Vaginal Atrophy

Thank you so much for replying paisleygirl.  Im 69.  Vaginal Atrophy is awful,  My doctor has told me im very tender and inflammed thus causing me to bleed when i put  Vagifem pessaries up

Yes Last few times we had intercourse it caused bleeding as well... cystitis, etc.

Hi Maja.  Thanks for your message..  I gather youve got Vaginal Atrophy have you ?  What a nightmare.    Im on Estriol cream every other night as well as Yes Moisturizing gel

I hope your getting on ok paisleygirl.  Was thinking about you.  Must be awful for you.  I hope youve found some relief

Hi Ruth thanks for asking I saw the doctor 5 days ago he says my urethra looks good but he thinks it could be some atrophy going on even though I haven't been bleeding yet so he started me on Premarin cream to see if that helps I am on the smallest dosage every night for 1 week then 2x per week after that I have to say that 3 days in no more urethra pain or stinging although everything else still feels like it's on fire and still quite red at times...I think I've had flares of this for years my last pap smear 2 years ago caused me to spot quite a bit for almost a week and it hurt afterwards also ...I'm nervous of using the cream but at this point I need relief

paisley, I was diagnosed with atrophy 3 years ago and was prescribed hormone cream. As I was having no discomfort other than during internal exams I decided to let my body age naturally, particularly as my sister had used HRT and was in stage 4 breast cancer at the time. So here I am 3 years later having been diagnosed with LS which my new gyn says was brought on by too little estrogen. Am now using estradiol cream for the AV and a medium strength steroid for the LS. I don't see any other options and I think you will conclude the same.

Three years ago I thought the Mona Lisa laser was an option if the AV got progressively worse, but I've lost my faith in that.

My vulva has plumped up and appears fairly normal. Have a slightly rough & sensitive area on the perineum (LS). My biggest problem is slight BV that comes and goes. GYN says that is caused by fluctuating estrogen. For the most part I feel I'm doing all I can.

Went for my yearly physical today and asked my doc for a thyroid test and a more accurate test for diabetes. Am going to have to be more on the top things now. The GP is also is convinced the hormone cream is safe to use.

It's great that you are responding so quickly to the hormone cream. It started to annoy me a bit after a couple of months so I now add a dab yeast cream to it with each application. We are all different and have to feel our way, report symptoms to the doc and make adjustments. There certainly is not any one size fits all in this world!

Hi Beverley I tried replens 3x a week and coconut oil , olive oil , vitamin e and these used to work but not this time ...I am finding that I am very red and swollen its not the cream as this happened before i started the cream some days are worse than others but I start using the cream 2x per week as of next week so I will wait and see how it goes the doctor who prescribed this actually called today to see how I'm doing and told me to go back in if I'm unsure of anything so I was quite impressed with that ...I look forward to getting my new family gp soon and talking with her about all my options

Hi Paisleygirl. I think that is the way it goes. Natural oils worked for me from a while but then the dryness got too much and I had to use estrogen cream. That in fact worked very well for me and within 2 weeks I was moist and healthy down there - also made my privates look much younger!

Hi Paisleygirl

i am very impressed by your caring doctor calling and checking to see how you are doing with the cream. It appears that with VA we need the estrogen creams or Vagifem and appears that we will need them for life.  

Hi paisleygirl.   Im on the Estriol cream at moment and because I had a small break i started to bleed so ive gone back on it.   i used the cream last night and so far no bleed just brown stains .  But my doc wants me back on Vagifem after about 3 months

Ruth my doctor years ago talked about vagifem but I was scared to go that route ...I don't have much pain with sex we have always used extra lube but I'm also dealing with pfd and I'm in pelvic floor physio and doing great this redness and swelling and burning just started a couple of months ago and one area in particular feels sore just at the vaginal opening so hoping this cream does the trick I'm sick of being in pain

Yes I was really shocked as he's not my doctor just a walk in clinic doctor I'm on a list for a new family doctor and have been told we are matched with one but it will be about 6 weeks or so before we get to see her ....so if I don't see an improvement in a few weeks I won't hesitate to call him

Wow! I'd be impressed by a call from the doc also! I am quite reluctant to call them, but force myself to when things start to really feel wrong. 

Saw my GP yesterday for my yearly physical which consisted of review of blood panel and my discussing AV and particularly the LS with him, use of hormones and steroid. The gyn failed to send him the info so it was up to me to bring it up (more sloppy work from the gyn office). GP was on board with everything and surprised me with his knowledge of LS. 

I also mentioned the Mona Lisa treatment and like the gyn he thinks lasers and sensitive skin are a bad combo. Think he puts lasers in the fad category. I know some women who post here have been helped by it, but it seems they need constant maintenance and I'm sure my insurance wouldn't cover it as they have a $400 copay for hormone cream!

I continue to use compounded estradiol cream nightly, but things look better than they feel. Today I have a somewhat raw feeling at the vag entrance where I apply the cream along with yeast cream. Yesterday I felt fine. Would love a little consistency. 

I continue to use coconut oil as a vag suppository and the steroid twice a week. Am not entirely comfortable using the hormones or the steroid, but there are no other options that I can find. I've tried dietary changes in the past that did nothing.

Here's hoping we aging women find a solution. 

Hey Beverly, with regard to speculum use for PAP smears, I found this email I got from my consultant in Oxford a few years ago:

current advice from the sexual medicine department in Oxford:

"In the future there are plans to replace smear screening with a HPV swab.......but this is still a few years off I believe so for the time being the speculum is still needed.”

ruth, I have wondering what was going on with you. Nothing too serious I hope. Do let is know when you can.

Take care.