Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Bella247 on July 01, 2025, 05:12:43 PM
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Hi there
Can anyone confirm I’m not going mad and that this hot spell is a likely culprit in my latest vaginal atrophy flare up?
It’s honestly the only thing I can think of that is different to my normal routine and it’s really frustrating me.
I actually cannot be bothered to ask my GP for advice because they’re so completely useless.
I’m hoping things will improve when it cools down a bit because I’ve basically tried everything bar systemic HRT and intra rosa.
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What have U been using for VA on a regular basis: if symptoms are flaring: and yes both heat and stress may impact : then up to every night and if necessary, an extra dose in the morning.
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Increase the dose until it clears up, heatwaves can not be good if suffering GSM.
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If you are using estriol it needs to be stored at 25 degrees c or below.
Something to be mindful of in this hotter weather.
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Yes I can confirm you aren’t going mad! I’ve had that too this past week has been hell. Feels like I’m having an allergic reaction down there it’s to itchy and irritated. The same happens after a bath or shower too so I think heat/sweat makes it worse. If I’m cooled down and relaxed I don’t feel it’s as bad. Bring on the winter ;D
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Thanks for replying. My current regime (that was working until the hot weather):
Estriol (stronger version) x 2 a week but every other day on the vulva (which is where the majority of symptoms are). This was on the advice of a gynaecologist.
Only washing with hydromol ointment in the shower, never ever having a bath.
Only using bleach free loo roll.
Patting dry gently and applying either olive and bee or v magic after every wee.
I recently did a reloading dose for a week which didn’t really work, then used a steroid cream (emovate?) twice a day (gynaecologist advised this for flare ups), seemed to improve things but it’s flared again.
In the past have tried Ovestin (worked for around 18 months then randomly stopped working), Vagirux (used for a few months, did not work at all and in fact made my symptoms very much worse).
Gynaecologist has ruled out lichen sclerosis (sorry can’t spell) which I was worried about as it seems to run in my family and I have severe health anxiety.
GP has been beyond dismissive and I just do not have the emotional energy to ask them about it ever again.
I didn’t know about keeping it below 25 degrees! Do I put it in the fridge?
Weirdly I’m less stressed than I often am so don’t think it’s that (although the discomfort is a bit stressful).
Have also taken an oral thrush treatment on the off chance it’s that (which I didn’t think it was but out of wanting to throw everything at it).
I’m really fed up of it now. It seems like it will never end. Weirdly it was feeling very uncomfortable yesterday but it seems to feel worse the hotter I am. I don’t really want to google too much because I have such bad health anxiety that won’t end well for me :'( :'( :'(
I asked about systemic HRT and whether that could help and the reply I got was (judgmental tone) we don’t really offer that where vagina symptoms are the ONLY symptom.
Any advice (or even just knowing I’m not the only one suffering) would be greatly appreciated
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Yes I can confirm you aren’t going mad! I’ve had that too this past week has been hell. Feels like I’m having an allergic reaction down there it’s to itchy and irritated. The same happens after a bath or shower too so I think heat/sweat makes it worse. If I’m cooled down and relaxed I don’t feel it’s as bad. Bring on the winter ;D
Oh thank you! It means a lot knowing it’s not only me xx
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I understand how you feel being dismissed by doctors it’s so unfair, in this day and age aswell. When I asked at my HRT review about a local oestrogen to put down there, she said “we don’t prescribe anything like that, you could try a normal moisturiser” how on earth can a moisturiser replace the lost hormones that are clearly causing this issue! They must all be singing from the same hymn sheet. I’ve ended up having to order Ovesse from Boots online and lying about my age to get it (I’m 38). Could you try using Ovestin again to see if it starts to help? I was given Estradiol pessaries to insert twice a week which I admit do help the inside to feel comfortable and soft again rather than dry.
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That’s really mad. I’m pretty sure if you download the NICE guidelines they say vaginal estrogen should be offered on top of systemic HRT if systemic HRT doesn’t address vagina symptom. It’s outrageous you’re having to pay so much for it when you could just get it covered by an HRT prepayment certificate.
