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[alibeau]

Hi Ladies,

So I started on the vaginal oestrogen pessaries.

I bought some myself and then when I saw the GP she was happy to prescribe.

So I did the initial dose of every night for two weeks and then dropped down to twice a week.
This was at the end of March. This initially worked well.

However this week I have noticed a return in my symptoms ie some dryness/soreness but mainly bladder leaks again.

I completed an e-consult for my GP on Thursday but no response yet…..

Any advice for me? Should I go back to nightly for a spell? And then perhaps drop to every other night?

Will my GP be happy to prescribe this dose?


Any feedback would be great.

Thank you xx

[Ayesha]

I need a daily dose of both pessaries and cream, we are all different, use as much as is needed to relieve your GSM symptoms.
If you have to fight for extra treatment then fight, that's all we can do.

I gave my new GP a lecture on why I needed daily pessaries and he understood completely when I told him my regime is equivalent to one systemic HRT tablet a year, he gave me the impression that he had better things to be getting on with and agreed with my daily use of pessaries and cream.

[alibeau]

Thank you 

I have received an email this morning directly from the practice pharmacist stating not to use the pessaries more frequently than twice a week.

They have said that they will prescribe a cream to try instead, to be inserted with syringe every night for a fortnight and then twice weekly. They say this may work better for me and if not to let them know....

Worth a try?

[joziel]

It's very unlikely to work any better because it's the same frequency. You need to change doctors and find one which is more menopause aware and prepared to prescribe daily use, whether the pessaries or the cream. You can even use BOTH of these TOGETHER, EVERY DAY!! 

[alibeau]

Thank you Joziel.  I appreciate your input.

I had already made a decision to go back to using the pessary every night to get things back on track, so I guess I could try the cream for a fortnight and see if things pan out any differently when I drop to twice weekly....

In cases like this where I may end up looking to go against the recommended dose, is there any material I can reference to as 'back up' if I need to? Can I simply 'demand' to go against the dose? 

I know if push comes to shove I can buy the products myself but really don't see why I should have to.....

I will do some investigations locally to see if anyone can recommend a GP who is more clued up on these things...

Thanks again.

[Ayesha]

Pages 4, 5 and 6 of this document is your ammunition, its been mine when confronted with how much of the treatment I use, that and the fact my previous GP is a gynaecologist and uses daily treatment herself.

You have to be very assertive and know what you are talking about if you go over the recommended dose and are challenged when you do, I've been confronted three times so far and I have come back fighting, this document is there to be used to your advantage.

https://bssm.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GSM-BSSM.pdf