Barbara is in her mid-thirties. She has been struggling with vaginal pain for 13 years ever since she had four vaginal surgeries to repair a peri-urethral cyst. Her surgeon cut too deep, causing a vaginal fistula to form and opening her vaginal wall to her urinary tract system via a cut that was the length of a ballpoint pen. She believes this likely also caused nerve damage that may have initiated her pain. However, she also suffers from chronic yeast infections, which have been known to cause vaginal pain in many women if left untreated.
Currently, Barbara is taking an antifungal (fluconazole) to try to eliminate her yeast infection. Her doctor has advised her to take one pill per week, which seems to help reduce her pain for a couple of days after she takes it initially but then her pain returns. She has also reduced her carbohydrate intake so she can stop "feeding" the yeast, and she is taking acidophilus to help the "good" bacteria thrive in her body. She will soon be discussing alternatives with her doctor, including taking a short course of antifungals on a daily basis for about a week, after which she will taper down back to once per week if her yeast is under control. She intends to confirm the yeast is gone by finding a dermatologist willing to do a scraping (rather than just a swab culture), as there has been evidence that yeast can remain under the top layer of the vaginal skin and cause irritation yet be undetectable by a basic swab culture. Aside from the yeast, she wonders if hormones have something to do with her pain, as every time she's menstruating, the pain seems to lessen. When her pain is really bad, she uses ice packs to help numb the pain.
At this point in time, Barbara is not in a relationship and is finding it very difficult to cope with her pain. She has several friends who do not know about her condition and wonder why she is single while they are happily married and having children. Barbara suffers from depression because of her pain, at times wondering what the purpose of life is if it's spent living alone in pain with no sex life.
Currently, Barbara is taking an antifungal (fluconazole) to try to eliminate her yeast infection. Her doctor has advised her to take one pill per week, which seems to help reduce her pain for a couple of days after she takes it initially but then her pain returns. She has also reduced her carbohydrate intake so she can stop "feeding" the yeast, and she is taking acidophilus to help the "good" bacteria thrive in her body. She will soon be discussing alternatives with her doctor, including taking a short course of antifungals on a daily basis for about a week, after which she will taper down back to once per week if her yeast is under control. She intends to confirm the yeast is gone by finding a dermatologist willing to do a scraping (rather than just a swab culture), as there has been evidence that yeast can remain under the top layer of the vaginal skin and cause irritation yet be undetectable by a basic swab culture. Aside from the yeast, she wonders if hormones have something to do with her pain, as every time she's menstruating, the pain seems to lessen. When her pain is really bad, she uses ice packs to help numb the pain.
At this point in time, Barbara is not in a relationship and is finding it very difficult to cope with her pain. She has several friends who do not know about her condition and wonder why she is single while they are happily married and having children. Barbara suffers from depression because of her pain, at times wondering what the purpose of life is if it's spent living alone in pain with no sex life.