Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: porcia on August 19, 2014, 05:45:49 PM
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Hi ladies.
I went along to see my gp today as iv been having awful va symptoms,unfortunately my gp wasn't there so I had to speak to the locum gp.
I informed him of everything that was happening and he told me that I was not menopausal but having problems with my.thyroid, I do take levothyroxine as I was diagnosed in 2008 at the age of 36 with an underactive thyroid.
I explained that whenever I have sex with my.husband I was experiencing uti symptoms and pain as I was so dry, today I felt that I hsd to beg for something to help me ad iv been in.agony,he basically told me that I should just get on.with it.I'm.not menopausal as my fsh showed me at 14 even.though I explained that it can go up.and down at any.time, so after spending some time being lectured to I have had some pessaries ortho gynest 0.5mg one to be taken at night iv only had 15 as the pharmacy informed me that they had been discontinued in favour of another form?
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:bang: :bang: :bang: I would like to get this GP and put him right. Use the pessaries. They have been discontinued but speak with the pharmacist, I use a product with an applicator (name escapes me :-[ ) which works as well as the pessaries did. Start them tonight ……. make an appt 2-morrow to see your Practice Nurse or usual GP who should be able to alter your script to the other product.
This particular GP is living in the Dark Ages ……… my Gynae won't do blood tests because our hormones alter hourly! You could also ask for a referral to a meno clinic if there is one close enough to travel to.
:hug:
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I'm.living in.Swansea.hun how do I go about finding outsourcing a meno.clinic near me? X
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Make an appt to see your normal GP or somebody with a brain.
Use whatever pessaries you have been able to get, they are effective.
Re meno clinics - If you look at the top of the home page I think there is something to find a specialist near you.
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If you look at the top of the page there is "Find a specialist" link. You put in your post code and find your nearest.
If you are having an early menopause then it's very important to get a correct diagnosis and start HRT to protect your heart and bones.
Honeyb
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Thank you hun I will have a look now x
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I'm not making much sense with the map.
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Try your area and post code.
Honeyb
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Or do a 'google' for menopause clinic near your home town ;)
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Hi again ladies, I'm having a look now and only one came up. Aretha meno clinics private, where you have to pay x
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I was same here, private meno clinic at minimum of £110 per visit. However, one GP reckoned hospital did one & she was right. If you can't get meno clinic near you ask for gynae referral instead.
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My nearest one was just over fifty miles away but it was worth the journey at the time.
Taz x
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Thank you again ladies,
I was seeing a gynaecologist up until June this year,for the.past 2 years I was experiencing uti symptoms after sex, plus,a heavy vaginal discharge coupled with a lot of pain, my gynaecologist booked me in for cryotherapy after a look at my cervix and informed me that I had an erosion on my cervix, all my smears are coming back normal and no stds, it's been a nightmare tbh so I was discharged from my gynaecologist as they said my.cervix looked healthy, iv reordered the vaginal cream today as the pessaries I was given yesterday are discontinued, I still have uti symptoms so am on an.antibiotic short term and hoping to see my original gp end of the week as the surgery is. Hard to get appointments with x
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Let us know how you get on!
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Hi there.
Ahhhh it's been a nightmare and I think I have made things worse myself.
I used to.hrt pessaries and stopped as I thought my uti had flared up again, I went back onto.trimethropin and it usually does the trick but has been slow to.act this time, so I saw a locum as my.gp was fully booked, she gave me cephalexin and tbh in the past its been fine this time round I took one capsule and had an.awful skin reaction.I phoned the pharmacist who told me to stop taking them so I'm
Now back on.trimethropin, had to use a canestan. Thrush cream applicator as I have thrush after my antibiotics and am sore again with a small amount of spotting I'm 8days away.from my.period and I just want it to start I'm all swollen on my tummy with back ache,headache, sore boobs and so tired, I'm definitely going to start my patches the day my period starts and use the hrt vaginal cream if. I need to.x
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UTI symptoms are typical of vaginal atrophy. Why didn't your GP tell you to continue with the vaginal cream, it sometimes takes 2-3 weeks before you get relief from symptoms. Over-use of ABs doesn't do the system any good. Have you tried LIVE yoghurt? eaten and applied?
