Thread: Yeast infection, BV, or something else??

I'm not sure if I'm having a yeast infection, BV, or maybe something else. A few days ago I noticed that my inner labia were really bright red and slightly itchy. I tried to ignore the itch but it wouldn't stop. I had a tampon in cause I was supposed to be starting my period soon, and when I changed it I noticed that I had a strange discharge. It was white-ish in color and a little thick/clumpy? But then later that day it had a yellow-ish tinge to it. I haven't really notice any difference in odor down there, it started smelling a little fishy yesterday but after I took a shower the smell hasn't returned. My inner labia are also getting dry and there is also little cuts on the inside of my labia? It looks almost like a rash or something, and it feels chafed. It's been really itchy the past day.

So I'm wondering, is this a yeast infection or BV? I've been researching online and it seems a lot of the symptoms are similar between the two. I had all these same symptoms a few months ago (around March), I was tested for STDs and it came back negative. Took a 3-day Monistat and it cleared up. About a month after that I had my yearly gyno exam and everything came back fine from that. But then mid-July these symptoms came back. The symptoms went away when I got my period, but about a week after I finished my period these symptoms came back. So I took a Monistat 3-day and the symptoms got really bad the first 2 days on the medicine but then it slowly started clearing up and I was good for a bout a week. But then I went to the dr with the flu and ended up getting put on antibiotics for 15 days. So now it's been a couple days since I've been off the antbiotics and that's when these symptoms showed up again. A lot of things I've looked up have shown that antibiotics are a main cause of yeast infections, so could it just be another yeast infection that I have? I feel like I keep buying Monistats but it keeps coming back, so that's why I think it might be BV or something else? I don't know what to do. The earliest I can get in to a clinic around here is like 3-4 weeks from now (& when I go I'm going to be tested for STDs and everythin because I've been with a dif partner since last time I was tested so I just want to make sure this isn't gonorrea or chlamidia or any other STD.) But I CANT deal with this itchiness waiting that long! It's driving me nuts. Should I try another Monistat or should I try something else?? I saw that there's a BV treatment you can buy now from some company called VH Essentials, where it's like monistat but for BV. Should I buy that and see if it clears up??

First of all, you should NEVER put a tampon in when your period hasn't started yet. Read the pamphlet in your box of tampons about TSS. That kind of "stopper" put into you without sufficient menstrual flow can even CAUSE infections.

Second, there is a test you can buy in the same section of the store as Monistat that will tell you whether it is yeast or bacteria. Once you find that out, you can treat from there