5% Lidocaine Gel

[Bessie]

Has anyone tried this? Is it available OTC or does it require a prescription? I was told I could use it externally and to also soak a cotton ball and use it internally in the vagina to help with pain.

[leelee88]

Its a prescription and I dont leave home without it!!!!

[ihurttoo]

I also have an R/x for it. Mine is also 2%. Like Briza, I have also never tried the 5%, but figure it would probobly work even better. My bottles come with a little cone on the end that can be used as an applicator. I sterilize the cone prior to insertion each time. I shoot the lidocaine in there with it, as needed. (I rarely ever have to now, but I used to have Vulvar Vestibulitis in addition to the Vulvadynia, but I had a vulvar vestibulectomy, so now I only have the vulvadynia, and I only rarely have episodes of it since the surgery. Apparently, mine was very connected to the VV, and when I got rid of one problem, it calmed the other down considerably. Now, I only have episodes a few times a year, as oppossed to feeling raw daily and constant vaginal pain. )

I hope the Lidocaine helps you! Also, they r/x alot of the same meds for IC and for Vulvadynia, such as Cymbalta or Elavil, and Neurontin, Lyrica, or Keppra. You might also want to check out the Low Oxalate Diet, if your Dr. didnt tell you about it. Alot of Vulvadynia patients find that it helps them alot. It also helps to keep a spray bottle with warm, plain water beside the toilet to spray on yourself when you urinate. (Urine is often very irriating and feels like it burns the skin, but the water helps dilute it and ease the burning.) Cold packs also help alot. I used to keep those gel packs in the refrigerator, and then slip them inside underware. (When I was working, I had a "lunchbox" that I took to work everyday just for my gel packs.....I never actually brought lunch! ) If you are sore inside of your vagina and feel raw after sex, it sometimes helps to insert a tampon, that you have damped with water and refrigerated. Right after you take it out of the refrigerator, coat the outside with Lidocaine jelly prior to inserting it. It was always very soothing. (If tampons are uncomfortable, try using the smallest size, and then cut part of each side off to make it even skinnier, when you do this after sex.) I'm sure your Dr. told you this already, but just in case he/she didnt, wear only white, cotton underwear (or none at all). Also, dont use bubble baths or wash down there with anything but plain water, unless you have to, and then only use unscented products (like those for people with allergies or for babies.)

Hope some of those tips will help you. There are lots more on lots of the Vulvadynia and Vulvar Vestibulitits threads, but those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

I am sorry that you have this new diagnosis. But, I hope that the Lidocaine and other meds and tips will help you.

Many hugs,
Amy

[Bessie]

Thanks for all of the information......you all are wonderful

[charmedx3]

I discovered my lidocaine is 5%. Here is a question for all of you. Does it burn you when you use it? I always feel burning for like maybe 30 seconds and the it goes numb. Anyone else feel that? Any reason why? I like that it does help with the burning that I feel (of course after the burn from the lidocaine) so I can sleep.

[ihurttoo]

Like you, I also find that it stings and burns me when I first apply it, but after anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute, it numbs. (It does the same thing to my bladder during instills.) Interestingly, it doesnt burn me everywhere, just in a few areas, presumably where the skin is raw, broken, thin, or the integrity is otherwise compromised. I have also noticed that if I put it on a cut or burn, it doesnt seem to affect the skin around it by stinging or even numbing it...it only seems to affect the injured area. I thought it was just me.

I use the 2% jelly vaginally, but I use the injectable Lidocaine for my instills. Occasionally, I have spilled some "down there", and interestingly, it numbed the entire area immediately (not just the "injured" areas.) Also, the numbing lasted much longer and seemed to penetrate deeper. Has anyone else noticed this phemonenon?