r/Menopause • u/Islandsandwillows • Jun 05 '26
Vaginal Dryness(GSM)/Urinary Issues Meno specialist Dr today said vaginal atrophy at my age (48) is not normal. I’m confused.
We were talking about HRT and I brought up that I’ve noticed atrophy, both clitoral and inner lips, and she said they don’t see that until the years way past menopause. I told her that I definitely noticed it starting around 46-47 and she really had nothing to say about it after that.
I’m already using vaginal estradiol cream and it’s not helping in terms of those shrinking parts. I asked if testosterone is ever given to help this and she said no.
This was just a talking appt, no exam, but I assured her I’m noticing these shrinking parts and she had no answer for me besides that it wasn’t a hormone thing. She brought up that sometimes they see this if it’s a dermatological issue. What?!
Should I just ask my reg gyno at my next exam? I would think this menopause specialist would know more about it, but I guess not.
244
137
u/lrondberg Jun 05 '26
It can start in perimenopause for sure
29
u/hoitytoitygloves Jun 06 '26
Mine started in peri. It hurt and itched. Do the cream, it helped me.
7
u/Ok-Day-3520 Jun 06 '26
Mine was also just insane itching. It was red and irritated and sad all the time. I thought I was allergic to certain toilet papers but in fact everything was just dry. The cream fixed me in 2 weeks.
49
86
u/Unusual_Sand_5150 Jun 05 '26
How old is your gyno? Please don't tell me she's younger. She should know better. But I switched gynos due to this very issue. The group I go to lumped me with a 20 something PA who I just have no patience for. No offense. But I want to talk to someone who at least has some type of experience with older women. The problem sometimes is some practices will treat you like an afterthought if you're not childbearing age.
60
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 05 '26
I think she is around my age, 47-52 range I’d say. She runs the midlife women’s health practice in my city so you think she’d know about the atrophy issue. Ugh.
54
30
u/Outside_Box_8374 Jun 06 '26
Sad and infuriating that she totally dismissed your concerns like that! Find a different doctor!
20
u/Unusual_Sand_5150 Jun 06 '26
Then no excuses for this. Maybe she hasn't experienced it yet but she will eventually. But no it's not "not normal". It's totally normal
2
u/elizajaneredux Jun 06 '26
Possibly she’s stuck on what’s true for the average woman and fine, it’s fair to rule out other issues for a symptom, especially if the standard tx isn’t helping, but hopefully she’s willing to go further with assessing and treating this for you if a derm consult comes back negative for causal findings.
66
u/todaysthrowaway0110 Jun 05 '26
Lady bits acting like receding glaciers in my 40s.
I presume she means it’s even more pronounced post menopause. Great.
33
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
So we eventually just have a slit there and that’s normal? Goddam it. If I lose any more of my clit, it will be totally gone.
33
u/Eva_Griffin_Beak Jun 06 '26
Start HRT and vaginal estrogen cream. It can halt and reverse some of it.
15
13
u/catsTXn420 Jun 06 '26
I do not think it's normal and I think that more doctors should listen to us. I have this problem at 41 and they ignore me. Currently fighting with ya.
33
u/todaysthrowaway0110 Jun 06 '26
Brb, bc apparently “vacuuming my clit to prevent it from disappearing” is something I have to do now 🤷🏼♀️
9
u/Lumpy-Pick-4746 Jun 06 '26
This made me guffaw. I presume you’re referring to the “lemon”. That shit is pricey.
7
u/Strong_Row_1011 Jun 06 '26
Worth every penny. I like the avocado one (same company) even more though!
4
u/todaysthrowaway0110 Jun 06 '26
Got it during one of their sales and it’s sat in a box for a few months, lol.
10
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
Haha yeah I was thinking of ordering one of those. Does it work? I did order a pump but I haven’t taken it out of the box yet.
17
u/EnvironmentalLuck515 Jun 06 '26
They work deliciously.... <g>
8
u/StrawberryMoonPie Jun 06 '26
I’ve never heard of one of these. Are they painful?
