Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Gill67]

Thank you to Ayesha for posting this, and to everyone else for contributing. It's so helpful to those of us who are maybe just starting to get the symptoms of VA, or even had them for a while but didn't know what was going on 'down there'!

 I posted a few days ago about trying GINA as although I've been on HRT for about 6 years (I'm 55) i hadn't realised I could still develop VA. I thought being on HRT would prevent it. I also thought VA just caused dryness, I had no idea that I would lose the stretchiness inside as well. Or that it affected the bladder. I thought needing the loo urgently, 'dribbles' etc was something only suffered by women who'd given birth vaginally. Never knew it could be caused by menopause.

I shall be asking my GP for some local oestrogen soon-apparently you can't buy GINA unless you've already used vaginal oestrogen on prespription before, which seems odd but there we go. Thanks again for sharing your experiences with us!

[Ayesha]

Have you tried Superdrug Online Pharmacy?  I bought Ovestin this way with very few questions asked.
But you should be able to ask your GP for a prescription, do let us know how you get on 

[Gill67]

Have you tried Superdrug Online Pharmacy?  I bought Ovestin this way with very few questions asked.
But you should be able to ask your GP for a prescription, do let us know how you get on 

No, I haven't tried to buy any yet, I will have a look at superdrug. Thanks!

[Gill67]

I shall be asking my GP for some local oestrogen soon-apparently you can't buy GINA unless you've already used vaginal oestrogen on prespription before, which seems odd but there we go. Thanks again for sharing your experiences with us!

Just wanted to update to say that I got this wrong! I hope I haven't misled anyone. Ayesha posted a link in another thread which clarified who can buy GINA OTC, and it says that if you've never been given vaginal oestrogen before AND you're on HRT that you have to get approval from the GP first.
 If you're not on HRT, you will be able to buy it, subject to answering a few other health questions.

[primrose3]

Good morning!

Firstly thanks to Ayesha for starting this thread.
Suffering vaginal vulval atrophy pretty badly at the moment. Had a consultation yesterday with Newson Health,
they advised using two vagifem daily for 2 months, one inserted higher and one lower to reach the tissue around the opening.
Just wanted to share as there seems to be a lot of confusion about the dosage of vagifem, the leaflet seems way off frankly.
They also suggested Imvaggis which is 30mcg oestrogen, vagifem is 10mcg so it seems the dosage can be much higher than we are led to believe.
I think for me 2 is enough for now and I will monitor and see how things go, don't want to shock the system too much!
Also was given blissel gel for the vulva, this made it inflamed and so i have stopped, now waiting for oestrogen cream 0.01, looking forward to starting that.
Apparently when looking on the leaflet it appears this reaction is not uncommon as it is in the form of a gel and contains alcohol which
actually dries the skin! Cream has oil lipids so has a moisturising effect, thanks to Hurdity for this nugget of information.
Anyway would be interesting to hear your thoughts on these products.

[Flossieteacake]

Good morning!

Firstly thanks to Ayesha for starting this thread.
Suffering vaginal vulval atrophy pretty badly at the moment. Had a consultation yesterday with Newson Health,
they advised using two vagifem daily for 2 months, one inserted higher and one lower to reach the tissue around the opening.
Just wanted to share as there seems to be a lot of confusion about the dosage of vagifem, the leaflet seems way off frankly.
They also suggested Imvaggis which is 30mcg oestrogen, vagifem is 10mcg so it seems the dosage can be much higher than we are led to believe.
I think for me 2 is enough for now and I will monitor and see how things go, don't want to shock the system too much!
Also was given blissel gel for the vulva, this made it inflamed and so i have stopped, now waiting for oestrogen cream 0.01, looking forward to starting that.
Apparently when looking on the leaflet it appears this reaction is not uncommon as it is in the form of a gel and contains alcohol which
actually dries the skin! Cream has oil lipids so has a moisturising effect, thanks to Hurdity for this nugget of information.
Anyway would be interesting to hear your thoughts on these products.

I am sorry to hear your VA is bad but I am thrilled you have been given the go ahead to use two Vagifem a day. It is worth trying Imvaggis to see if it works better for you. I found Imvaggis irritated me and I was unable to tolerate it but it is interesting it has a higher dose of oestrogen then the other treatments.

[suzysunday]

Great post.  Like you I never knew about VA til I got it, goodness knows why.  It's such a shock. 

