I will continue to use the cream and get the exact ingredients from my doctor so I can post them here. The prescription as it it is written on the compounded bottle is:
- 30.0 MI E2 0.5 MG/E3 1MG/ML
- Apply 1/2 ML to entry of the vagina every day
I started this journey with Dr Vyas in 2010 with surgery. Prior to the surgery we tried tricyclic antidepressants, gabapentin, and creams. In 2011 I received steroid injections, pudendal nerve blocks, gabapentin, and creams which did not work. Finally, after begging my doctor I received BOTOX injections in late 2011. My pain seemed to decrease by about 90% in 24 hours. In the next couple years it seemed like the pain was creeping back up - I thought maybe the BOTOX was wearing off.
In 2014 I tried the specially compounded estradiol cream (which I had also tried to no effect in its commercial form, Estrace, before the BOTOX in 2011) and oral gabapentin; now I am completely pain free.
I hope this is the end of my journey with vulvodynia. I am so grateful to have found such a great doctor who was willing to work with me and try novel approaches in treating the pain. It was truly a collaboration of hearts and minds. There were some really difficult moments when I lost hope and even my doctor cried along with me, but look where I am now... She told me that I would get married and that I would have children-- and that she would be there for both these life events. I am so thankful that I didn't give up-- I am so thankful that I had Dr Vyas to remind me of all that I want in life with regard to marriage and a family and to carry some of my emotional pain when I was unable to carry it by myself. If you are reading this it is because you do not want to give up. And you should not give up-- there is always hope-- always a new treatment to try. Keep on, keep on.
Here is more information about how to contact my doctor at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