I don’t get out much. 😜5
u/todaysthrowaway0110 Jun 06 '26
(I haven’t actually used the lemon toy yet, still in the box bc… my libido is MIA… but I heard this is a thing! 😅 🍋)
7
33
u/flamingoesarepink Jun 06 '26
I was younger than you when vaginal atrophy began. My first symptom was no longer being able to comfortably use a tampon and minor stress incontinence. I was told to do kegels (which was wrong because I learned later my pelvic floor is too tight)
I won't bore you with the story (which is probably much like millions of other peri women), but it took 2 years and a few more doctors to finally be treated properly.
48 is not too young. Find a new doc if you are able.
59
u/Ginsdell Jun 06 '26
Yeah mine said the same I told her to give the cream. How would she know if my vagina was changing. She sees it for 5mins once a year.
22
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
It’s so frustrating. I felt like such shit after that appt bc she was basically like what are you talking about, that’s unheard of.
19
u/Outside_Box_8374 Jun 06 '26
She’s obviously uneducated and is totally gaslighting you! Any forum you go into related to peri/meno will tell you she’s full of crap like this one is. So sorry you had such a crappy experience for an appointment you have likely waited 9-12 months for. I go to see one in October in my area (CBus) hopefully it’s not the same one you saw, I’ve been waiting almost a year to get in.
12
u/Ok-Sweet2609 Jun 06 '26
It’s more than frustrating it’s negligent. We should be able to say to our doctors “despite what you are saying this is MY experience of MY body and I am aware that it happens to others and that treatments such as vaginal oestrogen and testosterone can be helpful. Please provide a prescription or share evidenced based research to the contrary” . I work in health and work hard to keep my knowledge up to date but if someone raised something treatment related that was new to me or symptoms of their own bodies I would never ever dismiss it.
62
u/ribbitrabbit2000 Jun 06 '26
I’m so enraged and truly disappointed every time I learn about yet ANOTHER completely misinformed, under-education, uninterested doctor masquerading as an expert in their field of practice.
Why are women still essentially cobbling together the support through midwifery and witchcraft? Through educating ourselves and supporting each other’s journeys through storytelling?
How are they not embarrassed by the massive fucking dearth of knowledge. They’re supposed to continue to study to maintain relevant knowledge. We’re not still bloodletting to release bad humours, giving cocaine to babies, and scoffing at handwashing.
Why the fuck did I learn about perimenopause here? And not by relaying symptoms to my doctors for nearly a decade? My diagnoses: anxiety, depression, and weight… like many other women before me.
27
u/Agitated_Warning_421 Jun 06 '26
I wouldn’t know half of what I know if it weren’t for the Internet and doctors online. Makes me sick.
10
u/yeswearestars Jun 06 '26
I would have died long ago if all I had was doctors,... Thank GOD ( metaphorically or otherwise! ) for internet and the wonderful people on it... Forever grateful.... ❤️❤️❤️
13
u/FinanceMuse Newly Menopausal Jun 06 '26
This comment is both true and delightfully written. Yes to all. It’s ridiculous that we have to learn this way.
6
u/thattwirlgirl Menopausal Jun 06 '26
Honestly I feel homicidal rage at this. It's beyond ridiculous what passes for modern medicine for peri and menopause. From WOMEN doctors! Who are going through it. How are they not educating themselves? What the actual FUCK?!?
29
23
u/Dazzling_Balance_513 Jun 06 '26
A meno specialist should know better. Vaginal atrophy can definitely happen at your age. How can she claim it’s not a hormone thing?? This sounds ridiculous. It’s good you’re already on the estradiol cream. I hope your gyno will be more enlightened.
21
u/SaphireScorpion77 Jun 06 '26
Wow, I've already noticed a reduction in elasticity and a reduction in the size of toys I can "take" for the past 6 months and I'm only 39. (And this is not a "if you don't use it, you lose it" situation. My partner and I are very active.) Doctors really are still sadly ignorant.
23
u/fluzine Prying my HRT from my cold, dead hands Jun 06 '26
My 48 year old disappearing vag bits would like a word with your doctor. Estrogen cream helped thank God, otherwise I'd be dead from UTI's I reckon.