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The locum gp hun was more or less as bad as the other locum, I'm going to.try and get to see my proper gp tomorrow I'm beginning to think.that all the times iv been having all these symptoms of uti,s it's possibly has been va, is there anything I can take to.try and balance out and get some good bacteria into me? X
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there was a time that I went to the out of hours GP with yet another UTI. She was amazing. did the dipstick test and there was no infection. She gently explained to me that low oestrogen also makes the urethra dry as well as the vagine and what I thought was repeated UTIs was in fact irritation to the urethra making it feel like I wanted to 'go' all the time.
I was already using vagifem so she gave me the gynest cream for the outside too and I never looked back and never had any more UTI symptoms. Bless that out of hours GP :)
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Ahhhh that gp sounds lovely. My dip test showed something that indicated an infection, thus all started the week before when my husband and I sex and used condoms as when we were not using them I had uti symptoms all the time so I thought I would try the condoms it actually made It worse, two days later I was in agony x
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Friction doesn't help! Dip test can show 'signs of infection' that aren't actually, the ONLY way to be sure is for the sample to go to the Lab to be 'grown' and a GP should know that :bang:
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I know hun I'm going to find out later if the test was sent of to be cultured x
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I get these symptoms too, when my vagifem gets muddled.
I started on full hrt, without the vagifem and got thrush >:( It was proper thrush with white bits - only had that once before. Then this month, it came back, so I put some cream on until I could get a tablet from the chemist. It just got worse, the itching was maddening and I was very red. So I washed all the cream off in the shower with husband's dermol. Instant relief. I also realised I was late with my hrt and took a tablet late and the next in the morning as usual. 'Thrush' vanished, but I don't know if it was the cream or the hrt that was the problem.
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Hi porcia
You poor thing. These persistent UTI symptoms - are they doing tests to make sure you actually have an infection? If you haven't, then the antibiotics won't do anything and will just result in thrush infections. The oestrogen creams do sometimes make you burn down below - I found they made the UTI type symptoms much worse to start with - It's the fillers in the creams and pessaries that can irritate. You may find Vagifem better to use. You do need to use these local oestrogen treatments everyday for the first 2 weeks and then at least twice a week after that before things will improve. I would also suggest some preventative action - use something like Multi Gyn Actigel which will keep the vaginal area acidic and prevents thrush and UTI infections taking hold - can be soothing as well - there are several other products available - google these things and get them online.
I am now using the Estring and after about 4-5 months I started to get some relief from those nasty burning UTI type symptoms. I've also found the whole area is healthier and I can now have 'gentle' sex!!!! DG x
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I can feel background symptoms if I don't stick to the 2/3 times a week regime.
How is it today?
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Thank you ladies for the.past day it's been fine as iv started to bleed but now iv stopped bleeding the symptoms are there again.
This happened last month I bled for 2 days lightly stopped for 4days then had a heavy bleed for 6 days.
This may sound silly but the relief I get when I have my period is overwhelming the 2 week or bit longer building up.to.it is awful..
Uti symptoms coupled with sinus problems, all the general other problems then.a few days before it starts I get a cold.
When I.enquire about the results of the urine cultures it's almost always no further action
.the dip test at the gp,s will show blood protein or white cells. Or it will.show blood but in a whole year of say 12 a year iv actually one positive result for a uti x
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porcia, I so sympathise with you.
I started with all sorts of menstrual problems and symptoms in my mid thirties and really thought I was pre-menopausal. My doctor did not believe me, but admitted she was wrong when I had my very last period at just 39.
And not long after this I was diagnosed as severely hypothyroid.
The two conditions are linked and often co-exist - but I am not sure which comes first. What I do know is that the symptoms are very similar which makes diagnosis of both difficult.
Which is why you do need to see an experienced and empathetic GP who is prepared to investigate what is happening with you and to help you through it.
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Iv had a whole Range of tests done I was diagnosed as hypothyroid in 2009 and take thyroxine for this Umm I'm.now nearly 43 and started my.periods when I was 11.
I'm.not able to ask my mother about her menopause as I no longer speak to her all I can remember is that she told me that she was around 14 when her periods started I always remember her in a foul mood when she was in her 40s.
