Natural Solutions for Vaginal Atrophy: Safe & Effective Remedies

Thank you so much for writing out the solution in detail. I was able to get hold of DHEA (post via a reputable supplier) with the Carlson suppositories. Took about 2 weeks of daily use before I felt improvement, and I'm very happy to report, it works! I still have to use it as I haven't yet reached ‘saturation', as some here have, in order to cut back to 3 or 4 times a week. I tested it out, stopped for a day, and the dryness returned in 24 hours. I will probably have to continue daily use for a full month and test again. God bless.

I do that! I just made my own cream using cocoa butter and coconut oil with DHEA. It helps with vulval atrophy. Also I haven't got thrush since I started using the cream. I have a super sensitive spot that tends to get infected and the cream is great. I also use 5mg suppositories about 10 times a month now. For the initial phase I used 3.5mg nightly for 3 weeks. I'm on a maintenance dose now.

Thank you everyone for this great thread. I am having great (and quick! ) success with the 2.5mg DHEA pill and suppository combo. I'm looking forward to sharing my results with my doctor.

Hi to all on the thread.

Thank you to all for your input, it has been wonderful to read about everyones experience with DHEA. like everyone else I did not want to use an oestrogen supplement for a prolapse and dry vagina.

This lead me to do a great deal of research on DHEA, which I then presented to my doctor with all the findings. Fortunately for me she knows me well and knows how thoroughly I research. We jointly had conversations with a local compounding pharmacy in Brisbane Australia that found a formula for DHEA suppositories 3.25mg (which was what I requested) they formulated a vaginal cream to insert with an applicator and also a refrigerated product to be inserted like a tampon. I have experimented with both of these and they both work extremely well. I am coming up to my third month with nightly doses. I found relief within one week when I started, no more burning and itching, and dryness is no more. The plus is that libido has increased. I am reporting back to my doctor next week and the great thing is that he is totally open to recommending to other women. Hope this helps any other Australians feeling the frustration.

DHEA: Huge success. Here are the details - I ordered 2 items, from Vitacost online. DHEA tablets: Manufacturer is Douglas Laboratories DHEA Micronized 5mg. I split them in l/2, using a single edge blade or a pill cutter (from online drug store). Also ordered the Carlson Key-E suppositories. Separately, I googled 'vaginal suppository plastic applicator', and figured out where to get them. Even if you have to purchase a product 'off the shelf', to get the applicator - go for it. Let the flat end of the suppository, get a bit 'softish'. You can do this, by just holding your fingertip on the end, for art 15 seconds. Insert the suppository 'pointed end FIRST', so that when it is in the applicator, you are looking at the 'flat' end of the suppository. Take the l/2 of the DHEA tablet, and gently push it into the softened end of the suppository. It is MUCH easier, to have it all in the plastic applicator. If you need a little 'help' getting the applicator inside - use a bit of lubricant on the outside of the applicator. After act 5 days, I did not need any lubricant. This is MUCH easier, than melting the suppositories, and trying to mix up the l/2 of the DHEA pill, etc. The newly FDA approved DHEA suppositories called, 'IntraRosa', are too expensive for me. Murry Avenue Apothecary online, also has them; again, too expensive for me - but may be an option for a lot of you. Best regards.

I'm so thankful for earth clinic and for all the women that have commented on this cure, you saved my life! I was depressed to the point of being suicidal after my oophorectomy at 43 (my last ovary removed due to endometriosis). I expected some hot flashes, but my doctor never mentioned "your sex life will be over" as a menopause symptom (or I would've waited out the endo) So after my first attempt after the operation, I had painful sex for the first time ever... I had an emotional breakdown! I researched furiously for days and once again, earthclinic was the source for the best remedy! (I've come here before for many other remedies in the past)

Reading all your comments, I started looking for what I could find in my country. I found DHEA tablets, got some cocoa butter, melted the cocoa butter and added the pulverised tablet, poured the concoction as drops on wax paper, let them harden and voila! Home made DHEA suppositories. The go in smoothly, and I used them daily for a week or two, and now only twice a week. The cost is minimal, and no side effects. Back to having amazing sex again. The days I use them I know ill have some goo in my undies, (chocolate smelling goo LOL), but no biggie. Now that dryness is a thing of the past, I can try just the fraction of tablet without the cocoa butter, I guess! Right now the ONLY menopausal symptom that I haven't been able to research myself out of is insomnia...but I'm determined to figure that one out next!! Thank you to all commenters, thank you earth clinic!

