Sex after menopause

Vatican cream! Wonderful! I am seeing the Pope in my mind's eye every time I read it.

Oh, lovebooks, I to took HRT for ages and absolutely loved it until breast cancer forced me to stop. My libido was good and sex was not difficult or painful post menopause. Like you I began it for osteoporosis. I now have new aches and pains, thinning hair and feel the aging process far more. If medical opinion changed, I’d start taking it again tomorrow.

Sorry that wasn't very complimentary about my GP. To be fair they are so busy they just don't have the time for minor stuff like this.

Vagifem "pea shooters" ate amazing, no more sandpaper sex for me!

I’m 63 and have suffered no loss of libido luckily following menopause at 51. I find Sensilube which you can buy from any chemist perfectly adequate. What was horrendous was the perimenopause years with really heavy periods, hot flushes, profuse sweating and headaches - my libido definitely went off-kilter then

My doctor is pretty useless to be honest but I'm going to try some if the things suggested on here. It's already made me feel better knowing that other women have experienced the same problems.

I was prescribed Vagifem pessaries but sometimes I “lost”them (what goes up sometimes come down!), so they weren’t entirely satisfactory. Eventually I stopped using them. I started using Estriol cream a year ago and while there is no doubt it is not as convenient as Vagifem, it works better for me.

Mollyplop - I hope you've been reassured by this thread that it's ok to talk about it and you can get help from your GP.
When I first joined here there were a few threads like this and it made me go back to the GP and ask for help. I had stopped Vagifem and had the same old bladder infections.
The doctor agreed - that was in France.

I really would recommend Vagifem - the tiny pessaries which you insert twice weekly. My female GP prescribed them when I kept having bladder infections. I now say (but only to trusted girlfriend and as a joke ) that I have the face and body of a 64 year old but the vagina of a twenty five year old!!!

Isn't this a great medium for discussing things like this! I have no problems whatsoever regarding comfort/moisture etc. I'm 59 and had my last period about 5 years ago. My problem is my libido is non existent, much to my husbands dismay!

We have a great relationship but its pretty thin in the physical dept. I did mention this to my GP a year or so ago but she kind of disregarded it and said its something nobody really talks about!

Once I stopped ovulating (which was the time of the month I always felt the most sensual) my libido just took a hike! What is this Livial, valeriej43? We are both retired now and all the children have left home, so we should be at it like rabbits yes? I just really really can't be bothered!

I remember listening to some older women many years ago, talking about how they pretend to be asleep when their husbands came to bed, so as not to have to 'perform'! I was horrified and vowed I would never ever feel that way. Funny how things change!!

Vagifem for dryness and Livial for libido,[Tibolone] you can take livial after the menop[ause,
I take it and i am 75

I love a good laugh. Great postings everyone!

Snap, Mollyplop. The only difference is that my libido is low enough that I could happily go without it for the rest of my life as long as we were still affectionate but, sadly, DH equates sex and love as being the same thing! I take an oral HRT, top up with a pessary and use Replens. It’s not totally comfortable but makes it bearable. I do wish I felt more amorous but give me a good cuddle anytime.

Fennel that’s good?

Have been feeling bit down today but the miracle Vatican cream has given me such a laugh!

Hildagard - that's funny .
Reminds me of another joke.
2 grans talking -'Our daughter is expecting triplets. Evidently it's a one in a million chance.'
Long pause.
The other replies 'Good Heavens - how did she find the time to do all her housework?'

There are oestrogen pessaries. They just have the hormone work directly on the genitals, cervix and uterus. They are are usually used every night for two weeks, then twice a week thereafter. You don’t have to suffer with this problem. Just go and discuss it with your GP.

Phoenix - I love Tom Lehrer - hadn't heard him for years. I need a trip down memory lane now!

Your GP will prescribe some hormone pessaries. They work after a week and then you and keep topping up. Also using a vibrator is helpful. Exercises the muscles and gets yo aroused. Ann Summers has a pink one that looks like a lipstick and costs £10.

Thanks everyone for the giggles. When I saw the thread sex over 50 I thought it maybe 50 times? oops I thought I have been naughty. Keep the laughter coming

I felt as if someone flicked a switch when I turned 50. I wasn't allowed HRT because of high blood pressure. My doctor gave me Ovestin cream which I find helps a little. It's a shame that in your fertile years you can be put off by the worry of pregnancy. Once all that is over and you should be able to enjoy yourself you no longer feel like it. I don't think that many men understand quite what we are going through and what the problem is.

Vatican cream is one of the best things I've read about on these great forums! I shan't be able to look my doctor in the face when I next see her as we are bound to discuss it.. she is young enough to be my grandaughter and is VERY serious! Thank you Gransnet for totally livening up my Tuesday morning! I shall be giggling all day...

My husband, who is 63 and younger than me, I am 67 has no interest at all, finished over 17 years ago partly I think because I have a very loose vagina caused by damage when I had my first child. I do try to give him a hug in bed but he doesn't respond. I feel very sad, we are like brother and sister now.

Vagifem 10 microgram pessaries are the size of a grain of rice, a tiny applicator releases one into your vagina. You only have to insert twice weekly. At 74 am able to enjoy an active sex life, so as for sex being over at 50, this is nonsense. Vaginal atrophy is the same as any atrophy, it shrinks, withers, the expression use it or lose it is worth pondering. Do not understand the posting about 'discharge' it is just the natural lubrication as it used to be.

My gp calls it vaginal atrophy (marvellous!!) and I have topical hrt pessaries which I insert once a week to combat this