WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

They are so worth the money sweetie :)

I started once a week, then went to once a month (and have stopped again with all my son's appointments). But you really can stretch the appointments apart if you have them teach you the exercises for at home. There is nothing wrong with going every month or two! It WILL take longer to see the results, and it won't be as effective as frequent visits. But that does not mean it won't help. A lot!! You would do well if you could have your second appointment no longer than about 4 weeks after the first. I think the first two or three really give the most knowledge to you. By then you will know a lot more about how your body is reacting and how to relax and tense your muscles properly. So any more visits are just "fine-tuning" and also to check how things are progressing. Good to have them, and very helpful, but not essential. The more you can go, the better the results and the quicker you will see them. But you still will have a great improvement if you cannot make appointments!

If they say you must return frequently or you won't improve, you know that isn't true. You just have to do the exercises frequently. ALso - take a notepad and a pen!! Seriously. You want to write down EVERYTHING they tell you and don't be afraid to ask them to repeat it all before you leave. And if you get at all nervous, try taking a skirt so you can be wearing your own clothes while being examined. It can help you relax a little... Be careful of taking pain meds that day too, you really want them to see how you react without anything affecting you. And if you have anyone you are this comfortable with, you could take them also. My physio suggested my husband could do some of the internal work for me (which just isn't a possibility for us, I am fine with sex and birthing my babies but not so ok about him poking around while I do pelvic floor exercises!) But it works well for some women!! Best of luck honey xx

Thanks ruth :D I hoping for a even a little relief, to take the edge off! I am hoping to go once a fortnight for two months, I know it'll be costly but I thought I remembered someone (must have been you) saying the first few visits were vital. Then I think I will drop it back to once a month and then eventually once every two. If it helps it's worth ever cent!

Thanks again :D

@Taters Im so happy. Pelvic Floor therapy has been wonderful for me. My therapist is very busy so sometimes I can get in twice a week, then once a week or sometimes ive had to miss a week cuz of not being able to get an appt. The first 2-3 appt are very important. The 1st visit is to access where you are. The actual treatment starts on second visit. That is usually more painful. There is nothing wrong with taking a pain med before the appt which i recommened because you will still be able to feel the areas she is working on but it will help with the pain afterwards. After that you can ask about exercises you can do at home that will really help maintain in between your appts. Depending on your particular case going once a month may be too long even with doing the exercises at home. Your therapist will tell you the best way to do it that will work best for you. I had my 6th lap on Nov 5th so i havent been to therapy since nov 3rd and cant go back until Dec 8th and am having pain since i cant do the exercises at home again yet.

Wish you the best. And keep us posted.

Ya thats about how much it was and when i quit working i couldnt go plus the drive is wayyyy too long i had to drive almost 2 hours....it may not feel great it may be painful during treatment and after so make sure you take something before hand for pain and after......also i thnk i did about 6-10 sessions and stopped and i was pain free with sex for about 1 year and a half. So if you have ANY questions or concerns about treatment or about your appointments or anything please contact me and I will tell you if its normal or if i have had the same experience etc....I am so glad you found one it takes time but YOU have to look and im glad you did!!!! I wish you the BEST of luck and I really hope it helps....oh ya and i also had to do other exercises to strengthen my pelvic floor like on a big ball that you sit on and do certain movements and you do them at home but im sure you can get one of those balls off the internet they are used for fitness but it helps with the endo too!!!! I also had TENS unit therapy after my treatment with the technician to soothe the area they put it on my lower back and with moist heat so u may have to do other things than just having someone manually massage your vagina area lol anyway let me know how it goes!

On more thing this didnt help with my normal pain as much as it did just so i could enjoy sex again....but im sure it would have helped if i would have went longer. I hope it helps you with your sexual problems as well as 'normal' endo pain well to us its normal lol! Good luck to you oh man i really hope it helps you! By the way my doc just put me on Nuvigil for "daytime sleepiness" I know u have the same problems with fatigue as me and my doc gave me a prescription for 250 mg and i got 30 pills for free. I cut the pills into 3 pieces so im only taking 75 mg...my doc said to do this! but it really seems to help me i dont feel like i HAVE to sleep all day and It makes me feel more refreshed when i wake up and i feel like it may help me to be able to get back to work 1-2 days a week and maybe even be able to finish nursing school!!!!! im soooo excited something may actually work for my fatigue cuz for me thats the worst part i can handle the pain at work but not when im falling asleep!

thanks ladies! and tiff :) :D:D I hope things work for you hun! let me know how it continues to go :)

Ill let you all know how it goes after a few appointments :)

Ok - for the pain med advice, here we are told NOT to take any. And since you are in my country, I am thinking it may be the same over east. Hence why I said it! Of course it is up to you, but how can they assess you properly if you have taken any? It is quite logical...

