I have been menopausal for 1 year. I have tried several methods of HRT. I am currently on 100 mg Prometrium and 2 mg Estradial. I just started this a week ago. I have one ovary and I do have my uterus. I have severe vaginal dryness still. Every time I get aroused, wipe after using the bathroom, or even towel off or even touch the vaginal area it itches and tingles soooo bad that it gives me a panic attack. It is not an infection as there is zero smell and I have been checked. It is weird because it almost feels good like I am getting aroused. I tried the Estrace cream and I noticed it causes itching but it isn't something in the Estrace because the pills do it too. Does anyone know if it is a lack of Estrogen? A lack of something else? I cannot take it anymore. It is worse at night. It feels almost like when you go out in the snow or get very cold and then come into a warm house and everything starts to tingle. Is it the nerves waking up after being dead so long? It is so nerve wracking! I have tried putting coconut oil there and it doesn't help and just wiping it on causes it to itch severely. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Other symptoms I have is digestive issues, bloating, depression, cysts on my ovary that is left, fluid retention. I noticed last night as soon as I took the hormones that itching and tingling came on worse. Tonight I am going to take the Estradial first and wait a half hour and then the Prometrium to see if I can tell which one it is.
Hope this is an interesting problem. But I will mention that you are just a week in on this HRT. It may be as you mentioned, that things are waking up, since you almost feel a sense of arousal.
I really wouldn't think this is a lack of estrogen. But as we all know, we are all so different, and HRT is often a trial and error. Possibly these sensations will calm down once your bady adjusts to the new hormones.
Sorry, best I could do.
This might as well be simple anxiety, you are hypersensitive to sth your brain would normally dismiss as a minor thing. Another guess is constipation or gas in your lower bowels which presses on some nerves in the area creating the feeling. I get itching of my vagina when I am allergic to environment, this is the first place itching occurs.
I've heard that both prometrium and estrodial can cause itching as a side affect. I am wondering if its too much estrogen as he bumped me from 1 mg to 2 mg. Thats a pretty big jump. Almost like it is hyper sensitive because of the nerves being too stimulated by too much?
It's not allergies. It could be anxiety but I am sound asleep and just start itching so bad so doubt its anxiety either. I am at a loss.
That does make some sense. That is a big bump from 1- 2mg. I guess the way to check this out is to back off to 1 - 1.5 mg of estrogen and see if there is a difference. However, remember that it always takes more than a week to tell if this is the correct dosage. In fact, it is often recommended that you wait 3 -4 weeks until you make a change.
But I get it. Pretty hard to do something when it's driving you nuts!
Hi there HA,
I am feeling for you, suffered almost same when starting HRT.
Tried everything there was on the market to assist the burning and itching and found gold old Petroleum Jelly to be the only topical product to help.
But I did discover something amazing that was even better.
I used a tampon as I figured that it was the vaginal secretions containing the medication were what was making me raw. I used as I would if I had a period, changing very frequently and would try going without one to see if the problem had gone. Slowly as I became accustomed the the med the problem decreased and I am now completely at ease with it all.
Going off the Tiberlone/Livial was not an option for me and I was a hopeless mess of every symptom going.
Be kind to yourself, and let us know how you are going?
Loui xx
Hi Hope
I was experiencing something similar to this late 2015 - went to the doctors and she said it was probably due to vaginal dryness so she prescribed me some cream and it did disappear after about a few weeks. Then late last year it came back with a vengeance it seemed so I went back to the doctor and she prescribed Vagifem which didn't work - I had a feeling she thought I was making it up. She then prescribed some Gabapentin which she said could be down to nerves. I have been taking it for 6 weeks now and it does seemed to have quietened down a bit but has not totally gone - am going back on Thursday to see what she says.
I did join a menopause group on Facebook and I was told that I could have Progressive Genital Arousal Disorder but I beg to differ as I don't get aroused in any way at all - I just find it annoying and very depressing. If I was you I would google this just to rule it out. There are groups on Facebook for this too and some secret ones also.
hope this helps x
Yes, I saw that online several times about the arousal disorder. For me it is like I am completely uninterested in sex and if I just wipe with a towel it tingled sooo bad that it made me feel aroused even though I in no way was thinking that way. Do you know what it is caused from? Cause I was thinking it was a hormone imbalance? Do you know? Thanks!
thankyou for your post i am very grateful i feel you have helped me identify a problem where i have been misdiagnosed, thanks.
Do you have the same problem, Heather? Do you know if its low estrogen? Thanks!
I don't know and I don't think my doctor knows - she just said it was probably due to menopause. I think that the condition of vaginal tingling is not very common and that many doctors haven't heard of it.
