Was your cystoscopy painful?

I've read two different accounts in the Facebook vulvodynia groups of people having scary-painful cystoscopies.  My cystoscopy was scary-painful.  The doc gave me lidocaine (I think they actually squirt it up your urethra?!), which is apparently all that's necessary to eliminate any discomfort a normal person might have when a tube travels up her urethra and into her bladder.  For me, IT WAS DEMONS INVADING MY PEE HOLE.

I am so excited to find that other people have had awful experiences with cystoscopies.*  That experience has been haunting me, not just because of the horrible pain but because everything I've read makes cystoscopies sound like no big deal.  It also affirms my Vision of My Vulva: my urethra is the governing bitch.  She is the nexus of all of my pelvic nerves and she KNOWS IT.

If you have vag pain and you are going to have a cystoscopy, ask your doctor for a spinal anesthetic, not just a local anesthetic.  They DO do the spinal anesthetic, according to what I've read.  Or some doctors do it.  We can deduce a lot of bladder problems without a cystoscopy.  So a cystoscopy is NOT WORTH IT if you're going to go through the pain I went through.  It was terrifying.  I am not exaggerating.

My doctor was looking for signs of interstitial cystitis with my cystoscopy, which he did not find.  There was nothing else abnormal in that examination except for urethral polyps, which are apparently common.  I think they are demon eggs.

P.S. Again, if you want to join the Facebook groups, email me at madpeachblog, gmaildotcom.

P.P.S.  This doctor is on my list of doctors I want to punch.  And this experience is on the list of reasons I need to take up boxing.

*Haha, I just re-read this sentence.  It sounds sadistic.  Maybe it was my urethra talking.

UPDATE: Since I wrote this, I've heard from a few people who had painful cystoscopies.  Cystoscopies are not painful procedures for most people, but if you are planning to have one and you have pelvic-pain issues, ask your doctor for more than just a squirt of lidocaine up your urethra.  Yeesh!!!