newbie: weird feeling during arousal and other symptoms

Submitted by abbie2009 on November 18, 2009 - 6:54pm
Body: 

Hi all,
Thanks for this great resource. It's so great to have a forum like this to be able to talk openly.

I suspect that I have a rectocele, but my OB-Gyn dismissed the idea out of hand. I hope that you can help me understand if my symptoms really do point to a rectocele, or if my doctor is right. I've had these symptoms for OVER 3 YEARS now. Thank you so much for any help you can give me! I'm 30, never been pregnant. However, as a child (until age 13 or so) I had chronic constipation. So, the symptoms:
--Pain with sex. The pain is just around the vaginal opening, not deeper inside. I actually haven't had penetrating sex for most of the past 3 years. It feels good to use a finger or two, but anything more than that is too painful. (I'm married and my husband is great, and we never had any issues with sex before this.)
--Sometimes when I'm getting sexually aroused, I have a weird sensation in the tissues around the opening of my vagina and my rectum. It's like a dull ache, not really painful, but weird.
--Very heavy vaginal discharge. The discharge is normal (not itchy, no odor, lab tests are normal). There is just a LOT of it. It's constantly present (not just during certain times of the month).
--About once every 2 months it feels like I'm not completely emptying my bowels.

Does this combination of symptoms sound familiar to any of you?? Thanks so much for your help!

alemama

November 18, 2009 - 7:01pm

not sure- but hey there is a self exam article here - look on the main site under articles-
what cleared up your constipation (just curious)?

louiseds

November 18, 2009 - 8:23pm

Hi Abbie

Alemama's suggestion of a self-exam is a good one. The good thing about it is that we can all do the same self-exam and compare, unlike all of us being examined by different doctors or nurses.

I am wondering if the weird feeling is present, no matter what position you are in when you get aroused, eg what happens if you get aroused by something or someone you see while you are out and about during the day? ie, Is it to do with being horizontal; is there something that is not there when you are vertical, or vice versa?

Also, does it happen both in the morning and later in the day or at night?

And where do your bowel motions fit in? ie how does fullness of the bowel affect it?

Goodness me! Alemama just made me realise, in her post in the topic about the 19th century doctor, how much POP draws our attention to out genital, reproductive and digestive organs, many times during the day. Perhaps it is more a case of how much attention we do not pay to them when we are off on our 21st century high tech hunting and gathering lifetstyles and jobs. I am that humans think about things sexual many times a day (hour??) but that is in terms of a basic instinctual urge, not the machinery that is involved. IMO, it is prudery that stops us from paying attention ourselves, and teaching our kids to pay attention to these bodily functions. We would save ourselves a lot of problems if we dealt with it all more openly.

I can think of worse things to think about than sexual matters. I guess it is just fine. ;-)

Cheers

Louise

Christine

November 18, 2009 - 8:46pm

Welcome, Abbie...are you taking birth control pills? :) Christine

abbie2009

November 18, 2009 - 9:24pm

Thanks for the welcomes!

Alemama: I tried the self-exam, and I don't see any bulges or feel anything obvious. But I never spent much time feeling around my vagina before, so I'm not sure if anything is different than it "should" be :) [and I think I just sort of outgrew the constipation]

Louiseds: I haven't noticed any patterns to the weird feeling. It usually happens when I'm laying down -- but it doesn't happen until I'm a ways along in the arousal process, which usually happens when I'm laying down! And I haven't noticed that it's related to bowels either.

Christine: Not any more! I was using BPCs regularly for the past 7 years or so (and off and on before that). But some of the health care providers I've been to about this suggested the BPCs may have caused a drop in my estrogen level which may be causing the problems. So I tried BPCs with higher estrogen levels -- no change. And now I've stopped taking them altogether (since I'm not able to have sex anyway!). It's been 3 months since I stopped now, and no change in the symptoms.

Again, thanks so much for any ideas you have! This is such a great place!

Christine

November 18, 2009 - 11:10pm

I think it’s the drop in testosterone that is the major problem with BCP’s. We make only about 10-15% of the testosterone that males do, but that 10% is extremely important and supports the vulva. There is a significant correlation between birth control pills and vulvodynia. Testosterone also plays a role in fat metabolism, the alteration of which can have far-reaching effects. It may take a full year for your body to adjust back to normal.

We can give you general ideas, but there’s no possible way to know what might be causing your symptoms. However, as with almost any other chronic disorder, gently helping the body back into balance with rest, nutrition, sunshine, fresh air, exercise, prayer/meditation and love is usually best.

Hope you feel better soon!

Christine

louiseds

November 18, 2009 - 11:52pm

Abbie, I wouldn't normally suggest this cos hormone levels are not usually an issue for a young woman unless she is trying to conceive, but it would seem that there might be some weird hormonal thing happening as you have this copious discharge as well as the pain and irritation during penetration. As we Wholewomen don't seem to have a clue, I am wondering if it might be a good move to get some sex hormone profiles done to see what is happening and find out if they are within normal range. But first find out what time of the month they should be done, cos they go up and down during your cycle anyway. I would think that any BCP effects would have gone after three months, so there could be something else happening.

Maybe do it through a specifically women's health practitioner, or an endocrinologist, or a gyn, rather than your family doctor so there is a better chance of getting it right first time. You choose.

Cheers

Louise