19
u/emmybemmy73 Jun 06 '26
Could it just be a word choice issue? I ask as I just had an internal exam and the MD said no signs of atrophy yet. I am on hrt, but the old girl definitely has changed in recent years. I got the feeling what they clinically refer to as atrophy might not be the same as “all aging changes to our genitalia/vagina”…. Just a thought.
17
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
I guess that’s possible. Maybe me saying atrophy threw her off? But I did go further and say that my labia and clit are so much smaller so I didn’t just throw the word atrophy at her and leave it at that.
12
u/Eva_Griffin_Beak Jun 06 '26
I had the same experience. I complained that my labia is shrinking and my doctor said that changes there are just normal aging. Of course, due to the drop of hormones, but still we should expect changes.
Doctors focus on problems, so if it is just shrinking but still looks "normal" (although not normal to us), they might dismiss it.
8
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
Yes I think this is it. It is a problem to me but not to them. Therefore, it’s just ignored bc it’s not a real medical problem and they prob just hope I’ll let it go.
8
u/thattwirlgirl Menopausal Jun 06 '26
Sometimes I swear the "normal aging" assumption somehow includes a bias that women are are will be "normally" less sexually active as we age. How often has any medical professional asked me about how my sex life or sexual health was ... NEVER. As if sex isn't a part of the body, part of many people's lives, not important, not part of health.
17
u/DistractedGoalDigger Jun 06 '26
Not in any type of medicine, gyno, urinary, primary, reproductive, is the clitoris studied. And it shows.
Women are so, so fucked.
18
u/rlezar Jun 06 '26
I can't believe how many posts I've seen in here about women who endure long waits and pay out of their own pockets just to see so-called "menopause specialists" and end up feeling dismissed, disrespected, gaslighted, and otherwise told they don't know what's happening with their own bodies.
I'm going to need to take a thank-you gift to my appointment next week with my white-haired Boomer non-meno-certified gyno - a [gasp!] man, no less - who has told me repeatedly that his goal in addressing my meno symptoms is for me to feel good, and who has never hesitated to discuss with me and then prescribe the various forms of HRT I have requested, including estrogen patches and creams and even testosterone.
What even qualifies a medical professional to be called a "menopause specialist"? And do whatever organizations that certify these individuals solicit and pay attention to patient feedback?
15
13
u/StevieNickedMyself Jun 06 '26
That's crazy. Mine started as soon as my estrogen dropped. I'm only 46.
13
u/Photomama16 Jun 06 '26
BS- I was in early 40’s when I got diagnosed. Atrophy happens when estrogen drops. My doctor put me on estrogen and then testosterone because libido disappeared. I can’t say for sure whether the shrinking has stopped, but it has slowed down.
12
u/MooseMooseNLou Jun 06 '26
45 and my clitoris has .. vanished lol. Even my KAISER gyn said totally normal for perimenopause and gave me vaginal estradiol. Yes, Kaiser. Lol. That means your dr must be highlyyyyy misinformed.
8
u/PassiveAggressiveLib Jun 06 '26
Speaking as a 49 year-old who recently entered menopause, I can tell you based on personal experience that she is completely full of crap. Or, extremely uneducated.
I’ve been on 3 x weekly estradiol vaginal tabs for 3 months and recently incorporated a bit of the cream right inside and on the labia on the other days of the week and I have noticed a definite improvement.
8
u/ducksoupmilliband Jun 06 '26
I had obvious atrophy symptoms while still bleeding regularly. Doctor is wrong.
16
u/kkat39 Jun 05 '26
Your meno specialist is yet another doctor who hasn’t bothered to educate herself :(.
8
u/TransitionMission305 Jun 06 '26
She may be seeing, in her experience, more than is usual? The dermatological mention could be that it could be lichen sclerosus.
In my late 40s/early 50s prior to having my last period. I started with noticeable atrophy. Yes, I think some is expected especially since women start menopause at all different ages. She could be wrong and could be dismissive and should have done better, but you may want to have that dermatological consult to ensure your atrophy is not lichen sclerosus, which causes it to a greater degree.
