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[Hilary66]

Please can anybody advise me how to stop this horrendous burning,my gyno says it's not thrush but the smallest bit of discharge irritates before I get a chance to clean it away.Ive tried ice packs yogurt sitz baths  yes water based product  and it's eases for awhile and then comes back with a vengeance.Could it be I have an infection and my gyno has missed that,because I have ms they seem to put everything down to that,I'm taking amptyriptaline to see if it's coming down the spine and to block over sensitive nerves but it's not working.Im at a loss to know what to do ,it's literally taken over my life, I s it ms or not  I'm very tempted to take a course of erythrocin to see if that will work.Any advise would be much appreciated . Hilary66

[honeybun]

Has no one mentioned vaginal atrophy to you.

There have been many discussions about it before and there is help.

Vagifem pessaries are very successful but there,are other preparations.

Are you on HRT. Some of us find that we need both HRT and a vaginal oestrogen to keep things healthy.
Use the search button to look for other topics on this and it might give you some ideas.


Honeyb
x

[Hilary66]

Thanks honey bun I was on vagifem and that's when the burning got worse ,the only suggestion my gyno made was if it doesn't settle down she will do a biopsy of the vulva to see if it's a skin issue.She is now on holidays till the middle of September  so I just don't know, I will definitely search through the threads and see what others have to say,
Thank You,

[honeybun]

There was a topic called The burning club.

Dancing Girl, who I'm sure will respond to your question, started it. She is now using an Estring which is much more successful for her.
If you do a search for her posts then you can read about her journey.

Hope this helps until someone who knows far more than me comes along.


Honeyb
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[ancient runner]

Sorry to hear about your problems.
I didn't find Vagifem worked very well for me -- I got irritated with it and the effect was very up and down.
I've been using the estring since December and it's brilliant. It is a smallish silicone ring which releases oestrogen constantly and just sits in your vagina. Each one lasts for about 3 months. Has improved my life no end. My VA felt like thrush/cystitis too and it is brilliant 99 per cent of the time now (though I very occasionally use a smear of ovestin as well).
could you get your GP to prescribe one of these for you till the gynae comes back? With luck, things will gradually have improved by then. It does take time though with VA.

[CLKD]

Why would anyone need to do a biopsy?  That could cause more problems as the skin is probably dry and thinner.

Have a read menus, left of screen; search on here for 'my bladder etc.' thread and those of SuzyQ relating to Vaginal Atrophy.  Ask for VA treatment before submitting to surgery!

[Maryjane]

Don't have a biopsy unless there is a suspect lesion as it will aggravate already aggravated nerves.

Are you in the uk?

Use ice to calm things down, I assume they have started you on a low dose of ami, most people have to get up to 30mg to get relief, I do believe that MS can cause these symptoms also, although rare.

[Maryjane]

I wouldn't take the antibiotic, as you need to know what you are treating and if there is an infection it may be resistant to that one anyway.

A lot of my burning has been found to be an undetected UTI, that has been rumbling away since I had minor gynae surgery 20 months ago, three specialists and lots of ££££s later but I am about. 75% better over all I have had to have six weeks of antibs, changing to a different one every two weeks, I am on my last lot now.

I am on ami also, the burning is still there but greatly reduced as the UTI has irritated the Pudendal Nerve. The least invasive investigations you have the better, as those nerves are already on red alert.

I have seen an amazing Vulva specialist, and she spent 40 mins thoroughly examining me in and out, so gentle and caring, did the gynae do the cotton bud test for vuvlvodynia?

I smother myself in the yes "oil" twice a day down there or more if needed stops any irritation from urine etc, also Sitz  baths can make it worse, I use dermol 500 as a wash as just water is very drying but other things cause irritation.

If you are uk based I can pm you the name of the lady I saw, she takes more in depth swabs than the usual and mine was spot on including my PH level.

Vaginal burning is the pits...........if it's VA then the estring I guess is your next stop, I can't use vagifem or Ovestin either make me burn more.

[Hilary66]

Thanks everybody for all your replies I appreciate every bit of advice I get and will take it all on board,I'm tired of being poked at and all for no result, I will suggest to my gp about estring but I'm wary about hrt  and it's risks,I know I'm probably being rediculous but it would be my last resort.Im not from the Uk where you all seem to gave a good support network,Ireland in my opinion is still way behind making more aware women's issues and how to deal with them,I was taking ami 20 I just doubled up to see if it would ease the burning,my neurologist prescribes 10 for irritation in the spinal cord where I have dymiliation, I quite happily sat with an ice pack last night and it eased it eventually so I could sleep for a few hours,but right back at me when I awoke,thankfully the weather is good and I've managed to just wear shorts without underwear for the day so hopefully it will ease eventually,thanks again for all your advice it's so nice to hear that I'm not just alone with this problem,and I'm very lucky to have a very supportive husband who makes me smile when I'm feeling low,

[CLKD]

What's your biggest worry about HRT?  Surely quality of Life is important for both yourself and your husband?  I had breast disease in 1995 but have been advised that vaginal atrophy treatment doesn't migrate and the symptoms were un-bearable.  I really didn't have any option but to try the pessaries which worked, I would say 'magic' still exists 

At least if you try some HRT you will hopefully have less symptoms and will 'see the wood for the trees' in order to make more informed decisions as you go along.  After all you might get run over by a bus etc. etc. etc. 

[Hilary66]

We'll I suppose that's one way at looking at it,I will discuss it further with my gyno,I'm actually surprised that she didn't recommend it if it was a solution to the prob.I must watch out for the buses

[Dancinggirl]

Hi Hilary - only just read through your thread.
I've had this horrible burning on and off for many years even when on full HRT.  I  moved house so have a different GP practise who are far more clued up about this problem - it's the luck of the draw when it comes to being treated with meno problems.
They advised I take a break from HRT last autumn and I was immediately worried my burning would get worse. The practise nurse I was seeing asked why I hadn't been prescribed local oestrogen for this years ago!!!! Many women need full systemic HRT and local oestrogen as well.  Anyway, having tried Vagifem, Ovestin and Gynest all of which tended to make me burn more, I am now using the Estring which I'm finding much better - still get episodes of burning but far less.
Local oestrogen carries virtually no risks (ignore the scary stuff in the information leaflet - they just use the same information as for full HRT which is silly) so it's definitely worth trying.  However, for me, it's taken over 6 months to improve and this is not uncommon. Had strange tingling sensations for the first few weeks initially which felt like the whole area was coming back to life!!!!!
The discomfort your are feeling is truly miserable and you really need to get this sorted.
Good luck  DG x
PS If you haven't got any lesions don't have a biopsy - you're going through enough.

[Rowan]

I was worried to read that that you should ignore the information on leaflet "which is so silly" for some women it is important to read any hormone leaflets.

The fact is that HRT can be a problem for certain women and such cancers such as ovarian cancer HRT can contribute.

Its important to read the information and discuss with your doctor if you have any questions, local or systemic.

[honeybun]

I hate reading the information leaflets but I make myself. I try to ignore the side effects but read the interaction with other meds bit.

Recently the GP gave me stomach meds. She never mentioned that they could interact with other stomach meds that I take. I would never have known and could have made things much worse.
I do agree with SL. You should either question your GP or pharmacist about what you are taking.


Honeyb
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[CLKD]

I never read the info leaflets until a few days into the product  .