Vaginal Dryness! I've had ENOUGH

Vaginal Health
1

I’ve suffered for years with vaginal dryness. My doctor years ago said its just eczema. I know its not eczema because it hurts when I get aroused, its not just outside its inside too. I’m not producing any natural lubricanl… I have been to a holistic practitioner who says its all to do with my hormones.

I have endometriosis and was told by my integrated doc its the recycled estrogen which causes the endo. I was on the pill from a young age and it’s only been the last few years I have been on this journey to try and heal things from the inside out. So i came off the pill to see what my body was doing on it’s own.

I won’t take my childhood doctors saying go back on the pill to suppress the endo. I want to know why the endo is happening in the first place. I won’t take them saying ‘here just use these pessaries’ which are full of chemicals to try fix the vaginal dryess… Are there any supplements or things in my diet to help?

How can I balance my hormones?

anyone else suffer with dryness? Every time i look at dryness and estrogen levels online it comes up with menopause!!! Surely there has to be more to find on this…

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Hi @ginge and welcome :slight_smile:

So sorry you’re having these symptoms, not nice at all.

Firstly, vaginal dryness is very common and something most women will experience at some point in their lives. It is often down to our hormones, and that is why the menopause often comes up in relation to vaginal dryness. However there are many other causes including breastfeeding, contraceptive pills, antidepressant medication, and if you’ve had your womb removed (a hysterectomy) or having chemotherapy treatment. Also, if you’re not aroused or are using certain products (such as perfumes/ lubricants with chemicals), this can have an impact on vaginal dryness. There are also more uncommon causes such as underlying auto-immune conditions. Women may also experience vaginal dryness at different times of their menstrual cycle.

I am glad you’re taking the right steps to look after your body, and looking into balancing your hormones. It can take some women a while before their body gets into a natural cycle after coming off the pill, and there are many other external factors that could be at play here.

I would highly recommend using a natural water-based lubricant regularly. Of course, the pH balanced HANX lube is a winner - we put a lot of research and thought into getting this right for the body.

In terms of your endometriosis, I am sorry you’re going through this, it can be tricky to manage and unfortunately synthetic hormones are one of the main management options. However, other things you can use to help manage the symptoms include hot water bottles/ heat over areas of pain, pelvic massages, are castor oil to massage onto the body. Your diet is also very important and eating anti-inflammatory foods (lots of fruit, veg, such as blueberries, avocados and tomatoes, as well as almonds, olive oil and sweet potatoes and much more) definitely is something that can help in the longer term. Eating well will help in so many ways for good overall health.

Also, staying well hydrated and generally fit help with hormone balance. Finally, probiotics have shown to have a positive influence on the body, and there has been some limited research suggesting they help with vaginal dryness too.

I hope some of that helps, and good luck with everything. Keep us posted on how you get on.

Sarah x

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Hi Sarah,

Really appreciate your reply!

Yes I’ve read a lot of articles on vaginal dryness and none of the above causes apply to me and i use natural (or organic where possible) everything! from moisturise to what i wash with. It’s also constant through my cycle. Maybe I will go back to the integrated doctor once Covid settles. I feel like i’ve exhausted all the avenues.

I use the Flo app and have been tracking everything from symptoms to cycles, it’s been so handy! I can see for the last year my periods have been regular (give or take a day) - I also don’t have ‘common’ endometriosis symptoms when it comes to periods as mine are very short and light in comparison to them being really painful and heavy.

My diet is very good and has been for about 2 years now - I eat mainly plant based! (Occasional piece of salmon) and this has definitely helped :slight_smile: Along with exercise and staying hydrated! (sometimes hard with the fatigue but i try to power through)

I will get some probiotic to try and help my gut microbiome hopefully it will filter down too? :smiley: - can you recommend any to take?

Thank you again for your help! <3

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Hey @ginge,

Thanks for your lovely message and I am glad to hear you’re using natural wherever possible. Tracking apps are a really great to keep an eye on things, so I am glad that’s helping you.

Also great to hear that you’re plant based and this has helped, as well as being fit and healthy in general.

There are some good probiotics out there, and a real range to choose from. Floratrex has a broad range of culture strains and Inessa is another good choice that is backed up by robust research, and a slightly more affordable but also great choice is BioKult. There are many others out there too, so make sure you do your research for the best one for you :slight_smile:

Good luck with everything and let us know how you get on.

Sarah x

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Ginge so sorry to hear you are going through this. Following this thread to see how you get on with the probiotics as I am interested in this! x

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Hi Sarah,

Have you heard of opti-bac before? They are a dairy free probiotic which seem to be a reasonable price but unsure if they are reputable. This is the thing with really trying to look after your body it costs a small fortune :frowning: especially at a time like this.

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Hey @ginge yes Opti-bac look good too. I completely understand, it is so tricky managing health and caring for yourself without paying too much! However, you’re right to shop around, and remember that your health is so important :slight_smile:

Hope it’s all going well.

Sarah x