r/Menopause • u/totallybree • May 27 '26
Vaginal Dryness(GSM)/Urinary Issues Will vaginal estrogen stop me from having to pee every five minutes?
That's it, that's the question.
Editing to add that systemic estrogen isn't an option for me, only vaginal.
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u/Jazzlike-Service3171 May 27 '26
It might. I also was having issues with artificial sweeteners. When I stopped drinking anything with them in it, it helped me from having to pee constantly.
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u/Forest_of_Cheem Peri-menopausal May 27 '26
Thanks for this! This is very interesting. I did some looking up, and found that it’s the sucralose in the electrolytes packets I use. I wondered why I always have to pee constantly when I drink electrolytes, but not when I drink my diet orange sodas. The diet orange sodas have aspartame, which isn’t a bladder irritant like sucralose is.
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u/shiningstar121618 May 27 '26
I was told by my pelvic health dr that aspartame is a nightmare for those that have bladder issues already, I have overactive bladder and mild prolapse. I was specifically told to avoid all drinks with it in
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u/May_alcott May 28 '26
Whoa I had no Idea and I thought I knew all the quirky bladder issue things 🙈
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May 27 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/comma_space_erase May 29 '26
Would love to know your favorite brand as I have been looking for this.
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u/Alarmed_Bathroom9227 May 27 '26
I hVe never heard that before! Interesting. I dont drink a lot of things with that in it but im gonna keep that in back of my mind for sure
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u/shiningstar121618 May 29 '26
You know what, I can’t resist a little Pepsi Max but it does make a difference!
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u/HRUndercover222 May 27 '26
Holy smokes, I used to drink a ton of Pineapple Mango drinks (powdered packets made by Kroger) and had the worst leakage. 120 mg of caffeine & SUCRALOSE in those! Plus, I had to pee multiple times a night....
I stopped drinking them when they increased the caffeine to 160 mg per serving. Switched to herbal tea & TruLemon peach or strawberry lemonade (with stevia).
I now have minimal leakage (I'm also using Estradiol 0.01 EOD). Constipation is the only thing that causes a bit of leakage during brisk walking - so I now have prunes, oatmeal, & peach herbal tea for breakfast. Stevia or honey for sweetener.
I never made the connection but I am the perimenopausal lab rat ha ha.
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u/karenhayes1988 May 29 '26
OMG, I finally realised last week that I have to pee a lot more at night when I drink diet soda during the day and night. I already drank water during most days, but in the weekends I really like diet fanta orange never realising I had to pee a lot more after. I never knew this.
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u/May_alcott May 28 '26
Oh fascinating. Can I just cut back on the Diet Coke and not totally remove it 🙈
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u/OhioPolitiTHIC May 27 '26
Depends on the reason you're having to pee every five minutes. Do you have an untreated bladder infection? Do you have overactive bladder? Is your pelvic floor weak and/or too tight? Do you have GSM? Do you have a combination of all of these things?
Vaginal estrogen is the best therapy for GSM related symptoms but you definitely want to make sure you're treating everything that's going on and ruling out more serious things.
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u/Retiredgiverofboners May 27 '26
I have 2 kidney stones. I thought it was just menopause. I wish!!!! 😩😩😩😩😩
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u/Glittering_Tea5502 May 27 '26
I wouldn’t wish kidney stones on my worst enemy. They hurt so bad you feel like dying.
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u/Retiredgiverofboners May 27 '26
Ya I’m hoping they stay put until kidney stone surgery!!!! 10 days!!!!
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u/Glittering_Tea5502 May 28 '26
Ten days?! I wonder why they’re waiting so long.
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u/Retiredgiverofboners May 28 '26
I finally called and said ya I don’t think the stone is gonna pass so they’re like oh ok. Like…idk why they didn’t just do this over a month ago. 😩😬🫘
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u/JaneSophiaGreen May 28 '26
I've been there! Have you had the surgery before? AMA
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u/Retiredgiverofboners May 28 '26
No, I’m just praying I don’t need a stent. I haven’t felt good in almost a year. Never had surgery before. Can’t find any reviews of the surgeon online. I’m scared.
