Vaginal dryness and shrinkage.

[Whitenightingale]

Are women with an underactive thyroid more prone to this? Could this be an imbalance in the Pituartuary gland and hormones secreted?

Or is this something that happens naturally as part of the menopause.

[Clutter]

Whitenightingale,

This may happen after menopause. Replens cream may help reduce dryness.

[Whitenightingale in reply to Clutter]

I tried Replens but I didn't like it and it wasn't natural.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Clutter]

Polycarbophil, mineral oil, glycerin, hydronated palm oil, glyceride, carbomer 974P, sorbic acid, methylparaben, sodium hydroxide. Ewww!!

Worth a search for Sylk (mostly made from kiwi fruit) if you just want a moisturizer (but not strong enough to deal with atrophy).

[Angel_of_the_North]

Might be a pituitary problem. I had vaginal atrophy (along with awful menopause symptoms) and secondary hypo. I just got bioidentical HRT and the vaginal atrophy went in about a week. Vagifem pessaries (prescription) might help.

[Coastwalker in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Same here AotN, I used Bio Identical with added 3% estrogen in it and also went away quickly. Or is it also to do with a drop in estrogen levels maybe ?

[Whitenightingale in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

I thought it was pituitary a few years ago. The bio identical HRT are not compatible with our bodies

I use organic natural progesterone.

Estriol is the safest to use for an esterogen hormone. Vagifem I understand does not have the right receptors. I am going to try soyagen tablets to raise estrogen naturally in the body.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Whitenightingale]

Bio identical HRT is the same as natural progesterone (or at least contains it) and is most compatible with our bodies as it is bio identical, meaning the same in structure as what our own bodies produce (unlike regular HRT). It's all made from plants in a lab. I need two types of oestrogen, and progesterone and DHEA to keep my hormones in balance, but we are all different.

Vagifem worked for me as an emergency treatment for 2 weeks. You wouldn't want to use it for long as it only oestradiol, and most women need both oestriol and oestradiol in the right proportions for them.

I wouldn't use a soy-based product in case it supressed my throid even more. Early on I tried soy-based menopause creams and pills and they didn't work at all. I drank miso soup. I also tried black cohosh, dong quai, sage tea, ladies bedstraw, raspberry leaf tea, agnus castus, maca and pretty much everything else you can think of. The only one that worked even a bit was agnus castus. They might work for people with mild symptoms.

[Chippy10 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Hi can I ask the name of the Biodentical hormones you use especially the Progesterone as I also need both. Also where can I buy them. Thanks

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Chippy10]

No name as it is compounded especially for me.

[Chippy10 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

Ok thankyou.

[Cooper27 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

In addition to Chippy's question, are you aware of anything natural/OTC that can be applied topically to promote testosterone? I've been googling, but not getting very far.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Cooper27]

Allegedly, tribulus tea promotes testosterone. I once bought some pods (awful spikey things) but never used them. You can buy what's called testosterone gel online, but whether it works or not I have no idea. I wouldn't mess with hormones without knowing exactly what I was doing.

[Cooper27 in reply to Angel_of_the_North]

That's exactly my concern. Women need very low amounts of testosterone, so I wouldn't want to mess around with unregulated stuff, as you still have to dilute the prescription stuff down before use. It's that I saw a study of women with a skin condition I suffer with, which was cured by applying topical testosterone & progesterone to the affected skin. I want to try it, but the NHS hasn't recognised the study yet (it was conducted in the USA).

[Coastwalker]

Is this what you are suffering from Whitenightingale ?

[Whitenightingale in reply to Coastwalker]

Yes

[Coastwalker in reply to Whitenightingale]

Using the wellsprings bio progesterone with 3% estrogen in it, the painful, dryness, shrinking/narrowing/closing up, started to clear up straight away and back to normal in next to no time and the VA has never come back.

Also using coconut oil as a lubricant is natural and a little spot of it goes a long way, great stuff no dangerous chemicals in it.

Organic, Extra Virgin is best