Sorry I'm being such a pest but I've just got so many questions!
The Carlson's Key-E suppositories are a God blessing. No more urge or chapped sensation down there. Much better than the hormone creams although I know they may help things heal up faster -I'd rather go this route for now.
I know for most (all?) bladder issues we are told to drink 64 oz of water a day but that seems like a lot to my sensitive old bladder!
Also I've been monitoring the PH level of my urine- when its alkaline (7+) I have few problems but when it gets down in the 6's or 5's....ouch! Too acidic.
Trying to keep it as alkaline as I can by strictly following the bladder "no no" list of coffee, booze, sugar, tomatoes, spicy, etc. also try to reduce stress as much as possible.
Last night I had a mochi ice cream - then I found out they were loaded with sugar. Also herbal tea - that was a mistake (licorice, ginger, cardamon, cinnamon) I read afterwards that herbal tea is not good.
Thanks for reading - hope you are having a good day!
ro, I have been meaning to buy some PH strips for months now, but even notes to myself don’t help! Such is the relentless aging process (on both ends), apparently. I don’t have bladder problems, but have read that it’s important to be aware of your PH as all sorts of health problems can develop if it’s off.
Others have mentioned E suppositories; I’ve never tried them. Instead I was just puncturing Vit E capsules as I already had them, but it was very thick. Maybe the suppository is thinner. Now that I am using estradiol & a steroid cream I’ve eased off on the E ; just use coconut oil or some vaseline now and then.
Re drinking that much water I couldn’t possibly. I have never drunk a lot and when I try it feels like force feeding. If I drink half that amount I feel I’m doing good. But I have read that we consume foods and drinks that contain a lot of water so drinking that many glasses of it is not necessary. May not be accurate, but I’ve chosen to think it must be.
When you say herbal tea is “not good”, why is it bad? Have never heard that. I can’t eat ice cream, avoid sugar as much as I can, but re spices use a lot of cinnamon,fresh ginger and garlic. Have always read they are good. Why would the tea not be? I do drink green tea and a 50/50 combo of coffee and almond milk.
You are dealing with AV that is causing bladder infections, correct? (Hard to keep track). I’ve got AV/LS.
ideally the vagina PH should be between 3.8 -4.5 if its any more alkaline it can cause infections such as thrush etc. VA and menopause can increase vaginal PH which causes the horrible symptoms we get. If you think its the VA causing the urine symptoms maybe give this a try. I found vinegar in the bath water helped or a few drops of tea tree oil and I also use Ovestin twice a week as directed by GP, at the moment I’m keeping in top of things - just. Try not to wash undewear in biological washing powder and try to use cotton always no synthetics.
I think the ideal is 2 litres of water every day and no strong coffee etc.
Good luck with it
Beverly, you don’t have bladder problems?? OMG you are so lucky. That is what drives me up the wall and back again.
During the day - since I ran out of Estradiol (didn’t like it anyway) I’ve been using the Carlson’s suppositories and they are working well - no spasms, urge or chapped feelings in the vagina but now when I lie down to go to bed I get the urge/frequency to urinate so bad it brings me to tears.
ro, no, so far I don’t. Fingers crossed it will be one problem I can avoid. Because several women have been suffering with them I had been searching for the name of a med another woman had mentioned who had terrible urinary problems, but I had the wrong woman! I finally found the correct names. The woman was Shirley and the med was Trimethoprim. Haven’t seen her post since so am assuming it finally cured her problem. I just googled : it is an antibiotic used for urinary and ear bacterial infections. Maybe it will work for you.
Thanks very much for the tip.
Frankly, I’m not much of a pill taker due to the side effects.
Antibiotics are something I avoid for that reason unless its absolutely essential.
Very kind of you to look it up for me, though.
Wouldn’t treating PH from the inside out be more beneficial? Have you tried drinking cider vinegar? People do for various problems; I haven’t. Until I buy PH strips I won’t try the vinegar. I read a book on autoimmune problems and the author stressed poor PH levels being responsible for almost all disease as it weakens our resistance. As no doctors ever discuss diet (other than dieticians for weight or diabetes) that’s something we have to figure out on our own apparently.
Doctors only know about drugs.
yes i take apple cider vinegar. doctors in the UK may be different then as ive had discussions about diet for a variety of things and they dont always prescribe a drug if something else may help each to their own i suppose as i was just sharing what had helped me.
should say im the same person as wardrobe mistress - i seem to have two accounts. this is an old one from when i had a new hip
Doctors on this side of the pond definitely have a different approach. I would love if they had knowledge of food’s affect on the body, but it’s as though they never heard of it. Here it is considered “alternative” and not covered by insurance either. I can get a total of $150 worth of acupuncture, chiropractic or gym membership covered by insurance and even that has been newly granted. With MDs here it’s one pill or another. Older people tend to take immense amounts. I think I’ll go to the drugstore right now to buy the PH strips before I forget again!
That’s $150 for a year.
we really dont know how lucky we are with our NHS - though we do have long waits and some things are rationed. But essentially its free at the point of use . To be fair not all GPs are up on diet etc ive possibly been lucky and im from an NHS background so am fairly proactive with my health.
Not only do we not have free care the Trump administration announced today it is challenging the legality of the entire Affordable Care Act. With nothing to replace it, of course. It’s like we have mad cow disease over here.
I went to three pharmacies. No one had PH strips, just keto strips. The latest fad, I guess.
i got my ph strips from the well known online retailer. our health care is free at point of delivery but we pay via our taxes. the only experience of US health care is from family whose granddaughter was born with and subsequently died from a congenital condition. it cost over $1,000,000 and the parents lost their house .
Thanks, but I was able to order from walmart last night. They don’t have them in the store so ordering was necessary. Your family member’s story is one of many tragic ones. You can rest assured none that are fighting the ACA are people in that sort of position. We are rapidly becoming the United Selfish & Brainless States of America.
Wardrobe, I’ve ordered the PH strips which I understand work for measuring urine levels. How do you measure vaginal levels if overall body PH is supposed to be around 7? Do you use the same strips?
you would think so yes - but the wife - childs mother (im related to the father) is from a Republican family and refused to sign up for Obama care! as for america being brainless - we here are right behind you with Brexit nonsense. have a good day
So true, Beverly, doctors don’t discuss diet - its a shame.
Do you follow Dr Mercola? He’s very good and light years ahead of the rest of them but he’s not an MD - I think he’s a naturopath. I love the comments on his site - they are so knowledgeable.
Acidity causes so many problems but then you don’t want to be too alkaline either.
Well said, Beverly. I’m sure that the terrible political insanity that has beset the USA is a big part of my anxiety.
sounds a bit gross but you just stick a strip in your vagina for a second take out and compare to the colour chart