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I know that’s what I thought too. It might just be some gp surgeries that try and say they don’t offer it I will have a look at the NICE guidelines. My patches and progesterone I get with the pre paid certificate but I’m paying £20 + delivery for a tube of the cream every 2 or so months :(
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Hi Bella - reading your post I had to check to see if it was me that had written it! You’ve pretty much described exactly how I feel! I too was wondering if the heat had anything to do with the increase in my symptoms so it’s interesting to know that you and Claire have also been suspecting this!
My current routine is estriol cream nightly on the outer bits & vagifem nightly internally. Estrogen patches (Estraderm) and hydromol to ‘form a barrier and soothe sore, thin skin (not that it feels soothed at all!)
I’ve woken up today with soreness and irritation in the vulva and I can’t find anything that helps - this is after a week of improvement where I’d allowed myself to be a bit optimistic! I have health anxiety too and all this certainly isn’t helping! I hear you, I really do. When I tell any medic that I feel like I’ve lost the will to live as it’s all so painful (can’t sit down at all yet) all I get is blank looks and I was even told all I needed to do was distract myself! Would they say that if I said I had a broken leg that was painful? I think not!
At least my gynaecologist was happy to let me have systemic HRT too so I’m throwing everything at it. It seems so unfair that we poor girls have the same issue but it’s dealt with so differently depending on where we are and who we see! Again, that wouldn’t happen with a broken leg! I was told I had lichen sclerosus but a biopsy was negative- so now I’m left with one gynaecologist saying no it isn’t that and another one saying it is ! (I feel like telling them to fight it out between them and not look at me like it’s my fault for being difficult!) in fact it was using dermovate that made my already thin, estrogen skin, worse. Whatever I’ve got it’s not insanely itchy which is the main symptom of lichen I understand.
I’ve no idea how long all this pain will last - I’ve have it since the 12 April when it all began very suddenly. My health anxiety makes me worry about Vulvodynia (even though gynae said not as she could see that the problem was with the skin) but I have trouble trusting any of them anymore as I was misdiagnosed twice. If the local estrogen isn’t suiting you they should let you add in systemic HRT - it might be worth you asking for a second opinion or seeing if there’s a dedicated menopause clinic near you - it’s incredible how little GPs know about menopause - I sometimes wonder if they studied it at all - and if they did, they might not be aware of the updated info, and advice, as a lot has changed over recent years.
I’m seeing my urologist tomorrow (dreading the drive to the hospital) he’s an amazing doctor - so kind - and I suspect he’ll be more helpful than anyone else I’ve seen, even though he’s not a gynaecologist! He’s already helped me with my diabetes and blood clots and he’s the only doctor I trust - it’s just such a shame that we have to keep fighting to feel normal especially as, like you say, you’re just too exhausted with it all to fight! I hope you find some help on here - everyone who is suffering will have tried and tested different things and will be happy to pass on what they’ve found has worked for them. We have to be our own medical experts sometimes! But do remember you are far from alone.
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I didn’t know about keeping it below 25 degrees! Do I put it in the fridge ?
I keep my stock in the fridge until I use it and then a tube in bathroom cabinet. If temperature goes up in the house then tube I’m using goes in the fridge.
Personally I think it is the sweating in hot weather that causes things to be worse.
I don’t have baths now but do use my makeshift sitz bath every now and again. Physio told me the warm water brings blood rushing to the area. We have a seat in the shower and my sitz bath is a small round rubber trough from a farming suppliers ! But it works for me.
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I’ve just had a thought - I wonder if we’re experiencing a worsening of VA symptoms in this hot weather because we’re dehydrated? It’s hard to drink enough in hot & humid conditions- and my urologist
Said keeping well hydrated is important for all our bodily functions but don’t drink so much that you pee more than once every 2 hours or so, or you’ll be peeing out more than you’re taking in which of course is counter productive… regular sips rather than chugging down pints at a time ! :-)
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my urologist Said keeping well hydrated is important for all our bodily functions
Yes Snowcat, not only important for helping to keep tissues down there (& everywhere else) hydrated, but if we're not drinking enough then passing concentrated urine can be irritant to inflamed tissue.
