I'm having pH issues so I've put this post here under 'vaginal dryness' because it's linked.
The pH changes have been pretty significant for me, but I'm so early that they've not tested me yet so no HRT and it's months' wait for a referral (3 months so far). About 15 months ago, I got night sweats, then they went. I got similar symptoms to gall stones and a few other things so they did all sorts of other tests and put it down to (early ish, but not early enough to be called 'early') peri-menopause at 39. Now, I have:
- a reaction to my own sweat so I have to use sudocreme on my underarms every night
- minor vaginal dryness, thankfully not noticeably so for my sex life (though my libido is well down)
- itchy skin, everywhere
- Periodic Limb Movement (flailing limbs in your sleep, linked to restless leg syndrome) flare ups and occasionally restless legs (though the latter isn't really that bad, PLM keeps my husband up)
- and now cystitis. I was prone to it as a youngster, so I'm very scared of it because it had such a huge impact on me at college and uni. Particularly now because I have an hour's drive home from work and the public toilets are seasonal. I drove home with a plastic bag on my seat and I had to go in the bushes in a layby. Its so traumatic. I'd rather have the night sweats again.
I dont even have any friends in the same position because I'm so young.
The PLM and Cystitis flared within 24 hours of one another which was odd, there seems to be no other link but menopause.
My plan with the OBGYN team was a combined coil and HRT based plan. Since symptoms have increased, I requested an NHS referral to initiate the plan. To do that I called the GP, they texted me with a self-referral number which I called. They told me because my coil is not for contraception reasons I had to call my GP back and ask THEM to refer me (what a joke). They did that and I got a letter two months later 'we're sorry for the delay' ...I have to admit I am VERY angry with the NHS team. The NHS claim to be patient-centric but I work in a public facing industry and I had to do everything myself. No one said 'I'll contact your GP for you and sort this' no one said 'are you ok?' no one said 'do you need help with this?' and what a waste of my GP's time. I should have just lied. I'll remember next time. But that's not a patient centric service, they didnt offer me anything and have asked me to do everything.
Anyway, it seems I cant solve the issue until the NHS solve theirs.
Vaginal dryness and pH changes apparently lead to better environment for faecal bacteria which can then lead to cystitis so I'm living in permanent fear of another bout which is further affecting my sex life and I can't do anything more about it.
Suffice it to say I'm not having a great time this weekend.