Hi girls
I joined the forum yesterday mainly to get help on this very topic so I thought I'd better tell my story here. Already, having read through everybody else's stories, I feel a bit better. I don't feel so totally alone with this damned thing. Thanks everyone!
Right, here goes - it's a long story - apologies in advance...oh, before I start I should say that I'm 50, definitely through the menopause and that I have been a widow for years.
It started back in June, when out of the blue I got a brief sharp pain when I went to the loo. Hadn't had cystitis in 25 years and it didn't feel quite like it anyway. It felt more as if i had a scratch or something 'down below' which was being burned as the urine passed across it. Anyway, after panicking for an hour or two, I went out and bought a cystitis remedy. The brief burning pains went in a day or two but I began to feel more generalized discomfort spreading up right over my abdominal area. I decided after a few days that I had to see a doctor about it. I told her my symtoms, that it didn't feel like classic cystitis. I also told her that I was post-menopausal and that I wondered if it was related to that. She didn't even examine me and reached for the prescription pad without further ado - antibiotics for a urinary infection.
Of course, they didn't fix the problem. She had told me that if I still felt bad in 48 hours I was to go back. Of course, 48 hours took us into the weekend, when the surgery was closed, so when I still felt awful, I had to go to the out-of-hours surgery at the hospital. Saw another doctor. She was very nice, examined me this time, and gave me more specific antibiotics, despite the fact that I was not having any of the usual cystitis symptoms. These had no effect either.
So a week or two later I was back at the surgery with another doctor - she was lovely, very sympathetic. I told her about the stress I was feeling under. She took urine to be tested and said she'd look into counselling for me. Went back the next week - tests were clear. I must have been feeling a bit better because she sent me away with the name of a counsellor but nothing else. I mentioned to her again that I thought it was hormonal and related to my menopause. I even asked her about an oestrogen cream but I got nowhere. Didn't feel strong enough to force it.
By this time I had stopped wearing jeans because of the discomfort. Sitting down was uncomfortable - well, you all know what it feels like. Eventually, I got up one morning and decided I was going to go to a fourth GP, this time to one that I knew quite well - she was the same age as me and she knew a bit about my circumstances. I told her my symptoms and she immediately asked - when was your last period? The relief! She sent me home with OrthoGynol, an oestrogen cream. I couldn't believe it, after two months of misery and worry.
Now I did something stupid -when I opened the box, the warning sheet inside was so frightening that I didn't give myself a full dose. I used it every night but only half or less of the dose - what an idiot!. ANyway, I felt a bit better after the first fortnight and began to lessen the frequency. Unfortunately, the doctor hadn't been very specific about how long I could use it, so I was always desperately trying to cut down. Consequently, I found myself two months on and feeling as bad as ever. So I went back to the doctor yesterday (another one again) - this time with a list of questions. She explained that I could use it intermittently for as long as I needed, that I probably had never given myself a proper dose and that it would be quite all right to go back to once a night for a week and see how things go, also that yes, it was possible to recover from this and that I wouldn't be stuck like this for ever.
As soon as I got back I searched online until I found this wonderful place. Now I know I'm not alone, I'm not weird (at least not because I have vaginal dryness
), and that there are real women out there who have got better.
I know I've rambled on here but I thought it might be useful to tell my story. I'm really annoyed that three doctors didn't even think of vaginal dryness even though I stressed my menopausal state, that I went through two pointless doses of antibiotics and months of discomfort. The person I'm really annoyed with though is the nurse who did my smear a year ago. It was agony (never been like that before) and I made some joke about having healed over through lack of use. "Oh no" she said "it'll be because of the menopause". But she didn't say anything else - no suggestion about what I could do about it. I can only assume that because I was a widow she thought I didn't need a functioning vagina. If she had picked up on my pain then, I could have been sorted before any of this happened - it makes me absolutely mad.
Thanks for listening girls - I hope I can help if anyone else is feeling grotty.
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Topic: Tell us how you cope with vaginal dryness (Read 862229 times)