Does anyone have issues with discharge along with their vaginismus?

[Tired89]

I have been suffering with vaginismus for 7 years. I am self diagnosed. This problem and all the other issues that come with it have absolutely consumed my life. Gynecologists have no answers for me, so I decided to come here. Has anyone experienced abnormal, increased vaginal discharge from their vaginismus and or pelvic floor dysfunction? I never used to have this heavy discharge until I attempted penetration with my boyfriend. It’s as if I caused my vaginal mucosa or muscles to become inflamed. I’ve had so many swabs and cultures taken for the discharge, but they always come back normal. It’s been going on for 2 years now and all gynecologists know how to tell me is just live with it.

[lulu]

Hi Nicole!

I do not know how old you are, but I personally started having changes in my own vaginal discharge probably about 5 years ago. I am 28 and had vaginismus up until the procedure with Dr. Pacik last year. I do not personally think it has anything to do with the vaginismus, though. Women all have varying amounts of discharge and while its annoying and can feel gross it’s perfectly normal as you may have been told by doctors. However, like you, I was concerned and was always told it is fine and never had any test results or exams say otherwise. It still annoys me at times but I just always try to remember that unless it smells abnormal or looks abnormal its more than likely just my body doing what it feels it needs to do. The volume of discharge varies with me but I do have days where I wonder if it looks like I peed a little. Haha.
With that all being said it certainly could have something to do with attempted penetration. Our bodies do weird things that make no sense all the time so I do not want to discredit your opinion that that might have caused it.

I hope you find some comfort in knowing that all of us on this forum are there to help try and answer any questions you have or at least let you know our experiences.

[Tired89]

Hi Lulu. Thank you so much for responding. I am 26 years old. It was very uplifting to read of your success with the botox treatment. I’ve also been reading the success stories of other women on here. I fully intend to go to maze women’s health for this issue. I’d never heard of this treatment until recently. I thought I’d have to learn to live with this. I’m in Florida and was hoping they had a location here, but I don’t think so. Lulu, if you don’t mind my asking, how much did your treatment cost from start to finish? Did you only need the injections once? Are you still free of your vaginismus? When I figured out I had vaginismus, I thought I would have to resort to buying one of those dialator kits, grit my teeth and try to overcome this. I know that would’ve never worked as I tried many times to insert a pinky and always ended up in excruciating pain. Getting back to the discharge though, i always knew it was normal for women to get discharge. Ive been getting ovulatory discharge ever since I started menstruating, but other than that, ive always been on the drier end. It wasn’t until I saw a specialist that I though myou vaginismus might have something to do with this. The specialist examined me and took a sample of the discharge and looked at it under a microscope. He found white blood cells in it, not a ton, but more than you should have normally. Since we knew this wasn’t an infection he told me the only other thing that could cause this is vaginal inflammation. He agreed that the amount of discharge I was getting wasn’t normal. Unfortunately, the only treatments to try were vaginal ones. I tried them, but had no luck and was in so much pain trying to get them in, but somehow, I did it. There’s also the fact that ithe started immediately after my boyfriend and I tried penetration. I think I was forcing it too much as I just wanted it to work (we used his fingers). I ended up getting a pH imbalance a week later. I treated the imbalance with oral Flagyl and the infection went away, but I was left with this horrid heavy, white discharge. It comes down every 5 minutes all day every day. It also has a strong odor, not the way I used to smell. It really affects my quality of life. I also read an article on vaginismus that said one of the symptoms is increased, abnormal discharge. That was the only one that said that though, I haven’t found any others. I keep hoping that I’ll find someone out there who can tell me theY experienced the same thing. I’m losing hope and I’m very scared. The gyno I’m seeing now has put me on birth control; he says bc tends to dry up vaginal secretions and it could stop this for me. It’s been 3 months now, but still no change. I’m sorry for the manuscript, it’s been a long journey. I hope this gets to other ladie’s as well who may know something.

[lulu]

Nicole,
I am sorry to hear about the issues you are having with the discharge. It is definitely much worse than I have ever dealt with. I am glad, though, that your gyno is at least taking it seriously. However, I am sorry there has been no change. The discharge being caused by inflammation makes complete sense, but it is confusing why it is lasting so long. Of course one tiny thing can upset other parts or aspects of our bodies for some time before clearing up. And it doesn’t seem to take much to upset a vagina does it? They can be super temperamental. I hope someone on the forum or the doctors can give you some advice.

