I am a mess and I need help.....

I had a hysterectomy in April 2004, but left in my ovaries. My dr said that it would help keep me from taking hormones.

In the last 8 months I've had some type of infection "down there" that itches and burns like yeast. I thought it was yeast until I came to this site. Sometimes it hurts so bad it hurts to sit down.

My sex life has improved but that could be because I've recently gotten remarried!!

I have a appt to see my dr on the 12th of January. This will be a new dr as mine doesn't practice here anymore.

I have terrible mood swings- I can't concentrate at work- I have hot flashes at night and trouble sleeping. I'm tired all the time.... Could it be possible that my ovaries are shutting down?? This weekend was so bad I wanted to break down and cry, and not get out of bed.

The vagifem I'm reading about sounds promising for the vag problem but I think I need some hormone therapy. There is so much information out there, I'm confused.

Do you use the two of them together?? The vagifem and a patch or pill? Do they all come in patch?? I hate taking pills.

I cannot believe I cannot get an appt until the 12th. I'm losing it.........

Hi there. Sorry you are going through all that. I would think if you called and spoke to the nurse and let them know what was going on, they could try and get you in sooner. Also, I would think they will do a hormone level check on you to see if your ovaries are still functioning. Sounds like they are not working right. I am sure one of the other sisters will be along with great words of wisdom shortly, but I wanted to give you the thought to try and get in touch with the Doctors Nurse to see if they can work you in any sooner.

Good luck! I hope you feel better very soon!

Thanks for your help and support.

They have a great e mail function there so I've sent them a e mail requesting an earlier appt. Hopefully my email with sway them a bit???

I hope some of the others will weigh in with some info as well. I need all the help I can get!

I wish our clinic would email with patients. I am still awaiting for a phone call from the neurologist's office to get my daughter in sooner for her migraines...since Thursday I think was when I called. If they could email, that would be AWESOME. but... on the down side, like you, it can be hard to sound NEEDY through email. Usually if they hear your voice on the phone, they know it is urgent. Guess there are pros and cons to both ways. Hope you get in SOON!

Vaginal estrogens (like Vagifem) are just for that area, and little, if any, is absorbed into the rest of your body. Therefore, most of us use other forms of estrogen in our HRT regimine. I use the Vivelle Dot patch along with the Vagifem (also, progesterone in oral form). It is all just a trial and error process, and does take time to get the right mix. You do sound as if you need some estrogen in your system to help with your symptoms. Is your itching just vaginally and are you sure it isn't a yeast infection? Personally I've had external vaginal itching since I had my surgery in Jan of this year and my doctor can't seem to figure out the cause...I don't think it could just be the surgery itself that brought it on and wonder sometimes if it is the HRT causing it. It's amazing how we have the surgery to cure our problems, but then we end up with a whole new set of problems.

Jackie

Hi Ladies,

Well I have also had the itching externally and since the surgery but my doctor seems to have corrected the problem after a couple of visits. He placed me on a ointment called sigmacort which is a cortisone oitment which I used twice a day and while it helped it wasn't until he added a tablet called Nizarol that cleared it all up.

My doctor put much of it down to dryness causing the problem and prescibed vagifem and suggested I use lubricant on a regular basis during intercourse.

At the time I had cut back some of my HRT as I wanted to see if I really needed it, well it appears I do as I'm back on it and so far everything is going well.

I hope you both get a solution to your problems soon........Karen

PS I did have it prior to surgery and my gyn suggested washing the area with vinegar and it helped but not on the last occasion. For me I do believe it's hormone related

The itching is like inside the outer lips and the inside gets tender and inflammed.

It doesn't itch as bad as a yeast infection though it itches badly.

I took acidopholus (spelling?) a couple of times and it seemed to ward it off but sometimes it doesn't.

What's bothering me worse than that is the mood swings, not being able to sleep, and the night sweats.

I had no heat on in my bedroom last night and nothing on but a Tshirt and I couldn't sleep I was so hot!

Please can someone advise me. I have tried sooooo many tpes of hrt, at the moment I am on 1mg sandrena gel, estradiol only i think. Feeling so nauseous and headachey, also joint pains in the hands and ankles are driving me beserk, keep screaming at everyone. I am 2 weeks into this new treatment. I have no ovaries now, but would it help if i added progesterone? any advice would be helpful. I don't know how to carry on at the moment.

thank you

Coachswife67- The itching and inflamed symptoms you described are the same symptoms I get when I have an allergy or sensitivity to a medicine. All of the doctors I've ever seen have said they have never heard of that. So I did some online research this fall because I was having problems with my bp meds and read several places that that is actually one of the most common symptoms of a reaction to medicine. Now, when that happens, I start by taking a lower dose of my prescription. If that doesn't work I try a different med altogether. Hope that helps.