Vulvadynia can be healed....

[Phhelp]

if you are willing to change your lifestyle. I suffered for 19 months. I ran to different doctors, none who could help. I finally realized it was systemic. My body was throwing up a red flag. I had to stop ignoring it. I was looking for the magic bullet to cure me. There is none. What I figured out was it was my PH. Not of my blood but of my internal environment. And the excess acid was being stored in the tissues of my Vulva. So I had to alkalize my body. But the supplements in the store didn't do. I tried. No I had to use the whole foods themselves. It wasn't so simple though b/c what alkalizing you may not alkalize me. So as I started to follow these alkalizing diet plans I was still in pain. Then I read in a book about acid and alkalizing that some people can not handle "weak acids". They are found in all fruit, honey, vinegar, whey (dairy), tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, kale, molasses,. I have those all up. I also gave highly acidic food that irritate like coffee,tea, carbonated drinks. I don't drink alcohol but that is a huge no no. I only drink Evian, Jana or Figi water b/c of the PH balance and natural bicarbonates. I juice veggies every morning. I began eating potatoes, green leafy veggies, carrots, salad with olive oil and salt, avacado, cucumbers, nuts, seeds, limited protein w/o sauses or seasoning. I started to heal. I stopped all supplements b/c some had ingredients that irritated me. Slowly the burning and pain dissolved. I did yoga to relax. Now I have added back so foods. But I will never eat processed foods, artificial foods, coffee or carbonated drinks. I know it is alot but it worked. Good health. Laura

[SeekWellness Editor]

1. Let's all spell this condition correctly -- it's vulvodynia, not vulvadynia.

2. Much of what you say may have validity but I must put in my two cents about the pH issue. Many people are being led to believe they can alter their pH by eating certain foods. The pH of our blood is very precisely controlled by our lungs giving off carbon dioxide and the kidneys by excreting excess acid or base as required. Blood is normally slightly basic, with a pH range of 7.35 to 7.45. To function properly, the body maintains the pH of blood close to 7.4. If you eat a lot of acidic foods, the blood pH should not change by more than .1. If it varies a lot more than this, we are in trouble and require serious medical intervention. Symptoms of even mild lowering of pH (more acidic) include nausea, vomiting and fatigue or headache. When the pH rises slightly toward the basic end, symptoms include irritability, muscle twitching, and muscle cramps.

3. There IS a strong connection between vulvodynia and diet. Please read what our expert, Diane Newman, has written about the condition (pelvic pain & vulvodynia) and print out her tip sheet about diet (http://www.seekwellness.com/incontin...alate_diet.pdf) both of which are supported by sound scientific research.

4. Juicing is fine but much of the value of fruits and vegetables is in the fiber which you remove by juicing. Stick to the principle of eating whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables, and you will do better than with juicing all of them.

[Phhelp]

Hi. Let me clarify what I mean. Space is limited.
1. Vulvadynia(vulvodynia)can be spelled either way. Look it up on google and you will see. It doesn't really matter. It is really painful. No matter how you chose to spell it-it is painful.

2. The PH imbalance does not refer to you blood PH. You blood needs to stay at that precise PH or you will die. I am refering to your internal environment. Your bodily fluids. Your fluids (vaginal mucous) are definately affected by your food. I measure my PH by using PH stix. If fact it changes quickly after you ingest anything. The diet that the doctor outlines is only part of the picture. Some of the items on the list are correct but the weak acid is the key for me! I also had to eat green leafy veggies. The low oxalate diet says to stay away from green leafy veggies. This is what the missing link was for me. The oxalate diet did not do it all the way. I still suffered. Believe me I tried it.

3. Juicing does not mean fruit. As you can see on my post I had to stop all fruit due to the weak acid. I only juiced veggies. The veggies supply the alkalizing minerals that my body was depleted of. The blood Ph stays at that level b/c it leeches off of the various organs to get the mineral it is missing to stay more basic (ie. calcium from bones-this develops into osteoparosis)

I did not make this stuff up. There are several very credible doctors who wrote books on bodily PH (not blood PH). I don't know if I can put them on my post. But if you search acid alkaline diet you will see several books and sites pop up. It is fascinating science.

We can only heal when we are ready. I was ready. This worked for me and several other women who committed. I can not say if it will work for everyone because we are all different. I know this was why I developed vulvadynia. I am healed and back to rotating some healthy foods that I couldn't have back into my diet. I sense you are angry with me when I am just trying to help other women who suffer like I did. I mean only to bring health and happiness to those who read this post. Good luck on your journey. Laura

[SeekWellness Editor]

Hi Laura,

Please don't think I'm angry -- I must have been having a bad day. Sorry.

We get a lot of misinformation on our forums and my job is to try to provide accurate medical information to our visitors.