Hydration cubes or anything like that are not available in the U.K. After a lot of searching I decided to use the Carlsons, but the main problem was getting hold of the low dose DHEA capsules. It took a lot of research but I finally found them at a company called Swanson. I ordered one bottle of 120 10mg for less than £9 with postage. It is quite simple, I break a Carlson in half (a whole one is too much) and roll it in the contents of a DHEA capsule, which has been opened up and put into a small plastic container. One capsule lasts about 3 days so 120 will last approx a year. I intend to do this daily for a month and then cut down to 3 times a week. My severe atrophy symptoms disappeared within a few days and now I feel completely cured and it's only been 2 weeks!

I hope this is of benefit to those of you residing in the U.K as we do not appear to have the resources available to us that there are in the U.S.

It is working as today is the 8th day. I have made it easier by making tiny heaps of the mixture made in the above insert written, onto wax or aluminium foil and places in a container, and placed in refrigerator. The dosage is 5 mg (u can get 10 mg or 5 mg micronized dhea capsules) for 30 "suppositories". It is easier after taking out form the fridge and just insert them by hand the q tip. The micronized dhea is best absorbed via mucous membrane and the coconut oil is an anti inflammatory and anti fugal. Needless to say with a dry lining inside, anything and everything caused itching but not this! I tried the DHEA cubes and the estrio cubes both gave me thrush after 4 days but this is the best way I could use and the cheapest. Of course one has to be judicious about using them.

DHEA still is a steroid so cannot use permanently on a regular basis as it does convert to estradiol and testosterone, but because it is vaginal the rate of absorption and therefore conversion is much less in the circulation. But now it has to be herbal pills for oral, extrotone, back cohosh etc, and vaginal moisturizers, VIT e and coconut oil most non reactive and natural and the occasional use of DHEA once the cells of the vaginal lining has regenerated. I do not plan to take my preparation daily everyday once the 30 days are up and in the manner I have already described.

Also, one has to at least do a saliva testing of hormone levels at least twice a year. There are risks for us women taking any kind of steroids for the long term.

I have been using the DHEA supositories and I can't believe the difference. I am a 60 year old woman and I was about to give up sex it hurt and I had lost the desire. Well I feel like this is the magic bullet. I actually feel like a woman again. I know that sounds corny but the DHEA I got from a compounding pharmacy they are little cubes and I cut them in half , they were prescribed, a full one was to much, I started to spot a trace and he told me to cut it in half. Perfect for me. I have moisture and plumpness and a sex drive. I can't believe it has taken me this long to find something natural that works. I don't find it messy and it didn't keep me up at night. Good Luck Ladies

After much research, incredible stress and absolutely no help from traditional MD gynecologists, I found a compounding pharmacy that makes DHEA 3.25mg suppositories in a solid oil type base. I have used them for 1 year now and they have worked wonders for me! My only complaint is that they can be messy since the oil melts at body temperature and will leak out a little. But that is nothing compared to what I was going through before I used them.

My recent physical and blood tests, with a new doctor, showed great improvement in hormone levels and the pap smear came back showing not as much menopausal cellular changes. Some states require a prescription for the compounded suppositories and some do not. You will have to check in your area with a compounding pharmacy to see what the laws are. There are some compounding pharmacies on line that will ship out of state. There is one in Ohio that I use that is excellent. They ship the suppositories packed in ice packs and I haven't had any problems with that. But I live in the next state over so not an extreme distance away.

