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[TnToast]

Hi

Does anyone know how long Ovestin can be used daily for? After 3 weeks of daily use I have found it has really helped to reduce the soreness of my VA, but after a further 3 weeks my GP says I will need to reduce to 2x per week. I am worried that my symptoms will return and having felt so desperate before I don't want this to happen!

So, if it does, what would the options be? Can I continue to use it daily long term or would I need to try something else? I found the fallout from Vagifem made things far worse, so might think about the estring....

[CLKD]

One can use it nightly until symptoms ease.  The leaflet suggests 2 week loading every night then 3/4th and 5/6th nights.  Which symptoms remain, have you tried 'nurofen' or similar to stop that feeling of needing to pee?

[TnToast]

Hi CKLD

I have been using it nightly for almost 3 weeks - mainly on the outside and just a little way in - applying with fingers, so probably not the full dose... My symptoms were dryness, burning and v sore, red skin which bled. I had tried Vagifem but the discharge was too much for the skin and made it worse.

The GP said I needed to get some oestrogen into the skin to settle it down and prescribed Ovestin.  It has improved my comfort hugely but I still get burning and discomfort after sitting for more than a few minutes, although I can now walk without pain! She followed up with a call today and said I can use it for another 3 weeks before dropping to 2x per week. Hopefully that will improve things even more and I will be ok by then, but was just wondering if, like Vagifem, it could be used daily.

Fortunately I'm not experiencing the 'need to pee' feeling, although GP said urethra area was v inflamed. She gave me a cream called Timodene for that which worked a treat.

[CLKD]

Have U thought of pushing the product further into the vagina now?  A little way each night?  It helps plump [how I love that word  ] up the tissues along the vaginal walls.  There are a lot of nerves in that whole area so the more plumping up you can tolerate, the easier you will feel.  Thank goodness your GP agreed!

It really is trial and error as well as quality of life ;-). Let us know how you get on.

[TnToast]

Yes, think I will do that for the next three weeks now the outside bit is feeling a bit more comfortable - having been plumped up!    

[Tinkerbell]

Ovestin is safe to use every day like Vagifem, i have never managed on the twice a week dose.

[CLKD]

I've been chewing this over whilst in my bath.  It may be that you are not inserting the applicator high enough into the vagina, so any residue from insertion with a finger is drying = soreness.  It is to go right up to lessen any discharge which may well cause irritation etc..

Try 3 nights with the applicator as far in as possible, hold and then push the plunger gently.  Leave for a second, then withdraw.  Have you looked a 'yes' or 'sylc' sorry if I've asked B4 

[TnToast]

I haven't been using the applicator at all up until now. When I saw the GP 3 weeks ago she said I could use my finger as the skin was so sore and thin. She told me to focus on the outside and just inside where the skin had been bleeding.

However, after phoning to see how I was getting on, she said I should use it further inside too for 3 more weeks as there is a lot of atrophy and then drop to 2x per week, but to call her if my symptoms worsened again. She said something about getting Gynae to have a look if this happens. I really don't want to be referred back there again as they were so unhelpful last time. They discharged me writing 'she is using all the moisturisers' and saying there was nothing more they could do (they hadn't even looked since I had a biopsy when I was first referred)....I feel quite annoyed about this now as they never suggested Ovestin and yet it has already made a difference and I could have tried it years ago!

So I am going to insert it with the applicator as well as applying it outside for the next few weeks. Thanks so much for the advice and chewing it over in the bath! Much appreciated 

[CLKD]

Little steps, or in this case, gentle insertion.  The idea is to keep the area supple which will help absorption of the medication.  It might sting a bit initially but that should ease.  I use KY Jelly successfully, some find this causes soreness so 'yes' or 'sylc' can also help. 

[Tinkerbell]

I was referred to a gynaecologist who was supposed to have an interest in menopause, he was useless. I am shocked that they seem to have very little knowledge of VA and he had a very condescending manner, if i ever have to see a gynae i will make sure i am not sent to him.

 I ended up going privately in the end, it was worth every penny i paid for the consultation.

[CLKD]

Menopause clinic rather than a gynaecologist at the local hospital is what we need to ask for.  Gyanes know as much as many GPs ;-)

[TnToast]

It IS shocking Tinkerbell that with so many women suffering there is apparently so little knowledge and advice available from GP surgeries or local hospitals about VA. As far as I am aware there is no one at my local surgery who has particular experience of treating menopausal issues in general either. The GP I saw most recently was very sympathetic though and helpful but she is suggesting going to Gynae if the Ovestin isn't enough. I had been hoping instead to just carry on with Ovestin daily or try something like the estring so I get a steady dose of oestrogen. Is Ovestin stronger than Vagifem then?

At my local Gynae clinic the main consultant sees you on first referral and after that you see a different person each time. I was not examined after the biopsy I had after my first visit and nobody explained what VA was or how bad mine was. I hadn't a clue, I just knew I was sore! I was just recommended moisturisers, as I was nervous of HRT having had breast issues, and asked how things were. Not being able to see inside yourself means you don't always know how things are! I was discharged with a letter saying I was still experiencing symptoms.

After a lot of research on here and the internet I now know a bit more. I have been given out of date advice (stop using Estriol cream after a month due to possible thickening of the womb lining/apply Aqueous cream - ok for washing but a known irritant if you leave it on-  as a moisturiser) and once I was given a prescription for something which didn't seem to exist! (A doctor had written 'Vagifem gel' but none of the chemists I approached had heard of it....I wonder if she had just got the name wrong).

I'm not sure if there is a Menopause Clinic at our local hospital - no one has mentioned one - but CLKD I will ask. I feel like buying the book written by Maryjane and sending it to my local surgery and hospital. Surely a check up at/after menopause with advice on what to look out for and treat, before it becomes chronic and affects all areas of your life should be the way to go? They could even make it part of the smear test appointment. I had one a couple of months ago and the nurse didn't mention the atrophy at all, despite it being very painful, although the GP was concerned at how bad it had become..

Sorry to rant - it is very frustrating....

[CLKD]

You rant.  I did: buy the book and leaflets and gave to as many people as I could shove it at  .  Leaflets can I believe be downloaded .....

GP surgery
Care Home - book and leaflets; twice due to managers leaving [4 since Jan.  ]
Friends who really didn't want to know 

Menopause Clinic may be in the hospital but usually I think they are separate entities.  It's not something on the GP Training radar, sadly.  It's not on ours either, most know that it's the end of periods and a few hot flushes: however 

The Pharamacisits should have rung the GP Surgery to check the Prescription  or looked it up in MIMMS!

[Otter15]

Don't know if this will help you but you could ask if you can try intrarosa.
I had problems for three years using either vagifem or ovestin. I used daily in the end and still had problems. A gynaecologist put me on intrarosa in February and I really have improved. Not thinking about my vagina and the discomfort constantly now.  It's taken a long time but it's worked. No more water infections either.
I was told to use it five times a week but the website says daily and I use it six , otherwise I get uncomfortable again. It would save the problem of only being told to use it twice a week. I actually worried about using it more because I was told not to. Now I'm allowed
Another good thing is it's a waxy pessary, not dry like vagifem so easier to insert. It is a bit messy but that actually helped relieve the soreness on the outside too so I don't mind.
VA is a miserable thing to have and all consuming when it's bad. Really hope you get it sorted.

[CLKD]

  Otter15