Hi I have been diagnosed with atrophic vaginitis some time ago, and have been ok maintaining the dryness since the menopause. I bought a dilator to help keep my vagina stretched and hadn't used it for a few weeks until last night and was horrified at how difficult it was to insert. It is like I have regressed and my vagina was very sore around the entrance. I did use lubrication beforehand. I must admit I have been avoiding sex with my husband, due to being unable to receive much of his penis, but thought I was improving with the dilator when I started using it. Has anyone any advice as I do not want my sex life to be over at 50! My hubby did not help with the comment that I have a sick vagina!
So sorry to hear this. I am very tight now but with loads of lube (Yes products are good) and vagifem twice a week we manage ok. I can't say that it is enjoyable physically but the closeness is still very important. Don't give up and go see your doctor if you can't get past this without the usual lubes and meds. Sending sympathy in huge quantities!
Hi,my husband and i dont have sex anymore,he has low testosterone and i have this. We both have agreed to not have sex anymore. Frankly if it hurts and you dont enjoy it,there is holding kissing etc with no pain. Otherwise i would sudgest take him with you to your next gyno apt and have the doctor explain things to him and give you both options. Good luck.
Thanks both for your replies. I tried again with the dilator and it was a bit easier. I think I will persevere with it as I read an article by an American hospital in Ohio about the common problem we have and it mentions this is the best way to go to stretch the vagina. Thanks again.
Carmarie where did you get your dilator from?
Hi. I got the dilator from a site calles Stress no more. It is a bit like one of those Russian dolls, there is a smaller one inside a bigger one for different size options. Easily washable oh and mine has a gentle pulse for relaxation (need batteries) but I don't bother with that bit!
😀😀😀 Thankyou Carmarie I will have a look and see if it might help. Hope things improve for you 😊
Hi I hope you do not mind me asking this I have only just been given vagifem from my Dr's and am having to insert tablets every day for 2 weeks to start do you now if I can still have intercourse with husband at this stage I don't want to go back to dr just to ask this
Doesn't seem to create any problems 😊
Should not be a problem physically. But I would question if it is good for your husband, to pick up the estriol which will be transferred from you?
Thank you so much for being so open and honest about this difficult problem. About the estriole, I was given estrace vaginal cream, the doc told me it would not affect my hubby. I just went to have a pelvic last week the doctor even had trouble inserting the speculum That is how much I shrunk! When I did try to have sex 2 years ago, it was so painful, couldn't do it. But, the doctor then told me to have sex twice a week at least to keep things going there, did not help. Good luck. I am starting on premarin. An oral med here, have you tried that? And if so, has it helped? I'm 61, this problem seems to have been an acute start, like one day ok, next day owwie. Plz keep us updated, as I am interested in how things go for other women. Perhaps if we told our husbands that they have sick penises they would not like that at all.
Hi Sha863. I did try Vagifem and it helped initially with the dryness but I did not want to stay on it for a long period preferring to just use pessaries containing hyaluronic acid which help with atrophy. I must say since I initially posted complaining of shrinkage, that I have used the dilator again and things are stretching again. I often wonder why it is easier to insert some days better than others I often wonder if I have some kind of pelvic muscle imbalance as welll as atrophy. Yeah the hubbys of the world would not like any reference to sick penises lol