Prescription, Balance activ menopause

This is actually Boots version of Hyalofemme - the ingredients are exactly the same, and, as you say, not natural. As I have said before, sodium hydroxide is caustic soda - would you put that on your privates?!?!? It is used to adjust Ph levels, but there are other ways to do this without using such a harmful chemical. I tried Hyalofemme and it stung like crazy. So, just be careful, bearing in mind Sylk stung you - Sylk is a water based lube and vaginal moisturiser and all of the water based lubes/moisturisers I gave tried sting me e.g. Yes, WooHoo, Astrolube. So I am sticking with natural oils.

Balance active pessaries for menopause contain hyaluronic acid and are oil based. They didn't sting me, but did make me swell up a bit. Shane they are not available on prescription because, being oil based, they are an alternative to water based gels which irritate some of us.

Salt is sodium chloride - I seen seen that as an ingredient too. Caustic soda is used to clean out clogged drains - my vag is not a drain, thank you!

None of this stuff we use is cheap. The key e pessaries are costly and have to be shipped from America. Yes oil based lube is expensive and I use loads of that during intercourse so it gets used up very quickly. Again, the water based Yes is available on prescription, like silk, - when will they realise some of us only get on with oil based things in our V's. I wonder if there is somewhere we can contact if we want something made available on prescription .... if enough of us want it .... hum ....

By the way, they often reduce the price down to £10 and I bulk buy.

I noticed they had an offer on the gel version, two for the price of one, at the moment.

I gave not tried the gel version. It is a water based gel and those seem to sting me. Although the Balance Activ on does seem to contain very few ingredients in addition to the hyaluronic acid - I like few ingredients. There is phenoxyethanol, which is a preservative and considered to be the least irritating one, and methylparaben, which is an anti-fungal and anti-bacterial agent (to stop growth of these things in the gel), which is a paraben, and there is a lot of controversy about use of these in products. The buffered saline is salt solution which has had the Ph balanced. I have noticed that the Balance Active gel is widely available in UK supermarkets. I may give it a try one day. The problem for me is even the most simple and gentle of water based vaginal moisturisers e.g. Regelle, make me swell up and uncomfortable inside. Balance activ pessaries, which are oil based, also made me swell up, although not to such a degree. I usually get on well with oil based products in my vagina. My consultant is at a loss as to what is causing this swelling, unless my cells are super absorbent and are plumping up too much with the water based moisturisers or hyaluronic acid.

Let me know if you try the gel version, and what happens.

I found I was fine with the Balance Activ Menopause pessaries, and the gel, and the Carlson E pessaries (or suppositories, as they're called), but I'm using organic coconut oil morning and night, and have been for a while now (I'm on my third jar) because I can manage that easiest with the type of prolapse pessary I have, which has a knob on to ease insertion and removal, and the coconut oil can be pushed around the knob easier than anything else and works like a dream to moisturise.  I used to get irritation around the vulva some years back and used vagisil cream for a long time until I looked at the ingredients and then went off that but found that coconut sorted it and haven't had problems since.  But if I have any problems that the coconut won't sort, I'll go on to the hyalaronic acid products because the studies show that they improve atrophy, and there aren't many products which actually improve it.

I did try the gel version and it worked fine.  Because I'm using the coconut at the moment I've actually used the gel on my face from time to time:-)

There has to be an answer to this because I remember reading that people were 'prescribed' all sorts of things including holidays!  But I've looked and I can't find out where you contact to request that something is added to the prescription list.  I wonder if it would be worth asking Balance Active if they can get the pessaries added?

Don't forget sea buckthorn oil!

i use the Hyalofemme gel on my face too!

I found this on the NHS website with regard to who decides what is available on prescription in th UK:

"The Department of Health decide what is allowed on the NHS as a whole.

The Clinical Comissioning Group (CCG) in England or Local Health Board (LHB) in Wales for the area that the GP surgery is situated in may then impose local prescribing guidelines or restrictions.

If you wish to discuss this further, you should approach your CCG or LHB in the first instance. You should be able to get their contact details from your GP surgery."

