I've had vulvodynia for several years now. It gets worse just before and during my period. On looking it up, apparently that's thought to be linked with candidiasis, but my gynae says not. More of a nerve problem, she thinks.

My gynae is lovely but seems to have run out of things to try. Gabapentin didn't seem to help, and did cause no end of trouble when I came off it. I don't get on with amitriptyline. Lidocaine merely stung, and other topical treatments weren't any help either.

I think I may have had some relief from going on combi antihistamines last summer, although it's hard to tell as I also became single at the same time.

At the moment I'm messing around with herbal oils applied topically. I started off with calendula oil, which is meant to be generally soothing for skin and also antifungal (just in case), and am now adding St John's Wort oil, which is meant to be good for nerve pain. I've checked with a herbalist, and the amount I'm using isn't enough for the St John's Wort to start acting systemically and interfering with medication. I apply that twice a day, and also apply aloe vera gel occasionally through the day. I haven't found anyone using St John's Wort as an oil for this purpose, but I've heard of a few people getting relief from hypercal cream/ointment, and that's the same herbs.

This period, there's practically no pain, so something seems to be working. I don't know if it's the oils, as I also increased my multimineral supplement and started taking the 25,000iu beta carotene supplement every day, instead of once a week as before. If you look up beta carotene and vulvodynia, there's one doctor reporting success with it at higher doses, 75,000iu to 150,000iu. I'm thinking of giving that a try, depending on how this works out. I've had occasional good periods for no reason, so I'm not going to assume I'm cured yet, especially since it's not being put to the real test of having sex.

Has anyone used any of these things for vulvodynia, and if so, what did you find?