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[Elizabethrose]

I'm sure you'll be fine, it's great stuff! The alternative is not something any of us would choose, so needs must! Given my ridiculous sensitivity to hormones, if there were going to be any really negative effects I'd know about it by now.

Off to bed now, utterly exhausted from weekend. Daughter coming Tues - very excited!!  Night night xx

[CLKD]

S - what's the worst that could happen? 

[Optimist]

Bloody hormones that's all I can say!! Rick was great CLKD.
 ☺️
I'm not giving up completely on vagifem but am giving it a bit of a rest as although I know hurdity and clkd said most likely my natural cycle and vagifem wouldn't cause a bleed I've associated it with that and generally going back to feeling crappy! I'm slowly working through it and I know you ladies are right but I need to feel "A" okay before trying it again. There defo were benefits felt as slept like a baby due to not waking to go to loo!
Looking back I hadn't had even a small/light bleed since being on the patches (Nov time) so likely was my endometrium building up and this time last year I went Jan to April without a period and my moods were stabilised but then had a bleed and back to moody grumpy irritable "bitch from hell" at times 😁. So have had a bleed and the scan said thin lining so must've shed the build up! Still a bit irritable but hoping hrt will kick in and override again as still feel I've gone backwards. Will speak to gp and ask for meno clinic referral if no improvement soon as may need higher dose as hurdity suggested.
Anyway hope you're all okay today...live each day as it comes I've learnt...oh and I'm coming back as a cat!!! A tom cat....sleep, eat, poop.....perfect 😁👍🏼 Xx

[CLKD]

A neutered Tom-cat ....... ?  . 

Optimist - do keep a diary and let us know how you get on.  Sometimes I have to go back to basics.

[Lazydaze]

CKLD

https://wholewoman.com/forum/node/4385

This is where i read about vaginal honey, but I agree I had wondered about thrush being encouraged by the sugar content.  There is a complex debate about using oestrogen only , and if no oestrogen is absorbed into the blood stream, why are there increased risks of cancers such as womb cancer?  Why are some doctors told to tell their patients to use only the minimum dose and to have a break after the first three months to see if they still need it?  We don't KNOW what the long term effects of using Vagifem are, doctors are only guessing, because its a relatively recent invention.  Nothing like this is without risks and i am trying to be well informed.

[dahliagirl]

 Why are some doctors told to tell their patients to use only the minimum dose and to have a break after the first three months to see if they still need it?

It is because the WHI study and the Million Women Study released results in 2002 that questioned the safety of hrt, which was highly publicised.  Following this, the advice was to take hrt preparations using the minimum dose for the shortest time.  This was a blanket edict for all hrt preparations so was also applied to topical oestrogen too.

Since then, the results of these studies have not stood up to scrutiny and other results have come in that have seriously questioned these conclusions.  As these have been much less high profile, there has been confusion for years and it has taken a long time for everything to catch up.  NICE has produced new guidelines.

Taking vagifem, or other vaginal oestrogen, twice a week is equivalent to about 1 hrt tablet over a year, in terms of what is absorbed.

[CLKD]

Are there risks?  Which Consultant told you that?  We often worry about reading stuff that is out-dated or which has been over-ridden by more recent Research.

Some doctors don't understand how HRT should be prescribed and some are more worried about their budgets than about the health of their patients ........ and I don't think that many Doctors guess what effects might be when they prescribe medication.

Thanks dahliagirl!


Also: Quality of Life?  Having had cancer I wouldn't worry too much about what 'others' might suggest  .  Also, I know what the long term effects of not using Ovestin would have been for me - I wouldnt' be typing this without regular treatment  .  Well informed is about being properly informed, not reading what 'might' be true on the internet.

This Forum is medic led.  If you are really worried do send a short e-mail to Dr Currie and let us know her response. 

[CLKD]

But the uptake of localised HRT is so low  .........

[Lazydaze]

The risks are clearly stated on the leaflet in the packet!!  So are the possible side effects.  I have noticed that as soon as i started taking Vagifem none of my rings fit and all my bras were far too tight.  i have had headaches and am now experiencing strange leg pains which may not be related. i am super sensitive to chemical hormones as i said before. Vagifem leads to thickening in the womb lining and an increased risk of womb cancer .  However, like so many others on this forum I can't find an alternative without the risks.  My point is, no one KNOWS what the long term use of hormone replacement are, it hasn't been used for long enough.  If Vagifem does not leach into the bloodstream, why are any side effects experienced at all?  This is my question.  For side effects to be apparent, it must be leaching into the bloodstream. My other concern is that Vagifem is oestrogen only.  Some people have been advised that their partners may become feminised because the oestrogen is absorbed by the penis during intercourse.  This in itself is worrying.  it is easy to just swallow what the medical profession tell us (i.e. take this drug and all will be well, there are no KNOWN side effects, or they are just temporary), but i am wary of the pharmaceutical industry generally and question what i am being told, especially when different GPs say different things and generally have a poor understanding anyway of what goes on in menopause or the effects of hormones on functioning. Quite apart from the environmentally unfriendly packaging !!  I am just asking these questions, not attacking or demonising.

[ancient runner]

The way to properly test whether or not what you are experiencing are side effects or related to something else would be to stop using the vagifem for a few weeks.
On your point about penises, if that was a real worry the chap could use a condom? But (a) in my experience you wouldn't embark on jollies if you'd just inserted your Vagifem (because that would be nuts) and (b) without the vagifem you wouldn't be in a position to be inserting a penis.
Sadly, this menopause lark is all about trade-offs. Nothing is 100 per cent safe. But we live in an age where more of us are surviving to menopause, and where there are treatments for some of the effects of it which must have been nightmarish for older women in centuries past.

[babyjane]

Well after over 6 years I am not stopping my Vagifem, the alternative is too awful to contemplate.  My husband has certainly not become feminised (he has always cried at ET     At my age quality of life is my priority, as it must be at any age really as we only ever have now.  None of us know what tomorrow may hold.

[CLKD]

Vagifem leads to thickening in the womb lining and an increased risk of womb cancer does it?  So does Tamoxifen even though my Consultant told me otherwise, but my friend died last year due to womb cancer following treatment: however, she had 20 years of good years until the last 3.  She was 67.

I couldn't stop my oestrogen now, I would be unable to live with the razor blades up there  .  Or the constant needing to pee feelings which meant I was unable to leave the house .........

Lazydaze:  what will you do if you don't use Vagifem?  Some ladies find moisturisers i.e. 'sylc' can ease dryness but it won't plump up the vaginal tissue.  It really can be Trial and Error at a time when Life should be fun >sigh<

[Lazydaze]

I am sharing my dilemma as I don't know what i will do either, but i cannot believe all women suffered like this before it was invented. I have the same symptoms which is why i went on it in the first place, but I do worry about what the long term effects might be and I hate feeling like a cow with huge sore breasts.....   just searching for answers really. 

[Lazydaze]

There is a doctor called Christine Northrup in the US who writes a lot about menopause and she has developed a supplement based on herbs which is supposedly great for menopausal symptoms and vaginal dryness.  I wondered if anyone else had looked at her site?

http://www.drnorthrup.com

[CLKD]

Nope.  There is enough confusion about what to/not use this side of the Pond  and if the web-site is selling anything, it is against T&Cs to post the Link.