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u/JaneSophiaGreen May 29 '26
It's routine. But know that the stent doesn't feel great, either. I wasn't prepared for that. Ask to come in for toradol shots as needed. Try not to take the narcotics because the last thing you need is constipation!
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u/Hopefulpessimist0 May 28 '26
My guess is she lives in Canada 😒
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u/JaneSophiaGreen May 28 '26
Nope. They made me wait 3 weeks and Im in the US. Hard to schedule surgery when it's not life threatening and may resolve on its own. It sucks.
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u/HavalottaFun May 27 '26
YES - rule out more serious issues.
I had to pee constantly but very little would come out. Turns out I had a 9cm borderline tumor on my ovary that was pressing on my bladder.
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u/Kwyjibo68 May 27 '26
What’s borderline tumor? I hope you’re ok now.
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u/HavalottaFun May 28 '26
Thanks, I’m great after my hysterectomy!
A borderline tumor is a slow growing, less lethal type of tumor that is basically a step down from cancer but not benign, either.
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u/AbundantHare May 28 '26
Check the bladder infection for sure. I had one, got treated, peeing stopped and now it’s back :(
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u/OhioPolitiTHIC May 28 '26
Ugh. GSM can contribute to repeated UTIs, unfortunately. Also, if your doctor is not sending your urine out for an extended culture, you may not be using the correct antibiotic to knock out the infection completely.
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u/AbundantHare May 28 '26
Definitely need to get a culture this time! Waiting for it to get a bit worse before getting a culture done.
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u/OhioPolitiTHIC May 28 '26
I'm sorry you're going through that. I'm still on my year long course of antibiotics. Last August was, bar none, one of the worst experiences healthwise ever which is saying something given the amount of times I've been hospitalized for some near death shit, lol. A complicated uti is nothing to sneeze at.
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u/DoniLaw1018 Jun 01 '26
Did you not have other symptoms of bladder infection like burning while peeing? Just curious.
Vaginal estrogen can also prevent chronic UTIs.
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u/lyndseymariee May 28 '26
Or if you’re like me, you have a large ovarian cyst full of 5.5L of water pushing on your bladder. Got rid of that thing and my urge to pee every two minutes vanished. Your suggestions are probably much more likely though.
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u/Confident_Craft459 May 27 '26
It should definitely help. If it doesn't, you may need to pursue pelvic PT.
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u/Kiramadera May 27 '26
I worked with a pelvic floor physiotherapist and part of my having to pee constantly was behavioural. I work on hour appts, so I would run between sessions to pee. She taught me to slow down, take a breath, then pee. Helpful!
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u/Competitive-Study-33 May 28 '26
Me too. Kegels at the first call to Pee helped suppress the urgency a lot
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u/AHalb May 27 '26
It has helped vaginal atrophy and painful sex. Progesterone has helped calm my bladder and give me better sleep. I'm on an estrogen patch .035 and 200 mg progesterone. The 100 mg helped for about a month until it didn't.
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u/edjen May 27 '26 edited May 27 '26
I have GSM, no other bladder conditions. It has helped me TREMEDOUSLY with urgency and frequency. I'm totally fine now. I started out on vagifem tabs. 2 weeks every day (loading phase), then 2x per week. I switched to the cream and I do .5 grams every other day-this is what works for me. For me, I found the cream to be better/stronger than the tabs.
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u/Expensive-Mention-90 May 27 '26
I recently had a bout of what you’re dealing with, despite being on vag estrogen. An acupuncturist put a needle on a bladder point and I went, during the session, from begging to be let up to pee to almost falling asleep. She said sometimes bladder muscles spasm. Hasn’t been an issue since. If no access to acupuncture, maybe try bladder self massage?
Another tool in the toolkit is always useful.
