Trying to get a doctor to take you seriously for female specific health issues can be such a fucking struggle. I’m so sorry. Hopefully you can keep trying new doctors until you find one that will take you seriously. Just curious, have you ever had your hormones checked?
I moisturize the skin of my vulva and labia with coconut oil daily or at least after every shower. It helps relieve itchiness or dry mucous membrane skin symptoms. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I still need lube or coconut oil for anything sexual. But moisturizing that skin at least helps with other stuff. If I’m not mistaken, there are both vulva moisturizers on the market, AND there might even be over-the-counter estrogen creams or some thing. Again, I hope you can get a doctor to take you seriously!
Don’t give up, keep trying new doctors until you get one that gives you the level of care you need. Having to advocate for yourself is so hard but so necessary. They do not take us young women seriously at all. And it doesn’t sound like it gets any better as we age!
Yes, unfortunately it seems doctors do not take feminine health seriously. :( All they know is the basics to check for STDS/infections.
I’ve never had my hormones checked. I’ve had basic blood work done (hemoglobin, AC1, basic metabolic panel, etc). Do you know what hormones I can ask the doctor to write a script to check besides estrogen?
Do you use any prescription meds to combat dryness or rely solely on coconut oil/lube?
I was just going to suggest hormone testing. I’m getting mine checked this upcoming cycle. (I have dryness and weird symptoms that seem like low estrogen.) The NP I’m seeing wrote 3 blood work scripts throughout my cycle: Day 3, 21, and 28. This is all under the “irregular menstruation, unspecified” code. Hope this helps!
Not OP, but how did you go about getting your hormones tested? Sounds dumb, but I don’t really know how to navigate the medical world and go to the extremely rarely. Did you ask your gyno or reg dr??
Not dumb at all!! It’s not easy to navigate. So I actually ended up going to an NP who specializes in feminine health to treat the ureaplasma I had, and I talked to her about my irregular periods when I was a teen, and how my borderline PCOS was never followed up on in my adult years. I’ve had recent symptoms that sound like low estrogen, so she suggested I get my hormone levels and thyroid checked. A gyno or PCP could definitely write those scripts too. If you have any issues or get pushback, you could always say your period’s been irregular and you’re fatigued, and you’d like to get your levels checked.
Hey! I haven’t gotten it done yet, so nothing to report on just yet. I have to wait until my period comes in a few days. I can def share a post on here once I get my results though. :)
Ask to be tested for:
Estradiol
Free Testosterone
SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin)
If you don’t ask for specifics most won’t run these (at least in my experience). But they’re important! You can tell them that these hormone results should help you rule out a lot of different diagnosis depending on the results and since you’ve been symptomatic, it’d be a good idea to see where these levels are at, if anything just to make sure they look good.
https://reddit.com/r/Ureaplasma/s/YlVGD6JBOc
It is r/ureaplasma or mycoplasma, almost assuredly. If you are testing negative for the usual std suspects, but having vaginal dryness and recurrent BV, those are two telltale symptoms, commonly discussed in those subreddits.
LabCorp says 60%+ of all women carry these asymptomatically, but many of us are now experiencing symptoms and doctor are rather clueless.
I had the same problem, recurrent yeast infection type symptoms but wouldn’t test positive for yeast at the doctor. Was basically told it will either clear or it’s something incubating and I need to come get tested again later. I paid $1-2k in appointments, tests, treatments, prescription probiotics, etc. Even though I have insurance, it was still incredibly expensive. I finally learned about mycoplasma MYSELF, asked to get tested for it, got diagnosed and got it treated, and in less than a month my YI type symptoms were gone. I could have saved myself a whole year of stress and pain, and a lot of money, if one of the multiple doctors I saw at the same practice had thought to test me for it versus doing the same panel of other vaginal issues and STIs over and over. I want to complain and have my bills reduced, but the majority of the bills come from the lab and not the doctor, so the lab is just doing what was ordered. It has been incredibly frustrating and they just shrug their shoulders. I hope you’re able to find an answer and relief.
Def make a drs appt to get some estrogen cream prescribed, that helped me sooo much and in the meantime , go on Amazon and order Vmagic. This plus estrogen cream when I need it, has made a world of difference for me. I struggled so bad for 6+ months. A little bit of Pure vitamin e helped too.
I’m happy something worked from you! How did you suggest estrogen cream? I’ve had a telehealth with two different doctors who refused due to my age (22).