I finally found a local Osteophathic woman doctor that has been a true Godsend to me. She also prescribes a compounded progesterone cream based on my blood test. I have gone to MD gynecologists all my adult life will never go to one again. The extent of their knowledge for this condition seem to be to prescribe synthetic estrogen, and if you refuse that, recommend you get counseling and suggest an antidepressant medication. I am in no way a depressed person, I was stressed out from all the anxiety they helped cause me with their attitudes and lack of caring. Good luck and God Bless you all, I know how awful and stressful the symptoms of vaginal atrophy can be.

I had vaginal atrophy so bad sex became out of the question. I tried everything. Even forced myself to use hormone creams they made me feel terrible. They made me feel extremely grouchy. I even tried using progesterone cream vaginally. My husband was supportive, but it still felt painful. I read about using dhea in the suppository. So I tried it. This is what I do. I use the Carlson suppositories and cut them in half and and hollow a little spot out for 1/3 of a 5 mg tablet. I started with a half and it was too strong- I am pretty sensitive. I insert this every other morning. I wish I could do it at night, but the dhea keeps me awake. On the days I do not do this I use 1/2 suppository at night - just helps keep things moisturized. I have been doing this for six months and I am amazed sometimes I do not even need to use a suppository prior to intercourse. I would have never even tried it before. This is the answer for me. I normally don't write about this, but I hope it helps someone.

Yes, it is still working for me. I have upped the dosage, so I insert a whole 5mg tablet every other day. It works great. Believe me, I've tryed everything--estriol oil, progesterone oil, various other oils, etc. Much too messy, estriol made me spot. This takes like one second and there is nothing there after it dissolves and it dissolves pretty fast. And it's not bad for the man like estrogens. I've been doing this for a long time and have no side effects.

Me again, with an update. We've gone from theory to experience. My wife has been using the 1 mg E3 vaginal suppositories by Bezwecken (available over the web - just search for them). She used them nightly for 2 weeks, and then tapered off to 2 times a week (last week). Happy to report that the discomfort she felt is almost totally gone. Several months ago it was actually painful for her sometimes to have sex. But last night, she reported that there's only minor tenderness. That's awesome progress. After buying these suppositories over the web, and starting to use them, she decided to meet with a Naturopath to be safe. It was fun to have her prescribe the same thing she was already using. Ideally (or supposedly) we can taper off to 1 a week. Just had to post an update, because it sure helped things.

So glad I found this thread. My wife's 63, and is experiencing vaginal atrophy to the point that she tells me she experiences irritation or pain everytime we're intimate. Well, just like I was the one to do the progesterone cream research several years ago, now I find myself the researcher yet again.

So I found this study that said 250 or so women used DHEA suppositories intravaginally for 12 weeks and reported that vaginal atrophy symptoms were relieved. They used varying strengths, to see if that mattered. As it turned out, the 3.25 mg DHEA ovule or suppository seemed to have pretty good results. I found a pharmacist that reported some of their customers had success with 3.25mg DHEA vaginal suppositories (or ovules), inserting 1 suppository nightly for 12 weeks, then 2-3 times per week thereafter. Has anyone tried this?

Another study I came across, the participants utilized a vaginal suppository containing hyaluronic acid sodium salt 5 mg, vitamin E acetate 1 mg, and vitamin A palmitate 1 mg. Dosing was a suppository intravaginally every night for 14 nights, then tapering to every other night for 14 nights. Of 150 women, 126 women completed the study in full. The study assessed efficacy of the study medication in the areas of burning, itching, inflammation and irritation. Results showed that any symptom that was reported as severe initially was resolved to either mild or absent at the end of four weeks. Anyone ever heard of this?

My wife's in a very demanding job, and doesn't have time to research this, so I'll be checking back to hear from you as to what works for you, while I continue to research further and report anything new I find.

It seems to work very well. But it hasn't done anything for my night sweats. My DHEA is not micronized and I was worried it would not work, but it works fine. Initially, I was wondering how to do this. I found two sites that have vaginal DHEA suppositories--sounds messy and they were about 2.00 each. Just using a piece of the tablet avoids the mess and the expense.