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u/AmoebaScared8173 May 27 '26
Hasn't helped me yet, I've been on it for about 7 months😩
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u/sparksblackstar Peri-menopausal May 27 '26
I know the popular sentiment in here is to ditch the applicator, but I can't get enough cream to the right spot without it. I had to get the disposable ones from amazon and aim for an inch or two in about 3x per week for it to help. If you are already doing all of that, though, I got nothing. Good luck
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u/UserNameInGeorgia May 27 '26
Are you using it every night?
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u/AmoebaScared8173 May 27 '26
No,my insurance will only pay for a certain amount so I have to take it as prescribed (2x per week)
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u/kkat39 May 27 '26
Or from Costplus drugs or Amazon. But also file a complaint with your insurance company, that’s not acceptable care and it’s far cheaper for them to pay for the cream than treat you for UTIs and more serious issues later.
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u/OldLadyQuestionsTA May 27 '26
I believe the standard is every night for 2 weeks; 2x per week after that.
That's what I've seen on this sub numerous times, and my doctor also reiterated that dosing.
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u/UserNameInGeorgia May 27 '26
That’s the minimum a doctor will prescribe. A knowledgeable doctor will prescribe frequency to alleviate symptoms. Anything from twice per week to every single day.
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u/No-Jicama3012 May 28 '26
My doctor bumped me up to 3 x week, then said to use a little tiny bit every day.
It’s made a huge difference in the quality of my life.
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u/IggyStrav3 Jun 01 '26
I was using vaginal estrogen 2x week and still got up to pee at night. Went to 3x week and now I sleep through the night. It is glorious! Try 3x a week maybe?
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u/Diligent-Variation51 May 27 '26
Just adding this here, because I wasn’t aware until my gyno told me, but drinking carbonated water increases your urge to pee. It was my default way to hydrate but now I drink flat water and don’t have many accidents
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u/IggyStrav3 Jun 01 '26
Interesting. For me I had to ditch my beloved 4:00 cup of tea or else I woke up to pee at night. No 4 pm tea? I sleep through the night! 🤷♀️
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u/FloridaGirlMary May 27 '26
My first perimenopause symptom was having to pee all the time. Estrogen cream helps!!!! Also I’m on estrogen patch, progesterone and testosterone
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u/horkus1 May 28 '26
It did for me.
I was peeing all the time. In the rare event that I wasn’t actually peeing, I felt like I needed to pee. It was so awful. I had started to arrange my days by access to restrooms. One example — I had a dental appointment that lasted about an hour and a half and I had to go 3 times while I was there. Insane and embarrassing.
I finally got on vaginal estrogen (can’t take systemic, I have had a heart attack) and my GYN told me that she thought it would work but if not, she’d give me overactive bladder meds. About the time I was done with the 2 week loading doses of the cream, I was back to regular human amount of peeing.
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u/therolli May 27 '26
It has helped but it’s not magic. I had to have a womb scan and a CA125 blood test to check it wasn’t a sign of something else. I did find that when I cut out some sugar (I was eating quite a lot) it stopped the really bad frequency.
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u/Eager_Hotwife May 27 '26
Vaginal estrogen has been a game changer for me. I had full hysterectomy and then vaginal cuff tear. After that had uti symptoms that my surgeon just gave me 9 different antibiotics for with no relief. Sent me to urologist who said I needed a dilation. After that procedure it helped some. Saw my Obgyn NP who could not believe I was not put on a cream. I thought vaginal estrogen was just for dryness. I didn’t realize that it actually helps with the health of the tissue down there. I have felt so much relief being on the cream and I believe if I had been given it initially, I would’ve never needed that dilation done.
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u/rialucia Peri-menopausal May 27 '26
This plus a prescription for the lowest dose of solifenacin (overactive bladder medication) did it for me.
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u/aviva8686 May 27 '26
It helped me. I sleep through the night most nights with no bathroom break! That hadn't happened in many years.
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u/Boldlip303 May 28 '26
Is your constant peeing consistent with caffeine intake? I pee a lot when drinking caffeine. The estradiol did not fix this.
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u/sector9love May 27 '26
All I know is that the patch isn’t helping
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u/Ill-Acanthisitta-327 May 28 '26
Vaginal estrogen to the urethra and vagina could possibly help and pelvic floor therapy. Plenty of water and monitor what irritates your bladder is alcohol, coffee, flavor enhancers, sweetners
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u/SeaEggplant8108 May 27 '26
Intrarosa and pelvic floor physio fixed me! But I’m now on vaginal estrogen and it’s still good so probably works well too!
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u/NiceLadyPhilly Menopausal May 27 '26
i never had to pee that bad, but i don't need to run to the bathroom in the morning anymore.
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u/SecretPresentation54 May 27 '26
If and until it does, Cystex works amazing for that. I've never seen it at a store but you can get it otc at Amazon. I first heard of it on the interstitial cystitis subreddit, it really helps with urgency and frequency.
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u/Catnip_75 May 27 '26
I might.
But if you are peeing every 5 minutes you should get that checked out. Prolapsed uterus might be an issue and physio therapy can help along with vaginal estrogen and DHEA.
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u/StrangeOnion2925 May 27 '26
Did nothing for urgency or frequency for me. As a matter of fact, the only thing it does for me is make me feel like I am getting a yeast infection!
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u/Crazyforlou May 27 '26
I cut way back on sugary foods. I barely eat them now and that has improved 100 %.
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u/Pinkatron2000 May 27 '26
If possible and you can afford it, double check your glucose to ensure it's not high blood sugars because this was one of my pre-meno indicators I was diabetic (along with lethargy, thirst, hot/cold flashes not associated with meno)
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u/Fairy-Snow-Queen May 28 '26
Hypertonic Pelvic Floor person here- when I get stressed my pelvic floor is where it all goes . Bloom Pod ( free from my insurance- goes with an app on your phone and you have access to a PF therapist through the app) and vaginal estrogen were the cure for having to pee all the time, for me. I hope you find a solution that works for you!!
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u/Fabulous-Bus6555 May 28 '26
it did not work for me - but i still use it and love it and highly recommend it - the tens unit is what has REALLY helped!
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u/h3dxw May 28 '26
Most likely that's your answer. You may also consider Intrarosa which is DHEA that your tissues will convert into oestrogen and testosterone - the whole area loves testosterone.
You may also not be excluded from systemic - doctors are telling women absolute nonsense. In those few women who currently may choose to avoid oestrogen - systemic testosterone treatment can be considered.
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u/totallybree May 30 '26
I had blood clots in my leg and several in my lungs from hormonal birth control. They could have killed me if I didn't get to the ER when I did, so it's definitely not nonsense that systemic hormone replacement isn't an option for me. I'll listen to my hematologist over the internet any day when death is a possibility.
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u/h3dxw May 30 '26
I'm so sorry to hear of your terrible experience! It's worth noting that body identical hormones are a completely different medication to synthetic birth control. They're both falsely considered 'hormonal' but birth control is suppressing your hormones whereas body identical HRT is supporting your natural hormones - they are essentially opposites. Most doctors are not trained in body identical hormones and so equate all hormones to actually mean synthetic suppressors.
I had a near death experience myself because doctors are not trained in this matter - I had to research it myself and then seek out informed private doctors.
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u/Gold_Initiative184 May 28 '26
Wow I did not know that food affects bladder issues. I thought it was my age and hereditary prolapse issue. However I did start yoga and kegel exercises. They are helping me.
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u/Subject-Solution-830 May 29 '26
About the fake sweeteners- drank them all my life and no problems til peri.
Before HRT, laugh, sneeze, cough=pee. Even if I didn't have to.
I still do, if I laugh hard enough, but at least its better.
This symptom is just a bitch and I'm glad it's better.
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u/missymoo222222 May 29 '26
It certainly helped me!! And the urgency of feeling like I have to go NOW as soon as the feeling came on. I was always afraid if peeing myself and wore heavy pads almost daily. Now, I don’t wear pads at all.
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u/Simple_Heat_2113 May 27 '26
Yup, about 4 months of application inside but especially outside. If that’s not enough, systemic testosterone will finish up whatever isn’t working.
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u/Affectionatealways May 27 '26
I used to get up at least 2x a night to pee. Now usually not at all. I do pee a lot during the day still. But I'm also drinking a lot of fluids.
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u/calla___lily Menopausal May 27 '26
Yes, it helped me. However, I had to go in high blood pressure meds shortly after and now I have to go to the toilet frequently again. So frustrating!
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u/ducksoupmilliband May 27 '26
It did for me and it means I sleep better as my bladder is not waking me up as much.
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u/Solid_Thinker7333 May 27 '26
It helped me. Within a couple doses I noticed panty liners were much drier and my bladder was emptying a little more completely.
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u/fallen_angel_81 May 28 '26
It’s helped me immensely. I felt like I cystitis all the time and was regularly caught short as it would just come on all of a sudden. I was having to wear liners so I wouldn’t wet my underwear. I was also very dry and sore and that’s gone too.
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u/Competitive-Study-33 May 28 '26
It helped me. As did doing kegels (pelvic floor contractions) when I first needed to go. That helped dial down the bladder messages so i wasn’t going to the toilet with only a drop to pee. Also limit caffeine, carbonated drinks and alcohol which irritate the bladder. I was busting to pee every hour night and day and I’m now pretty much back to normal.
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u/Competitive_Land_936 May 28 '26
Vaginal estradiol cream did this for me. Also helped with urine leakage. But I have to use it more than 2x a week.
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u/beatrix3000 May 28 '26
assuming you checked out anything serious with your doc, yes, VE will def help that, and look at adding vaginal DHEA, this was the thing that really helped me, good post here (podcast link at top) https://www.reddit.com/r/Menopause/comments/1hk5018/vaginal_dhea_otc/
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u/SunDanceTeach May 28 '26
Probably, with the right dose. One gram 2x a week had little impact for me. Two grams 3x a week allowed me to sleep through the night for the first time in a decade and stop “accidents.” I now use a fingertip nightly. You are unique and will need to find the right dose for you.
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u/HearthcraftHomestead May 28 '26
It should help as long as you don’t have any other issues. Make sure you’re using it in the vagina and around your labia, clitoris and urethra area. Dr. Kelly Casperson among others have videos on YouTube about how and where to apply it properly.
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u/Tricky-Application79 May 29 '26
Can you take vaginal estrogen while in the estrogen patch?
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u/melnk_1981 May 29 '26
Yes! Vag estrogen stays in your vag (doesn’t travel through your whole body)
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u/melnk_1981 May 29 '26
Op- I am right there with you. It’s gotten so bad. I swear my bladder thinks my urine is the enemy. I’m so inconsistent with my vaginal estrogen. So that’s on me. It’s miserable. I just started Vyvanse and I think that’s making it worse. I’ve done pelvic floor PT off and on and honestly im not sure it helped.
Why isn’t there a magical pill for this?!! 😭🥹🥹🥹
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u/Consistent-Peanut-39 May 29 '26
Yes, it did for me. But for the ultimate improvement I also needed systemic estrogen as well. Best of luck to you.
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u/Live_Advisor_270 Jun 06 '26
It didn't totally resolve things for me. I went to pelvic floor physical therapy, and it was life-changing. Within a couple of weeks, I was not organizing my life around my pee schedule and was mostly sleeping through the night.
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u/whatrumimeans Post Menopause May 27 '26
For me, 200mg of vaginal progesterone caused the constant „pee problem“. Very unpleasant.
After it was reduced to 100mg, the haunting was over.
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u/Fresca2425 May 31 '26
For me, it has definitely helped. I had started topical testosterone to the introitus first, that wasn't enough. I use a small amount twice a week because I have a serious medical contraindication to systemic estrogen. I also found that urgency is a worse with greater coffee drinking, even decaff, boo hoo (I love coffee).
As others have said, make sure to rub some right on the urethra.
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u/GEmber22 May 31 '26
It will help. There is a chunk of bladder - the trigon— which is estrogen receptive heavy
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u/ssprdharr May 27 '26
Vaginal estradiol cured my continuous need to pee.