Menopause & IC problems

[HillaryD]

I had a complete Hysterectomy in 2005, due to Endometriosis, Uterine Fibroids and Polycystic Ovaries. I was on hormones for close to a year, but after trying so many and none of them helping I stopped taking them. I had problems with sex before the Hysterectomy, due to pain, but since the surgery, I've had no sex drive at all. When I do try to have sex it hurts so bad that I can't stand it. It hurts due to Vulvodynia, and then it also hurts my abdominal area. Then, the next day my bladder will flare like crazy. I don't know what to do!?! I feel so bad for my husband because I don't even want to have sex, don't have a sex drive period. And then he knows how bad it makes me feel after, so he doesn't push the issue. I am very blessed to have such an understanding husband, but I feel like I am not being a wife to him. Does anyone have any suggestions? Anything at all would be much appreciated! :help:

[Tuckersmom]

Paiful sex around the time of menopause is usually caused by vaginal atrophy, which is due to a lack of estrogen. Also, when your body isn't producing enough estrogen, the bladder walls thin out, leaving you more vulnerable to UTIs. My GYN prescribed Estrace Cream for me, applied vaginally, and it has stopped the pain and the recurrent UTIs I was getting last spring.

There are other options besides Estrace Cream, such as a pill called Vagifem that you insert vaginally. There are also a couple of products that you insert and leave in for several months at a time, one of them is called E-String (SP?).

I have also read on a Menopause forum that some women use extra virgin olive oil vaginally, and it has helped them greatly.

I hope you find a solution to your problem soon. (((Hugs)))