 

Also this (same site):

"If you have been told by your GP that a particular medication is not available on the NHS then you may be offered it via a private prescription. You would not get any help with any private prescriptions, even if you have one of the normal NHS exemptions.

An NHS prescription should only be provided if the medication would usually be provided on the NHS. There are no obligations for a GP to prescribe medication if the recommended treatment is outside the guidelines.

So it doesn't sound as though there's much advantage if you have to get a private prescription.

Yes got their water based lube made available on the nhs. Perhaps I'll contact them and ask about the process and if the oil based could be made available on prescription too.

Yes said this:

Currently only the Yes water based personal lubricant is available on the NHS and it is our intention to having Yes oil based personal lubricant listed on the Drug Tariff as well but it is a difficult process.

The submission process to have a product evaluated by the NHS for its suitability, and affordability for being on prescription, is detailed and demanding.  As part of demonstrating the suitability of Yes oil-based, we have to present results of a user trial that will impress the Drug Tariff board sufficiently of Yes oil based's efficacy. Constructing such a trial is difficult as there are no predicate products already available on prescription, so we cannot demonstrate an effective comparison with an existing medical device. 

We have many prestigious HCP advocates of Yes oil based, and a great number of customers who report how it relieves a range of intimate conditions, but these alone do not provide enough evidence for the NHS to evaluate the product. They require a study, with measurable results, showing in degree and time that Yes Oil based has successfully alleviated vulval and vaginal symptoms.

We are researching the best way forward on this, but it is challenging.

Thanks Suki!  I am SO impressed with this company!  Hopefully they'll have it on prescription soon.  I'd very much like to see the Balance Activ Monopause Plus available on prescription as well.  If  anyone finds anywhere that we can lobby for these products, do say:-)

I am not sure it is up to us, I think the company has to demonstrate the need via research, as Yes said. Being a researcher myself, I know how long these research processes can take - and the NHS is notoriously slow, so don't expect it on prescription anytime soon - maybe by the time our vags are completely shrivelled up!

I agree that Yes are great. They always respond to my emails the next day, take notice of what I am saying and make me feel like they care - Yes must be run by women 

If the NHS wanted to find out what people need, they would monitor these forums to see where need lies.

When I contacted Balance Activ for something about a year ago, they were the same.  I think these smaller companies have much better customer services than the big ones!

Balance active is pretty cheap compared to estrogen right?

We get estrogen on the NHS on prescription Lee, but not Balance Activ, which we have to pay for.

I can get it on prescription also,but its only applyed to my deductable..til its reached,its out of pocket. Hrt cost are high,so im sure balance active must be cheap compared to like 150 and higher per month. Im in the US no free heathcare.

Ah, so either way you have to pay out for it.  But the main thing is to find something that works for you.  How are you doing at the moment and what are you using now?

Ive ben so so. Lately just vit e on the outside or a light coat of vaseline. Next week i intend to try the coconut oil.

I hope something works well.  Do keep us updated:-)

Thanks,will do.

Keep trying. Since I started the coconut oil in the day (internal and external after every visit to the toilet) and the Key E pessaries at night + supplements (1000mg sea buckthorn oil 3 x a day for vaginal wall cell health; DIM to balance hormone levels and pueraria mirifica, a herb that provides high levels of phytoestrogens), things have got progressively better and better. The condition of my vaginal wall has improved, the external skin is less fragile and I am even producing some of my own lube again (not to the levels I used to, but some). My hubby and I can now have a good session of intercourse without me feeling sore and having to take it easy for the next two days. He has noticed the difference in terms of my natural lubrication and ease of getting in. It took a while, lots of experimenting and setbacks due to bad reactions to most of the products I tried inside my vag, but I got there in the end. I don't know how long it will last... here's hoping.

I did the same with the coconut oil - used it quite a few times a day initially and then dropped it down to twice a day and have continued to use it morning and night and it's worked really well for me.  I do wonder if that more frequent use initially helps set things on the right path.

No idea how or why it works, but who cares!

Quite:-))))