Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: sjb0610 on February 21, 2017, 09:06:18 AM
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Having chosen to go on nightly topical HRT to improve my chronic bladder symptoms (severe frequency and urgency) I have now been using it for four months 7 nights a week with no change. If this was going to work I would have thought I would have seen a difference by now?
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I would have thought so too. You might need systemic HRT as well? Are you using nightly vagifem?
Maryjane talks about the Mona Lisa Touch laser treatment being effective for bladder problems in some women.
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:welcomemm:
Which product was prescribed?
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I find a day indoors close to the loo and plenty of water helps. Gives the bladder a good stretch which stops it overreacting. Sometimes I down a litre of cranberry juice first, but I am reliably informed by my daughter that cranberry is a waste of time but it probably helps keep a balance of salts.
What I usually do is have my usual (very weak) tea, then keep a glass of water by me which gradually disappears so I refill it. I started doing it to work out how much water I needed to drink after coming out of hospital where you have a jug by your bed. I think it is better than downing x litres because what you need will depend on your activity and the weather etc - you probably only need a jugful extra over the day.
I find the combination of falling oestrogen and instant coffee a bit of a disaster. ::)
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The relief I found B4 I was prescribed Ovestin was sitting on the loo so that the whole bladder/urethra could relax completely. Cuppa to hand. Barley water is supposedly good, cranberry juice was found to have no 'effect'!
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:welcomemm:
Which product was prescribed?
I have tried Ovestin for three months then Vagifem for the last month. Vagifem made me sore and was prescribed Metronizadole for anaerobic bacteria. GP and various gynaes I have seen only want to give me the standard 2x per week topical HRT but my research shows more is needed not less. I would have thought it would have made a little difference by now. Have also started systemic HRT (2 pumps Oestrogel) in last three weeks having researched on the net this can help some women with bladder symptoms if used along with topical.
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How much Ovestin were you using, sometimes other forms of HRT are required in order to boost benefit. I find that when I have slow transit my bladder feels irritated due to pressure from the bowel.
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I was using one applicator full of Ovestin and did this every night for three months. I have restarted it again as the Vagifem appears to cause soreness.
I have to hope that at some point the systemic HRT will start helping.
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Hello there.
Ask your GP if you can try a medication called Oxybutanin.....it stops the bladder muscle being well jittery is how I would explain it......I'm a retired nurse and used it all the time for kids and adults with frequency and urgency .....
Hope it helps
Woodlands x
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I was told by a pharmacist that everything you can buy over the counter including cranberry juice is a waste of time/money. The power of advertising!!!
S x
Have heard the same do why did a GP tell me to drink it recently? I disputed its value but it was clear that she disagreed.
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Ask her to show you the recent results about cranberry juice ;) - as with drinking 2+ litres daily, that was pushed by the bottled water Companies ::)
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Cranberry is a myth
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Have you been diagnosed with an overactive/irritable bladder sjb0610? Quite often proper investigations aren't carried out but getting a referral to a specialist clinic can make all the difference. There is advice here under "just can't wait" https://www.bladderandbowelfoundation.org/resources/information-booklets/ Apologies if you have already been down this route.
Taz x
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There is also the Estring which delivers almost the same dose as nightly Vagifem but without the fillers - several have used/use it on here.
What progestogen are you using alongside the oestrogel? This should really help boost your background oestrogen levels as well as the local oestrogen.
Hurdity x
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What progestogen are you using alongside the oestrogel?
Hurdity I have no womb so do not need progesterone?
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Hello there.
Ask your GP if you can try a medication called Oxybutanin.....it stops the bladder muscle being well jittery is how I would explain it......I'm a retired nurse and used it all the time for kids and adults with frequency and urgency .....
Hope it helps
Woodlands x
I used that medicine for a few months when I first started systemic and local HRT and it really helped. After the HRT took effect I discovered I no longer needed it.
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Hurdity I have no womb so do not need progesterone?
That's right!
Hurdity x
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Hi Ladies. Can I ask if anyone uses D mannose? Its the cranberry sugar extract that is being bandied about. I have it and use it to prevent uti. have no idea if it works but thought it was worth a try. I cannot tell you the number of people who have told me to drink gallons of cranberry juice. Including my gp! She said to keep a carton by the bed and drink after sex. like I have sex anymore! Its so confusing because I want to prevent uti so will try anything but thern you find out its all ineffective. I also drink a lot of water, like maybe 4 pints per day on average. I think my bladder feels better for this so will continue but interested to hear it was used to push sales of bottled water!! What can you believe?
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I'm afraid that the Jury is out regarding cranberry juice - however, drinking plenty is important but we do get liquids from the general diet. If you fancy cranberry juice then drink it, people drunk Ribena when I was a kid but I can't stand that either.
Check the colour of your urine - dark is not drinking enough, light is too much; urine should be straw coloured. The first pee of the day will be darker and may smell, otherwise it shouldn't have an odour. The body 'asks' for liquids by being thirsty.
Some ladies have found D-mannose useful. Barley water was the suggestion of choice for years but I can't stand the taste ::). That goes back to the 1950s when Granny suggested it .......
Make a note of what your liquid intake is by measuring in a pint jug? You could also check by peeing into another jug what your output is ..... for 3 days. But I found it a real phafff :D.
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Oh CLKD I hate lemon barley water too! I drank nothing else when pregnant and had such bad morning sickness the taste and smell makes me feel sick! I drink more now than I ever used to, just to try and keep the bladder flushed. I never used to drink water at all, just teas coffee wine and not much else but my wee was always very dilute and inoffensive. Even when I had the uti it was pale and clear and totally benign looking. Yet contained e coli on lab test. I have spent most of my life being a slave to my bladder. As a child even, always having to pee two or three times on a journey or going to the shops. Totally colourless wee but loads of it. Nervous bladder my mum used to say. I had tests done 9 years ago for all these problems I was only 44 then but had bladder urgency frequency and urethral irritation. It went of for months and slowly disappeared the less I worried about it. 9 years on and its back with a vengeance! Im glad cranberry juice is a no no. I get acid reflux and cannot drink fruit juice as its too acidic.
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Isn't e-coli present anyway?
Currently I am drinking lots of full bodied Coke, plenty of tea, fizzy water .........
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Ecoli......I was told shouldnt be present. Urine should be sterile. So they told me. Wow....you are just a total rule breaker you are! Lol. dashes off to fill wine glass!
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Urine is 100% NOT STERILE , we have a minimum of 500 bugs in the bladder , it's all about the correct balance of good and bad , those with symptoms are over run by the bad , so the ideal environment is getting the good and bad to live in harmony.
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Oh blimey!! I am so confused.
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Professor James Malone - Lee ( UK) and others have found 100s of bugs in the bladder , this was reported along time ago.
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Oh join the Confused Club ;D ..... and by the way, I don't mix the Coke, fizzy water etc. :lol: and Himself makes me a chocolate milk-shake almost every night for me to take my meds with. I have to be careful of fizzles though or I get bloated!
The point of urine is to void any nasties so it stands to reason that some bugs will cling to the bladder lining, so long as they aren't bad germs sticking .......
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Basically the guts/ bladder / vagina are like the Amazon rain forests eco system , good and bad living in harmony .....the added problems of menopause makes this whole problem even harder with the decrease in oestrogen etc.
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I had intense itching up there at the end of each period, usually in 1 or 2 small 'spots' which of course, was too far up to scratch >:( :D