Hello Ladies! Sorry to get so up close and personal but I could use your advice here. I started taking Tamoxifen two weeks ago. I don’t know if it’s linked to the Tam or just stress but I’ve become a bit dry ‘down-below’. I’m using Vagisil to help relieve the discomfort but the packages says to use it for one week only. Any suggestions on how to keep lubricated? Thanks!
Dear Cupcake
This can be a side effect of Tamoxifen. It was for me. I tried most things but the one I like best is Sylk. When I was first diagnosed I paid for it - bought it off the internet but you can now ask for it by prescription. I get three months supply at a time. It is 100% natural, contains no parabens, and I think, from memory, it is made up from the kiwi fruit. The container is small and easily carried around. I wouldn’t be without it in my handbag.
I hope you find that helpful.
Keep well.
Jeannie
Hi cupcake, I think this must be a se of hormone treatment as I am on Arimidex and have the same problem, tried ky jelly at the start but it stung and now use Sylk the same as Jeannie, and find it works very well,
Jeannie, didnt realise you could get it on prescription so thanks for that,
Keep well both of you Roz xxxx
thank you for this post, not too sure what is going on, I don’t feel very dry, however, I do feel ‘itchy’ is this ‘normal’? It isn’t thrush, but don’t know what to do or what to apply.
I know the chemo has put me into the menopause so was expecting many things but this itching was not one of them.
any advice please
Jenny xx
Hi All
I have the same problems on tamoxifen, sometimes worse than others, and often quite painful. I also have the same problem as you Rubygirl, no advice I’m afraid-would also be interested in hearing any. Have to say it really drives me mad some days, and has been getting me down a bit lately.Will try some of the suggestions here.
C
I’m off to the docs for hopefully a prescription for Vagifem. I don’t what to bother messing with KY, etc.
Thanks for all the top suggestions, Ladies. I’m off to Boots for some Sylk. If I get on ok with it I’ll try to get a prescription for future use.
Take care, all of you, and keep smiling!
Clare x
Just to add,
My gp prescribed REPLENS. Wonderful stuff!
Snoogle
x
If you are worried about parabens I would try to avoid Replens. It contains methylparabens. I know not everyone is bothered about this but I just thought I should let you know as some are. I am hence I use Sylk.
Take care.
Jeannie
thanks so much for the suggestions…can I use these if I am triple negative?
hoping all your bits are comfortable xx
ruby girl have you been checked for bacterial vaginosis if its def not thrush?
its treated by a course of antibiotics… however they can cause thrush… so you can get in a vicious cycle.
also dont over wash as the natural flora will get wiped away and that encourages other bugs which are probably there in smaller amounts to flourish and cause an imbalance in the vagina.
if you have tnbc you usually have more options in treatments of side effects as your cancer isnt hormone fed so you can take hormonal preparations and it wont increase your risk of getting a recurrance and some breast surgeons are even happy to prescribe hrt… but things like vagifem and sylk and replense are worth a try but id check it isnt BV or any other medical condition first of all.
Lxx
Thanks Lulu,
as soon as I ruled out thrush, I didn’t think of anything else, so thanks for that.
I really do have chemo brain, on reading back my post, I sometimes don’t even know my name lol I am hormone positive and HER2 negative
Thanks again for the advice
Jenny xx
As Lulu said, you can get in a cycle of antibiotics, thrush, etc. So if I experience problems in that area I apply natural live yoghurt, which restores the natural balance of bacteria without the use of yet more drugs - most of us don’t want to take any more than we have to!
Sarah x
My Sylk arrived today! Hurrah!! Normal service is resumed.
Keep pitching Ladies,
Clare x
I’ve been on Replens for about 3 weeks now and the white lumpy discharge still persists since using it. I think it’s a mix of dead rehydrated skin cells and the Replens itself. I find it totally revolting and won’t be attempting sex with this going on! Do others have this problem with Replens?, does it eventually go when all the old skin cells have cleared?, is Sylk any better? Has anyone with oestrogen positive cancer been prescribed vagifem? If so, who by? Sorry for all the questions, but I have to get this sorted 
I use Replens, and had the white discharge to begin with - it is old skin cells being flushed out. Normally these are flushed out by the body all the time, but when you become too dry they get stuck up there! So the problem should resolve itself soon.
Hello, I gave up with Sylk and switched to Replens. I’ve been on it now for a couple of weeks. Yes, I get the lumpy discharge, but I just regulate how often I take it (every couple of days/post sex), and that seems to help. As for having sex, well my BFs not noticed any lumpyness, but I am enjoy things much, much more now ;-)I did have a skeey-peek as he withdrew, but no awful tell-tale signs…
Stick with it (and get it on prescription).
Clare x
Yes, I get it on prescription and will give it a fair trial.
Hi all, I tried replens a few months ago but didnt find it any good so switched to sylk on prescription which I find much better. I asked my onc about using vagifem or similar and she said a definte 100% no, I’m 95% oestrogen positive. I know from this forum some people have been prescribed it and told the risk is minimal but my onc. was not happy for me to use it at all. So am sticking with the sylk and so far so good…
xx
I’m oestrogen positive and had loads of problems ‘down below’; dry, itchy, sore, any wee hitting my bum sending me screaming off into space. Sex was - loads of vaseline… and yuck! I suffered in silence for months and then finally had a session with my onc (who, incidentally, is a VERY top banana) and he put me on Vagifem - one a day for six weeks, then slowly reduced to once a week. It sort of… ‘sorted’ it (is that tautology?) but then he handed me over to a gynecologist. He told me that the dryness, etc. could be helped by oestrogen creams but it was a slow process… Vagifem… once a week, then once every two weeks, then oestrogen cream - a little applied to the vulva and then a once a week dose of this cream applied via a plunger.
I have coped with this regime for around a year. I use Sylk when things get ‘warm’ in bed. (If you know what I mean!) However, when I last applied for a repeat prescription, the chemist told me this cream has been dicontinued. The gynecologist signed me off around nine months ago so now I depend on my GP for the next step.
All I know it’s a BITCH! It’s is something you can’t discuss without curling up in embarrassment!
Power to the GIRLS!!!
AlexG