I am a 50 year old woman who is in perimenopause. I have had five periods this year, have hot flashes, insomnia, and according to my gyno, extreme vaginal atrophy. At the end of last month, I developed a horrible pain at the opening of my vagina, just slightly inside around my urethra. It sort of felt like a bladder infection coming on, but I don't have one. The pain stops short of the opening. I had something similar a couple years ago, but it went away pretty quickly. This is ten times more painful and it is lasting even longer. I also have LS, Lichen Sclerosis, but I don't think this is the specific cause. Sometimes it gets better, especially when I wake up in the morning and into the early afternoon, but then it comes on and hurts terribly. I am planning to call my gyno who has already prescribed estrogen cream (I've used it for four weeks with no improvement), but I am thinking of going to someone else I have found on line who specializes in menopausal issues. Until then, has anyone ever had this? What if anything did you do to get relief? Is it vaginal atrophy at it's worse? Or something to do with the entrance of my urethra? Help!

Hi Cookie,

I am unsure whether this will help you, but I don't suffer with any vaginal atrophy at all, and yet as I only had a few periods in 2007, I don't know why, and guess it is one symptom I am not getting ......YET. However, I do use preventative care and insert a Vitamin E capsule vaginally every other night, and smooth ordinary scentless dove cream externally.

Now and then, I get like stabbing, or sharp pains mainly near the urethral opening; like someone is shoving a knife deep inside me, and I am never too sure whether this is vaginal or urethral. I suspect both. Anyway, I did talk to one of my Gyns', and yes, I did keep two on the go for a while, and he told me that often he has heard that women complain of this, and he puts it down to spasms occuring in those areas, and the muscle spasms cause the knife-like shooting pains. He told me to keep doing as I was, as all looked healthy [I use my vag estriol on my face mixed with moisturizer] , and to relax and lean forward when urinating. If you can imagine IBS pain in the colon, but in the female openings, that can be how I get it. It is not surface pain, it's deep for me.

This may be totally different from what you are getting, but it really has hurt me many times. The estriol cream your doc prescribed, are you also using that externally? That can suffer dryness as well and needs care.

I really feel for you, so please get this looked at. It may even be that the cream he placed you on is irritating you more.

Take Care,
Viktoria

Cookie: I have LS also, and the kind of pain you describe. You probably won't want to hear this, but this point in my life, I've got other more serious health issues going on, so I"ve triaged this one down the list of concerns. I guess you could say I'm dealing with it by not dealing with it. Are you on any HRT?

Hi Viktoria, You know, I think I might have also experienced the type of pain you are talking about. The pain that I am talking about is just so strange. I am writing this to you in the morning, and again right now I have no pain, I feel great, but it will come on later, you can bet. I am putting the cream on externally as well as inside. I suffer from so many pains, IBS, severe arthritis in my spine, you name it, but there is just something about pain that has to do with the urethra and bladder that drives me especially crazy! I hope for both our sakes we will eventually find relief from this.

Hi Robin, I hear ya about the health problems. I have some real winners myself.....It's just that this particular pain drives me buggy. It also prevents me from being intimate with my hubby who is really a sweetheart. I am not currently not taking any HRT, just the cream. I was worried about HRT not only because of breast cancer, but because of the stroke and heart attack risk. It's very much in my family. I also have a fibroid that I am not sure about. This is all so frustrating isn't it? I can certainly see why you feel the way you do. I wish you the very best......

cookie: a suggestion for you to ponder: how about trying a very short course of HRT...like 1 month. If your symptoms get better, at least you know it's related to the plunging hormone levels and that it will go away eventually...it would give you some light at the end of the tunnel..

Robin, that could very well be a very good test. I just have to find the right doctor who could work with me on this. Thanks again!

I wouldn't give up on the estrogen cream just yet. It took 7 weeks to start helping me and my atrophy was not severe. It can take months to reverse the atrophy if it is severe.

H there. I saw your post. I have the same symptoms. I'm an acupuncturist, too. I have licten sclerosus, too. The buring urerthra and surrounding itching. To make a long story short, I have found that without a shadow of a doubt certain foods definitely give me this symptom or symptoms. I haven't put it all together yet and doctors really can't give me an answer.

One thing that really sets of the urethra itching (just like a bladder infection, but it's not) is animal protein, especially chicken. Salmon sets it off. Strangely beef doesn't so much. Sugar, wheat (and lots of grains, even corn which is non-gluten. Coffee does, even decaf. Bananas do. I think I could have a bit of what western medicine calls interstitial cystitis, too. If I eat a diet of mostly non-starchy vegetables, a little bit of brown rice, not much, if any, fruit, beans, I have almost no itching or burning at all.

Other factors could be candida, toxic liver, a slight duodenal ulcer, toxic colon. I confirmed on blood testing 18 years ago that I was very allergic to eggs, wheat, cows milk, soy. These foods made my skin itch a little or made me tired. Now they upset my stomach more and lots of vaginal area itching, fatigue, irritability.

What's very interesting to me, though, is when I have taken cipro for a bladder infection for 7 days (and it may not have been really been a bladder infection) all the burning went away and I could eat whatever I wanted with no itching or burning as long as I was on the cipro antibiotic. My doctors would not tell me why that is. So my conclusion is that somehow the antibiotoc cipro is keeping certain bacteria from building up in my body in the urinary tract that foods are causing to occur.

I would love to hear more responses from anyone.

kerf

i have LS too... and yes, i get this sort of pain/discomfort at times.. i put it down right fair and square onto the LS itself causing this. i've never noted any foods making anything worse. are you treating the LS with the standard high potency corticosteroid ointment? i find i cannot use too much of it or it all hurts even more.... do you also use a moisturising cream of some sort? both are needed...

i must say... i started an LS thread one time, but no one responded.. and a thread on the sort of pain/discomfort i have there as well, only one nice woman responded. this sounds like it could be the same sort of thing i am going through. i have found nothing to help so far.

I have had LS for years and have come to realize that many people have it. Some don't even know it and only find out after their doctor does a biopsy on a suspicious area.

Yes, I do believe that food allergies cause and/or contribute to LS. Here's why.
I'm an acupuncturist, too, by the way and have worked a lot with food allergies for the past 16 years on myself and others. They don't know what causes LS and don't think it's an autoimmunie disease, but acts like one.
For myself, I know that if I cut out wheat, dairy and most animal protein, I don't itch at all and don't have to use any cortisone cream. So eating a diet of mostly veggies and plant foods (soy is a problem for me, though) I feel great everywhere and no itching. Wheat/gluten sets off the LS itching worse for me anyway, no question. When you have an allergy (to food or environment)you immune system kicks up to fight the allergen. Upsetting the immune system to fight things off, you get other symptoms. too.

Anyway, it's worth trying to eat for a couple of weeks doing mostly salads, some cooked veggies and fruits and maybe a little brown rice (but that's it as far as any grain products) and see how you feel. And if you feel you must have animal protein, try a little fish a couple times a week.

Let me know how it goes................