Intercourse resumed years post-op - painful and orgasm took forever to achieve

It's been over seven years since my TAH and almost fifteen years since I've been with a man. I have an awesome man in my life now, we knew each other in high school and had not seen one another in 37 years until a mega high school reunion last year.

Four months ago was the first time that I've had intercourse since my hyster and it was so painful. My pain was almost unbearable. He was so understanding. It took forever to have an orgasm that I thought would never happen. Before surgery, I would have multiples.

I don't take any hormones, still have the occasional hot flash.

It's frustrating, I wish there was something out there than can help. Does anyone know of anything?

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience when resuming intercourse so long after your surgery. It's really sweet that your guy was understanding. He may be a keeper!

It's not uncommon for intercourse to be painful after we're cleared around the six week post-op mark. I waited at least 12 weeks and while not painful, it wasn't the best either. Time and patience helps!

Did you experience any dryness? There are over-the-counter lubricants that can help with that. My doctor recommended Astroglide and it worked well for me when I needed it. I know from reading your previous posts that you don't want to take hormones but would you consider just a vaginal estrogen, even short term, to help return elasticity to the vaginal tissues if that was a problem for you? It's something to ask your doctor about if you need help for dryness/atrophy that isn't solved by using a personal lubricant. Some women need to use dilators to help expand the vagina to make sex more comfortable so that's another thing you could ask your doctor about.

One bad experience doesn't mean it will always be that way so take your time, do only what you're comfortable doing and hopefully it will get better and better.



P. S. - It would be very helpful if you would update your Member Survey to indicate that you no longer have your cervix and that your ovaries were removed. You can use this link to do the updates: Member Survey. After making the changes, scroll to the bottom of that page and click on the "Send Answers" button.