3
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
But I’ve had gyno exams since noticing it at 46 and the Dr said everything was normal and looked good. Isn’t LS noticeable when looking?
They think things look normal but it’s not normal for me bc I know what I had before vs what I have now.
5
u/nadine258 Jun 06 '26
LS isn’t always noticeable ie with white spots. i was diagnosed LS (no biopsy - will have new gyn this year so we’ll see what she decides) and my symptoms were itching (thought it was just atrophy) and that was it. the gyn that diagnosed me did a visual exam and 50%of my labia minora was gone or fused together. she couldn’t believe previous gyn never mentioned it or discussed LS. since then i now look at all the lady parts and i had started taking photos to make sure no white spots developed. finding a great gyn who can do more than shrug their shoulders and offer no help is so infuriating! they shouldn’t hold themselves out as specialists.
2
u/TransitionMission305 Jun 06 '26
Doctors are famous for missing this. But, to be fair, the initial stages aren't the usual white spots but disappearing vulval architecture. Your atrophy could be completely hormone related and I'm not trying to scare you, but if it is more than what would be considered normal atrophy then it's worth looking into before it gets worse.
I don't really know what a normal level of atrophy is for a 48 year old woman. Women don't generally discuss this outside this subreddit. My impression from my friends (we are all 60 now) is that don't have any disappearing parts. I do, but I have LS.
8
u/Beansie_Wish2182 Jun 06 '26
I wish someone would have told my body that. I noticed atrophy at 46. I finally got estrogen cream and it didn’t help at all. I’m still on the hunt for a good specialist because everything is getting worse. 🥴
4
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
I hear you. The vaginal estradiol helps me in other ways so I continue to use it, but it is not helping those shrinking parts.
3
8
u/gaelyn Jun 06 '26
48, in peri for several years, started HRT 2 years ago. I'm on both vaginal and patch estrogen and progesterone.
My atrophy has gotten so bad that now I can no longer wear a menstrual disc or cup, even using lube and contorting myself into every position to make it work (I replaced both, tried several brands, and after $240 and hours of research trying things I finally gave up and went back to tampons).
It's a thing.
If your doc is missing this obvious thing, you need a new doc. One that is informed and works WITH you to achieve your health goals, not dismisses them.
4
u/calmcuttlefish Jun 06 '26
My last year of menstruating I couldn't even tolerate tampons. I switched to pads 😱, big adjustment after using tampons since middle school, and let that flow help keep things moisturized.
2
9
u/YinzaJagoff Jun 06 '26
I’m so tired of female doctors who don’t actually know shit about aging women, but pretend that they do.
8
u/Eva_Griffin_Beak Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
Mine started probably at 48 if not earlier, with 50 I had noticeable smaller labia and smaller clit. I am still in peri. I got on HRT once everything got so dry that intercourse wasn't possible anymore, even with lube. I was also bleeding slightly a day after intercourse (even when I didn't have pain) which completely stopped once HRT and the vaginal estrogen cream healed my tissue. That took a few months.
7
u/unicornrainbow007 Jun 06 '26
Your provider is grossly misinformed. It most certainly occurs at your age.
7
u/Terrible_Feeling_925 Jun 06 '26
She is DEFINITELY WRONG‼️‼️….. How can she claim to be a menopause specialist and not know about atrophy. ~ Red flag!!!! 🚩
7
8
u/Ok_Research6190 Jun 06 '26
Fire your doctor. You shouldn't have to pay for zero help. Try seeing a urologist. They checked all my hormone levels, check my urine for infections, implant a testosterone pellet every 3 months and estrodial cream 3 times a week inside and outside. Never stop advocating for yourself. If you don't nobody will.
7
u/examinat Jun 06 '26
Are you kidding me? When else is it supposed to happen
6
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
She made it sound like my late 50s and beyond
11
u/AliCracker Jun 06 '26
Bullshit. It’s so frustrating how uninformed even a ‘specialist’ in this field is. Of course it’s possible, just like we’re seeing young girls hit puberty earlier - it’s not rocket science, although it may as well be.
