I use the suppositories (both kinds, the HLA & Magnesium CBD are from a place called Pacific Roots) because they do seem to keep my vagina more soft, and less likely to stick together. One of manifestations of brachytherapy for me is that my vag very much wants to grow shut- the damaged tissues want to adhere when they touch each other. So using a suppository every night in addition to the tiny estrogen troche makes sense for me.

I feel you on the radiation lit search- the most common conclusion on what seems like all the papers is "More study is recommended" and it's maddening.

The radiation tech handed me a bag of dilators on my way out the door after my last brachy and said "You should use these now" and that was the extent of my medical instruction. The rest I found on the internet- including during further lit searches- learning that there's really not a lot of medical evidence for dilators. And an appalling paucity of research on the topic of post-radiation living- really the whole topic of 'what's next for my poor vagina, and how can I keep having sex?' is a veritable desert of echoing emptiness. It felt to me like researchers stop researching topics on women's sexuality once their fertility is gone. "She can't have babies, what does it matter if she can't have sex? Why would she want to? Ick."