Testosterone cream and vulva application

Hello! I have been lurking and reading and reading since my TVH 03/2003. Good thing, because I was ready or so I thought.

I'm not sure how to post my stats on the side bar, so here it goes.

I had severe endo., adeomyosis, a leimyoma, adhesions, adhesions, adhesions following a c-section.

Hx. of me before that...endo. had to take fertility drugs to get pregnant. Surgery to remove the endo. Surgery #1. Surgery #2 c-section. Then terrible adhesions from that I am told. So, two years later, Surgery #3 and found out about adhesions. Not fun. One year later Surgery #4 TVH couldn't take the pain and bleeding anymore. Kept ovaries. I feel blessed and lucky to have one child so am content with that. Had TVH as mentioned in 03/2003, bought the hystersister book and have been viewing this page and reading all your informational posts. A big THANK YOU to this site and all you wonderful ladies for sharing your thoughts! Leave it up to women to really share and care!

Anyway, as of last January, Surgery #5, found nodules on outside of bladder causing bladder frequency, but also had a cystoscopy and found IC. Not fun again. The nodules were benign.

So, I am dealing with adhesions, and IC following the TVH. And to think I thought the TVH would "fix" my problems. Actually, I traded problems and am in worse shape currently. Just had my hormones checked and they are "in the basement". So, I am on Estradiol cream 1 gram. twice a day, Progesterone 25mg. per day at bedtime and to increase to 50mg.-on days 12-18 of my cycle. Also, on testosterone cream 1 gram cream once a day in the AM.

I have read the posts of likes and dislikes of HRT. I am on natural bio-identical HRT and haven't noticed a difference yet. It's been one week, though, so maybe it will take time.

My question is after you have read through all of the above ..There was a discussion recently regarding testosterone cream and application. I think someone mentioned they applied the testoterone cream in the vulva area. Another place was to rotate it to the back of wrists. I don't understand the vulva location really. Is it applied to the outer vulva area (where the hair grows) to be specific or the major labia? I tried both and found a stinging feeling after applying to the skin of the major labia which is one part of the vulva. Am I doing something wrong?

Any other suggestions on where to apply the creams? Any suggestions on any of the creams? I want to switch to the Vivelle dot, testosterone sublingual drops or pellets, and keep the progesterone, natural of course, pills the same. But...my doctor wants to check me on the dose first and see where my comfort level is, which I don't know of that yet. He did give me a range to adjust the Estradiol cream to 1 gram- 2 grams twice per day. I want to wait a good six weeks before adjusting anything out of fear of over dosing and causing a problem(s).

Any ideas here?

Thanks in advance and thank you for reading the above.
Kit

Hi Kit! into the Hormone Jungle!

There are several recommended application sites for testosterone. The ones my compounding pharmacists recommend are: wrist, forearm, under bicep, upper shoulder, inner thigh, buttock, behind knee, and vulva/clitoral area. If you have stinging when applying it to the vulva, mention that to your pharmacist and perhaps the base could be changed to something more mild. If not, using the other suggested application sites will still give the benefits of testosterone.

Estrogen can be applied to the same sites as testosterone except the vulva/clitoral area isn't listed.

Progesterone can be applied to the forearm, under bicep, neck, breast tissue, inner thigh and buttock.

According to my compounding pharmacists, maximum benefit is received by rotating the site of application.

Do give it time to work for you. Changes in hormones should be gradual and best done one at a time so you know which hormone is causing which symptoms. It can be a big help to keep a journal of any symptoms you are experiencing. Sharing that with your doctor or pharmacist can help pinpoint any problem areas so dose tweaking can be done.

I hope this helps!

s

I haven't had any experience yet with the compounding creams etc. I just had my TAH/BSO on 8/23 and recently started the Estradiol.

I just wanted to say hello and "hang in there"...I've had multiple surgeries as well for endo./adhesions and I know it really *****... Hopefully this will be the end of it for all of us.