Iv been to a urologist and had a procedure done where they looked at my.bladder and all was fine iv also had scans on my kidneys and stomach again all was fine, my thyroid tests are coming back normal all the time.
These problems started for me when I was 38/39 they started with the sinus problems mostly and very bad pms. The utI problems then followed and I also had treatment this year for an.erosion on my cervix and all my.smears are normal and iv also.had and tests done to rule that out, it's been.never ending tbh but I'm.finding now the uti symptoms and the anxiety coupled with lack of sleep.ia really getting me down.x
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Yes, if you are hypothyroid, you often have an early menopause - and if you have an early menopause, you are often hypothyroid. :(
It certainly sounds as if you are experiencing the menopause and if you are suffering from low oestrogen, the dryness will make you more prone to UTIs. Were you getting on ok with the vaginal pessaries?
I started on systemic HRT properly a year after my last period. I tried it before then, but it was hard to get the level right as my own hormone levels were still fluctuating wildly.
Do you have an appointment soon with your own GP?
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I can't go today as it's only locums there my.gp is in.tomorrow so will try and see her then.
She is very.good and is more than happy to try me on things to see how I.get along.
I was given hrt pessaries and used them.for two nights but it felt ad though I had a uti again so stopped them I then came down.with.thrush and used a canestan pessary and Omg it got worse, x
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Pessaries take 10-14 days to build up a level of oestrogen which then helps the symptoms.
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Thank you, I may ask about vagifem as a few ladies iv noticed have had a positive outcome x
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Including me. :)
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I look.forward to trying it x
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So saw my gp.today and I now have a prescription for vagifem x
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What were you told about using the Vagifem?
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Hi there.
That I couldn't use it with the patches and that I had to use 1a day for 2 weeks then 1 twice a week there after x
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That sounds about 'right'. The important thing is to 'load' the medication every night so that the vagina is plumped up, once the 2/3 weeks is up the vagina should feel more comfortable. Thereafter a 'maintenance' dose is used, I use my Ovestin every 2/3rd night ;)
Let us know how you get on!
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Hi porcia its probably too late for my 2 pennyworth but I also found a slight increase in uro/gyn symptoms when I started vagifem but I had been reading info on this site before joining and realised I had to give it at least the full 2 weeks. I spent a penny all the time and my breasts increased and became firmer and ached but I stuck with it. After about 3 weeks these initial problems got less and I have been on vagifem for some time now. It keeps me comfortable but occasionally I need an extra one but now I have read about vaginal moisturisers so am finding out more about those.
During menopause I think you owe it to yourself to do what you can to get relief where you can it is all about quality of life. Good luck.
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Hi there.
I think possibly first time round I didn't give the pessaries a chance as once I started to.sting and burn I stopped, but I'm.going to.see these through.x
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You most certainly can use Vagifem and full HRT together. In fact some women need both in order to keep things ok.
Honeyb
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I didn't.know that, I'm.going to.give the vagifem a chance and if I'm still.not right I will.go.back to my.gp, x
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Yep - I need both. Started off on just vagifem then went onto full hrt and stopped vagifem and then, a few years later, had to use both full hrt and vagifem to keep things ok.
Taz x
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I use both too and have done for several years ie patches with 50 mcg oestrogen, + either Vagifem or Orthogynest (until they run out as discontinued)
Hurdity x
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I dont understand why though that my gp told me not to use both x
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Hate to say it.....because he is a numpty who knows next to nothing about meno.
Sad that we have to educate our doctors so we get what we need.
I think every surgery should have either a nurse or GP that has had a bit if training re HRT.
Honeyb
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It's crazy really is what I have found with a few gps that I have seen is that they keep saying to me it's,not menopause, so I tell them I'm aware of that I'm aware it's perimenopause but they say it's depression or my thyroid, obviously I'm depressed coz I'm.having these rubbish symptoms and not sleeping properly coupled with.an awful.amount of stress at.home, this month.my.period is light and iv had a few heart palpitations but I'm.waiting for it to go heavier like it did last month x
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I'm also wondering if it would do me some good if I started to take some magnesium? X