Vaginal oestrogen help

[fbibones]

Any advice welcome! I started the cream and then got thrush which I treated. Next had a raging UTI, on my second course of antibiotics for it
could the oestrogen be causing the thrush? I feel like I should be using it because of the UTI…

if there is any typos, I can’t actually see my post because of a site glitch so bear with me…

I've been on Vagifem for over a decade with no problems. There are different brands so perhaps see if you can swap. A friend's been on it for twenty years and she’s been fine too. We call it 'our little blue tubes'.

I am so sorry you are going through this. I am posting because I am curious to see what advice you get.

I have had some terrible uti/thrush and have the pesseries but am too scared to start just in case it triggers another round of problems but at the same time I wonder if it will actually help the root cause.

So sorry I don’t have any advice to give you - only understanding of how awful these things make you feel.

I'm prone to thrush and was worried when I started Ovestin which is the cream. I've not had any problems.

Yeah I’ve used it well, done the loading dose then got thrush. Treated that and now the antibiotics for the UTI have given me thrush again so I don’t want to use the cream in case I got it again

My advice is you continue with the estrogen.
Thrush can be a short term side effect but it usually goes away and you can treat it with an oral capsule Diflucan.

The important thing is to use it long term to restore the right balance and this can take 3 months of more.

Annoyingly the oral capsules aren’t effective for me so I have to use the pessary
i will keep going though! The GP gave me 3 tubes so I have plenty and said just let them know if I’m ok with it and they will put it on repeat

As you age and natural oestrogen drops the ph of your vagina changes and becomes less acidic. This makes developing thrush more likely. I

I think suddenly introducing more oestrogen again can then trigger thrush because your vagina needs to be more acidic. This is my theory based on what happened to me.

What i did was take a systemic thrush tablet to make sure it was gone. I started taking optibac for women probiotics which I'd taken previously for thrush with good effect to get my vaginal ph back in the healthy acidic range.

No more thrush and able to use lots of lovely vaginal oestrogen without any issues

Once you've been using the vaginal oestrogen for a while then the ph should correct itself although I still take one of the probiotics every other day.

When you dropped down to twice a week after the initial loading did your symptoms get worse?

Lots of women need longer than a 2 week loading and/or more often than twice a week maintenance.

No, it was bad from the probably third use of it
I’m actually at gynae next week now as I’ve been referred on the 2 week pathway so will ask them too

I'm fine with the wee vaginal tablets, but get thrush from the cream.

Just wanted to tag into this thread after a PP mentioned the blue tubes. I'm a bit aghast at the amount of plastic waste that these produce, but I have seen a SM American video with tablets and a reusable applicator, the nurse who does my HRT doesn't think it's a thing here though?

I had almost constant UTIs and feelings of UTI until I started Estriol cream (formerly Ovestin). It’s been like a miracle. GP kept treating me for thrush. Didn’t have a clue it was all down to lack of estrogen during menopause. Shocking really. Hope you get some answers OP

Hmm that’s interesting. I feel like I am never out the GP at the minute! Might stick with the cream for a bit and see if it improves, if it doesn’t then I’ll ask about the tablets/pessaries

My last two prescriptions have been with 2 reusable applicators, so they do exist!

I have reusable applicators for the gel and vaginal tablets in UK.

Thank you, I'll ask them again. I've had a reusable applicator for the cream, but not for the tablets.

Vagirux pessaries come with a reusable applicator and the pessaries are in a blister pack.

I read somewhere that more GP's are prescribing those now rather than the preloaded ones (Vagifem?) as they're cheaper as well as more environmentally friendly.

So I woke up with a breast abscess today and had to get antibiotics, asked about pessaries while I was there
they said it was just the cream so I’ve pushed a bit and now have a prescription to pick up

These are what I’ve picked up

Exactly what I picked up today as well. Feeling hopeful.

Surely reusable applicators increase the risk of thrush. Little bits of water and cream hanging around getting fusty in parts of the tube you can't scrub, and all that.

This one for the tablets seems good, it says to use for the 24 tablets and discard after that, plus there is no cream or bits to get stuck, it’s just a tiny gap for the tablet

You can just put it on the end of your finger and push it up instead.