Confused!

Hi Kim!

I have to use it on the inside because of atrophy and dryness, trying to build up the tissues. It doesn't seem as if it's melting, for lack of a better word and it's just accumulating. I also use about a lima bean amount on the outside, which seems to soak in fine. As soon as I cleaned out the inside my bladder got almost instant relief and so did the pressure I was feeling. I skipped last night's dose and I feel perfectly fine today. I'm going to call my doc tomorrow but I think I'm going to start my twice a week early and see how that does, but use it on the outside nightly.

I was suffering from yeast and bv infections for months before being diagnosed with atrophy. That was my culprit. Since starting the Estrace I haven't had any issues with infections, knock wood lol! My pH was out of wack big time.. now it's 4.5.

When ever I had a vaginal infection my bladder just went crazy.. that was my first clue I even had an infection, but I never had a UTI. I have a bit of prolapse too so I try to keep it as empty as possible. My doc told me that our bladders also depend on estrogen which is why we develop UTIs while in or after menopause. I'm still wading through all the information I've been told and researched. Maybe if you use the Estrace internally also it might help...

Thanks, trying to make sense of all this.

Obviously you'd have to clear it with your doctor but my Rx was 1 gram daily for 2 weeks plus using it on the outside, then 1 gram 2x a week from then on.. I cut back to a half gram and seem to have less leakage, it's not awful just annoying lol.

Like I said in my original post, the 1 gram seemed to be accumulating, and I was loaded full, I skipped last night and I've had no leakage today and my bladder has been happy and I don't have the full/pressure feeling like I just birthed an elephant 😂 so I don't know if that's normal or not, but I'll be making a call in the morning to find out..

The first time a year ago no.. I was also on the clindamycin, then directly after I got a yeast infection. Took about 2 months to clear it all up. Did great until this past July, started with a yeast infection, treated for 7 days, didn't go away treated for another 7 days, still not better, went to the gyno instead of my GP, she tested for everything under the sun, said I had BV, treated me with metro gel, labs came back and I didn't have anything, so I was treated for nothing, but because the metro gel is an antibiotic, I got another yeast infection, treated with diflucan. Was good for about 2 weeks and boom! My bladder started acting up, I was dry as a dessert, itching and in pain. Went back to the gyno she said I had atrophy and was in perimemopause. Sent me out with Vagifem, didn't answer my questions or seem to care about my other health issues. So for 2 weeks I used Replens to try to moisten back up, after all a solid month of harsh creams up there had to do some damage. Found a new gyno, she confirmed the atrophy but she's positive I'm post menopause bc I had a hysto 16 yrs ago, kept my ovaries but she said from the thinness of my vag tissue and the color, plus the bladder symptoms it's all estrogen related. So she started me on the Estrace Cream.. I kid you not after my second night of using it internally, I was already feeling 50% Better! My pH was tossed all off wack and the Estrace has fixed that, I'm back at a 4.5 and no more infections so far. Now it's just hoping this works to rebuild the tissues so I don't have to stay on this the rest of my life 😐 we're hoping about a year. In the mean time I switched laundry soap to Tide Free and Clear, no fabric softener, nothing harsh in that area at all.. non scented hypoallergenic Dove to wash with and during the day I use organic virgin coconut oil on the outer lady bits to retain moisture. I have good and bad days but nothing like I was..

Your experience is similar to mine, instead of checking me for BV they diagnosed me with OAB and I have been on Santura since May. I had a cystoscopy in August which was negative then the horrible burning urgency started and so multiple swabs were done and they came back positive for Strep B and E coli, had a course of ampicillin and symptoms reoccurred so now I am on clindamycin. I feel better except for this past Saturday. My gyno says I do have some atrophy, so I guess I will treat this along with OAB and atrophy and hopefully the OAB is caused from the atrophy and infection, and I can get off the Santura.

I was never tested for OAB , if there is a test lol.. but I never had an issue with my bladder until the atrophy started, or if I had an infection. I've had maybe 2 UTIs my entire life. I had no idea that the bladder relied on estrogen as well.

I hope you get sorted out.. it's miserable living like this ?