As far as price went for the Botox treatment, I would recommend calling Maze for a free consultation. They may be charging differently than Dr. Pacik so I do not feel comfortable mentioning my expenses. I will tell you, though, that every penny was worth it and my insurance did pay a small portion of it. I have only needed the injections once and honestly do not foresee ever needing them again. It is rare for women to need more injections. I have been free of vaginismus for almost a year. Many others in this forum have been for much longer. It has an extremely high success rate.

[Tired89]

Oh, I thought maze was owned by Dr. Pacik. I have to write down all my questions so I don’t forget, the website says the consultation is for 10 minutes, I don’t want to run out of time lol. After the injections, how many times did you have to go back the maze? Did you experience any side effects at all from the botox? I was also wondering if I should post my questions about the discharge again somewhere on the forum to see if i get other thoughts. I am new to this forum, so I was wondering where I should post next. Thanks, lulu

[lulu]

Dr. Pacik developed the Botox with dilation and counseling along with his wife. However, he retired around September of last year. I had my procedure last July with him. Maze has taken over the treatment now. I am not sure how they are doing the treatment but I believe it is very similar to how Dr Pacik did it because he trained them. I went in for the procedure which took about half an hour. You are completely knocked out and won’t remember any of it. Then I had about 3 or 4 hours of counseling the next day along with the women that had the procedure the same day that I did. The counseling was to answer any questions and help you understand the dilation process better, what to expect, tips, and so on. My husband was with me throughout it all. Of course this was with my consent before hand. He has always been 100% supportive but it really helped him understand more of what was going on physically with me since he was allowed to watch the whole procedure. I did not have any side effects from the Botox that I was aware of. It is rare to have any reactions or side effects. It is possible of course, but not very likely. I want to reassure you that it all might sound scary, but everyone is so understanding and only want to see you succeed. I am not saying you won’t have moments where you want to give up or break down, but in the end as long as you believe in yourself and work for it you have a very, very high chance of being cured. I would not post your question about the discharge again. There are times where the forum is slower than others but in time you will probably get some more advice or suggestions. I try to get on once a week to see if I can be of help to anyone and try to answer quickly once I have started replying.

[mazemelissa]

Dear Nicole,

All women have some level of vaginal discharge and it varies with their cycle. Birth control pills can adjust vaginal discharge. Ruling out infection is always first priority. If all infection has been ruled out, and you have found no change since starting the birth control, I would consider starting Probiotics to help with the vaginal discharge. Probiotics can help keep the natural balance of the vaginal PH and help with discharge.

I am so happy you are interested in traveling to Maze for the Botox procedure. We follow Dr. Pacik’s protocol exactly, and our success rate continues at 90%. Please don’t hesitate to call me at our center.

Melissa Ferrara, FNP
914-328-3700

[Tired89]

Hello and thank you for responding. This has been such a frustrating journey for me, I am just so tired. My doctor says give the birth control at least 6 months to see any changes. I have tried prebiotic , lots and lots of them. I currently take fem dophilus. I know this isn’t a pH issue since my doctor always says mine is at 4.0. I do know discharge is normal and cyclical, but this just isn’t as its always present and non stop now matter where I am in my cycle, and it only started 2 years ago. I can’t help but think it’s related to my vaginismus as it came on when I caused a lot of pain in that region from trying penetration. Do you think it could be a possibility that this is happening because of my pelvic floor dysfunction? Since I have no control of my pelvic floor, could that cause discharge to just come out whenever and in any amount? I read that somewhere, but have yet to hear about it from someone else. It would be such a dream come true to have the botox procedure, treat my vaginismus AND get this discharge to get to a more normal place. I’m wondering if both could be a possibility. Thinking of that makes me unbelievably happy.

[Heather34]

Hi Nicole. I am so, so sorry for what you have gone through with vaginismus and the increased discharge. Please know that I am here for you 100%. While I have not experience this, others on the Forum have commented about it. In the past, Sofi wrote: “I find that throughout the day, if I’ve dilated the night before, I have more discharge than usual.”

Like lulu, I also had the Botox procedure with Dr. Pacik and was then able to overcome and have exams plus make love to my husband. Prior to this, I tried and tried but could not insert any of the sized dilators or even a q-tip without the wall of resistance/pain/burning. I love the fact that you are going to work with Maze. Dr. Pacik trained their group and, so importantly to all of us, they understand all aspects of vaginismus. There are still so many doctors and providers out there who have never even heard of it and still tell you to “just relax”. Again, please know that I’m here for you and you have my support 100%!!!