Pain when aroused?

[EmptyOrchestra]

I think I’ve posted about this before but didn’t get any responses. I’m wondering if anyone else experiences this.

I have a sex drive that comes and goes - seems to be tied to my hormones as it comes back mid cycle but can’t pinpoint the issue. I came off the pill recently after trying it again for six months but my sex drive went completely - after about a year it’s finally coming back mid cycle again.

When I have no sex drive, I don’t get aroused ever - no physical reaction to things which would be arousing. Once it’s back I do. It’s like a switch which is either on or completely off.

Now when I get aroused, it really hurts. I don’t mean sex hurts, this happens without any sexual contact. If I think about sex and get aroused, it hurts.

It feels like I’ve been booted in the crotch. I get pain in my bladder and in my uterus / ovaries - like a crushing heavy pain.

I have endometriosis and adenomyosis but have had those for two decades and this is relatively new.

It’s bloody depressing after having had no sexual feelings for over a year to now have them but be in so much pain I don’t want to have sex.

Does this ring a bell with anyone?

Can't help but I would strongly advise you contact your GP as pain during arousal is definitely not right....

Unfortunately GP won’t do anything - it will just be put down to the gynae issues I already have despite being new. I will bring it up but I expect to be shrugged at!

There was a thread on here (relationships board I think) just yesterday where a woman had exactly the same issue, pain on any arousal at all. She said it was due to an incurable pelvic injury.

@adventurealice

There was a thread on here (relationships board I think) just yesterday where a woman had exactly the same issue, pain on any arousal at all. She said it was due to an incurable pelvic injury.

That’s interesting thank you, I’ll have a look. It may well be nerve damage but I can’t really get my head around it - increased blood flow to the area I guess

Could it be ovulation pain? I get this mid cycle and it is like being punched in the womb. GP is dismissive but mine only lasts about half a day, so annoying as it's during the time I'm really feeling amazing in my cycle!

Whatever it is, I hope you can sort it and feel better soon

Sorry you have ovulation pain too - it really sucks. I have pelvic pain most of the time anyway but this is pretty intense. Not dissimilar to ovulation pain but a bit early in my cycle and very specifically linked to this. It’s a weird one! Think I probably need to go back to the gynae anyway so will bring it up. Probably just need the whole mess taking out at this point!

I get this sometimes op. When I get aroused its like a dull pain in my crotch, never used to happen. about 2-3 years it started... I'm sure I've read that its from blood flow rushing there too fast... haha sorry I'm not a doctor but I guess when women get aroused we do have blood flow down there.

Hi @EmptyOrchestra I’m sorry that you’ve got this - sounds awful. Have you spoken to your GP about it? Endometriosis can have such strange effects on various parts of the body and there might be treatments that could be offered too. If you are on Instagram, have a look at @physiomumuk She is a Pelvic Health Physio and I recently watched a live she did where she mentioned pain related to sex. She was a big advocate of having this looked into. There are Pelvic Health Physios or Women’s Physios available in the NHS & some are linked to Gynaecologists so you might need referring but it’s definitely worth looking into. Good luck.

I would suggest that you change your Dr and get a second opinion. They are not always right and they do overlook things and may not be as experienced as another Dr in that particular area. Good luck OP

If you have endometriosis this pain could be caused by the cells in the pouch of Douglas, not sure on your surgery history, but I'd be going back and seeing if you could explore further surgery (excision) I'd say it will be linked to the never pain in that area, as I have the same. The only time I managed to overcome it was when I was on amitriptyline for blocking nerve pain, that helped.

Do you have pain on orgasam and sex?

Please see a GP. I had this and it was stage 3c cervical cancer.

I get this. I’ve always put it down to blood rushing to the area. It doesn’t happen all the time though. My smear tests have been clear.

Hi. I'm probably the poster mentioned above with the intractable pelvic pain. My situation is complicated by an existing condition but I have pelvic floor dysfunction. Any kind of arousal, stress etc makes my muscles tighten involuntarily and then horrible nerve pain kicks off. The pain started with an irritated bladder problem and the urologist wrote me off with a diagnosis of chronic pelvic pain syndrome, a couple of short-term prescriptions and a referral for pain management. By then, sex had sent my pelvic floor had gone into spasm and I had awful pain and could barely sit.

I second the suggestion to find a pelvic floor physio to see if this may be the issue as it does seem more common than I'd expect for something I'd never heard of. I'm paying for a private physio but I swear my pelvic floor relaxed a bit just talking to someone who understood. Essentially, my pelvic floor is very tight and that annoys everything in the vicinity, including my bladder. (Definitely don't do kegel exercises if this might be your problem... they only make things worse).

I'm still not confident that I can resolve this for quite some time, given my wider medical history of musculoskeletal and nerve pain, but maybe one day. Also, I'm oversensitive to the kind of drugs that might help, but that might be an option for you.

However - as another PP has mentioned, do get checked out for other possible causes too. Pester your GP to rules out any worrying possible conditions and don't give up on getting a diagnosis.

Good luck.

I have this when my B12 levels are low - I get numb and pins and needles in my toes and fingers, numb bum and then arousal/orgasm becomes painful, like a bruise or dull ache instead of pleasure - first time it happened I was gutted, worried I’d never orgasm properly again.

Get to your GP and ask for some blood tests in case something is ‘off’. I was told it was most likely a gynae issue but they did bloods anyway and found B12 deficiency and once I had the injections (and later started taking oral supplements instead) it got better again. It’s one of the most noticeable signs when I forget to take them!

Thanks to all who commented. Since I posted I’ve had significantly worse pain generally, rectal pain and ovarian pain so I think it is likely related to endo but the pain definitely gets worse with arousal. Absolutely no idea how i will manage to explain this to a GP, but have asked for a call at least to refer me back to gynae and maybe for a scan to check I don’t have any cysts or anything. Ideally I would like another excision surgery first but they’ve never been massively successful (six laps, three of them excision by a specialist) likely because of the adenomyosis but I would honestly rather delay hysterectomy if I can as I know so many who’ve ended up worse off afterwards. So difficult.

My last smear was clear and not that long ago but I will definitely ask if this should be repeated.