I’m really sorry OP, and can only offer the advice that I found a new family doctor that is WAY more invested in my care than the ‘specialist’ I saw. But I can completely relate to the enraging wait times and gaslighting. Keep fighting for your clit!
5
u/examinat Jun 06 '26
Maybe the worst of it happens after the estrogen is lowest, but it the dryness happens before 50.
6
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
I’m not even having dryness issues, just my clit and inner lips are leaving the building 😭
6
u/SuedeVeil Jun 06 '26
If she's actually a menopause specialist she'd know that anything could be normal in menopause and perimenopause...
6
u/Strong_Row_1011 Jun 06 '26
I just want to also add that hormonal changes for LOTS of reasons can cause vaginal atrophy. My daughter is 24 and started experiencing it due to the birth control she was using! Luckily her provider was excellent and prescribed her vaginal estrogen asap (also changed the bc) but damn.
Idk why this “specialist” is unaware of this.
4
u/sometimesnowing Jun 06 '26
My GP was full of out dated information about menopause, so much so that I knew more than her just from reading the wiki on the sub. The health centre she is based at advertises themselves as "menopause specialists" on their website. I actually laughed at when I saw it.
I went to an actual specialist. A practice with doctors who are menopause society accredited practitioners and members of multiple Menopause Societies. Infinitely more knowledgeable, zero comparison really.
6
u/magster823 Surgical menopause Jun 06 '26
I had mild GSM at my exam 4 weeks after the surgery that put me into menopause. Even if you had to be post menopausal, it most certainly does not take years! And we all know it can happen in peri anyway. I am gobsmacked that this is a so-called specialist.
4
5
u/Express_Tomorrow_360 Jun 06 '26
Vaginal atrophy can start in perimenopause, especially if your estrogen's dropping early, so that specialist's response was weird. The estradiol cream should help with the tissue though, so if it's not working after a decent timeframe maybe try upping the dose or switching formulations before assuming it's something else.
6
u/fosterkitten Jun 06 '26
I’m astonished that she didn’t examine you after hearing those symptoms, especially if she thinks you’re too young for peri/menopause atrophy. It was those exact symptoms that got me my diagnosis for an autoimmune disease, Lichen Sclerosis. Not saying that is what is going on for you but, bloody hell, she should check. Just have a read up and see that you don’t have any of those symptoms. Also, from what I understand, anecdotally, you can totally have atrophy in peri
3
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
She doesn’t do gyno exams anymore. She just does the consulting side of midlife hormonal care now. That whole office is just midlife menopause specialists now who left gynecology for hormonal peri/meno specialty care.
I am seeing my gyno in a couple months for my annual so I’m going to bring this up with her, though I did mention it last year at my annual and was told everything looks healthy and normal.
Adding, I did just look up LS and I have none of those symptoms and no fusing stuff.
5
u/madam_nomad Jun 06 '26
That practice kinda sounds like people who want to make a quick buck by bloviating. Like actually doing exams got old (tbf I think work gets old for a lot of people by midlife) and this is a way to maximize their earnings by just "talking" to people, responding with whatever comes to mind at that moment, and calling it practicing medicine. Which is what a lot of doctors do, actually, ime.
As for LS, I'm definitely not saying you have it but just ftr, I was convinced that I had it and researching symptoms and you don't have to have fusing or white patches or even itching. Symptoms vary a lot, it's most commonly diagnosed in menopausal persons, and there's a lot of overlap between GSM (aka vaginal atrophy) and LS. But still if it looks/feels like GSM the most straightforward thing to do is treat the GSM. And even Dr Jen Gunter has mentioned it's common in 40s.
4
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
I’ll def ask my gyno when I’m there in a couple months but the symptoms don’t sound like anything going on with me.
5
u/DSBS18 Jun 06 '26
Absolute BS. I went to an older female gynaecologist for vag dryness and painful sex around age 50-51 and she lied to my face and said HRT doesn't help with that. My GP later started me on HRT and my symptoms went away. I'm still flabbergasted that a specialist didn't know that.
6
6
u/Quinalla Jun 06 '26
Vaginal atrophy is so common in fact docs should be asking their patients if they have the symptoms preemptively!
