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[rebecca]

I have been reading that both these technologies have a high success rate for VA.
As a VA sufferer for 5 years, I have been reading mixed reviews on a site where women have tried the Mona List Touch in the USA..

Has anyone had any personal experiences with Mona Lisa or ThermiVa they can share?
Thanks
Rebecca

[Taz2]

Hi rebecca - if you use the search button in the blue bar top left of the screen typing in Mona Lisa Touch it will bring up all of the threads on this.  I think that Maryjane has had the treatment.

Taz x

[rebecca]

Hi Taz - Thanks...
Just read through the threads about MLT. Couldn't find anything about the ThermiVa.
Not too many people on this forum has tried/reported on the MLT then...

I have used Ovestin now for 5/6 years.  I usually have to take a low dose of antibiotics each time my husband and I have sex. That way, I don't get a really painful UTI.
Now, my stomach re-acts so much to the antibiotics(which I hate taking anyway), I am looking at my options to try something that doesn't make me feel so awful.
The price we have to pay for pleasure ladies, eh? My husband is younger than me so it is a bit daunting for me to think my only option is to continue with the antibiotics   
I will check around on the internet to see if I can see any more feedback of these procedures.

Rebecca x   

[CLKD]

You are probably over-using ABs!  Has your GP given you appropriate for vaginal atrophy?  This medication needs to be used every night for 2 weeks and if necessary every night or every 4th and every 6/7th night. For Life.  As well as a good lubricant prior to sex and no rushing. 

4 me it was like razor blades up there  but correct treatment has sorted symptoms.  Some ladies need their urethra widening to lessen the effects of penetration ........ but 'normal' sex should NOT require anti-biotic therapy.

[rebecca]

You are probably over-using ABs!
Hi CLKD ... Hubby and I don't have sex that often so no overuse of AB's there!

Has your GP given you appropriate for vaginal atrophy?
Not sure what you mean here   

I use Yes lubricant (and plenty of it) no rushing !

If we don't have sex, I don't get the UTI's and we do have 'normal' sex ! 
I kind of dread the sex in a way as the dryness makes it so painful, but totally abstaining from sex is not an option.
My doctor has been aware of the dryness for years and UTI's and suggested the low dose antibiotics.     

[Maryjane]

I have had MLT and no a few U.K. Ladies who have had it also ( I admin a secret FB page for VA ).

I would try local oestrogen first before even considering MLT and even HRT as always do the least invasive first IMO anyway, f this is an option / want for you,

MLT is an on going procedure for life , after the initial first treatments it's then roughly one treaemtn every 18 months.

I am not cured but hugely better, my perineum was almost splitting open due to old episiotomies and local oestrogen and systemic HRT just wasn't enough , I will have a top up in October and I am very pleased with the results but as I said I am not cured as I also have nerve  damage , but it has done what it said on the packet so to speak re VA. I still use vagifem ( was the estring ) but since MLT I can use vagifem , before they irritated too much and I still use systemic HRT , for as the general health benefits bought by the HRT for me personally.

There's a US lady in my group who is completely pain free two years on , another lady from this forum who is pain/irritation free for the last six weeks still needs the estring and systemic HRT but hugely improved, another lady having pain free sex, the others I don't no about.

My bladder is also happier , I also have women's health pelvic floor physio and she is amazed at the results both internally and externally , and it's turning lives around for women who have VA induced through chemo who can't use any oestrogen/ don't want too.

Many ladies in the group use emuoil for day to day moisturising the vulva area, outside.

I don't no about the therma one , but I assume works on the same principle.

[CLKD]

   4 the update Maryjane .........

