What is this fresh hell? Menopause

[faithfultoGeorgeMichael]

I woke up at 4am with a huge boil on my labia - it is AGONY. I can't think about anything else, its throbbing and I want to cry!

My mum said "oh yeah, it's menopause" WTF mother?! Why didn't you warn me? (and what good would that possibly have done?)

Is there anything beyond compresses and morphine that can help me?

Fuck menopause, fuck the patriarchy and fuck this fucking boil to hell.

Not sure it's a menopause thing. Never heard of that one.

I used to get them when I was a smoker so painful. No extra advice. Solidarity

I have had these. They are generally slightly bigger than a pea - and really painful. But I find over a few days they get bigger and bigger - then the slightest touch and they explode and are gone immediately. They don't refill again like a normal spot would.

Hopefully over the next few days it will go. I get one every 6 months or so.

I doubt it’s a menopause thing. Women get allsorts of stuff throughout their life

Hot compress, preferably with Epsom salts. It will draw it and it will burst, which will ease it immediately. I do find a bit of gentle massage can help, too.

Horrible things - I get one every few months or so and have for about 5 years or so.

Hot compress to draw the fluids out, a then honestly I would just sterilise a sewing needle and pop it.

Ah, I would try and draw it out OP. Or use a sterilised pin.

For those saying it's not a meno thing, these do become more common because of changes to the skin.

I started getting boils in that area. I ended up with a tube of fuciderm - tropical antibiotic cream - and that ended up being the lifeline. I had to interrupt the cycle of the bacteria. I don’t get them anymore.
What I would say is absolutely amazing to keep your bit down there moist and healthy is Naydaya Victory Oil. It’s a lifesaver.

Fuck. I think it is a Bartholin's cyst

Thanks for alerting me to this new, degrading level of agony, plumbing new depths of meno rage jere

Fuck menopause, fuck the patriarchy and fuck this fucking boil to hell.

Ah so sorry OP but this did make me cackle. Yeah sorry but hot compresses as hot as you can stand are the only thing that helped me. Magnesium paste helps boils erupt but not sure if thats safe to put in that area

God these are special sort of pain. I got them often during puberty. They hurt like fuck if you don’t mess with them, but the pain after trying to squeeze one is something else. I used a sterilised pin on mine. Infinite amount of pus, but instantly relieved the pain.

I had one when I was in my 20’s and agree get to the gp, I ended up having mine operated on and the wound stitched opened to drain.

Its my birthday at the weekend and I am off to a very very fancy hotel and spa. I never go anywhere fancy and now THIS ERUPTS!!!
I have MS so enough on my fucking plate frankly.
Thanks for the advice - I will try EVERYTHING and if it all fails AMUPUTATION seems the best solution. Just get rid of it all once and for all 😣

I had these nasties a few times before I went through menopause. They definitely weren't related to menopause in my case. I had one when DD3 was a baby, and that was five years before I stopped having periods.

I used to press a hot flannel on them to burst them. I started taking garlic capsules which seemed to keep them at bay.

Hi, OP - I'm the survivor of two bartolin's abscesses (which they become once the cyst is infected, sounds like yours is given the pain you are in). I have advice for you!

1. To determine whether that's likely what you've got, a minor labial cyst will be the size of a pea and could be anywhere inside or outside your vulval lips. Bartolin's abscess will be more like a tangerine, possibly larger, and very definitely on the inside, over to one side.
2. You need an urgent gynae referral. Either via your GP or go to urgent care, but do it today.
3. Do not be fobbed off with antibiotics. They won't work. The only way to fix this is to have it surgically resolved. When I had mine, they were treated as urgent. I got surgery the day after the referral.
4. Good news! The recovery is (or was, for me) straightforward, both times. The pain was gone from the moment I came round.
5. in the meantime, you might find some relief lying on your side. I did with my first one, not with my second.

If you're sure it's a bartolin's, you have my deepest sympathy. It is hands down the most painful thing I've ever experienced. Anyone who is telling you to just suck it up has clearly never had one, because they are utterly excruciating.

Let me know if you have any questions!

This is good advice.

Urgh agree they are not down to menopause. Had one about 4 weeks ago and have had another 3 over the last 25 years (they're so bloody painful I can remember each one!). I can't sit down, walk, drive, or even sleep comfortably due to the weight ofthe duvet with them.

Couple of them I squeezed - was SO painful but immediate relief. The last one just appeared overnight and then kept swelling up and was huge, I went to see GP and it says 2-3cm in my medical records. They gave me antibiotics and it took a few days to fo down but there is still a pea sized hard bit (which i am leaving well alone!). GP was very insistent to go back immediately if it didn't go down or I started to feel unwell. As its almost impossible to see a GP at my doctors and it was the third day I'd tried for an emergency appointment , I'm assuming they were taking it seriously. GP said Bartholins cyst. Was hideous at the time, hope you improve soon and see if you can get antibiotics before Saturday.

Could be a bartholins cyst which needs urgent medical treatment

Sounds like a Bartholin's cyst, common in pregnancy not just menopause.

bartholins cyst

I had one of these type of cyst and the nurse thought it was due to me cycling. I was told hot compresses and it went away fairly quickly - couple of days.

if its a boil though wouldn't it be much bigger? or has it become infected?

I once got this after a walking holiday. Hurt like hell! Try applying a hot flannel every half hour as long as you can. This and a hot bath helped allow mine to pop the next day and the relief was instant.

They also don't tell you when it will end.

Age: 62
Gender: Female
Identifies as: Pissed Off. Very Pissed Off.

@faithfultoGeorgeMichael I had one of these on Monday, I popped it in the bath and it released a small hard ball with lots of blood

I wanted to keep the ball in a jar but my family weren’t keen 😂

Just to say, if you are sitting in a bath, don't just add salt to the water as a bath will really dissipate it. Instead get in and grab your pack/container or Saxa Salt (we are not wasting the good Maldon Salt on this) and pour it onto and around the affected area, this is a much more efficient way of doing it.