vaginal dryness

BUNKIE10

It has been awhile for me but wanted to report on my findings.

The cetiphil body wash gives me a rash. I also can not use the bar soap down there. I have given up and am using vasaline to wash the area. I know it is petrolelum based so I use it sparingly. I have been on cenestin low dose HRT for the last 15 years. I started after my hystorectomy. My BC was not ER or PR positive so my BC dr allowed me to continue the use. Well the manufacturer just stopped making it so now I have to start looking for something else. I can not use a patch because I am allergic to adhesives. The dr ordered some creme for me to try but have not started it yet. I am bummed because that low dose was helping with my osteoporous symptoms from being on daily steroids for 7 years. Life is starting to really tick me off again. As far as sex that is also no fun. I am going to go back and read this thread again to get some ideas. At 62 I feel like I am 80.

Cmo65

I know this thread is old but I'll take a chance... Is the pain from having the ovaries shut down? Does this happen to every woman? I just turned 50

2Tabbies

Yes, it's the loss of estrogen that causes the problems. The vaginal tissues dry out and shrink. I guess it's not bad for everyone, but it sure is for a lot of us.

Gaye-Doreen

I found a new one called Creme de la Femme that is awesome by Amazing Solutions. MUCH better than Replens. Price is more reasonable as well. None of that drippy, goopy feel either. This has seriously helped me with vaginal atrophy from Aromatase inhibitors

Gaye-Doreen

Silicon lubes are the best - far better than the water based ones. I recently found another called Creme de la Femme by Amazing Solutions - kind of like Replens but much better. The big thing is that you have to use all of those replenishing creams at least 3 times a week and it takes away any spontaneity because it takes so much planning to get you there. But I have finally stopped bleeding when having sex. Still working on the no pain thing but might never happen. Heartbreaking! Oncology doc could not care less

Gaye-Doreen

Blessed - you are not alone! This is all so frustrating and I get so tired of the doctors saying - hey, be glad you're alive. Buit darn it, what the heck kind of life is it if the quality is pathetic? Sex is a huge part of a marriage or relationship and there HAS to be some better answers than "just deal with it". I find it so offensive that they can sit there and say that. They are not in our shoes.

lisagwa

I read somewhere about the Mona Lisa procedure but don't know much about it except that it helps.

nottoday

So glad to find this thread. I had posted about this problem elsewhere, but had not gotten any suggestions. "Be glad you're alive?" Seriously? We need some solutions here. I'll try Creme de la Femme, even though that name is ridiculous. Big Pharma: where are you when we need you?

lisagwa

I am having problem finding a store that sells creme de la femme. where do you buy this?

nottoday

I bought both creme de la femme and key e suppositories from Amazon. I tried creme de la femme once and the suppositories twice. The creme is a little goopy for me. The suppositories have worked well so far. Can't tell you how much I appreciate all of your suggestions!

lisagwa

Thanks for the info. I know we arent health care professionals but here's another personal question. Should I be concerned if there is some spots of blood on toilet paper directly after sex? I used astroglide but it doesnt work well. Could the spotting be because of irritation?

amylsp

Hi lisagwa, I've had spotting like that as well. In my case, it is just irritation and usually happens when I don't 'warm up' the area properly. If the bleeding persists or gets worse, definitely have it checked by you GYN. I use virgin coconut oil in addition to 'Sliquid' all natural lube, which works pretty well for me.

Mommado

I'm so glad to have found this thread! Sex has been painful for awhile now but last night it was impossible. My onco put me on vagifem estrogen inserts - since they don't go into the bloodstream she felt ok with it with my cancer, but it hasn't helped. Since last night I've been reading about vaginal atrophy and help for it and went out and got Luvena. Praying it helps. I feel like I suffer through sex, get a UTI then a yeast infection from the antibiotic then it all starts over again. Now I can't even have intercourse. I'm only 47 and my husband is only 50 - its too soon to loose sex. He's amazing though, he said it's fine and he loves me no matter what....

BUNKIE10

Momado - let me know if anything works for you. I have some vaginal creme also but it is not doing much.

ShetlandPony

Vaginal moisturizer (replens) at least once a week, silicone lubricant for intimacy, and go slow. Cranberry pills after. That's my formula.

vettegirl

I had a paps mear last week and about jumped off the table when the gyno inserted his instrument-it hurt that bad.  He says I have to discuss with my MO as MO has to decide if I can use any estrogen creams-MO says discuss with gyno...gees.  I have tried replens-it works okay but you have to use it very frequently for it to help.  Lubes only help some.  It is pretty sad that they have no real solution for us   I had him run blood work on my estrogen levels-waiting on the results.  Then-I will look into further.  I want to see how much estrogen my body is making naturally, despite my letrozole.