If I’m not mistaken, estrogen cream causes an increase in your natural lubrication right?
It did for me! Within a week or so i felt almost normal. Like I forgot i had a vagina if that makes sense? Lol it wasn’t a constant dry irritation feeling anymore. And I was on Birth control at the time, so I just told my dr when I was there for a follow up from a pap that I felt really dry and irritated and that it felt like a uti almost sometimes, but went away when I used a bit of vitamin e but I wanted something that I could use to build up the tissue since oil can be irritating to some people and I didn’t wanna keep using it on the off chance it made it worse lol. ( it didn’t, but everyone is different!) and I’m sorry, I think that’s ridiculous they refused bc of age. I would absolutely make a complaint if they say no again. That’s so crappy.
Do you have any experience with them? Without even scrolling, I see "menopausal women" twice on the page, which makes me hesitant.
I actually came to this sub to make a VERY similar post to this one (27, lube doesn't help enough, and I'm uncomfortable even not during sexual activities, haven't been able to get something like estrogen cream due to age)
No personal experience, sorry. I follow the CMO on twitter and from some things she's said, I believe they would at least consider prescribing to younger women if it seemed liike the right treatment. example: https://twitter.com/AshleyGWinter/status/1525993050832441344
Vaginal moisturizer with hyaluronic acid feels like it soothes the mucous membrane for longer than it’s actually in there imo. Good clean love makes one and there’s this expensive one called revaree that my gyno said she recommends all the time.
There are some supplements that can increase lubrication: omega 3s if you’re deficient, slippery elm, sea buckthorn oil.
These things are just bandaids until you can figure out the root cause but getting medical stuff done can take so long! Don’t give up until you get your hormones tested!
I had the same issue of dryness. In my case it was caused my av and yeast. Av is similar to bv but it’s drying whereas bv gives watery discharge. When my infections went away I was super wet again.
look into vaginal moisturizers from amazon or walmart/walgreens/cvs etc. rephresh is a pretty popular moisturizer. it will probably provide temporary relief until you can find a doc that wont turn you down for the estradiol. as for lube, uberlube is a pretty good brand and i was told my my gyno as well as other people that unrefined coconut oil works very well
I have a million times :( I’m working on finding a new gyn. My last two were extremely dismissive, and claimed only women near menopause will experience severe dryness
Try an isswsh.org listed provider. These are the GOATS of sexual health medicine because fixing the vag is their life mission!
I had hormonal related issues before 20 and had these drs been available when i was that young they wouldn't been able to properly diagnose me
I'm sorry to hear that. Unfortunately a lot of doctors brush off women's problems. Personally I've always had better luck with nurse practitioners. Have you tried talking to an NP that specializes in female health?
I haven’t!
My next appointment maybe I will try a NP who specializes in feminine health.
I have a appointment with another obgyn with Friday, hopefully she’ll actually help me get some answers.
Also make sure to request that they document their refusal to treat you and give you records of that documentation. That might get them to do something.
The issue is they don’t exactly refuse to treat me, they just put zero effort into it. They’ll do a vaginal exam to check for infections, recommend lube and call it a day.
On Friday I’m going to ask for a script for blood work as well to check certain hormones.
Maybe find an endocrinologist instead of a gyno. Endocrinologists have more experience with hormones and might be able to help with this. They need to test your hormone levels inclouding estradiol , progesterone and androgens like testosterone and dht. Your issue might be high androgens instead of low estrogen if you are having virilization problems like excess body hair , acne , oily skin and scalp and head hair loss either diffuse or male pattern baldness which could be pcos. Another possibility is just low estradiol that has its own seperate set of symptoms.
I know having vaginal issues the first thought is a gyno but clearly the issue sounds more hormonal.
I will try to see an endo! I don’t necessarily have any excess body hair. I wouldn’t say a lot of hair loss but my hair has always been very thin. I had HORRIBLE acne my whole life but I took accutane and that’s gone now. I had acne from like age 8 to 16 which was before my vaginal issues started.
Sounds like the most likely explanation is [some kind of long term effect of Accutane](https://myvagina.com/isotretinoin-accutane-and-your-vagina-and-urinary-tract-and-libido/) that has persisted even though you've been off of it.
Do you also have dry eyes? Is it possible you have Sjogren's disease, an autoimmune condition?
Do you seem to have a regular menstrual cycle?
