Please share positive experiences of treatment for vaginal atrophy symptoms

[FergoMcFergFace]

I joined the Vaginal Atrophy group on Facebook and while there's plenty of useful info on there, it's also a firepit of poor women who've been suffering for years with little relief. 😩

I find it really upsetting and I need someone to tell me to get a grip and/or give me some positive stories of successful treatment.

I've been backwards and forwards to the doctors for the past eight months with vaginal dryness and I'm in the middle of a major flare up of vaginal soreness.

I have a doctor's appointment in less than two weeks but in the meantime, I'm only using Hydromol because everything else stings.

I've only tried Blissel so far but both times I tried it, I had an awful reaction by day seven. Estriol is my next option.

Thank you if you got this far!

Estriol cream all the way! My main symptom was extremely frequent weeing day and night - getting up 4 or 5 times in the night at one point 🙄 I also felt the structure of everything had changed down there and I was having difficulty orgasming

I got vaginal oestrogen cream from my GP. Chuck away the plastic applicator and just insert using your finger. Rub all around your external tissues as well. It took about 2 months to really kick in but all my symptoms have got so much better and everything feels much more comfortable. I use it 2-3 times a week and will do forever more!

Oh that's great, thank you for replying. Did you have any soreness while you got used to it?

I know exactly what you mean about the structure too - I didn't spend a great deal if time looking at it when it was healthy and oestrogen-rich, but I'm certain it didn't look like it does now!

No soreness, no reaction to the cream at all. It feels putting a lovely rich body lotion on dry skin!

I use Estriol cream too after I noticed some withering of flesh. It's really good, made a massive difference immediately.

Extremely painful sex sent me to the GP who prescribed Vagifem pessaries immediately. Swift improvement on soreness and frequent urination on the loading dose, but things slipped back very quickly using it three times a week.

GP took advice from the Gynae Department at our local hospital, who said it would be dangerous to use more often, so I went to see Louise Newson, who thought that was rubbish and wrote to the GP to tell her so.

I have now been using Vagifem, or the generic equivalent, every day for the last eight years. I don't know what sex would be like now as DH is in treatment for advanced prostate cancer and it is permanently off his agenda now.

Gynae put me on a regime of vagifem...insert one pessary nightly for two weeks then twice a week thereafter. This worked for years until a back injury meant I couldn't insert the pessary for about three months. I had a massive flare up of atrophy symptoms which didn't settle until I was given estriol cream. Absolute game changer...I was amazed at how quickly it helped. Now I use the pessaries twice a week and rub the estriol all round the external tissues nightly.

I was telling my friend about this and recommending the cream as it seems to plump everything up down there. Oh great she says....my fanny will end up looking younger than my face! 😀

Vagifem worked.

Estriol is the answer. Splash it on everywhere in the between legs. Inside and out. Will make a huge difference.

Estriol. Liberally. Daily. Inside and out.

Don't use the applicator.

I use Gina and have been on it for over two years (after getting advice on this very forum). I was getting bleeding if I went for a long walk, I'd had pain on intercourse for a year or so before but then found myself single so this wasn't part of the issue, but I was getting sore when horse riding or cycling.

Everything feels much better now - can't vouch for the sex at all but all my other issues are gone.

Estriol cream is a life-saver (or a vagina-saver if you will). Gave me back my fanny, my clitoris, and my sex life. Can’t rate it highly enough. It hasn’t gone back to what I had at thirty, let’s be realistic, but god, it’s bloody close.

Oestrogen cream 100% - you can buy it OTC as "Gina" and if it helps get it prescribed. I do have one friend who struggled with it and has the pessaries instead but Ovestin worked brilliantly for me. Slather it in and on, I do use the applicator, personal preference.

Some people put it on the bags under their eyes too apparently, plumps up the skin there nicely, but that is absolutely not recommended.

Vaginal and vulval oestrogen as either/and a cream, pessary, estring or dhea pessary are the only things that are going to work for VA.

You can use the cream much more than twice a week.

I'd recommend a month or so of probiotics designed to treat thrush (ie to keep the vagina acidic) as well as if you have VA your vagina is likely to be more alkaline than if should be due to lack of oestrogen.

Thank you so much everyone who's replied. ❤️ You've been the antidote to the vagina apocalypse I was reading about this morning.

I'm really sorry about your husband's cancer diagnosis. ❤️ Glad you've found some relief though.

Thanks - I'll look into the probiotics.

Theres a really knowledgable poster called @JinglingSpringbells Who advised on another thread and really helped people, I would see if she has any advice. 🌻

Thank you @Jerrybalanitis . Yes, she is very helpful - we've interacted on another thread.

The pessaries really helped and actually turned it around completely for me. I was getting a UTI every fortnight before and had literally no sensation at all.

It started to get painful to have sex..... My GP Prescribed Estriol cream and it has helped immensely.

I had a loading dose to start with everyday for two weeks. Now I just use twice per week. Since then I've also started using HRT patches and I'm still also using the estriol. It's great to feel more like myself again!

@FergoMcFergFace Is there anything I can add?
I know we talked on a similar thread recently.

I think I suggested that Blissel is a water based gel and for whatever reason you might be allergic to something in it.

You can by estradiol cream over the counter (I think Tesco stock it) and although it's £20, that is maybe worth it if you're waiting for an NHS appt.

It's called OVESSE - there is a website for it.

It would last you about 4 weeks, doing the daily dose for 2 weeks, then less after that. So £5 a week.

I think I said then too that if you are so sore anything might sting.
I know this sounds harsh but you've got to persevere - just a tiny dab each day and see how it goes.

It makes me cross that you weren't given this on first report. Bad enough with systemic hrt ignorance but many more women would benefit from topical oestrogens and early doors nips a whole range of problems in the bud. Would save the NHS a fortune on treating UTIs. Grrr.

What she said ⬆️

Im book marking for reference.

My Gynae consultant prescribed Dermovate ointment and it cleared up the itching and soreness within a few days. I was advised to apply 3 times a week to keep symptoms at bay and my GP provides my prescription. He also said it was an auto immune condition and would affect me for life.

This was 3 years ago when I was late 50’s.

HOWEVER, I’ve been taking Mounjaro weight loss injections for a year now and completely stopped using the dermovate about 10 months ago and my gynae issues have completely disappeared. It’s a bloody miracle. !!!!

I keep meaning to mention it to my GP, so I’ll try to remember to do this at my next general bloods check up.