I hope you can get it sorted. x
Am so glad I've helped - as I've just said to Hope I don't think many doctors have come across this condition. Hope you can now get the correct diagnosis. x
Hi HopeAgain, the doctor has tried me on HRT 1mg of each then upt it to 2mg of each, hormone cremes stuff to bath in moisterisers and many more products nothing working going from infections to raw to tingling, been to gynacologist prescribed a creme that my doctor already gave me and told me to use different and got told to go back to my doctor if symptoms persist, i feel i am on the verge of a break down here.x
Heather, do you have blood sugar problems? If you eat sugar or a lot of carbs is it worse? Cause I got the horrid tingling itching when I started having blood sugar problems. I went from Dr. to Dr. Gynecologist didn't know. I went to 3 endocronologists and finally the last one is helping. He didn't say it was from blood sugar problems but I know that if you have blood sugar problems, hypoglycemia, or diabetes you itch in the genital area. I have cut my carbs way down. I get horrible blood sugar problems if I eat more than like 80 carbs a day. I can't eat sugar. I am not overweight but I find that the Prometrium/Progesterone makes me gain weight fast. I know because I was on a low dose estrogen only with no progesterone and I thinned out fast. I have read online that progesterone can make you have blood sugar issues. Estrogen helps your blood sugar to balance. I know that too much insulin causes vaginal itching too. I am starting to think for me it is the progesterone. You said you are on 2 mg of each. Is it prometrium?? If so, I am not a Dr. but it might be way too much progesterone which raises your testosterone. So, if you have more hair on your chin, gaining weight easily, the itching tingling, you might want a Dr. to check all of your hormone levels. If your current Dr. won't then find one that will. Mine just upped my estrogen to 2 mg. My progesterone is still at 100 mg. It's just one pill. The itching for me is better and it is almost gone if I cut my carbs down. The carbs I eat is vegetables mainly or like black beans. If I eat glycemic stuff like white flour, cookies, the itching gets wayyyy worse. So, you could have your blood sugars tested to for like insulin resistance. I have been going through this for a year. The first endocronologist made me worse. My progesterone was already really high and my estrogen was low. She put me on 100 mg of Prometrium and .50 mg. of estrogen. I was even on Metformin for prediabetes. I ate nothing but carb veggies, and let me tell you the itching was sooooooooo bad. I truly am thinking for me it was just plain too much progesterone. Hope I can help I have been through a living nightmare in menopause.
hi again, your story is sounding almost identical to mine so i am off to the doctor again on monday to ask for futher help, itch has had me up all nite again had to sit in a bath for over an hour to get some releif whilst sobbing my heart out, this is a living nightmare. The itch then the cant stop scratching then the burn and thats just one side of it. I cant belive the lack of support for menopause. My blood sugars came back ok but my hormone levels came back really high the people i am dealing with are very vague, i am begining to think they have no clue and i think i have to start asking a lot more questions but when making the attempt for information i am getting ent away with another lotion or potion or pills.
Did you get sorted out I've got very bad itching around pubic area tried creams still the same worce at night
Mine is finally almost completely gone. I am on Estrogel, compounded progesterone, and compounded testosterone but I think for me this horrid itching was vaginal atrophy. Even though I had been on estrogen pills or the gel and had used Estrace off and on I wasn't consistent. I looked down there one day and it looked red,, labia were almost gone, a bad smell, and severe dryness. I decided to start Estrace all over again but now I do not miss using it. The smell went away. The itching went away. The dryness is almost completely gone and since using Estrace my libido has gone up. I use 1\2 to 3\4 gram 3 times a week for maintenance. When I first started Estrace I used a lot more then went to maintenance. At first it itched horrid when I put the Estrace on. Now it doesn't itch. I heard Estrace or Premarin are best for atrophy. Vagifem isn't best. I think Vagifem and the Estring are ok for maintenance but not for healing the tissue to begin with. For healing the tissue you gotta use like 1 to 2 grams of Estrace daily for a few weeks then drop it to 1 to 3 grams weekly.
Thanks for the info I'm attending doctors Thursday x
I used to get vaginal itching before menopause for years, it was awful and it effected my relationship with my husband very badly. When I became menopausal it got better. Then I developed vaginal atrophy and dryness. My Doctor has given me Estrace which every time I use it it gives me very bad itching. I have read this is the side effect of this cream; How did you deal with itching from Estrace? It is unbreakable.
If I stop using it the atrophy will bother me if I use Estrace, it causes itching. is there anything that I can use to stop the itching from Estrace?
Thank you,