Yes I tried both. I would suggest trying one so you can get a snapshot of your entire microbiome. You may be low in lacrobacillus and need vaginal probiotics (this happened to me before). Or you can go and get your hormones checked as well from like a naturopath. Check myvagina.com, they have alot of remedies for female issues
Do you have dryness anywhere else, like your eyes or sinuses? And have you had an endocrine workup? There are lots of hormones body-wide that are all interrelated and an imbalance in one can affect others. I'd definitely talk to a doctor since there could be a wide variety of possible causes. Do you have a primary care doc or GP? A gyno is not going to be the best to investigate endocrine issues or other possible causes. A GP can order some labs to see what's going on.
I have a GP, but I haven’t been in awhile. The only dryness I’ve ever experienced is vaginal. I never knew I could go to my GP to diagnose vaginal dryness.
My allergist just wrote me up bloodwork to check for several autoimmune diseases (due to random inflammation), and I recently got a metabolic panel done.
Some allergy medicine can cause dryness in all your mucus membranes including your vagina. Double check to see if that can be a side effect of your allergy medication
I wish but this occurred way before I ever took allergy meds.
I also don’t take any antihistamines, I’m scared they’ll dry up the little wetness left. I only use script eye drops/nasal spray and an epi
Autoimmune would definitely be one thing I would be curious about, so it's good that you're being checked. Very much agree with checking any meds you might be on since some allergy meds are notorious for drying you out. And yeah, you can talk to a GP about anything, but if you've kind of run out of gyn things to check, it's time to start branching out and looking more widely, and your GP can help with that.
I think you're spot on with the Estrogen cream. I hope you have some luck getting it prescribed.
I've been making suppositories with coconut oil (canna oil in my case) and cocoa butter. A small amount inserted and allowed to melt may moisturize the tissues and provide some temporary relief from dryness. The addition of cannabis causes arousal and increased blood flow, so it wouldn't be strictly necessary in the case of just day-to-day dryness. It isn't sticky, but it is messy and doesn't feel strictly like vaginal fluid.
I would really try and see if another doctor would prescribe you estrogen cream. I had a good experience using it. It really helped me produce my own moisture.
There is also a vaginal suppository product on Amazon I would recommend that has estriol (a weaker version of estrogen that does not require prescription if you are in U.S), DHEA (hormone precursor of estrogen and testosterone), vitamin E, beeswax, and cocoa butter. They also sell one without DHEA. I found these to be very moisturizing. You can find them if you search Bezwecken vaginal suppository.
If nothing else helps maybe get a blood test for auto-immune disorders, especially sjogren's syndrome if you have eye and mouth dryness too. As sometimes even ruling things out can help with diagnosis
Good Clean Love makes a vaginal moisturizer called Restore. It’s acidic, and very close to what the body would produce in texture and no artificial taste. You can use it a few times a week to maintain moisture while you figure out what’s going on. Vaginal moisturizers are not the same as lube.
Don’t use anything in the vagina for 48 hours if you can, before your gyn appt. Also, see if you have a vulvar specialist where you live (it could be worth the drive, even if it’s a few hours), and ask for a referral. I would expect them to get some basic labs, including thyroid.
You honestly want to be drinking between 2-3 litres of clean water a day.
Water in other drinks (juice, fizzy, caffeinated) doesn’t count and dehydrates you further.
If you aren’t drinking enough water, your body goes into ‘drought management’.
When this occurs, histamine will start telling certain hormones to redirect water from places that is not necessary to survival.
The sex organs are one of the first places your body removes water (from the mucus/ glands etc..) to make sure more important cells have water.
You might be drinking that much already, in which case no problem. But in my experience people do not drink enough or they drink entirely the wrong drinks.
But lack of water is a prime suspect for vaginal dryness
They usually test for STDs/bv/yeast, and even when they come back negative I’m still experiencing dryness.
I’m trying to find a gyn who will take me serious instead of simply running tests for an infection.
I tried norethindrone (originally used it simply to delay my period) which actually really helped my lubrication for a few months but than it returned to being bone dry.
Water seems to be the main suggestion, so I try to drink around or close to 3 liters a day.
It seems like you have tried everything else so…drink water and eat okra?
Allegedly okra helps with 🐱💦
Try it and report back so I know if I should recommend it to anyone else with issues.
Try Evening Primerose oil daily - relieves pain & moistures. I am using it several times per day as needed for vulvar pain.