I just looked up vulvadynia in the Medical Dictionary at Merriam-Webster (http://www2.merriam-webster.com/cgi-...ok=Medical&va=) and was told it was an invalid input, no entries found. Spelling is not so important but I'm an editor so you'll have to forgive my tendencies.

I'm sure your regimen worked for you and I'm sure it would work for other women. My comment about juicing was not meant to imply you needed to juice fruits along with your vegetables -- I was only trying to suggest you eat some whole vegetables too to get the beneficial fiber they contain.

You are absolutely correct about the pH of mucus -- it can be altered through diet.

My job is to engage people in a discussion about their problems and what worked and I'm very grateful that you shared your information with us. Please don't stop visiting -- we need your input to get a good discussion going.

[Phhelp]

I understand your point. When I post on other forums I get a lot of really negative comments like "what works for you might not work for others" or "there is no scientific proof etc". It gets frustrating. What I and other women did is new and not really talked about in the vulvodynia circles. Tell a women no more coffee (replace with chocolate, wine, soda etc) and forget it. They are in pain and these food like substances are all they have left. Believe I me was a coffee addict. When I figured this out I cried. Really. I had serious withdrawal. I used to have 3 coffees a day. But I did it for me because I deserve to me healthy. Now coffee is a distant memory. When I look back, which I try not to do too much, I remember some of my most painful episodes were after a Venti decaf coffee. Unbelievable.

I want to just talk about the low oxalate issue and what "we" figured out. It seems to be the weak acid in the foods not oxalate. Oxalate is also in the foods but it is not what bothered us. After we began to heal our bodies could handle these important foods better. Also, some foods made us too alkalized and that was also painful. If I was too acid or too alkaline it hurt. So spinach really alkalized me. That is why it hurt me at first. I had to watch my consumption of it. Now I can eat truck loads! I have no pain now when I am too acid or too alkalized. It was a balancing game like a diabetic. If I was too much one way or the other I ate the food that would reverse it. For instance, cucumber takes away the burn! Cool as a cucumber, remember. So if I was too acidic I would eat a cucumber. I have a blog that explains everything in much more detail. I don't know if you will allow me to post it. I don't sell a thing. It is a public service site. The teacher will come when the student is ready. I wanted an instant cure there wasn't one. But I will tell you this has been so much more rewarding. I appreciate my healing every day. I take nothing for granted anymore. I think if it was as easy as filling a prescription I would not feel the same. I will definatly keep posting. I hope others add their comments as well. Good health Laura

[flowerpower]

hi laura

ive just joined the forum and read what you had to say about vulvadynia. im intersted about the PH thing as iv had this illness for 9 long terrible years. As you know its a soul destroying illness ive had several ops and been on all the medication you can think off and the operations always have made me worse! the medication has awful side effects and after a while stops working. So i have tried the natural way to releive vulvadynia and for me it hasnt worked the low oxalite diet hasnt taken away my pain i notice some things e.g. tomato sauces coffee tea but this only relives stinging it doesnt inable me to wear any type of trousers and lead a pain free life. As we know this illnes is about our nerve endings being hyper sensitive in the vulva area even right the way up to the clitoris which is what i suffer and as i totally get what your saying about the PH inbalance i dont see how this would ease my neuragila pain? and would be intersted in your opinon. By the way i always spelt and have known proffesionals to spell this illness as vulvadynia :-)

many thanks

saskia.

[Phhelp]

Hi. Well, I feel, and I am not a doctor, just a woman who suffered from vulvadynia, that acid is collecting in the tissues of the vulva therefore causing the muscles to contract and the nerves to be constricted. This is just my theory. The goal is to rid yourself of excess acid. It is not easy b/c your body might be deficiant in ridding itself due to lack of necessary minerals, vitamins and enzymes. Along with a slagging metabolism and yeast overgrowth. All these are working against de-acidifying your body. So what is a woman to do? Start with your food. Journal everything, including your PH urine reading. Reduce the stress in your life. This is it but it can get difficult. Everything thing your eat, drink and think affects your Ph levels. It takes amazing discipline. How bad to you want to heal? Ask yourself that. Are you willing to give it 1-3 years without being enticed toward a quick fix? I didn't do it fast but I healed thoroughly. I am eating quite liberally now. I will never have certain food or drinks again but I do enjoy an occassional fruit. The low-oxalate diet is only partially correct. Some of the foods to avoid are crossed over with high acidic foods so some women get relief. Everyone has a different body chemistry so it may be enough for some women. What the low oxalate diet doesn't include is the vital green leafy veggies. In fact, it says to avoid them. That is what helped to heal me. I feel some women become too alkalined (opposite of acidic) when they eat greens and get burning from that as well. Check out my site. Try the program. Customize it to fit your needs. What hurts you won't hurt me etc....Keep track of your food and your urine Ph. Let me know. Keep in touch. Laura