Secret Suffering - A resource community for women who experience pelvic and sexual pain

Susan Bilheimer

Author & Lecturer on
women’s midlife issues

In 2002, Susan developed the website www.PerimenopauseSupport.com to give women a central location to learn about the symptoms and changes that happen in their bodies up to fifteen years before menopause. Through her own personal difficulties, frustrations, and hard-won solutions as she went through perimenopause, Susan Bilheimer became an expert in issues surrounding women in midlife, and realized the vital need to provide a place for other women to find information, answers and support, so that they don’t have to stumble around in the dark as she did … feeling alone and crazy in their suffering.

One of the symptoms that worsened over time was chronic sexual pain. Over the past five years, Susan’s experience with painful sex strained her marriage and devastated her self-worth. Determined to find answers, she engaged in extensive research and sought help from six doctors. Her growing frustration with a dismissive, disinterested medical community combined with the stunning realization that there were legions of women who were suffering as she was, fueled her passion to write about these issues to help other women who suffer. Further, the supportive efforts of her husband to work with her to maintain intimacy despite the pain, led to the specific focus of her work – how women’s pain during sex impacts relationships.

To read more about Susan, click here

Dr. Robert J. Echenberg

M.D., Fellow and Board Certified by American Board of OB/GYN

Dr. Echenberg is an established specialist and expert in the field of chronic pelvic pain in women. He has developed a successful treatment model based on established protocols. Over the past six years, his treatment of over 400 women has resulted in a significant reduction of pain and a corresponding increase in his patients’ quality of life. He has an established practice called “Women’s Health Care Associates” in Bethlehem, PA.

Beginning in 2001, while in private practice in Bethlehem, PA, Dr Echenberg was asked to set up the St. Luke’s Hospital Center for Chronic Pelvic Pain, the first regional center dedicated to the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of chronic pelvic pain in women. The program was initially designed with a purely “pharmaceutical” approach, but Dr. Echenberg quickly recognized that the problem was far more complex than initially presented.

He immersed himself in the study of this specialty, attending conferences spotlighting the research and effective modalities of treatment. Additionally, he received in-depth training in a live setting by working with a respected pain center, learning the basic principles of chronic pain management.

To read more about Dr. Echenberg, click here