DISCLAIMER: I have an autoimmune disorder that shall remain nameless (it really is nameless, they don't know what it is) that causes my body to dry out from head to toe. Eyes, mouth, throat, skin, any mucous membrane, if it once was wet it is now parched, so it could be peri-menopause or it could be this annoying condition, or it could be a little of both that is draining my precious bodily fluids. Cause aside, my vagina has become its own miniature Mojave. Now we've all heard of vaginal dryness but it isn't at ALL what I expected. It isn't just dryness it is A-G-O-N-Y. First I noticed a horrible internal itch, then I quickly advanced to stabbing pain. Walking across a room became an adventure -- would I scream before I got to the other side?
So I went to the drugstore and bought a box of REPLENS. Many women are big fans of this product but I am not one of them. It burned when I inserted it but within minutes I felt blissful relief, and one application lasted for three whole days. Two weeks of symptom relief, then this odd little discharge started up, not like a yeast infection or vaginosis but like little bits of tissue paper. GROSS. I googled "Replens" and "discharge" and found out the product's dirty little secret -- some women get a disgusting discharge from their vaginas sloughing off the dead layer of dry cells. Not to worry, the product website insisted, this should go away in a week or two. But it didn't.
Next I tried ME AGAIN, another vaginal moisturizer intended for those of us of a certain age -- have you noticed that you google "vaginal moisturizer" and you get "intimate lubricant?" Typical. It's all about sex. Anyway, Me Again seemed promising but again, it burned like the dickens when I first applied it. So off to the internist and prescription land..
Enter VAGIFEM, a little disk of estrodiol that you insert twice a week. This would have been the best alternative but it only worked for about 6 months and the dryness came back with a vengeance.
Finally I found K-Y LIQUIBEADS. Heavenly! They are like those bubble bath beads you put in the tub but are filled with non-irritating, non-hormonal, thirst quenching goodness that you insert twice a week. The only drawback I have found is that they leave a little oil slick when you pee but that is a small price to pay for long term comfort. Liquibeads and I were settling into a committed relationship when they disappeared from the drugstore shelves. I couldn't find them anywhere, so I thought I would order some from Amazon -- Amazon procured my order from discontinuedproducts.com. Discontinued? DISCONTINUED? Before complete panic set in I contacted K-Y customer service. The nice man who answered my email said no, they are not discontinued but they are out of production until May 2011 due to mechanical issues. Lucky for me I ordered a four month supply from Amazon.
It irritates me that there seem to be tens of thousands of products to make sex more comfortable but less than half a dozen non-hormonal alternatives for vaginal comfort any other time of the day.
So there you have the saga of my poor withered vaginal. Who knew?
I'm so sorry to hear of this AGONY! I have a friend (my age, 53) who for the last years has agony during sex. Sounds like you trying to walk across the room. I did read (was it Dr Donohue?) that some people have a side effect to eating chocolate that causes this particular agony. (Me who loves dark chocolate sympathizes with what this might indicate - but finding the removable source of a discomfort is always a good thing.) I hope your cure comes back on the market. Sounds like keeping a big supply is in order.
ReplyDeleteI've been having night sweats, off and on, since giving birth at age 35. No one, not my 5 OBs (group clinic), not my home birth midwives (who were far better about everything), warned me about nights sweats. I thought something must be seriously wrong with me. They have returned in recent years, and seem to be in a 2 months on / 2 months off kind of pattern. Red wine seems to increase the probability of having them. I should sleep with a towel on my chest when they are happening.
My band has an alter-ego, Cool Bill and the Hot Flashes. There are 3 of us age 53-55 and our 60+ male bass player. One of us females is usually having to remove an article of clothing during rehearsal. We might as well do it on stage and let people laugh.
So sorry to hear about your night sweats -- I had those for about six weeks after giving birth at 38 (I had retained so much fluid after my c-section my kidneys couldn't get rid of it all by themselves). I love the name of your band! I have a friend who spent five years of her life living in layers; she always had a matching camisole under whatever she wore and we saw them. Often. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDelete