Shazia

Jun 19 · Posted

Right. I've got an appointment in two weeks and I am not doing what I always do, which is sit in that chair and say "oh everything's fine" because I go blank the moment the GP looks at me. So I've started a notes page on my phone. Private symptoms I would normally skip because I'd rather discuss literally anything else. The dryness. The fact that intimacy has felt completely different for the last year or so and I haven't said that out loud to anyone, including my husband. The UTI-type feelings that come and go even when there's no infection. The way I've just quietly started avoiding situations because of it. I read something on here recently about someone writing down the actual words they wanted to use, because in the moment your brain just goes offline. I'm doing that. I've written "vaginal dryness" and "discomfort during sex" on my notes app and honestly it felt strange just typing it, which tells you everything about why I've been putting this off for eighteen months. I'm also going to ask about local oestrogen specifically because I've seen it mentioned a few times in this room and I want to know if it's something my GP would even consider. I don't know enough yet. I'm not going in with demands, just questions. The list so far: dryness and what's causing it, the UTI symptoms, whether there are options beyond lubricants, and honestly just whether any of this is normal because nobody told me this was coming. If anyone has asked their GP about GSM symptoms and has any idea what language actually landed, I'd genuinely love to know. Not looking for advice, just... solidarity I suppose. x

Jun 18 · Posted

Hi. First post. I'm Shazia, 58, been married a long time, and something shifted in the last year or so that I genuinely didn't see coming. Intimacy just sort of... stopped feeling like something I wanted, and then it started feeling uncomfortable, and I didn't say anything to anyone including my husband because honestly where do you even begin. I found this room and sat with it for a while before posting. I've got a GP appointment coming up and I'm trying to work out how to say any of this out loud without going bright red and changing the subject. Writing it down here feels like a start. Glad this place exists x

Jun 11 · Replied

Community post

Just popping back to say thank you, especially Sarah. I read all of these with a cup of tea and had a little cry, in a good way. This community is such a relief sometimes.

Jun 11 · Posted

I actually said it out loud to my GP. The dryness. The discomfort. All of it. I'd written it on my phone notes the night before because I knew I'd go in there and talk about literally anything else. And I read from the notes. Like a script. Slightly mortifying but also, she didn't even blink. Just listened, asked a couple of questions, and we had an actual conversation about it. I've been not saying it for about two years. Two years of just quietly managing and feeling like it was somehow my fault or just something you get on with. It isn't. Apparently. Anyway. Small win. Big relief. x