I am officially in that stage of life where my body is experiencing a trifecta of physical assault: exhaustion from raising 3 young children, the youngest of whom is still in diapers; stress from working full time; and hormonal imbalance from entering perimenopause. And I thought puberty was bad. Not only am I suffering from fatigue, weight gain because of a slowing metabolism, decreased libido thanks to anxiety medication, and the ultimate skin care horror — acne and wrinkles — but I am also battling perhaps the worst symptom of all: discomfort … *ahem* … down there.

This discomfort is nothing new, of course. It’s been there since I gave birth to my oldest child almost a decade ago. The dryness. The pain during sex. The feeling that something is “off.” But now, 2 more kids later and as I near the dreaded 4-0, it’s somehow worse, if that’s even possible.

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE IN THAT? I’m seriously asking because this is ridiculous.

I’m not exactly comfortable discussing my lady problems with dinner guests over a nice Chianti or shoving any old thing up my vagina an attempt to rectify the dilemma, so I’ve pretty much avoided doing anything about this increasingly distressing issue, aside from cough-whispering about it to my doctor at my annual gynecological visits and cursing my ailing downtown upon exiting the shower every morning. Instead, I’ve just chalked it up to being some sort of aging rite of passage. An aging, stressed out vagina is an angry vagina, right?

WRONG. An aging, stressed out vagina doesn’t have to be an angry vagina. In fact, it can be the opposite. And once I bit the bullet and decided to finally do something about it, I was like, “So there is actually vaginal peace after children and the burdens of life. The world makes so much more sense now.”

So what did I finally decide to do? I took the opportunity to try Vagisil ProHydrate Natural Feel, an internal vaginal moisturizing gel. As I’m pretty picky about what I put in my body, I naturally did a little digging, and I discovered that, in addition to being a trusted brand, Vagisil is also gynecologist and clinically tested with no added dyes, perfumes, or estrogen. So I decided if I were going to try something, this was definitely it and I gave it a go.

It was easy to insert, there was literally no mess at all (something I was honestly worried about), I experienced zero discomfort (another thing I was honestly worried about), and despite having no added perfumes of any kind, it had a refreshing, faint, and pleasant odor to it. Like lilacs or something. (Aside from the life-saving moisture, this was quite possibly my favorite part. It was clean and healthy.)

Best of all? I felt better as a person. Because when you’re not busy worrying about a physical ailment, you have time to be happier. Trust me. As someone who suffers from chronic pain issues, I know this to be true. One less physical problem is one more notch in life’s feel-good column. And when the feel-good column is full, the intimacy column opens up for business.

Here’s the thing. I know I’m not the only one experiencing issues because of post-childbirth or perimenopausal hormone changes, stress from working and taking care of children, and general physical changes due to aging or medication. I know it. So if you’ve been struggling with feeling like yourself and getting intimate as a result and are finally ready to do something about it, I recommend Vagisil ProHydrate Natural Feel, which is available at a ton of retailers nationwide (see VagisilNaturalFeel.com for retailers and pricing near you). I had a great experience, the best of all being the improved sense of contentment that comes with having one less thing on my plate to worry about both physically and emotionally.

And because we are together in these experiences, it’s time for you to dish! Are you going through a change in life? What has you feeling like something other than yourself? Tell us about it in the comments for a chance to win a $100 Visa Gift Card! Sweepstakes rules and information below:

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This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older (or nineteen (19) years of age or older in Alabama and Nebraska). Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. The notification email will come directly from BlogHer via the sweeps@blogher email address. You will have 2 business days to respond; otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 10/13/16- 11/13/16

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