AIBU to wish I had known sooner about vaginal oestrogen cream?

[Seriestwo]

I am nearer 60 than 50 and have had lots of UTIs and vaginal dryness for ages. Peeing stinged, wiping was sometimes painful. I have been on HRT for about 10 years. Mentioned it in passing to GP who gave me cream in an applicator and you must know about it! Within 2 weeks I was so much better and comfortable. I hadn’t realised how uncomfortable it was.

if you are paying for your HRT
you can get a NHS pre pay prescription for HRT for £20 for a year and you can get up to 9 HRT items every month

I use this estradiol cream and intrarosa along with HRT

after getting chronic uti for 18 months
within a week of starting it they stopped and I haven’t had a single one since 2 years on

It’s worked wonders making my vulva and vagina plump and moist so can’t do any harm on my face. Several health care professionals on social media recommend it. I don’t spend enough time studying my face to tell you for sure but my lips feel plumper.
the evidence for UTIs and dryness is overwhelming and I think women should be handed it out after 40. There would be fewer days off / hospital admissions over time for UTIs and even fracture. I read that many hip fractures are due to older women dashing to the toilet. Then there’s pelvic organ prolapse. A lot of late life trouble could be warded off I reckon. But here in midlife it’s a tremendous boost to your sex life and wellbeing.

Though I do have a long-term urinary condition, this was a life changer for me. I was advised to use it for a period of weeks every night, then I changed to twice weekly. If symptoms returned, do a long treatment again

I use Ovesse you can get in Boots but you have to do a consultation with them.

That is my method also. Much easier and quicker and no cleaning the applicator either. Sorry TMI (but in the interests of passing on info!) I use finger instead of the applicator. I'm late 60s so am using it primarily to stop weeing every five minutes and UTI prevention. So by massaging the bone between vagina and the front it really helps the urethra and the wee bits down there. Obviously you can go in higher if you want, I don't need to, my method works for me. I also smear a bit all around the vulva too, just to be sure ha ha!

Can’t have women fingering and rubbing their vulvas now can we🤔

Agreed the applicator is a faff and likely to become a barrier to consistent use. Finger much better. Rub it in a bit inside and out to include labia, urethra etc. apparently you don’t need to go far in. (TMI but bum hole too if you ever get tearing / discomfort around there). It really is a multi purpose miracle.

Yes, half and half mixed with normal moisturiser. Game changer!

I can’t have HRT due to cancer but do use Estriol cream. Very safe and life changing.

Ovestin here. Seems to absorb well.

It’s a cream rather than gel. Very low dose and doesn’t enter the system in significant quantities.
Might be worth interrogating the idea that you can’t take systemic HRT. Practice in this area is changing. Studies of long term HRT users are showing a lower incidence of breast cancer.

If you have to get GP to prescribe this, do they need to have a rummage down there or do they accept your word it’s all a bit grim!

I got a lot of breast cysts when on HRT so came off it as was worried, and they were also painful and had to have them drained on a reasonably regular basis.

My GP prescribed it over the phone. I said ‘apparently all menopausal women should use vaginal oestrogen’. He said, ‘ok I’ll add it to your prescription’. That was it.

Ovestin for me too.

Someone please correct me if I’m wrong

The only vaginal oestrogen cream available in the UK is 0.1% estriol (1mg/ml) which is either branded as

Ovestin (prescription only)
or
Ovesse (OTC about £18 a tube)

They are the same thing.

If I am grateful to Mumsnet for anything I am grateful to the person who told me about this.

I use Gina on a private prescription online, because I would have to wait an interminable time to see my GP who still might not prescribe (I've been told to 'just use lubricant' before now, but sex is not the issue). I use it twice a week in pessary form and it's made SO much difference. I'm single and couldn't care less about sex but I ride horses and bikes and run and walk a lot and I was getting sore and bleeding just from dryness and friction.

So much better now.

As someone who works in a pharmacy that has a lot of menopausal women as patients coming to collect their HRT meds, it baffles me how little the cream is dispensed when I see posts like this pointing out how life changing it can be. Do that many women just not need it, or are that many women completely unaware of its existence and what it can do for them because GPs are keeping it a big secret?

I don't have UTI's but find sex a bit uncomfortable, would it help with that

Literally! As Vaginal Atrophy is caused byow estrogen levels so its a matter of managing rather than resolving.

It is baffling how much of a "secret" this cream is. I got it from GP on prescription. I just asked for it and it wasn't an issue at all. I didn't have to have any exam (ugh) I just mentioned that I understood Ovestin was good for urinary urgency and atrophy and he had no hesitation in prescribing it.

It is a no brainer for GPs as it is not systemic HRT like the cyclical, gels, progesterone etc. and so forth (I never needed full on HRT at all). The cream is localised to the vagina/urethra etc. only, so therefore is safe for the vast majority of women, even those for whom full on HRT might not be advised.

However, ALWAYS check with your doc first, I can only speak for the general population, some may have problems with using it due to other health issues etc.

I have recently started on this and it has stopped me getting up so much in the night to pee which is amazing. I get itching too and that hasn’t resolved so i am trying a moisturiser alongside as I have been given the pessaries. If you get the cream or gel you can use those externally too. If the itching doesn’t go, I will ask to switch. I found out about it by listening to Davina on her podcast Begin Again talking to Dr Nighat Araf. Definitely worth a listen. I was telling my friend about it at the weekend and she hadn’t heard of it.

The pessary/ vaginal tablet option is estradiol

available as Gina OTC

Or Vagifem / vagirux on prescription, again it’s the same thing.

Estradiol is stronger than estriol (the creams) and as I said in a pp online pharmacy won’t let me have Gina as I’m on systemic HRT without speaking to my GP.

There are also gels, rings, and intrarosa which is a different product altogether - a hormone precursor.

Just to add, my GP did do an exam before prescribing, decided my cervix looked a bit funny and sent me for a colposcopy! She confirmed vaginal atrophy and said she would be happy to prescribe once I got the all clear from the hospital. Everything was fine but best to be safe than sorry. From what I have read not all Drs will examine you but if they do I agree as if there is anything wring I would rather know and catch it early. I think it was because I mentioned itching which can be caused by other things not just VA.

Yes.