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.

Quite. You're only using it twice a week after the loading dose, it get absorbed by YOUR body and doesn't hang around up there. Unless you are having sex every hour or two, every day of the week - not a problem.

You mentioned that you have put up with this for 10 years. I’m not too sure when things really started to change on the menopause front, but when I started to go through it 15 years ago, I knew next to nothing! But I was getting a lot of dryness and the first doctor I saw put me on full HRT which he believed would allegedly solve this problem. I don’t know whether I would accept full HRT these days, in more enlightened times, but at the time my next doctor took me off it saying that I didn’t really need it just for a bit of vaginal dryness and a few hot flushes. She mentioned some over the counter stuff that I could use for the dryness. I did try this but it was so messy that I gave up.

I don’t know when oestrogen cream went mainstream. It was only when I tried having sex again when I reached 60 and it was so painful and I was actually bleeding, that I spoke to the practice nurse at my GP surgery. She tried to do a smear test just to check that nothing sinister was going onand couldn’t get the speculum in. It was only at that point that she prescribed me oestrogen cream. I have to say I didn’t continue with the sex but that’s a different story! Hi

Thank you for explanation.🌷

Oh one of those many joys of womanhood.

@Gabitule

Yes. I had the exact same problem - had three 6 month long fluconazole treatments over the course of 2-3 years which suppressed it but then it always returned.

Eventually got referred to a specialist thrush clinic at a local hospital. They took a swab and prescribed an anti fungal treatment that targeted the specific strain of thrush that was plaguing me. But the two real game changers were that they prescribed estriol cream, which I use twice a week, and they also advised washing the genital area with hydromol (I had been using plain water to avoid triggering thrush with soaps etc, but plain water is too drying). Between the hydromol and the estriol I have kept thrush at bay ever since (about 3 years). Good luck.

Maybe if more GPs were more aware of the treatment options for everyday women it wouldn’t be necessary? There are examples on this thread of drs not following NICE guidance for oestrogen treatments, and many women have to fight to try HRT. It’s far too common, women feel unheard by their doctors, and as a result Davina, Louise Newsome etc have a big impact.

Do you think this thread is stealth advertising? Pfft I don’t think so…

I went to town GP for something different and mentioned this while lmwas there - been on pessaries for 2 weeks then twice a week - too early to say but it no longer hurts when l wipe. Awful condition that l find awkward to talk about

Mine is a pill too, it’s so much better than the cream, much less messy.

It should continue to improve. If it doesn’t go back and try another. You shouldn’t have to suffer.

Everyone's been saying that history or risk of breast cancer isn't a concern for topical HRT, but on the warnings section on this page it says 'you may not be able to use' in that case or if you've had any other type of cancer. Is this just excessive arse-covering then?

God the pain of utis. I had 4 antibiotics. On vagifem a few months now. It helps. I could not go through another uti!

If you are noticing dryness, then it exists. I had it long before the menopause proper. I tried all the over-the-counter things, but only the hormonal cream sorted it. It doesn't make you 25 again, but I couldn't survive without it.

This is the sort of menopause education that we need. Not all these ‘menopause awareness’ initiatives, menopause groups at work, box-ticking blah blah blah. No, I don’t need my colleagues to know that I might need an open window and that I might open and shut it 15 times in the working day. No, I need - needed! - to know about vaginal oestrogen. Which is BTW another thing my male colleagues do not need to know. So frustrating that many of us don’t know about it until it’s too late and the deterioration cannot be reversed. (At least the discomfort can be cured, even if proper function can’t be restored.) So frustrating that many of us are refused treatment by GPs because we are “too young”.

My excellent female GP diagnosed peri while her male colleague dismissed it and prescribed me anti-depressants. She put me on HRT and it was life-changing. But even she did not talk to me about vaginal atrophy and tell me what to look out for. I worked out what my problem was thanks to Mumsnet!

Can anyone tell me how you clean the applicator though? Hot water doesn’t seem to get the cream out!

I was passed from hospital department to a different department with scans etc whilst taking antibiotics every couple of months for the UTI’s. Then a different GP (woman) suggested this may be the problem. It depresses me to think back how I was always waiting for a call back from the GP at work and struggling into work every day with a UTI when it was so unnecessary.

I have no idea how that awful giff got there. It’s quite worrying. I’ve tried to remove it myself but can’t so I’ve reported. I’d be grateful if you could do the same.

I have a jug I use only for cleaning them. I soak in boiled water and repeat until the water is clear and not cloudy from the cream residue. Takes very little time.

Thank you!

A narrow bottle brush, possibly designed for boba straws. I simply use it to scrub both parts with warm water and leave them to air dry. Each tube comes with a new applicator, so I bin the old one. Never had any issues as a result.

I have started using it but I feel like it’s giving me thrush?

@cupfinalchaos No!!!! I'm sure the info says do not use hot water.

The only part of the tube that needs cleaning is the outer tube. The inner tube doesn't touch your skin in the same way.

You can just hold both parts under a running tap and with a slow flow you can get the water into the tube(s) and it runs right through.

If you must clean it more than that just use a cotton bud or a scrunched piece of tissue in the end.

It' s not dirty anyway - it's just been inside you.

Did you look through your test results yourself? To be fair my GP also marked me as "no further action" but when I actually reviewed my own blood test results I noted that my FSH results were through the roof which is a sign of Peri and I went back to them and pointed this out and they then sent me to the specialist.

Just to update on this, if you’re using the applicator, you may be missing out on the benefits of the cream for your urethra, labia, clitoris and perineum in general so do consider applying there too.
And on the box warning for cancer - these have been scientifically debunked and some docs are campaigning to have them updated.

YANBU op. It has been life changing.

I went through surgical menopause. If I’d known about Ovesse from the start, I might not have had the problems I now have. Appalling that I’ve had to learn about it off TikTok!

It has not only reduced flare ups of Lichen Sclerosis and reduced urge incontinence, it has even improved my orgasms!

I just give the end of my applicator and tube a wipe with my finger after Ive cleaned it. My vagina and vulva aren’t that grubby. I am more concerned about not using it before sex as my husband’s penis doesn’t need extra oestrogen. I tend to apply it before getting dressed for that reason