4th Water infection in 2 weeks!!!!

Hi Pat, Thanks for your message. Must say I have heard of D Mannose before but not in relation to anything like this. Great to know it has helped you. I must look into this myself. I have got Cranberry tablets though I don't know what the use by date is on them. I will go and check them out. Yes someone else mentioned probiotics too so I will see what I can find in Tesco. I can do without Vaginal infections on top of everything else! Thanks again. :-)

Sorry to hear about your problems with UTI's too Susan. Yes I understand what you are saying about us becoming resistant to antibiotics. So I will look for the D mannose next time I am in town and check out the cranberry tablets I have got too. Must get some probiotics too. Yes it is so painful and uncomfortable isn't it, and that's just the water infection without the atrophy. I'm getting worn down with it all I admit. Thanks again. :-)

Hi Beverly:  I am in the U.S. california and have never heard of the assistance re care.... diabetes is a chronic health problem but I don't think atrophied vagina is in that class.  would be interested about further information o that.  I have been to many doctors and heading to Stanford soon but not hopeful for an answer.  4 years of looking for answers....

nancyo, it certainly sounds to me that shirley has a chronic condition. I have never known anyone personally to have so many UTI's and being given antibiotics continually. Doctors are now reluctant to prescribe them at all. As I said I know my company hooks you up with some sort of personal assistance with conditions such as diabetes. I happen to be a squeaky wheel & would absolutely be on the phone to my provider if I were experiencing what shirley is. Until patients demand care (or the companies think it will save money to provide it rather than have the customer constantly in the doctor's office) they won't get it. I have no idea what the process is in the UK however. Regarding your AV maybe you should contact your provider and push a little. Worth a try. Good luck.

Thank you for your kind message and ideas to help me. You mention nurses or some sort of advocate. As it happens, I am going to ring an helpline this morning. They are the only charity in the UK who help women with menopause/gynae issues. Hopefully I will be able to get through to them. I will look out for the D mannose pills although come to think of it I have got some Cranberry tablets in the back of the cupboard. I will check and see if they are still in date. Yes I'm drinking as much as I can. Will check out to see if changing my Diet helps too. :-)

nancy, I haven't found a US site either, but we could certainly use one. It would help re the meds as those in the UK are often not available here. Stanford would be a good place to start. Tell them desperate American women like yourself have to go to UK sites to try to get help and info. Put the bug in their ear. Really, I am serious about demanding attention. History has proven that women often get short shrift medically. There are many baby boomers now so we have numbers on our side. Let is know how you make out. Good luck.

Hi Beverly.... I will let you know... seems like no one talks much about this here.  Have you heard of the Mona Lisa touch which is a laser ... I am going to talk to the doctor at Stanford because he is doing a study on it.  Want to know if it will help with the UTI's, its $3000 and insurance is not covering it because it is new.  It is being called cosmetic to renew your sexual desire, and believe me I don't care about that.  all I want is to feel well and not have to take the antibiotics all the time.  I did find the vitamin e suppositories the ladies on this site talk about at Amazon.  but I am on premarin because I am at my wits end...

I am quite intrigued by the Mona Lisa laser treatment. Someone on this site mentioned it before. Was it you? Hadn't ever heard of it. I would rather try that than hormones, but $3000 is rather steep! It was something I was planning to ask my doctor about.... if I ever go to see her. Obviouly the pharmaceutical companies would rather we take the hormones at $140 a tube. Probably the insurance co's as well.

There's another aspect we get in the UK that is never mentioned too.  We get an appointment in an NHS hospital (eventually) with a specialist but then when we get there we see the registrar, who can often be clueless!  Each time you go, you see a different registrar as they are all on rotation to cover experience in different departments!  When I was told that the appointment I'd been referred for and thought would be any day, wasn't going to be until February at the earliest, I thought I'd pay to go privately and the appointment came through for tomorrow! (this was made on Friday).  Same woman but different hospital (private hospital now).  BUT the big advantage, as well as it being much sooner, as I have three prolapses now, is that I get to see HER!  Undoubtedly if I'd waited until February, I'd have seen a registrar!  Over the course of my life several times I've muddled along with things deteriorating so they've affected my health really badly (for instance, after being put on statins for years and ending up almost bedbound!) until we've paid to see someone and one appointment has sorted it out instantly!  Shirley, if you can afford it, I'd ask to be referred to someone privately.  Do your research online and see who the person of your choice is, and ask for them - you should get your appointment within a week.  This could make so much difference to you and could save your life, if you're thinking the only alternative is a hormonal treatment.  You can ask how much it would cost when you phone the private hospital, but I'd guess around £200.   But I SO hope you can get an answer promptly, somehow.

