Its been now been 4 years since been given the all clear of cervical cancer.
Im so happy im.still hear to tell the tale amd like many of you early menopause brought on by treatment.
Im.still suffering with every posdibl6e sympton i cant take hrt due to family history of breast cancer.
So am going through it naturally ive learnt to live with it but my vaginal dryness is getting to me and i cany sreem to teach reach climax my partner thinks i dont fancy soeaking with thr doctor she reauures me its due to the menopsuse and side affects of brachy therapy and long trestment of radiotherapy.
Its so frustrating has anyone else experienced this and has mamage to somehow overcome it.
I'm only 5 months clear of treatment. The side effects are life changing. I am on hrt and it's saved my sanity somewhat. But I do have dryness and can't come. I've been trying to get a blood test to see if I can have testosterone cream. Woudk this help you? How about hormonal cream for your symptoms as I've read the useage is safer as it doesn't build up in your system.
Very glad to hear you are now living with the 'all clear' signal! That's fantastic. But those side effects are awful. Menopause for me came on pretty quickly when I had to have my ovaries removed but I have been lucky to be able to go on HRT. Before I got that sorted out though, I thought my sex life was over for good. Vaginal dryness is so hard to talk about which is ridiculous because it's such a major issue. My experience of it was, I imagine, pretty typical but it just knocked me so hard and made me feel absolutely worthless. I'm lucky to have both a really understanding husband and a really understanding gynaecologist - two really compassionate men who stood beside me and let me know there would eventually be a way around it. Hearing your story makes me feel really blessed to be able to reap the benefits of HRT but it took a while to find the right treatment. Until then I spent months of trial and error to find a lubricant that didn't give me thrush (avoid the ones with glycerin - PINK does a really good one if you're able to use something like that). All I can say is hang in there. Don't give up on yourself. There are lots of us out here who can relate.
Have you tried any lubricants? The best lube I've found so far is an oil based one used in combination with a water based one: https://www.yesyesyes.org/products/double-glide-organic-lubricants/
Hi all, I attended this event on menopause held by trekstock a charity supporting young adults with and beyond cancer. You can watch the recording here if any help, will pop link below. It has great panel of docs and others breaking down taboos around the menopause, sex, intimacy amongst other things. They do talk in one bit about what hormone options women have when they can't take HRT and I do recall them discussing topical ones, such as mentioned above like vaginal creams, vagifem pessaries and lubes, so worth a watch and then perhaps discuss with your GP: https://www.trekstock.com/lifting-the-lid-cancer-menopause
I also discovered Samantha Evans there and her website Jodevine.com which offers tips on feminine health, rediscovering pleasure and intimacy after cancer and lots of recommended products from lubricants to toys etc: https://www.jodivine.com/articles/womens-sexual-health
Testosterone is also another option, I've tried in gel form but I don't know if a GP will just prescribe it, you may need to go through an early menopause hospital clinic but chat to GP first as I'm not really sure