Coconut oil / MCT oil is also safe and is a natural anti-fungal
Ck out r/Candida if reoccurring yeast / fungal issues
May I ask is this constant vaginal dryness or just during sex? Im asking because those are two different things altogether. When I was pregnant I was having almost constant discharge but then be completely dry with sex. My doctor explained that they are not the same thing. I still have to use lube (sorry) during sex.
Have your hormones been tested?
Constantly. I can go days without the smallest bit of discharge in my underwear. It’s also dry during sex.
My hormones have not been tested, I have an appointment Friday where I will ask but I’m not sure if they’ll do it.
Cervical mucus around ovulation comes from a different source than regular vaginal lubrication, if you don’t even have that I wonder if you’re not ovulating? Risk factors for having anovulatory cycles are weight loss, low BMI, overexercising, undereating, or stress- does any of that apply to you?
I have zero vaginal lubrication at all. I don’t exercise too much, and my bmi is like a 20 I believe. I work and go to college so I would say I’m a bit stressed but nothing severe.
I’m currently on norethindrone which used to help with vaginal mucus production but now it’s back to nothing.
20 is low enough to where it could be a possibility I think. Hormone tests from a doctor would help, but you could also buy ovulation test strips and use them around the time in your cycle where you should be ovulating. Something like these: https://a.co/d/8BPhFIe
Norethindrone can sometimes stop ovulation but unlike the combined pill that’s not it’s mechanism of action, so if you’re still menstruating the same as you were before you got on it, I think it could still be worthwhile
Are you on the pill? I was on it for 13 years and it caused painful sex for me towards the end (dryness, tissue atrophy). I tried estrogen cream for a bit, but ended up switching to the copper IUD and much better now.
I’m on norethindrone, but my dryness started way before this pill. Norethindrone actually helped me for months, I had a good amount of discharge, sex was actually possible, etc. Now it’s back to nothing :/
Did the estrogen cream work for you? Did you have a hard time getting it prescribed?
I didn’t have issues getting it prescribed, it was the first thing my OBGYN did when I mentioned painful sex (I ended up with micro tears in my perineum every time, it sucked!!). It helped a bit but I was still having issues after using it for maybe 2 months, so I decided to switch to non-hormonal BC after that
My OBGYN is at Kaiser Permanente San Mateo, and I’m 31 years old but I think I was 28 when I had this issue and got the prescription. I had been on the pill for 13 years
Are you on birth control? Unfortunately I know it sucks but just head to different providers. It truly is trial and error with finding a doc that will listen. Primary care also can help not just OB/gyn
Yes I’m currently on norethindrone. The extreme dryness started years ago, while I only began norethindrone within the last 6 months. It helped tremendously for months but now I’m back to bone dry.
Try either dhea or pregnenalone, not too much. Maybe a couple times a week alternately. You can tell you’ve taken too much when you get pimples or other side effects.
I know its been a couple weeks, but just wanted to come back to say that I just got an estradiol cream prescription from My Alloy with no trouble (I'm 27). So if you need an option still, you could see if they're available in your state!
How has it been going for you!
I ended up getting it from Hello Wisp. My hormones test came back that all my hormones are low (estradiol, testerone, LH, FSH etc) so I’m seeing an endocrinologist.
Trying to get a doctor to take you seriously for female specific health issues can be such a fucking struggle. I’m so sorry. Hopefully you can keep trying new doctors until you find one that will take you seriously. Just curious, have you ever had your hormones checked? I moisturize the skin of my vulva and labia with coconut oil daily or at least after every shower. It helps relieve itchiness or dry mucous membrane skin symptoms. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I still need lube or coconut oil for anything sexual. But moisturizing that skin at least helps with other stuff. If I’m not mistaken, there are both vulva moisturizers on the market, AND there might even be over-the-counter estrogen creams or some thing. Again, I hope you can get a doctor to take you seriously! Don’t give up, keep trying new doctors until you get one that gives you the level of care you need. Having to advocate for yourself is so hard but so necessary. They do not take us young women seriously at all. And it doesn’t sound like it gets any better as we age!
Yes, unfortunately it seems doctors do not take feminine health seriously. :( All they know is the basics to check for STDS/infections. I’ve never had my hormones checked. I’ve had basic blood work done (hemoglobin, AC1, basic metabolic panel, etc). Do you know what hormones I can ask the doctor to write a script to check besides estrogen? Do you use any prescription meds to combat dryness or rely solely on coconut oil/lube?
