Really sore vulva

[newnamenellie]

I'm 46 and I think I'm entering peri menopause (based on recent weird periods and breast pain).

I've had a sore vulva for about a week now. It's not itchy and there's no discharge, but it feels sort of dry and irritated. The best way to describe the sensation is like thrush without the itch or the discharge.

I think this is similar to something I had about 18 months ago and I saw a GP who could find nothing wrong and it eventually went away by itself.

I have a face to face GP appointment next week to discuss breast pain in my last cycle, so I will definitely ask about the sore vulva then, but it's really starting to get me down.

I posted on the Menopause board the other day as I'm wondering if this is hormone related?

My other concern is that it could be linked to a possible lost tampon, but I have been checked by a nurse and can't find anything myself, so will have to assume that there is no lost tampon and the soreness is down to something else.

Are there any products I could try?

Google vaginal atrophy and menopause. But yes your GP can prescribe Ovestin oestrogen cream to be used internally and / or Vagifem. You can also use hormone free Replens on the days in between - you can buy this or get it on prescription. But for me personally I needed to use HRT (oestrogel and utrogestan) as well to really sort things out.

@Bagelsandbrie thanks for replying. I have looked at VA and think it may be this.

May I ask if this is something which continues throughout the month or just at certain times when hormone levels are off. This started at the end of my last period and seems to be feeling worse as the days go by.

I agree with @Bagelsandbrie.

It's caused by the lowering of your oestrogen levels, and it can make your nethers very sore. You need Ovestin cream or Vagifem pessaries. You may need to specifically ask your doctor for it, as not all doctors are up to speed on menopause issues.

Make sure that you do the initial loading dose of every day for two weeks, then you'll be able to work out how much you need to use weekly from then on to keep yourself comfortable.

In the meantime, get some 1% hydrocortisone cream from your chemist, it's an over the counter medicine. My GP recommended it to me for external discomfort, and it worked. Also some Replens or similar for internally. It should help you until your appointment next week.

We cross posted there. Yes, it can continue throughout the month. You do need to treat it as unfortunately it will get worse if you don't.

Oh the joys of being perimenopausal

@DramaAlpaca indeed!

To be honest, the whole peri thing seems to have come about quite suddenly (assuming this is it). I had a very short period the cycle before last then had unusual (for me) one sided breast pain which lasted throughout that period and then for two weeks at which point I got another period (on cycle day 17 - normally around 25/26). the breast pain disappeared then and that period was pretty normal, apart from not being able to find a tampon which I was sure I'd put in!

Anyway, my vulva started to be sore after my period ended and has now been like this for around 9 days. The skin doesn't look particularly inflamed I don't think, but then I don't know what to look for.