Burning and stinging down bellow

[Itiswhatitiss]

I’m 51 and had no period for 18 months hence then post menopausal.
I notice in last few years, when had sex, it burned a bit upon entry however I brushed it off ( tests always negative, no issues otherwise)
Now fast forward some years and since July it burns badly, especially when having sex, also get now hot flashes/ night sweats started too around that time.
Also I have to pee more often now.
Does it sound like vaginal atrophy?
I used Canesten last night as I was thinking maybe it could be bit of thrush, the pain to even insert it in was shocking, burning stinging pain.
So what to do now?
Even sitting hurts now.
No discharge or anything, just burning/ stinging.
When I pee it feels very hot in there too.
Anyone has same? I wil l contact gp but I thought I would ask here first.

I had similar symptoms in my early 50s, and yes it does sound like VA. Talk to your GP about HRT as it really helps.
Even if you can't (or prefer not to) take HRT they can prescribe an oestrogen cream for your vagina that helps with VA. Also look at ph-neutral moisturisers such as YES and hyaluronic acid gel for the vagina.
It all helps improve plump up the skin which becomes very thin and dry in the area due to lack of oestrogen.
I hope you get some relief because I found the whole thing very depressing as well as painful.

My VA was like that - a bit like thrush, a bit like a UTI, poor new DH was scared to touch me, it was intolerable - and was fixed in days and forever by oestrogen cream.

You can buy Gina OTC, or get it prescribed.

Loads of people use it without being on HRT.

(My menopausal gynae diagnosed it in seconds and said “at our stage we just something to toughen us up down there”. My how we laughed.)

Thank you, yes it’s really bad.
I don’t want hrt at all but hoping for some estrogen cream etc from gp.
I ordered meanwhile some menopause gel from boots, lots of good reviews for an identical issue so will see.

Very normal. My gp (a woman about my own age) told me I’d probably get this sort of thing, and to come and get treatment at the first sign. I’ve been on vagifem ever since - just a little pessary, I don’t need to mess around with creams.

Ohh thank you. Yes I can’t even touch it.

You poor thing.
It makes me quite cross that a lot of women suffer unnecessarily rather than the system being a bit more proactive like my gp warning me. I was able to just get the first appointment available when I started getting symptoms (nothing like as bad as what you describe), go in and tell the (young male) doctor I needed treatment and that was that - no need for an examination. You might be able to get sorted out over the phone.

Definitely get some estrogen cream from your GP @Itiswhatitiss . Might be worth also checking for UTI.
Use the cream every day for the first couple of weeks and you should see am improvement quickly.

Get your bone density checked before ruling out HRT all together..

I'm like this - but am late 30s, so not post menopausal, any chance it could be similar?