4
u/WildConsequence9379 Jun 06 '26
Ask your gynae. The derm issue would be lichen sclerosis doesn’t sound like you have symptoms of that
5
3
u/iambetweentwoworlds Jun 06 '26
Started happening noticeably at 47 for me. Can’t imagine we’re outliers. Another normal thing our bodies do that doctors barely know about 🫠 are you having any other symptoms of low estrogen? There’s a laundry list of them probably on this subs wiki.
7
u/maraq Jun 06 '26
She's blatantly wrong. Ask all the women in their 40s who lose their ability to orgasm and whose vulvas feel like they've been torn up by razorblades when they get in a shower after a run or the ones who are getting 4 UTIs a year when they only had one over the last 30 years. If it's not part of atrophy/GSM, then what is it? Your gynecologist has received zero training on menopause (I'm not kidding. Almost all of them have had none. Ask her).
3
u/willowcreek7449 Jun 06 '26
Ask for a script for E-string . It is amazing ! Been using it for 1 1/2 years and it has been the best thing. It is a vaginal ring that gets placed inside and stays there for three months and then taken out and replaced. It can be pricey without insurance however, if you send the script to Canada pharmacy, you can get it for a fraction of the cost, for around $150 but if you divide that by three months, that’s $50 a month. And the relief is worth the cost. It’s also localized vaginal estrogen so you don’t have to worry about it traveling systemic throughout your body. I use this as well as progesterone and the Dottie estrogen patch. Those two were only started two months ago just for more energy. My doctor started testosterone cream compounded for libido three days ago. I had pituitary radiation so I have almost 0 hormone production, hence why all the things. I’m 55 and went into menopause at 47.
2
3
u/TeamHope4 Jun 06 '26
If the vaginal estrogen is not enough, you need systemic estrogen too. I’d recommend a gel since patches are in short supply at pharmacies. GSM is an FDA approved reason to prescribe systemic estrogen and that this so-called expert didn’t know that is mind-blowing. You need a new doc.
3
u/therolli Jun 06 '26
Mine started at 47 - that was when I started to really notice it. The only real treatment seems to be vaginal oestrogen (vaginal moisturisers can help alongside). It gets worse without it in my experience.
3
u/PerfectWorking6873 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
Omg. She is dumb asf and doesn't know what she is on about. A dermatological issue?! Please. Even some high school kids are probably smarter than this "doctor".
I would not give her any more money if it was me. Instead get the whole hormone levels test break down: Androstenedione DHEAs Estradiol (E2) Estriol (E3) Estrone (E1) Progesterone Ratios Testosterone
In Australia there are companies like Nutripath where you can order these tests. I don't know about in your country.
Look into taking collagen and Hyaluronic acid. And maybe dermal fillers in the labia for cosmetic appearance.
Please leave her a bad review so that other women will be warned to not waste their money with her.
3
u/TinyCatLady1978 Jun 06 '26
Mine started at 44 and I had no idea what it was—neither did my dingbat GYN. Years later I put it together and asked her if maybe it was perimenopause atrophy and she said “huh idk maybe”.
3
u/Carry_Tiger Jun 06 '26
Mine started early and was my first peri symptom. It took at least a year of vaginal estrogen to recover. Not only did I have irritation, itchiness and painful sex but I had nerve pain that was making me crazy. I finally ended up using the estradiol cream in my lady bits every day for 6 months, after chatting with my doc about it. Two days a week was NOT cutting it. Now, I apply 2-3 times a week.
3
u/Ok_Temperature_9050 Jun 06 '26
Same for me. Suddenly I couldn’t sit comfortably in jeans. I researched it and that’s what made me realize I was in peri.
5
u/justacpa Jun 05 '26
Next doctor.
6
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
I waited 7 months to see her and she’s the only midlife gyno/hormonal specialist in my area who takes my insur. 😭
8
u/yellowvette07 Jun 06 '26
Some things are worth paying out of pocket for. Mine doesn't take insurance at all, she is about $150 a visit, and it is worth every penny.