ShetlandPony

I read somewhere that if you have always had normal PAP tests, you can add an HPV test and then not have a test every year. My gynecologist said that would be fine for me. (I forget how many years off I get.) So that might be something to ask about if you want to avoid the yearly test.

grandma3X

has anyone tried Mona Lisa Touch? I was looking into this due to menopause dryness but then was diagnosed and put it on the back burner until after surgery. Is it as effective as they claim?

ShetlandPony

Here are two threads about it.

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/150/topic...

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/80/topics...

HomeMom

That was a real mixed bag of outcomes.

new2bc

I had hysterectomy and ooph two months ago. Has anyone tried Albolene for vaginal dryness?

new2bc

I had hysterectomy and ooph two months ago. Has anyone tried Albolene for vaginal dryness? Is it safe?

wallycat

I've been using olive oil. My gyn practitioner said all the conferences she goes to say coconut oil is less irritating.

Since i've used the olive oil, I have had no issues with pap smears or feeling pain/dryness.

doxie

I found coconut oil to work really well until I broke out in hives. That's not likely with most people. Tried cocoa butter and it worked well blended with olive oil until hives again. I should have seen that coming because eating too much chocolate gives me a rash.

Now I use 2/3 Shea butter blended with 1/3 olive oil vaginally. Externally I use olive oil. Almost a year now, so hopefully I'll not have another allergic reaction.

TwoHobbies

I just found this thread. It's always nice to know that we are in this together, but yes it sure is horrible. The first thing I will say is see your gynecologist. I have found that mine is more helpful than the MO. If you don't have one who wants to help, find another! I have had some pretty good success, so I will share my whole routine. As I say pretty good, but not enough that I'm still not interested in what others are doing/using! I'm not saying my info is new either. Others have mentioned these things, but I thought it might be a comprehensive list of what worked for me. I am a recurrence, so everyone is very reluctant to prescribe any of the estrogen things that might actually help, and even though I was tempted, my DH said no.

Vaginal moisture replenishment - I am using hyalofemme. There is another similar product called hyalogyn being studied at Memorial Sloan Kettering. The hyalofemme I get on amazon and it is the same ingredients but cheaper. I think this may work better than Replens, which I used at first. It's still messy when it comes out, but I just use a pantiliner day 2, Use this frequently for the first month or so, now I'm down to two or three times a week. Every day I use organic virgin coconut oil. Coconut oil is solid until 76 degrees or so if your house/room is warmer than that, you'll have to store in the fridge. I just grab a glob on the end of my finger and insert and apply externally too. I have used the Carlson Key E suppositories. These are also nice, but more expensive so I never re-ordered. My theory of using the moisture and oil both is think of your external skin. You need something to add moisture and something to prevent the moisture from evaporating. ?

Soap - I also had stinging with body wash. I've had no problem with Body Shoppe shower cream.

Dilators - After instant Lupron menopause, the pain was so bad I couldn't even have sex so I had to use dilators. Use several times a week and slowly increase diameter.

Lube - I use astroglide inside me, and a silicon based on DH.

UTIs: My ob/gyn prescribed preventative antibiotics. I take one the night of sex and one pill the next morning. This has blissfully worked!

Lidocaine: My gyn also gave me lidocaine gel 2%. After using the dilators, I told her I still have pain - do I need further dilation. She said she'd be able to tell upon exam and the answer was I was fine. She said you get vaginnismus from the anticipation of pain and gave me this lidocaine gel. I haven't used this, because just knowing what the cause was has helped me, but I thought I'd mention it for those still having problems.

Yes its a lot of work.

luckylegs64

Has anyone heard of Thermiva? The reports on this procedure - noninvasive and NO down time seem to good to be true!

Smurfette26

I use Organic Virgin Coconut Oil twice a day. It works well for me.

debiann

Replens helped me a lot. Also, for a lube, Astroglide has a product called Diamond that is fantastic. It is not messy or drippy and it doesn't leave you feeling sticky. Afterwards your skin feels soft and silky. My DH loves it too.

LRGO2016

Wow! I'm not alone! Surgical menopause at age 43 left me with NO sex drive, vaginal dryness, painful intercourse, occasional vaginal tearing, very limited orgasim ability (orgasim are essentially impossible or so elusive that I give up). Vagifem has helped a little. But not enough to be honest.

Where do you get coconut oil suppositories? Do you ask the pharmacist for them? I never heard of this before! And olive oil? Do you put it inside the vaginal or just on the labia? Boy do I want to learn what works!

I feel so guilty that I'm no longer interested in sex. We had such a wonderful sex life before surgery but now it is a nearly nonexistent. Worrying about the pain and drying out mid act, I think keeps me from reaching orgasim.

I want my sex life back!

AliceS

LARO--I tried Replens for a week---and didn't do the trick. Someone posted to use it for 2 weeks. I decided to try again--this time used it for FIVE weeks. Was very skeptical, so extremely happy when it worked! Worth a try! Good luck.