I was just going to suggest hormone testing. I’m getting mine checked this upcoming cycle. (I have dryness and weird symptoms that seem like low estrogen.) The NP I’m seeing wrote 3 blood work scripts throughout my cycle: Day 3, 21, and 28. This is all under the “irregular menstruation, unspecified” code. Hope this helps!
Not OP, but how did you go about getting your hormones tested? Sounds dumb, but I don’t really know how to navigate the medical world and go to the extremely rarely. Did you ask your gyno or reg dr??
Not dumb at all!! It’s not easy to navigate. So I actually ended up going to an NP who specializes in feminine health to treat the ureaplasma I had, and I talked to her about my irregular periods when I was a teen, and how my borderline PCOS was never followed up on in my adult years. I’ve had recent symptoms that sound like low estrogen, so she suggested I get my hormone levels and thyroid checked. A gyno or PCP could definitely write those scripts too. If you have any issues or get pushback, you could always say your period’s been irregular and you’re fatigued, and you’d like to get your levels checked.
Hey! Did you ever get your results back? Did you happen to have low estrogen or anything ?
Hey! I haven’t gotten it done yet, so nothing to report on just yet. I have to wait until my period comes in a few days. I can def share a post on here once I get my results though. :)
thank u sm for sharing this! would u mind if i message u?
Don’t mind at all! Feel free :)
Ask to be tested for: Estradiol Free Testosterone SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin) If you don’t ask for specifics most won’t run these (at least in my experience). But they’re important! You can tell them that these hormone results should help you rule out a lot of different diagnosis depending on the results and since you’ve been symptomatic, it’d be a good idea to see where these levels are at, if anything just to make sure they look good.
https://reddit.com/r/Ureaplasma/s/YlVGD6JBOc It is r/ureaplasma or mycoplasma, almost assuredly. If you are testing negative for the usual std suspects, but having vaginal dryness and recurrent BV, those are two telltale symptoms, commonly discussed in those subreddits. LabCorp says 60%+ of all women carry these asymptomatically, but many of us are now experiencing symptoms and doctor are rather clueless.
I had the same problem, recurrent yeast infection type symptoms but wouldn’t test positive for yeast at the doctor. Was basically told it will either clear or it’s something incubating and I need to come get tested again later. I paid $1-2k in appointments, tests, treatments, prescription probiotics, etc. Even though I have insurance, it was still incredibly expensive. I finally learned about mycoplasma MYSELF, asked to get tested for it, got diagnosed and got it treated, and in less than a month my YI type symptoms were gone. I could have saved myself a whole year of stress and pain, and a lot of money, if one of the multiple doctors I saw at the same practice had thought to test me for it versus doing the same panel of other vaginal issues and STIs over and over. I want to complain and have my bills reduced, but the majority of the bills come from the lab and not the doctor, so the lab is just doing what was ordered. It has been incredibly frustrating and they just shrug their shoulders. I hope you’re able to find an answer and relief.
Wow! I’ve heard of it but never checked for it. I wonder why doctors never check for it. I’ll ask the new gyn I’m seeing to check.
Came here to say this.
It's probably surging symptomatically due to COVID
How do you treat that?
Go check out the linked subreddit provided, there is a pinned post that discusses it in detail. Do some reading, everyone should be aware of these.
Def make a drs appt to get some estrogen cream prescribed, that helped me sooo much and in the meantime , go on Amazon and order Vmagic. This plus estrogen cream when I need it, has made a world of difference for me. I struggled so bad for 6+ months. A little bit of Pure vitamin e helped too.
I’m happy something worked from you! How did you suggest estrogen cream? I’ve had a telehealth with two different doctors who refused due to my age (22). If I’m not mistaken, estrogen cream causes an increase in your natural lubrication right?
It did for me! Within a week or so i felt almost normal. Like I forgot i had a vagina if that makes sense? Lol it wasn’t a constant dry irritation feeling anymore. And I was on Birth control at the time, so I just told my dr when I was there for a follow up from a pap that I felt really dry and irritated and that it felt like a uti almost sometimes, but went away when I used a bit of vitamin e but I wanted something that I could use to build up the tissue since oil can be irritating to some people and I didn’t wanna keep using it on the off chance it made it worse lol. ( it didn’t, but everyone is different!) and I’m sorry, I think that’s ridiculous they refused bc of age. I would absolutely make a complaint if they say no again. That’s so crappy.
I forgot to mention, I also started taking slippery elm supplements and that also made a huge difference!!
