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[Ichycoo park]

Hi, this is a long rant …from a 68 year old …sorry
I used Vagifem for a number of years 2/3 times a week. No problems few outbreaks of Thrush as the years went by. I have always suffered from thrush probably the contraceptive pill contributed to that.
However over the past few years I have been having more and more irritation in vulva and or vagina. During that time Vagifem was replaced with vagirux, claiming it’s exactly the same.(or is it?)
This time last year I experienced my first uti blood in urine, given antibiotics which resulted in thrush, so for the past 12 months I have suffered from thrush on and off, constantly itching and burning, going to the doctor every month,swab results take a week, by that time a different doctor in the surgery, swab after swab, some negative some positive. Different doctors kept suggesting using different creams etc.
Still use vagirux…I have upped it to every other night along side Blissel on vulva.
I went private to see a menopause specialist, who suggested using Blissel., which also caused thrush initially. Unfortunately she has left the practice, saw her colleague who suggested systemic HRT perhaps, to help with sleep etc. I have no trouble sleeping or have hot flashes, so I felt this was not necessary at this time…am I wrong in thinking that?
Still sore and totally fed up.
Sorry for the long explanation…feel better writing it all down.

[jaypo]

Hi there, yes Drs and pharmacists will tell you there is no difference between vagifem and vagirux but the vagirux is way cheaper,hence the reason they will have changed you to it. There are many threads on here about countless women NOT tolerating vagirux,myself included, not sure what the difference is,it could be something as simple as the bulking agent. Do stand your ground and say you want back on vagifem and tell the Dr you have been on here for advice,many Drs recommend this site to get more information as many Drs don’t have a clue about menopause x

[bombsh3ll]

The active ingredient is exactly the same, and it sounds like you were prone to thrush before the brand swap, however some people may respond better to one than the other due to the carrier ingredients.

You should also make sure you have been tested for diabetes, and may benefit from a longer course of antifungal treatment at this point.

However I would consider systemic estrogen replacement - you are really expecting a lot from your inflamed, excoriated and atrophic vaginal mucosa to extract all the estrogen it needs and maintain a healthy pH and microbiome, just from thrice weekly pessaries, when nature's preferred way of delivering estrogen is via the bloodstream.

This would also benefit other aspects of your health which vaginal estrogen does not, such as bone density.

[Dierdre]

The ingredients are the same but there is something in Vagirux that burns me like hell fire. Maybe the coating is different but after placing the Vagirux pessary it started burning in the exact place. After 10 minutes I literally had to fish it out, sorry for being direct, the burningcstopped almost instantly. I did try again later as thought it might be a one off but he same thing happened.
I had my prescription changed from Estradiol to Vagifem so I no longer have any generic brands. Before this I did also have the generic brand Estradiol a couple of times and was absolutely fine with that.