Fannies

and UTI's

Ok, this wont take up much of your time but, for post menopausal women who have been suffering from recurrent UTI’s and yet have inconclusive urine test results, please chat to your doctor / health care provider/ whoever you can get at your surgery about vaginal oestrogen, as this might just be the answer for many of us.

I cant promise, but UTI’s have been the bane of my life for the past couple of years, arriving out of nowhere and occasionally necessitating sitting on a towel while i recorded a podcast, or tried to write. ‘If im going to wee, i can just wee and work’, I decided, though I lived in fear of having a flare up whilst gigging.

I had urine samples done at my GP’s- but nothing ever got flagged up. I was advised variously not to swim, drink white wine, eat citrus, etc etc. The UTI’s kept coming.

I drank more water, swapped Charonnay for vodka, only used unscented dry skin lotions for dermatitis and excema prone skin in my baths. The UTIs persited

I went private, and a sympathetic doctor with more time, thought I might have bladder stones and my urine was sent for deeper investigation, apparently there was a deep rooted infection, I saw a private urologist and with a 45 date tour looming in January 25 , i had a bladder procedure in December 24. This would relax the opening of my bladder ensuring a better flushing out. TBH I was already sitting on the loo for ages after weeing, waiting for the last drop to fall, there is always some ‘after wee’, apparently Princess Anne has always been a stickler for the ‘long wee.’

I paid around 6k for this all in, it was a fabulous experience, like a spa break for the fully signed up hypochondricac, a lovely anaesthetic, a rigid bladder cytoscopy ( look it up) very little soreness, clean sheets and lunch on a tray. I felt optimistic.

But the cystitis flare ups kept coming, admittedly not as frequently, only was it cystitis? Well yes, thats what it felt like and anti biotics always sorted it out. But how could I stop it from happening in the first place?

I talked about it on ‘Older and Wider’, the podcast I co present with my mate Judith Holder ( producer of the Grumpy Old Women Tv shows and co writer on the live shows) and some of the listeners got in touch.

‘Vaginal oestrogen, vaginal oestrogen’, kept coming up, I went back to my GP’s and happily managed to book a rare slot with a menopause specialist ( she is shared between 18 local GP’s). So yeah, like winning the lottery.

I am 65, so very much post menopusal and still on HRT, but this woman knew her fannies, and was the first in that surgery to ask to examine me, I took my pants off quicker than that time behind the cricket club. Now i dont have a dry vagina, but i do have a dry vulva and I have been prone to night time itching for years. And fobbed off for years, I was also tested for STI’s - negative- ( I could have told them), but as it didnt bother me during the day, I just had the odd scratch and got on with it. I also found over the counter vagisan helped sooth the itching. (By the way about a decade ago, i was the face of vagisan moisturising cream for a telly ad and for a couple of years they sent me free sample, but then they dropped me for a younger, medically qualified telly doctor- I dont really blame them, i still tell jokes about the ad in my act.)

Back to my menopause lady, I came away with a prescription for creams for my dry vulva, which worked within a couple of days and some vaginal pessaries. I picked these up today, tiny little things with an unnecessary plastic applicator ( tut, what are fingers for) and I will keep anyone who is interested updated over the next few months.

For the first time in ages I feel like I might have things under control, and what’s weird is ever since I have been prescribed this treatment, Ive noticed more and more doctors talking about it on social media and how important it is for so many of us. Sometimes algorythyms are brilliant.

Sadly not everyone can use it, breast cancer survivors for example and Im so sorry about this, as anyone with eldery relative will know, UTI’s as you get older are not a case for swigging back the cranberry ( sorry, but that’s bollocks) they can lead to confusion and delirium and need prompt medical action.

Im not regretting the cytoscopy, I think it helped but i dont think it helped enough to stop the cystitis symptoms coming back.

The medical name for the pessaries is ‘Estradiol’, I get it for free because Im over 60, hahahahaha, see there are some perks to getting older, and hopefully some time in the future, I’ll be able to drink a bucket of white wine to celebrate!

PS yes, I do also take D Mannose and Hipprex, which means I will have to have a blood test every three months to make sure ( the hipprex) is not affecting my liver or kidneys. With any luck, the oestrogen will prove effective on its own.

Please dont be cross with me if you think Ive said anything you dont agree with medically, Im not an expert, though I have got an honorary doctorate ( thanks Middlesex uni). Im just spreading the word and for some people out there , it might be useful, Im certainly grateful for those pod listeners who alerted me to the possibility of this treatment in the first place .

fingers/ (not legs) crossed

Love jx