How do you deal with the anxiety of this day to day?

Well yes it is lee and who is to say if the HRT will help. I had a vaginal ring inserted ( Estring, estradiol vaginal delivery  system) for a year and knew I needed to get myself off of it because of the risks of taking HRT with it not being advisable long term. I do not have it now. I still have and have had intermittent problems associated with VA with the ring and off the ring.

i know what you mean about dwelling on the problem on a daily basis.

dwelling does make it worst I know. Its so good to share ideas in this forum and know we are not the only person with VA associated problems.

Hi it's very difficult, as I find your adapting your life around the symptoms 24/7 and my stress levels are raised due to this. But if you're going to have a good quality of life then I've found acceptance of my new problem easier than fighting it. After all I can't undo it only manage it as best I can. Keeping the problem in perspective helps when your mind runs away with the possibilities.

It's hard to do I know but the alternative is worse. No quick fix unfortunately just make the most of the things to look forward too and enjoy those moments as much as you can.

Hopefully someone else will have more practical advice for you. Or suggest some medication alternatives they found helped.

Lee, did you try the coconut oil, or the e pessaries?  If you didn't, I'd suggest trying those, at least daily, for a couple of weeks, and then if things have calmed down, I'd suggest trying the hyalaronic pessaries because all the studies show that they do improve atrophy and there have now been so many studies that these are being offered as a good serious alternative to hrt without the side effects.  So you can hope with those that things aren't going to get worse in the future.  If the coconut or other oil based 'stuff' has helped then you could use that for five days of the week and use the hyalaronic acid pessaries twice a week (or three times might be better, but using the oil on the other days).  I think, at least, this would be a plan for you and having a plan always lifts our spirits.  One of the reasons I think coconut might be useful is because as well as being soothing, it's antibacterial and antifungal.  I won't be offended if you don't fancy doing this, truly - I'm just trying to come up with something that MIGHT help and that's as much as I can do.   If you've got soreness outside the vagina and this suggestion doesn't help, it could be worth trying vagisil for a little while.  I used to use it when my GP was overdosing me with vagifem and that was causing an irritating discharge, but then I looked at the list of ingredients in the vagisil and went off the idea, BUT it did work and might help you in the short term, just to get on top of things.

I know what you mean I'm a stress head and stress about everything. I gave in a week a go and started Vegifem. I don't know if it's working yet but have been told it will take a few weeks. Even my Chinese medicine doctor approved it. He said that it test up very good to use. Well I'm going to give it a go and see. But one thing I will not be on it for years.

Hi. You have to follow your intuition as I did. Not happy about the whole picture, but need relief. I was on premarin cream a few mos. Dizzy and headaches plus a mess it is. Called to change to vagifem and see if I like better. Everyone on here seems to use that. But the vit e and coconut oil stuff doesn't cure the problem like estrogen does. Its just a temporary quick relief fix. So I'm done with that crap. Hope I like vagifem.

Anything that causes pain or discomfort is going to cause stress and anxiety. I have felt the same. Still do on some days. So I try to be as calm and accepting of my body as I can. I try to figure out why one day is worse than another. And I try to rest just a little bit more. I've been doing better then I had a flair up for a couple of days. I suspect that caffeine is causing some of my issues. And stress is a factor. So I drink more water, I take an extra d-mannose capsule, I use extra coconut oil...and I trust that I will feel better. Knowing that we aren't alone with this helps. I started feeling better once I made a choice to use the Vagifem. I try not to focus on my VA. Some days are harder than others. Just hang in there. Don't let fear rule your day. You are strong enough to ask questions and seek answers. You will find what works for you.

Seems the urethal atrophy is kicking in more from this,irritation of the uretha,feeling pressure and more need to go.Says to drink lots of water,but then i have to go alot and thats not fun.Imthinking only way to treat is with hrt