Wx
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In normal weather pee should be straw coloured: any darker and we need to up the amount of liquid: not necessarily via drinks as the body takes from all food stuffs: paler and we are drinking too much. Did the Urologist tell U that? Sometimes they miss out the important info..
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Yes CLKD he did tell me that - in fact he’s always saying we should ‘pee pale’ 😁 he said it’s the biggest indicator of dehydration when I was asking him if we really need to drink 2 litres of water a day (water not my favourite drink) and he said, as you rightly say, we get fluid from food too so no, we’re all different, just drink water regularly and check your per each time you go! Too much water intake can be serious too .. though it’s less common than not drinking enough - he once asked me as I was leaving, if I was drinking enough and I replied ‘yes! I had a bottle of wine last night and two bottles of gin this morning..’ 😂 I left him banging his head on the table ..
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Thanks so much for your replies. It’s so touching to know that you’re not alone. It’s not like you can just tell your work mates about your vagina issues.
@snowcat I’m so sorry you’re going through it too. Health anxiety is the pits. It’s really interesting you say you have diabetes. I’m currently battling pre diabetes and I do wonder whether that’s a contributor. I won’t be googling it.
I did want to come back here and say touch wood I do think it was the hot weather because since it’s cooled down it’s sooo much better. Thank goodness I WFH mostly because I’ve been going knicker free which I think may also have helped.
I’m pretty sure I’ve not been dehydrated. Im obsessed with drinking water since I got kidney stones a few years back.
Annoyingly I’ve now got an agonising pain in my shoulder from sleeping with the fan on me the other day. I’m sure I didn’t appreciate being young as much as I should have done xx
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Re the fan Thomas Schafernaker the bbc weather man recommended the other morning having a fan by an open window to pull air in from outside rather than have it on you or in the room which just circulates room air.
You may be surprised if you talk to female workmates as to who might be in the same position as you.
Mentally it is difficult to not talk about having VA at times and keeping stum about it. Anyone else will happily tell you about their bad back etc….. I’ve never broached saying my fa… is on fire today.
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This is exactly what I was feeling over the last two weeks with a sore vulva (separate thread above). I thought I had an infection or a UTI I had a swab all came back clear. I was beside myself it was really dragging me down, so uncomfortable couldn’t pee properly because it was just so uncomfortable and when I did, it was just like a dribble. I think today is the first day I have felt normal. Peeing normally thank God! Three visits to the surgery and I was prescribed estriol cream instead of the Imvaggis. I tried it once not happy so have gone back to Imvaggis (which I have been on for years and was happy with) and I was never advised that you can use estriol cream on the vulva, just learned that today. I had been using Yes which is pretty good but just made me a bit “sticky”. I was also wondering because I know they have been in heat above 25C whether that had an adverse effect on how they perform? I’ve now been told I can put them in the fridge while we have this hot weather which I have now done. Hopefully the normality continues. This site is really helpful and at least I know that it’s not just me! Thank you ladies. Let’s hope we can all get through this!
Incidentally, to the lady who has health anxiety, I had the same I booked myself on an online course with talking therapies (NHS) and that really helped me if that is of any use.
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Three visits to the surgery and I was prescribed estriol cream instead of the Imvaggis. I tried it once not happy so have gone back to Imvaggis (which I have been on for years and was happy with) and I was never advised that you can use estriol cream on the vulva, just learned that today.
If you have gone back to favouring Imvaggis and now using Estriol on the vulva you may find that your GP will not prescribe both together on repeat.
You can buy Ovesse in Boots which is the same as Estriol 0.1% and made by the same manfacturer. This may be an option rather than a fight with the GP to get both as just using estriol on the vulva only the tube lasts longer.
