C.P. Age 30 – Sydney
As a naive 22 year old my first attempt at sexual intercourse with my husband left me curled up in excruciating pain, trying to rationalise it to lack of experience and hoping that things would improve. However, things got worse – my honeymoon is a memory characterised by pain masked with superficial positivity. I spent hours doubled up with abdominal pain, unable to even open my bowels and struggled to find any desire with my husband. I felt like my body had “shut down” and the constant burning and aching began to interfere with every aspect of life. I tried to find help from numerous professionals in that first year of marriage, including a number of GP’s who diagnosed vaginismus, gynaecologists who screened me repeatedly for STD’s and...
K & M (Wife & Husband) – Melbourne
K I walked out of Dr. Jantos’ office, smiling and very happy with my husband beside me. I saw a young woman sitting at the reception area, eyes full of tears and face turned away. My heart went out to her and I wanted to comfort her. She was exactly where I was more than 18 years ago. The biggest difference was that this woman was about to see the kind Dr. Jantos, whereas 18 years ago when I was seeking professional help I was practically violated without any explanation. I was asked to get on to the examination table/bed where doctor proceeded to insert her fingers while I was screaming with pain. She said that everything was all right and referred me to a psychiatrist. The so-called psychiatrist tried to convince me that I was homosexual (which I knew I...
K&R – Queensland
Case Studies – Sisters I am 23 years old and have been consciously dealing with vulvodynia for a couple of years, since getting married. I was fortunate that my sister was diagnosed with vulvodynia several years before me, so at least I had an idea of what was going on. This didn’t make it any easier to deal with though, I couldn’t believe that it was happening to me as well, and assumed for quite a while that I really was making it up, just copying my sister. It took me a while to go to doctors and gynecologists, and when I finally did they dismissed me with a very cavalier ‘The pain will go away, just keep having sex’. We basically stopped looking for answers after that. My mum stumbled onto Marek’s website through sheer...
O.B. Age 32 – Melbourne
My husband and I have been married for two and a half years and we had been unable to have sexual intercourse during that time. Both of us were new to this and at first we thought that it just required practice. But it never did. We saw doctors, psychologists, and then more psychologists until one psychologist suggested we see Dr Marek Jantos. Honestly, I was at the point of giving up, I was tired of seeing so many doctors and I did not think there was much hope. I had two sessions in Melbourne with Dr Jantos and then a week intensive session in Adelaide. I was nervous for my first session in Melbourne but it went really well. I was given a number 1 dilator and a device to contract and release the area. While the device was not huge it was bigger than anything I...
J.M. Age 65 – Perth
Having suffered with vulvodynia for more than thirty years I fully understand the overwhelming despair and anguish it causes. How well I remember the misery of burning, stinging and gripping when passing a trickle of urine followed by strong contractions similar to the second stage of labour. That burning could last several hours and as for that dry vagina…. well, words fail me. One problem was that it sent false messages suggesting I needed to empty either the bladder or bowel when it was unnecessary. How many times I sat on the toilet in frustration and said to myself with great feeling “I hate you, crotch!” The severity ranged from mild discomfort to a stage where I felt reluctant to move at all and the desire to curl up in a little ball in the corner...
J.A. Age 26 – Melbourne
My journey of dealing with vulvodynia and bladder sensitivity started 5 years ago at the age of 21 due to a bad urinary tract infection that I did not properly treat. I went for years before doing anything about it because I had no idea that vulvodynia existed. Eventually I went to see countless GP’s and pelvic floor specialists in Melbourne. I would make progress to a point but then I would regress and this became very distressing for me and my husband. It wasn’t until I discovered Marek Jantos and his biofeedback program on a blog that I started to make significantly progress and he also discovered problems that no one else had detected. I am happy to say that I can now have pain free sex with my husband. I am still continuing to use the dilators to help...