Hello everyone, I am quite frustrated with all this reddit stuff, I really need the menopause subreddit back. It’s literally my best resource for meno info and being inaccessible has caused me some grief the last few days. I’m on patches and pills but atrophy is bad so I need info about using creams vaginally, when to have sex etc.
Edit to add, I’m on .1 estradiol patch and 200mg micronized progesterone softgel. I just started a compounded estriol and testosterone vaginal cream.
Edit again to add. My most important question is, when do I have sex if I’m using a vaginal hormone cream? Most helpful thing I found is don’t use it before sex and one said 12 hours after is fine. I am confused. What do you do if you are using vaginal cream for atrophy?
The systemic estrogen (patch) should help significantly with atrophy, but it takes time…like months for some. So folks will also consider adding on localized estrogen, like Vagifem.
It’s not that the term “compounded” is a dirty word, it certainly has its place for some things, like specifically, testosterone (since so many doctors won’t prescribe it AT ALL). But vaginally, there’s no telling what the cream mixture dosages are (even if the pharmacist tells you). So the “mixed”/compounded recipe might not be enough and there’s no way to know. Either way, results vary, you may notice improvements after a few weeks (for atrophy) and for others it can take months. But if you’re looking for libido help, then it can take months as well, and even then MHT/HRT and/or Testosterone may not work at all for some folks.
As for how long between application and sex? The longest time between vaginal applications as possible. Obviously you may not be able to plan that, but longer is better for your partner, as transfer may occur. Otherwise, if you need something for lubrication before/during, consider using a non-hormonal option, like hyaluronic acid. Here’s a link to the various lubes, and one of them might help too.
Thank you, I really appreciate this information.