Hi Nancy, Sorry to hear you keep getting the infections too. I don't like taking antibiotics either but like you, I think the infection will get worse if I don't. I have heard of premarin. How long have you been taking it? When I was on GYNEST, then Vagifem, I notice I didn't get any water infections. It's only since I stopped using them that the infections came. So wether the HRT helped or wether it was just co-incidence, I don't know. You are right, its the atrophy that is resulting in more infections. I am Hopefully going to speak to someone on an helpline about all this this morning so I will report back later on that. Hope you get some relief in November when you have been to Stanford. I have been to California by the way, also Nevada and Arizona. Absolutely marvellous! Such fabulous memories :-)

Hi Beverly I know $3000 is really steep and I have had so many UTIs the longest I've gone is 4 months without one in the last 4 years. Have tried everything. . Last bout of antibiotics just really wrecked me Anyway we must not give up. Painful for weeks then let's up for awhile. Hate taking HRT but must

Hi Shirley. I have been taking for Premarin for about eight months… I went for months on the Premarin and then got a terrible UTI I was on three antibiotics first two didn't work Just taking them left me spent so I have been getting B12 shots to try to get my energy back I have been chewed to urologists a gynecologist and now a urologist gynecologist combination so I'm not giving up My daughter is lived in London for the past two years and I just spent a month there this year from May to June love it she lives near Portobello Road I hope you feel better and I'll post when I go to the doctor at Stanford

Everything is relative. If I had the infection problems you have I would probably go for it as I would never take that many antibiotics unless my life depended on it. I spend that on house repairs and a healthy body is more important  than my house. Is the Mona Lisa something that Stanford specializes in? I would only go somewhere that has been doing it for a while. Definitely ask if there are any studies of long range effects. Think when I looked it up it seemed it may have been popular in Europe. Maybe if you pushed your insurance co they would consider covering part of it. Make the case you have followed prescribed treatments to no avail. Really, we have to advocate for ourselves. Insurance co's are only interetsed in the bottom line despite their gooey sentimental advertising aboit "caring".

Hi Beverly... the mona lisa touch is FDA approved in the US but was developed in Italy.  The doctor I will see at Stanford is doing clinical studies on it... It is far too new to be covered yet here.  Just desperate and grasping at things.  going to ask the doc if he thinks it would help the infections, am not going to rush into it.  No long term studies..  

Do they perform the procedere at Stanford? If he were to recommend it would you go for it?

Beverly52803 and those following....I just had a discussion with a gal that I work with.  She is in her 40's and is suffering from VA like all of us.  She just had the Mona Lisa touch procedure done here in the US - we are in Illinois and the dr she was was in Barrington, IL    She described the procedure to me - it takes only a few minutes and requires 3 sessions.  She said it was very easy and she has already noticed improvement.  She talked to the dr about me and how it has affected my life (which is so much like all of the ladies on this forum) ... he told her that I would be a candidate.  I will need to go in for a consultation and exam.  It is expensive but can be paid for in thirds.  She is very excited on how well it seems to be helping her.  Since she is the first person that I've found that has had the procedure, I thought I would share. 

Great! I figured sooner or later there would be a person who had it done. 40's seems quite young. Had she tried hormones before this procedure? From what I saw on the internet it sounded as though they were having decent results, but not 100%. You tube even shows the procedure being done. Are you considering it, Pat?

This gal has kind of an extraordinary medical history in my opinion.  In her forties, had to have a complete hysterectomy (not sure why.)  She had a heart attack of all things even though she was seemingly healthy (not overweight, no history in the family etc.)   She is monitored by her drs all the time because of the sudden heart problem.  She can't take all kind of meds due to the heart thing.  So the VA was a result of the hysterectomy at such a young age.  I am seriously considering going for the consult.  That certainly can't hurt.  I can't help but wonder what the long range results might be.  Not sure if there have been any studies at this point.  I know that initially there are 3 "treatments" then you go once a year.  I understand that the laser helps build collegen in the tissue just like when they use a laser on facial tissue.  My main questions are, I guess, can the procedure cause worse breakdown in the tissue over time?  Would you need to have it done more often to keep up the benefits.  I am not afraid of doing it and it might be just what I need.  I just think about "long term" effects on the body.  That being said, how long can I safely use Vagifem without something awful happening?  I stopped it once and had immediate problems again.  Basically, aging is just plain hard on our bodies.   So how do we age "gracefully" without being in misery or feeling like we are "less" somehow as women?  I just want to live in harmony with nature - in all ways.  Including my own body.   I try to eat well, stay active, be positive and grateful for all the amazingly good things in my life, and get through the hard times knowing that I can - I just need to have faith.  Thank goodness for this forum and everyones willingness to share.  We all need support and this site helps so much.