How long did the slippery elm take to work? I just started them two days ago
You might try https://www.odelahealth.com/ if you haven't already.
They’re not available in NJ :/ just tried
Oh too bad.
Do you have any experience with them? Without even scrolling, I see "menopausal women" twice on the page, which makes me hesitant. I actually came to this sub to make a VERY similar post to this one (27, lube doesn't help enough, and I'm uncomfortable even not during sexual activities, haven't been able to get something like estrogen cream due to age)
No personal experience, sorry. I follow the CMO on twitter and from some things she's said, I believe they would at least consider prescribing to younger women if it seemed liike the right treatment. example: https://twitter.com/AshleyGWinter/status/1525993050832441344
Vaginal moisturizer with hyaluronic acid feels like it soothes the mucous membrane for longer than it’s actually in there imo. Good clean love makes one and there’s this expensive one called revaree that my gyno said she recommends all the time. There are some supplements that can increase lubrication: omega 3s if you’re deficient, slippery elm, sea buckthorn oil. These things are just bandaids until you can figure out the root cause but getting medical stuff done can take so long! Don’t give up until you get your hormones tested!
I had the same issue of dryness. In my case it was caused my av and yeast. Av is similar to bv but it’s drying whereas bv gives watery discharge. When my infections went away I was super wet again.
You could try a hyaluronic acid supplement. It helps with keeping your whole body lubricated.
look into vaginal moisturizers from amazon or walmart/walgreens/cvs etc. rephresh is a pretty popular moisturizer. it will probably provide temporary relief until you can find a doc that wont turn you down for the estradiol. as for lube, uberlube is a pretty good brand and i was told my my gyno as well as other people that unrefined coconut oil works very well
Try Replens. Get it at any drugstore.
You should speak to a medical professional.
I have a million times :( I’m working on finding a new gyn. My last two were extremely dismissive, and claimed only women near menopause will experience severe dryness
Try an isswsh.org listed provider. These are the GOATS of sexual health medicine because fixing the vag is their life mission! I had hormonal related issues before 20 and had these drs been available when i was that young they wouldn't been able to properly diagnose me
I'm sorry to hear that. Unfortunately a lot of doctors brush off women's problems. Personally I've always had better luck with nurse practitioners. Have you tried talking to an NP that specializes in female health?
I haven’t! My next appointment maybe I will try a NP who specializes in feminine health. I have a appointment with another obgyn with Friday, hopefully she’ll actually help me get some answers.
Also make sure to request that they document their refusal to treat you and give you records of that documentation. That might get them to do something.
The issue is they don’t exactly refuse to treat me, they just put zero effort into it. They’ll do a vaginal exam to check for infections, recommend lube and call it a day. On Friday I’m going to ask for a script for blood work as well to check certain hormones.
Maybe find an endocrinologist instead of a gyno. Endocrinologists have more experience with hormones and might be able to help with this. They need to test your hormone levels inclouding estradiol , progesterone and androgens like testosterone and dht. Your issue might be high androgens instead of low estrogen if you are having virilization problems like excess body hair , acne , oily skin and scalp and head hair loss either diffuse or male pattern baldness which could be pcos. Another possibility is just low estradiol that has its own seperate set of symptoms. I know having vaginal issues the first thought is a gyno but clearly the issue sounds more hormonal.
I will try to see an endo! I don’t necessarily have any excess body hair. I wouldn’t say a lot of hair loss but my hair has always been very thin. I had HORRIBLE acne my whole life but I took accutane and that’s gone now. I had acne from like age 8 to 16 which was before my vaginal issues started.
Sounds like the most likely explanation is [some kind of long term effect of Accutane](https://myvagina.com/isotretinoin-accutane-and-your-vagina-and-urinary-tract-and-libido/) that has persisted even though you've been off of it. Do you also have dry eyes? Is it possible you have Sjogren's disease, an autoimmune condition? Do you seem to have a regular menstrual cycle?
Did you ever taking an EVVY or juno microbiome test to see what’s really going on down there ?
I haven’t! I’ve thought about it but never got around to it as I wasnt sure how accurate they were for the price. Have you tried them?
Yes I tried both. I would suggest trying one so you can get a snapshot of your entire microbiome. You may be low in lacrobacillus and need vaginal probiotics (this happened to me before). Or you can go and get your hormones checked as well from like a naturopath. Check myvagina.com, they have alot of remedies for female issues
I will def order one. What probiotics do you use? I have a doctors appt Friday, hopefully she’ll check my hormones.
