Secret Suffering – A resource community for women who experience pelvic and sexual pain
Helping women cope with sexual and pelvic pain
Do you suffer from…
…Vaginal/vulvar itching, burning, stabbing/throbbing sensations; painful sex; urinary urgency/frequency/pain? If so, then you’ve just found a “Hope Chest” filled with information & support.
We’ll explain how the conditions that trigger “chronic pelvic pain syndrome” (such as irritable bowel, interstitial cystitis, painful bladder syndrome, vulvodynia, vestibulitis, endometriosis) cause sexual pain and what you need to know to get help.
Download our booklet, “64 Tips to Relieve Sexual & Pelvic Pain,” and get Secret Suffering updates when you subscribe.
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Clip from the 20/20 show on sexual pain that aired on August 7, 2009.
Click here to view
Dr. Echenberg provides
additional explanation in the following TV segment
Below is a segment about interstitial cystitis,
featuring Dr. E and one of his patients.
This segment aired on the Lehigh Valley, PA
television show, "Talk to Your Doctor."
"In our practice, approximately 85 – 90% of
patients with chronic pelvic pain – no
matter what the cause – experience sexual
pain or discomfort as the main contributor
to their diminished quality of life."
Dr. Echenberg
You don’t have to suffer in secret any longer!
Take a look around our site, download our free tips, and then go to our Healing Room blog to begin sharing your story, questions, and thoughts with others in our community.
On the Secret Suffering website, we’ve created a safe haven for you to share your story and thoughts about sexual/pelvic pain and read others’, hear what experts in the field of sexual pain have to say, get the latest news and more. We encourage you or partners of those who suffer to blog in our Healing Room.
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We have established a phone line for you to record your story for others to hear on our site. Please call the Secret Suffering voice line at 888-848-4156. There is no more powerful message to those who suffer in silence than the voices of those who are willing to share their experience.I felt like a car accident on the side of the road that people were passing by … I felt dismembered, desensitized, and discarded on the side of the road by the medical profession’s lack of understanding … I feel like a survivor of excruciating pain I didn’t understand until now. I’d rather live in understandable pain than live in pain I don’t understand that makes me feel like I don’t want to live anymore…
From the audio of a new patient of Dr. Echenberg’s
These quotes are from the audio below, a 20 minute segment of a consultation between Dr. Echenberg and a patient who consented to have their talk recorded. This is a heart-wrenching testimonial to the torment we have suffered. Anyone who suffers with pelvic or sexual pain must listen to this discussion. Read more about the patient here.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Listen to the audio endorsement of “Secret Suffering” from Jill Osborne, President of the Interstitial Cystitis Network
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
(Click here to read the Table of Contents. Click here for our press release)
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Our book, “Secret Suffering: How Women’s Sexual and Pelvic Pain Affects Their Relationships” is available at
Who we are
Susan Bilheimer, author and chronic pelvic pain sufferer, created the Secret Suffering website with the medical expertise of Dr. Robert J. Echenberg, a gynecologist and specialist in the field of pelvic and sexual pain and women’s health for over three decades. Dr. Echenberg’s practice, Women’s Health, Pelvic Pain & Sexual Wellness, is located in Bethlehem, PA. Susan also maintains a resource site for women in perimenopause You can read more about them here. Follow us on Twitter – Susan’s Twitter and Dr. Echenberg’s Twitter.
“64 Tips to Relieve Sexual Pain Tips Booklet” and “Pain Trigger Journal”
Dr. Echenberg and I (Susan Bilheimer) have written a tips booklet with suggestions on how to help yourself as you work with your doctor and for doctors to give to their patients. Plus, we’ve developed a really thorough pain trigger journal so you can figure out what makes you better and worse. It will be an invaluable tool to help yourself as well as guide your doctor to treating you. These products are available now, along with a free membership to our forum!
Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy is very simple – we will never sell, share or distribute your contact information in any way. Period.
Usage Policy
We have a very strict usage policy for this site. www.SecretSuffering.com is intended as a safe and comfortable online home for those who suffer from a very sensitive and delicate condition. Unsolicited advertising, spamming, flaming or inappropriate comments will be immediately deleted and their senders barred from future postings.
We want your feedback!
Please feel free to contact us at any time with your suggestions and comments.
