5d ago
Right. I have my GP appointment on Thursday and I've been putting off writing this list for about three weeks because every time I sit down to do it I feel like an absolute idiot. Like, how do I say this out loud to a doctor I've been seeing since I was in my forties. But I've done it. I've written it down. On actual paper, in a notebook, because if it's on my phone I'll just keep scrolling past it. Dryness. Pain during sex. A feeling that's hard to describe, sort of like a low-level irritation, almost like a UTI but not quite. And then the libido thing, which I've left to last on the list because it's the one I least want to say. My husband has been kind about it. Patient. But I can feel the distance and it's not his fault and it's not mine either, I know that, but knowing it doesn't make the conversation easier. We've not really talked about it properly. I keep meaning to. I read somewhere that there's specific language that helps doctors take the dryness seriously, like naming it as vaginal atrophy or genitourinary symptoms, rather than just going vague and hoping they fill in the gaps. So I've written that down too. I want to actually be heard this time, not just handed a leaflet about lubricants and sent on my way. I've also been trying to eat better these last few weeks, more protein, oily fish, less of the stuff that makes me crash at 3pm, partly because I feel like if I show up feeling slightly more like myself I'll be braver in the room. Whether that's logical or not I don't know. Anyway. Thursday. Wish me luck x