My Vulvodynia and Vaginismus Story: The Episode I've Been Afraid to Record

For a long time, I've been standing slightly to the side of my own experience on this podcast. Today, I step into the center of it.In this solo episode, I share my full story with vulvodynia and vaginismus for the first time - from the first symptoms five years ago to the rock bottom moment that broke me open, and eventually, to the unexpected thing that gave me the strength to keep going.I talk about what it was like to be dismissed by doctors, to spend years in a treatment rabbit hole trying everything from pelvic floor physiotherapy and nortriptyline to somatic therapy and psychedelic-assisted healing. I share something I've never spoken about publicly before - a trauma history that surfaced at almost exactly the same time as my pain, and how the two were more connected than I understood at the time.I also talk about shame, about the grief of feeling like your body is working against you, about the isolating silence that so often surrounds these conditions - and about the Reddit thread that cracked something open in me and became the unexpected seed of this podcast.And I share something significant: why this podcast now has a new name.This episode doesn't have a clean ending. My story doesn't either - not yet. But if any part of what I've described sounds familiar, this one is for you.In this episode:My first symptoms and the dismissal that delayed everythingA diagnosis of vulvodynia - and what was missing from itThe trauma history I've never spoken about publiclyYears of treatment-hopping and why I couldn't stick to my dilator routineThe rock bottom moment that broke meFinding community on Reddit and what shiftedWhy I started this podcast - and its new nameConnect with me: @theworldstightestcommunity or theworldstightestcommunity.com <3