Oats

Submitted by apismellifera on August 13, 2011 - 1:53pm
Body: 

All this talk of oestregen, I have been using vagifem suppositories for nearly a month. The first two weeks was one suppository inserted every other day. Then every fourth day until the course runs out. I now have 3 suppositories left. I have found that when I was doing one every other day, the sore burning went but now every fourth day appears to be too bigger space in time and the burning soreness starts to come back.

Another little tip I got from a physio was to put a large handful of porridge oats in a pop sock and let the bath water run over it as you fill the bath. You end up with a very cloudy soothing bath. This may be useful to some of you.

PS can anyone tell what causes the burning? Is it just the menopause?

Apis

granolamom

August 13, 2011 - 8:46pm

sorry, am no help re: burning

but, :::thumbsup::: for the oats tip

my mom used to give us oatmeal baths when we had the chickenpox.
we did that for our kids who've had the chickenpox and eczema flareups. when I can be convinced to sit in a tub (I hate baths!), I do this in the winter to keep my skin from getting all red from the cold and dry air.
I eat plenty of oatmeal too, I wonder if its as healing inside as it is for the outside?

louiseds

August 14, 2011 - 4:56am

My simple mind says that if topical oestrogen fixes it, then it is probably just menopause, but these oestrogen related conditions seem to have other factors mixed in with them sometimes, and get pretty awful, eg lichen sclerosus.

Are you using anything else, other than topical oestrogen? During perimenopause I used to find that using a super strength vitamin E cream was useful for dealing with 'vaginal overuse' injuries, ie my vagina would feel more normal more quickly than without it. It was also useful during the day. Bliss Balm was also very good as a lubricant and as a healer. These days, post-menopause, I am drinking lots of red clover tea, and as long as I get lots of foreplay I don't need a lubricant at all for sex. If foreplay is, um ... brief, it feels like sandpaper. During the day I don't seem to need anything either. However, If I was having sex as often as I was during perimenopause I might be back to the old 'overuse' injury again. Those were the days, eh? I do find that I need longer arousal for sex these days, though the end point is just as enjoyable for me in the end.

I would also like to try making red clover in a cream base, or KY gel base, or a coconut oil and beeswax balm base likw Bliss Balm, for vaginal and vulval use. I have red clover tincture mixed into lanolin for use on my hands because the lanolin is very persistent, but it would be too tacky for use on my vulva or in my vagina.

Has anyone who is experiencing vaginal dryness, soreness etc, associated with menopause, made up a red clover lubricant/balm for vulval or vaginal use? I would much rather try red clover than synthetic oestrogen because red clover's main benefit comes from blocking the beta receptors from picking up stray inflammatory oestrogen metabolites (byproducts from the breakdown of oestrogen) inside the body. The red clover form of oestrogen is very weak and unlikely to have a direct benefit. It is more like a primer on an unpainted steel surface, binding to the surface and preventing oxygen atoms from joining with the iron atoms and forming rust.

I think I have got that bit about the inflammatory oestrogen metabolites right. YOu cana read about it in Christine's article in the Library about a Natural Treatment for Lichen Sclerosus.

Louise

kiwigirl

August 14, 2011 - 10:22pm

Louise, I have been thinking of adding red clover to my bliss balm concoction.Keep meaning to watch Christines video making her red clover mix.I am pretty much the same age as you and have the same symptoms and reactions re dryness etc. ;-) so I can't do without my bliss balm until I find something better.... I
ll let you know if I make some, and you do same if you make it first lol

louiseds

August 15, 2011 - 3:19am

This will be a real witches' brew! I'll try it with a water-based cream.

The red clover balm I made from lanolin is great for putting on hands and feet (with socks/gloves overnight - really sexy!). It really calmed my dermatitis, to the point where it no longer cracked and itched, and lost its gross redness and swelling, but was just unsightly. I finally got rid of it completely by taking a fish oil capsule every morning. I am still taking the fish oil.

I also had a previous long term case of the same dermatitis disappear a few years ago, when I started taking prescription SSRI antidepressants, which I no longer take. My longterm plantar warts fell off too. That is about all the benefits I ever got from antidepressants!!!!

The recipe I used for the balm is:-

2-3 tablespoons anhydrous lanolin (aka woolfat sold as nipple cream)
1/2 tablespoon beeswax
50 drops red clover tincture.

Melt the lanolin in a little jar in 10 second bursts in the microwave (about 40 seconds) or in a hot water bath.
Add tincture and mix well. An icecream stick works well to get into the corners of the jar.
Add beeswax, broken into pieces and incorporate it, heating the mixture again if necessary to melt the beeswax. This takes time, but not that long for a little jar.
Test a little on your hand, for consistency when it is cool enough. The consistency of the balm at body temperature is the benchmark, even if it hardens in the jar.
The waxes from the lanolin and from the beeswax give it the tackiness required to persist on the skin. You can warm it again and add a little more lanolin or beeswax to adjust the consistency.

If anyone wants to make their own Bliss Balm I suggest going to Christine's Cottage and view the video of how to make it from scratch. If you want to be lazy and use red clover tincture, which was readily available to me, you can use my recipe to make a small quantity, but with coconut oil as the oil base instead of lanolin, and add more beeswax, because coconut oil doesn't have a lot of wax.