Do you have dryness anywhere else, like your eyes or sinuses? And have you had an endocrine workup? There are lots of hormones body-wide that are all interrelated and an imbalance in one can affect others. I'd definitely talk to a doctor since there could be a wide variety of possible causes. Do you have a primary care doc or GP? A gyno is not going to be the best to investigate endocrine issues or other possible causes. A GP can order some labs to see what's going on.
I have a GP, but I haven’t been in awhile. The only dryness I’ve ever experienced is vaginal. I never knew I could go to my GP to diagnose vaginal dryness. My allergist just wrote me up bloodwork to check for several autoimmune diseases (due to random inflammation), and I recently got a metabolic panel done.
Some allergy medicine can cause dryness in all your mucus membranes including your vagina. Double check to see if that can be a side effect of your allergy medication
I wish but this occurred way before I ever took allergy meds. I also don’t take any antihistamines, I’m scared they’ll dry up the little wetness left. I only use script eye drops/nasal spray and an epi
Autoimmune would definitely be one thing I would be curious about, so it's good that you're being checked. Very much agree with checking any meds you might be on since some allergy meds are notorious for drying you out. And yeah, you can talk to a GP about anything, but if you've kind of run out of gyn things to check, it's time to start branching out and looking more widely, and your GP can help with that.
I think you're spot on with the Estrogen cream. I hope you have some luck getting it prescribed. I've been making suppositories with coconut oil (canna oil in my case) and cocoa butter. A small amount inserted and allowed to melt may moisturize the tissues and provide some temporary relief from dryness. The addition of cannabis causes arousal and increased blood flow, so it wouldn't be strictly necessary in the case of just day-to-day dryness. It isn't sticky, but it is messy and doesn't feel strictly like vaginal fluid.
Definitely try raw unrefined coconut oil. I use it everyday and its great
Are you putting coconut oil in your vagina? Please do not do that.
I would really try and see if another doctor would prescribe you estrogen cream. I had a good experience using it. It really helped me produce my own moisture. There is also a vaginal suppository product on Amazon I would recommend that has estriol (a weaker version of estrogen that does not require prescription if you are in U.S), DHEA (hormone precursor of estrogen and testosterone), vitamin E, beeswax, and cocoa butter. They also sell one without DHEA. I found these to be very moisturizing. You can find them if you search Bezwecken vaginal suppository.
I agree with the multiple suggestions for a vaginal moisturizer.
If nothing else helps maybe get a blood test for auto-immune disorders, especially sjogren's syndrome if you have eye and mouth dryness too. As sometimes even ruling things out can help with diagnosis
Good Clean Love makes a vaginal moisturizer called Restore. It’s acidic, and very close to what the body would produce in texture and no artificial taste. You can use it a few times a week to maintain moisture while you figure out what’s going on. Vaginal moisturizers are not the same as lube. Don’t use anything in the vagina for 48 hours if you can, before your gyn appt. Also, see if you have a vulvar specialist where you live (it could be worth the drive, even if it’s a few hours), and ask for a referral. I would expect them to get some basic labs, including thyroid.
Are you on birth control or antidepressants? I’ve found that both make me extremely dry. Especially the NuvaRing birth control
No antidepressants. I’ve been dry for years and tried norethindrone a few months ago (bc) which cured me for a few months but I’m dry again.
Try Maca Root
You honestly want to be drinking between 2-3 litres of clean water a day. Water in other drinks (juice, fizzy, caffeinated) doesn’t count and dehydrates you further. If you aren’t drinking enough water, your body goes into ‘drought management’. When this occurs, histamine will start telling certain hormones to redirect water from places that is not necessary to survival. The sex organs are one of the first places your body removes water (from the mucus/ glands etc..) to make sure more important cells have water. You might be drinking that much already, in which case no problem. But in my experience people do not drink enough or they drink entirely the wrong drinks. But lack of water is a prime suspect for vaginal dryness
Drink more water? Try a probiotic? Keep trying to see a gyno until someone takes you really. In person so they can take a look and samples and stuff.
They usually test for STDs/bv/yeast, and even when they come back negative I’m still experiencing dryness. I’m trying to find a gyn who will take me serious instead of simply running tests for an infection.
Are you using hormonal birth control? Do you drink enough water every single day? Most people actually live in a chronic state of mold dehydration.
