Is enough attention and care given to women re: their sexual health?

@gravity3,

Great topic. I have read articles and listened to presentations on sexual health for women in menopause and/or cancer. All affected hormones. I had early menopause due to a hysterectomy, then later developed breast cancer. I am 70.

In my case, after I got to a certain age, my primary stopped doing pelvic exams, etc I did have one when asked about a problem, and said everything was OK, but mentioned vaginal atrophy in the report. I followed up with a provider in gynecology to find out I had Lichen Sclerosus. She had a wealth of information on vaginal atrophy, estrogen cream, etc. I have a yearly checkup with her.

Some clinics have specialized departments for women dealing with sexual issues; Mayo has a Menopause and Women's Sexual Health Clinic.

I think this is an area that women need to advocate for themself.

@gravity3,

Great topic. I have read articles and listened to presentations on sexual health for women in menopause and/or cancer. All affected hormones. I had early menopause due to a hysterectomy, then later developed breast cancer. I am 70.

In my case, after I got to a certain age, my primary stopped doing pelvic exams, etc I did have one when asked about a problem, and said everything was OK, but mentioned vaginal atrophy in the report. I followed up with a provider in gynecology to find out I had Lichen Sclerosus. She had a wealth of information on vaginal atrophy, estrogen cream, etc. I have a yearly checkup with her.

Some clinics have specialized departments for women dealing with sexual issues; Mayo has a Menopause and Women's Sexual Health Clinic.

I think this is an area that women need to advocate for themself.

You ask What areas of concern would we women like to have attended to regarding our sexual health? What is missing for you? The answers to these two questions is ALL areas regarding women's sexual health! After years of trying to explain to Drs about the physical symptoms I was having in my genital, along with loss of achieving orgasm during perimenopause and now postmenopause. I finally found a social media platform that address all my questions. Its called Substack. I have NO monetary connection with this platform . I am sharing this with every woman because we deserve to know what is going on with our bodies, especially sexual health. I hope you ladies find this platform helpful.

@madlydancing

Which sub stack segment do you follow?

@gravity3 I follow a few women. Dr Sara Szal has been very helpful in enlightening me about my body.

@gravity3 To put it simply NO the doctors are not trained to treat women in all phases of menopause. I had to fight to finally get estrogen and trying to get testosterone, but so far unsuccessful. Have requested blood work be done to determine hormonal levels and that has not been well received. Testosterone is easily prescribed to men, but has not been approved for women. Have requested this myself in gel form, but met with resistance. It is a constant battle between insurance and doctors. Ugh!

I would like to know how testosterone can help with bone loss, joint pain and mood in menopause and beyond. I know many women who are on antidepressants and suffer from aches and pains as they age. If this hormone can help us who are ‘on the back nine’ why can’t we get it

Studies are limited but here is an interesting one.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7098532/