Ayesha may have posted this BMS link for you already. You could show to your doctor to get both prescribed if necessary.
https://bssm.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GSM-BSSM.pdf
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There is still very little known from medics about GSM and how to treat it. Why its so important to be armed with all the knowledge to put yourself in the position to have a convincing argument/debate with them.
The practice nurse was amazing, she knew her stuff, but there are the others that you have to navigate around, the very young male GP, once I had explained the recommendations of the BSSM, he got bored and I was good to go with my daily routine of Vagifem and Estriol.
Then there was the male pharmacist who tried to lecture me on the amount of dosage I was using, he got a lecture from me and promised to never question another woman on how she uses GSM treatment.
This condition is for us to take control of and we can only do that by having the knowledge and confidence to speak out.
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I have just had a look at that link which is very interesting. I thought DHEA was a banned substance. I’m not sure. I thought I’d cracked it yesterday but today I’m sore and finding it hard to pee yet again so I am 99% sure that it is lack of estrogen. I’m going to see how I go over the next couple of days and if it persists, then I’ll make yet another appointment at the doctors only this time I will be printing that sheet off to show them. I am wondering if there is a stronger topical estrogen that I can use. I’m drinking loads, that is water! Ive slathered loads of Yes and that has soothed it at the moment. I’ve just realised that my oestriol cream has been in hot weather above 25C so I’m not happy about using it and as someone suggested perhaps I can get a prescription from my doctors I’m sure they will prescribe that to me as well as the Imvaggis just to get rid of me 🤣🤣. Don’t know whether this would help, but I’ve been drinking a lot of cranberry juice with no added sugar one can only hope. Thank you ladies for all the comments and advice on here. It is really, really helpful.
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It’s really reassuring to know it’s not just my vagina running riot ;D
I’ve had a similar experience in boots with a HORRIBLE male pharmacist angrily questioning me about how often I’m using estriol cream when I was at the front of a long queue in a tiny Boots branch. It was most bizarre as it was the first time I’d ever even got a prescription there. I was so angry I made a formal complaint to boots. They couldn’t have given a shit and I won’t go there again for my prescriptions.
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I have just had a look at that link which is very interesting. I thought DHEA was a banned substance. I’m not sure. I thought I’d cracked it yesterday but today I’m sore and finding it hard to pee yet again so I am 99% sure that it is lack of estrogen. I’m going to see how I go over the next couple of days and if it persists, then I’ll make yet another appointment at the doctors only this time I will be printing that sheet off to show them. I am wondering if there is a stronger topical estrogen that I can use. I’m drinking loads, that is water! Ive slathered loads of Yes and that has soothed it at the moment. I’ve just realised that my oestriol cream has been in hot weather above 25C so I’m not happy about using it and as someone suggested perhaps I can get a prescription from my doctors I’m sure they will prescribe that to me as well as the Imvaggis just to get rid of me 🤣🤣. Don’t know whether this would help, but I’ve been drinking a lot of cranberry juice with no added sugar one can only hope. Thank you ladies for all the comments and advice on here. It is really, really helpful.
You may have to give your increase in use of Imvaggis more than a few days to work.
There is Vagifem or Vagirux which you will find written about in the link if you have printed it out or can see it online. These are Estradiol rather than Estriol and said to be stronger and often given after Estriol is tried.
The doc may well give you Imvaggis and Estriol cream together on prescription as they are both Estriol and Imvaggis is a very low dose.
Best to be prepared though. The fight with the GPs is often over getting Estriol cream with Vagifem (estradiol) or enough of each being prescribed.
If you look at the Vulval Pain Society website there is a section on self care. Eg washing with water down below not soapy products, washing pants in water or with very little powder and rinse well. All to avoid any irritants on the vulva. I will try to find link later for you.
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Minusminnie thank you very much. I’m starting to tear my hair out about this now :'(
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We’ve all been there Jan. Take care. Becoming informed and maybe some trial & error you will get there.