They told me to take tylenol or ibuprofen.....of course I was already taking vicodin every 4-6 hours for pain and they could not tell me to stop taking my pain meds....they told me pain meds were fine just not to take so much that I would be loopy...even with most pain meds I can feel pain it doesn't completely take my pain away! In fact tylenol and ibuprofen don't even touch most women's endo pain anyway so it used more just to take the edge off...I was on quite a high dose of vicodin during treatment and I still felt the pain during my treatment sessions everytime until the pain got better.It didn't help my endo pain as much as it helped my pain with sex....which was the point for me....it in itself wouldnt have been able to take away my everyday endo pain because it was too severe and was mostly on the back/outside of my uterus area. the internal stuff only helped with my tight and knotted up muscles in my vaginal area which was causing my pain with sex it was like a rubber band being stretched on one side of my vaginal area. So really pain meds don't affect the ability to be treated. You can feel intense pressure where it really hurts as well so its kinda hard to not know....unless you are taking a dose that will make you a zombie and out of it you will be able to feel the person doing the massaging to your vaginal walls!

@ Ruth... i say take pain meds before because I take 800mg motrin which does not make me out of it so I'm very aware of the pain when I'm in therapy. Now I def wouldnt take a vicodin or tordal because those are much stronger but motrin or tynelol will take the edge off after her appt while she is walking to her car and driving home.

Honey I am just saying what we are told here, as Taters lives in my country and we have VERY different hospital procedures! For example, I birthed my daughter with a midwife and do not see ob/gyns during pregnancy etc.

I have NEVER found a pain med to actually help my endo pains (they are as bad as labour for me) yet we are still told NOT to take anything for assessment and treatment. I know what you mean, as I am the WORST case they had seen!! And for my age, that is some achievement!!! I had tennis ball sized knots, lots of them. Was horrible! But still, here in Aus we are told NOT TO TAKE any pain meds. So for Taters, she would do well to check and just take them after the sessions if needed. After all, the girl is having to foot the bill herself (as I do) and she will want to get everything she can out of these appointments.

It is her call entirely, but please be aware I am speaking of the policy over here which is likely different to what they tell you guys xx

Congratulations! I love my PT, she is AMAZING! It has helped a ton with my muscle knots and my vaginal pain. I have really bad intestinal endo and that is not helped by it but I will take every little bit I can get! I pay out of pocket to and it costs me $200/session. I am going weekly right now so I am racking up credit card debt. I will go less frequently in the new year. I take my normal dose of pain meds about 4.5 hours before, so it is worn off, then I take a dose right afterwards and usually try and take a nap. It wears me out. Best of luck to you!

@ruth... I understand. Although that is what you are told over there i was just letting you know that taking a motrin or tynelol won't make you not know what is painful and what is not. As you should know those visits can be painful and if something can ease that discomfort while being treated it is worth a try.

and the fact that she has to pay for the entire bill out of pocket versus my insurance covering mine and paying the remaining balance out of pocket makes no difference. We both want the best care. Just as you are sharing your experience so am i.not sure how many times your done pelvic floor therapy but this is my 3rd round in 13 years so everytime i have never not known when they hit a trigger point if i took a pain med before.

Good luck taters and please keep us posted.

Good for you Tate!!! I'm so happy you got one and can get in right away!!! ( or at least when you are ready ) During assessment, you both will be able to figure out what muscles need work on them and this will tell you where some of your pain is coming from. He/she usually will "create" your pain by pressing or pulling in a certain area. This will determine which muscles need stretching. This may be a painful endeavor but well worth it. I also would recommend that during assessment, that you try not to use pain meds so that he/she can have a better picture of what needs work. After it is determined what kind of treatment you need, you can take what you think you need for when you go in for those treatments. You will begin to find out when you need them pretty quickly. Sometimes you need them during the treatment and sometimes after and even there are times when you need to take a half dose during and half dose after. Know you though, you are such a tuff little woman, you won't take any of it any time! LOL! :P
For me, I went 2 x a week. She wanted me more but it couldn't work out that way as she keeps "banker hours"!!! Then I gradually went down to once a week. Right now I'm not in PT as I don't have insurance. ( I let it laps!!! My fault but am getting it fixed! ) But I will go back ASAP! She helped me get my intimacy back with my husband!!

HUGS!
xoxoxoxoxoxox

Stephanie

I am going to try and go fortnightly maybe 3 times a month if money permits (will be tightening the purse strings) maybe mum and dad can help with 1 session... then after 2 months I will try and cut down to once every 3 weeks would this be ok? If I do some exercises at home inbetween I should be ok? I will discuss this with her and tell her I can't afford so frequently after the first two months or so maybe she can help me out :)

Also to save hassles I shall call up and ask about pain medication beforehand that way I know what I should be doing :)

Thankyou all for you help and encouragement I am so excited and so happy to have found a PT! I know it wont cure or even help loads but if it even helps just that little bit it will be worth it :) Any help is worth it right? :)
My psychologist found the PT she has a few endo clients and funnily enough the physio clinic is down the road from her, newly opened and is based purely around women's issues :D They also do pilaties, birthing class stuff, stroller walks for mums and much more.

Thanks again ladies! I love you all so much for you guidance. I am really hopeful for the new year!
I hope we all have a better 2011