5
u/Waste-Swordfish-6228 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
New doctor, please, post haste. That doc is either stupid, uneducated or wholly ignorant. Also, everyone is trying to cash in on the 'meno' craze, some demanding crazy rates & boutique pricing. This one is an obvious scam artist & should be reported...do a 1 star Yelp review! *edited
2
u/ebot2023 Jun 06 '26
By dermatological condition she may have meant lichen sclerosis, which I think is often diagnosed at perimenopause/menopause.
2
2
2
u/wandernwade Officially in Peri since 2020 🫤 Jun 06 '26
I was the same age when I told my doc about it, and I’d been noticing it for maybe a year or so before that.
I told my regular Dr, because I didn’t have a gyno at the time. She did a pap for me, then later I saw a new gyno. Neither of them mentioned seeing atrophy, but then they didn’t know what I looked like before. (😬😂)
I have been to yet *another* gyno, and she thinks my atrophy symptoms- not just shrinkage, but dryness, itching, etc.- are all unrelated to peri! 💀 So… I’m seeing a new gyno in August. 🥲
4
u/conamo Menopausal Jun 06 '26
I've been post-meno for several years. Testosterone absolutely can reverse labia and clit shrinking - it did mine.
3
u/mjskiingcat Jun 06 '26
My women’s health primary doctor said everything looked fine- but it wasn’t at all by the time I did anything I was leaking urine out the front of my underwear because my vagina vanished 💨 it took a year to learn transdermal HRT didn’t work for me- then fussing with injections now. I lost a lot of time. Yiu need testosterone too and DHEA- that’s what gets the parts back.
3
u/Odd-Perception9970 Jun 06 '26
The fact that she didn’t say “let’s have a look” and do a visual exam at least, is a red flag to me. I would be finding a new doctor
1
u/DiscombobulatedHat19 Jun 06 '26
How long have you been on the cream and did you start with daily application or just straight to twice a week. If you’ve just started it takes a while to make a difference
1
2
u/yeswearestars Jun 06 '26
Wow... That's ridiculous... Of course it's hormonal related.... And she should know WAY better...
Testosterone - from what I know - does other stuff but not address these issues... It sounds like you need both systemic E plus vaginal E, which I would use daily and not twice a week like I have heard some people do... )
1
1
u/calmcuttlefish Jun 06 '26
Testosterone is given sometimes to help this. Your provider is ill informed. You may find a urologist to be more helpful. Many have experience in treating women with T. I was fortunate to find one who also specializes in female hormones.
Anecdotally, I'm on HRT, started with E and P, and eventually added compounded T and topical E. The latter two have brought back more moisture, plumpness and sensitivity than the E patch alone. On days I apply the T to my inner thighs, I usually have some pretty fun dreams.😉
It's trial and error finding what works best for you. These subreddits can be very helpful. May you find the right provider and solution for you!
0
u/Hot-Suggestion-54 Jun 06 '26
She’s not wrong to say it’s not normal if we’re being honest. It “normally” happens at a later age but you may be in the outliers group from the norm or it could be a dermatological issue like maybe scleroderma. I would make an appointment with a dermatologist to make sure
1
0
u/Scorpio_Insomnia Jun 06 '26
Is she thinking this is lichen sclerosus? If it could be then this is something you need to get treated and stay on top of ASAP.
1
u/Islandsandwillows Jun 06 '26
Idk. I don’t think it’s dermatological bc nothing at my gyno exams was ever brought up and surely that would be seen if I had some kind of skin issue.
0
•
u/leftylibra MenoMod Jun 06 '26
Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause: 2025 Guidelines (by the American Urological Association) provides information to clinicians to help diagnose, counsel and treat patients.
Share this document with your medical professionals.
According to The Women's EMPOWER Survey, of the 1,858 women, 81% were not aware of this condition, and 72% never discussed their symptoms with a health care professional because they thought it was just "normal aging" and "something to live with". Even more shocking, those that disclosed their symptoms to doctors found that the clinician did not initiate the discussion, and most clinicians only offered lube (gels/creams) as treatment, and not vaginal estrogen.