[Joaniepat]

Pleased to see your Vagifem has been increased to two daily. This should help a lot, as the older version used to contain 25 mcg estradiol, not 10 mcg as we now have.
I'm not sure that Imvaggis can really be compared with Vagifem in terms of strength though, as Imvaggis contains estriol, not estradiol, so it's two different oestrogens. As far as I remember, estradiol is taken up by both alpha and beta oestrogen receptors, whereas estriol is taken up by only the beta.
I agree that many women are underdosed with local oestrogen, which is a ridiculous situation.
Good luck with your new regime ❤.
JP x

[primrose3]

Thanks for replies, Joniepat very interesting about the receptors, so much to learn, wish I wasn't learning it all so late in life!
Also forgot to add they also said the vagifem will eventually reach surrounding area including urethra, bladder, vulva, pelvic floor muscles, well hope that doesn't take too long, amazing!

[Clovie]

Thank you for starting this thread! 

i'm not suffering myself - yet - but would obviously want to stave this off.

I was told a few years back by someone at a meno clinic that we don't need topical oestrogesn for down below if we are using systemic oestrogen (I use oestrogel and of course Utrogestan as i have a womb)

Is this not the case?

It's like you get a different story everyone you speak to! It's madness!

I'm 59. I am still having periods, or as least I BELEIVE I am, although the docs say I couldn't possibly be Although Ive had a scan and all is well and I have, I quote 'The womb of a still menstruating woman'  They have got me so as I don't know what is happening and have been made to feel like a freak, it has really affected me

I don't want to suffer from VA going forward.  Can I buy anything with Oestogen for down below without going through my GP, who is or appears to be not clued up, or the gynae, who is intent on pushing Mirena on me to stop my 'irregular bleeding'.  It's not irregular. It comes at a predictable time, for a predictable length, despite being put on continuous HRT, and my periods have never stopped

[Cara999]

Great Post, very similar to me at the beginning of this journey. Shocking we have to suffer the way we do xx

[Flossieteacake]

Thank you for starting this thread! 

i'm not suffering myself - yet - but would obviously want to stave this off.

I was told a few years back by someone at a meno clinic that we don't need topical oestrogesn for down below if we are using systemic oestrogen (I use oestrogel and of course Utrogestan as i have a womb)

Is this not the case?

It's like you get a different story everyone you speak to! It's madness!

I'm 59. I am still having periods, or as least I BELEIVE I am, although the docs say I couldn't possibly be Although Ive had a scan and all is well and I have, I quote 'The womb of a still menstruating woman'  They have got me so as I don't know what is happening and have been made to feel like a freak, it has really affected me

I don't want to suffer from VA going forward.  Can I buy anything with Oestogen for down below without going through my GP, who is or appears to be not clued up, or the gynae, who is intent on pushing Mirena on me to stop my 'irregular bleeding'.  It's not irregular. It comes at a predictable time, for a predictable length, despite being put on continuous HRT, and my periods have never stopped

How strange you were told by a meno clinic that you would not need localised oestrogen. Although taking HRT can help with VA, it is not usually enough and women need localised oestrogen.

You are not a freak and I am so sorry you have been made to feel this way. You can have periods at 58 and there is a thread on here somewhere with members who have period after the usual age.

If you wish to buy something over the counter then you can buy a pessary called Gina. Otherwise you could ask your GP for Vagifem which is a pessary or Ovestin which is a cream.

[Ayesha]

Good morning!

Suffering vaginal vulval atrophy pretty badly at the moment. Had a consultation yesterday with Newson Health,
they advised using two vagifem daily for 2 months, one inserted higher and one lower to reach the tissue around the opening.
Just wanted to share as there seems to be a lot of confusion about the dosage of vagifem, the leaflet seems way off frankly.

Great news, Primrose, looks like you had a good day at the clinic and have been given all the appropriate meds and info.
Just to say, I always throw the Vagifem leaflet straight in the bin as in contains totally out of date information, which can be so misleading to women starting treatment for VA.

[sheila99]

Just wanted to update to say that I got this wrong! I hope I haven't misled anyone. Ayesha posted a link in another thread which clarified who can buy GINA OTC, and it says that if you've never been given vaginal oestrogen before AND you're on HRT that you have to get approval from the GP first.
 If you're not on HRT, you will be able to buy it, subject to answering a few other health questions.

Does anyone know why this is the case? Can there be problems if you already have enough oestrogen 'down there' and you add more?
 I'm assuming no va = sufficient oestrogen though perhaps you won't know in the early stages of it.

[Dierdre]

I was interested regarding taking 2 per day if needed, I'm still struggling so won't feel worried now using 2 if needed. Just got scans and all ok re womb lining so going to try 2 for a week or two again.