delivery, I decided to ask her a few medical questions. I'm a very serious planner and with my professional and academic goals, I really need to schedule in a pregnancy or two between degrees.
I asked if it was safe to continue to take Neurontin during pregnancy. She said she wasn't sure, but she thought so. She said that would be better than having to take narcotics for flares. I also learned that other medications that I take could still be taken during a pregnancy with minimal risk.
I am tremendously relieved. I thought I would have to be out of my mind and in constant pain for the entire pregnancy. After so many positive answers I decided to ask the most important question: would she permit a C-section given my vulvodynia and pudendal neuralgia. She told me that was completely reasonable.
Now I feel like pregnancy is a real possibility... down the road... way, way, way down the road.
3 comments:
I had no different pain symptoms while pregnant, and the other discomforts of pregnancy took my mind off my crotch most of the time.
And I had a c-section, but you still have the post-partum bleeding for a few weeks and have to wear a pad, but you'll be so tired that it will hardly be an issue.
So glad to hear about this!
Your gyno doesn't lube the speculum?! WHAT?? I can't even imagine--maybe next time you could ask in advance. Oh, dear, pelvic exams are bad enough even with the pediatric speculum.
On the other hand, how exciting that a pain-free(ish) pregnancy is a possibility!
Its good to hear that pregnancy is a potentially pain-free (or less painful) option for you. With VVS I've worried quite a bit about this. One, will I ever be able to have sex enough in order to get pregnant? Will I be able to take the medication I need during a pregnancy? Will I have to have a C-Section or risk screwing up my vagina even more! Hopefully I'll find a caring and understanding ob/gyn like you have when I need to start thinking about it!
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