[Daisydot]

Your threads have been inspiring MJ I've just been reading through them the last couple of days.also your link to mm magazine with your article well done I'm so pleased for you,Rebecca I hope you find the info you need and you'll get first class advice from the ladies on the forum.good luck xx

[CLKD]

I am concerned Rebecca - why hasn't your GP treated you for vaginal atrophy?  Anti-biotics are not for as-necessary use for any medical condition.  Are you in the UK      I would take a list of my symptoms to discuss, then ask for appropriate treatment (we have threads on VA in multiples on here so one can see what a problem it is!) [My Bladder etc. as well as several by SuziQ]

Vaginal atrophy is difficult to control unless caught early.  It begins with repeated urine infection-type symptoms: i.e. the need to pee, intense pain in the spincter, need to pee often but not passing much each time.  VA is due to the vaginal area drying, = itchiness and aggravation of the whole area: bladder, anus, vagina, vulva ........ whilst ABs do help it is not the answer to this on-going side-effect of menopause.  Your GP should by now have sent a fresh urine sample from you to a Hospital Laboratory to be 'grown', so that if necessary the appropriate Anti-biotic can be prescribed.

If there is no growth, then appropriate VA treatment should be prescribed and used appropriately.  If you have a Practice Nurse I suggest that you hot-foot it to see her and discuss.  Your GP isn't correct in continuing to ignore that your symptoms may be hormonal!  ABs should avoided unless absolutely necessary, it is predicted that by I think, 2025, that they will be less useful over-all.  Dryness is a typical symptom of menopause which your GP should be aware of, if he/she isn't, then I would go to speak to a Pharmacist - most have private rooms now and are very helpful. 

I find that if VA symptoms niggle then an over-the-counter pain relief eases, along with the treatment as prescribed.  I can I admit, B a little lazy with treatments  .    Then I begin to suffer and it really isn't worth it .........

Aslo, from what I understand, Anti-biotics must be prescribed appropriately and used for a complete course: i.e. 3 days of high strength or 5-10 days dependant upon which bug has been grown.  There are 'over-all' [broad spectrum] ABs but these will not be used in future, either for humans or animals.

[CLKD]

My brain is meandering 

Out of interest, do you take the prescribed anti-biotic prior to sex, immediately after or  and how long B4 you feel relief.  It may of course be worth while swapping the AB with a good quality vaginal lubricant to be used well B4 sex  as well as having a pee and maybe applying the lubricant B4 sleep.  Find out if you could do without the AB?

[CLKD]

Having read through from the top [prompted by a friend  ] I can see that I didn't read it all thoroughly enough ......    ..... I focussed on the ABs and my brain skipped the other information.

[rebecca]

CLKD

No worries, there was alot to take in and sometimes I don't write it as clearly as I should.
Thanks for PM, have just responded via the Bladder thread.
I always pee straight after sex, been told numerous times about the wipe from front to back regime (and follow it strictly!).
Regards the Ab's ... you have to thoroughly pre-plan your sex haha... this should give everyone a laugh..
Take ONE three times a day for 5 days then ONE after sexual intercourse.
Once when collecting prescription my prescription, the pharmacist (who looked and spoke like George Clooney) called my surname, then began reading the dosage instructions out loud (including the then ONE after sexual intercourse) in front of a crowded area in the Boots store. I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me!!   Silly I know, but the looks I got exiting the store stay with me today!    
Rebecca x
     

 

[Maryjane]

Rebecca not sure if you saw my reply on MLT ?

[CLKD]

Thnx for being understanding. 

I would have had a few quiet [not] words with that particular person      how awful.  Perhaps though, most people thought "remind me, what's sex" 

That's a bit regimented!

[rebecca]

Maryjane...
Thanks, yes I did very informative...
I am beginning to think that having sex when you have VA (even though I'm taking Ovestin + Yes lubricant) could leave everything battered and bruised inside!
Maybe the uncomfortable feeling (lower stomach bloated, hurts before peeing and after, smelly urine after 6 days when I have had sex)! is inflammation of a sort rather than a UTI all the time! Then the AB's upset my system as well so it all gets complicated... Sometimes the lab can't grow any culture in the urine sample so in theory I don't have a full blown UTI  but the doctor said that can happen if the urine sample is taken too early on in the infection but can usually develop into a UTI later 

I did take paracetamol last night, not so sore this morning, but don't want to speak too soon! Sex/UTI's/VA messes with your head!   
Have also ordered the book The Patient's Encyclopaedia of Urinary Tract Infection, Sexual Cystitis and Interstitial Cystitis by Angela Kilmartin...

Thanks Ladies...