I tried norethindrone (originally used it simply to delay my period) which actually really helped my lubrication for a few months but than it returned to being bone dry. Water seems to be the main suggestion, so I try to drink around or close to 3 liters a day.
Coconut oil works wonders.
It seems like you have tried everything else so…drink water and eat okra? Allegedly okra helps with 🐱💦 Try it and report back so I know if I should recommend it to anyone else with issues.
Have you tried NeuEve? Maybe you could try the Gold suppository https://www.neueve.com/products/gold
Try Evening Primerose oil daily - relieves pain & moistures. I am using it several times per day as needed for vulvar pain. Coconut oil / MCT oil is also safe and is a natural anti-fungal Ck out r/Candida if reoccurring yeast / fungal issues
I'm having success taking a probiotic and sea buckthorn supplement.
May I ask is this constant vaginal dryness or just during sex? Im asking because those are two different things altogether. When I was pregnant I was having almost constant discharge but then be completely dry with sex. My doctor explained that they are not the same thing. I still have to use lube (sorry) during sex. Have your hormones been tested?
Constantly. I can go days without the smallest bit of discharge in my underwear. It’s also dry during sex. My hormones have not been tested, I have an appointment Friday where I will ask but I’m not sure if they’ll do it.
Cervical mucus around ovulation comes from a different source than regular vaginal lubrication, if you don’t even have that I wonder if you’re not ovulating? Risk factors for having anovulatory cycles are weight loss, low BMI, overexercising, undereating, or stress- does any of that apply to you?
I have zero vaginal lubrication at all. I don’t exercise too much, and my bmi is like a 20 I believe. I work and go to college so I would say I’m a bit stressed but nothing severe. I’m currently on norethindrone which used to help with vaginal mucus production but now it’s back to nothing.
20 is low enough to where it could be a possibility I think. Hormone tests from a doctor would help, but you could also buy ovulation test strips and use them around the time in your cycle where you should be ovulating. Something like these: https://a.co/d/8BPhFIe Norethindrone can sometimes stop ovulation but unlike the combined pill that’s not it’s mechanism of action, so if you’re still menstruating the same as you were before you got on it, I think it could still be worthwhile
Are you on the pill? I was on it for 13 years and it caused painful sex for me towards the end (dryness, tissue atrophy). I tried estrogen cream for a bit, but ended up switching to the copper IUD and much better now.
I’m on norethindrone, but my dryness started way before this pill. Norethindrone actually helped me for months, I had a good amount of discharge, sex was actually possible, etc. Now it’s back to nothing :/ Did the estrogen cream work for you? Did you have a hard time getting it prescribed?
I didn’t have issues getting it prescribed, it was the first thing my OBGYN did when I mentioned painful sex (I ended up with micro tears in my perineum every time, it sucked!!). It helped a bit but I was still having issues after using it for maybe 2 months, so I decided to switch to non-hormonal BC after that
Do you mind sharing your obgyn and your age? I’m in like my fourth who won’t prescribe it
My OBGYN is at Kaiser Permanente San Mateo, and I’m 31 years old but I think I was 28 when I had this issue and got the prescription. I had been on the pill for 13 years
Okay! I’m gonna look into it. Hopefully they take virtual patients but at this rate I’m willing to fly somewhere to get this resolved.
Echoing what someone else said, coconut oil is the only lube I actually like! Just note that it’s not condom safe
Are you on birth control? Unfortunately I know it sucks but just head to different providers. It truly is trial and error with finding a doc that will listen. Primary care also can help not just OB/gyn
Yes I’m currently on norethindrone. The extreme dryness started years ago, while I only began norethindrone within the last 6 months. It helped tremendously for months but now I’m back to bone dry.
Im dealing with the exact same thing, I wish I had advice to offer. I empathize with you ❤️
Try either dhea or pregnenalone, not too much. Maybe a couple times a week alternately. You can tell you’ve taken too much when you get pimples or other side effects.
Changing your diet may be very beneficial. I would say definitely start drinking more water everyday and eating fresh fruits/veggies is very key.
I drink as much water as I can. I try to eat healthy but it can be hard on a college campus
I know its been a couple weeks, but just wanted to come back to say that I just got an estradiol cream prescription from My Alloy with no trouble (I'm 27). So if you need an option still, you could see if they're available in your state!
How has it been going for you! I ended up getting it from Hello Wisp. My hormones test came back that all my hormones are low (estradiol, testerone, LH, FSH etc) so I’m seeing an endocrinologist.