Allergic Reaction to Vaginal Creams?! HELP!

**klw4730** · 12-24-2011 08:56 AM

I am a 23 year old female...and last March I thought I might be getting a yeast infection and I was getting ready to go on vacation so I used the monostat 5 day I believe..well to make a long story short ever since then up until a couple of months ago I have had horrible burning down there..for those of you that have had UTI's thats what it feels like...I went to my gyno 3-4 times and was tested for EVERYTHING and everything came back negative..I even went to a urologist who did everything they could and even done two scopes to check for interstitial cytisis..BOTH doctors said my bladder didn't show any signs or symptoms of IC but went ahead and diagnosed me with that...Then about 2 months ago I noticed..hey it was starting to get better and I actually felt "normal" again. This is December and a few weeks ago I went to my gyno for regular pap smear..everything came back negative except for that I had a bacterial infection...so she prescribed me 5 night metragel treatment which is used like monostat...it has been a couple of weeks since that and now I feel the EXACT same way..I am so miserable I can't take it! I'm depressed and don't wanna do anything because of the burning! I just went a few days ago back to gyno and she done all cultures again. There is no uti but I am still waiting results of others..but I honestly feel like its no infection. Everything down there looks normal and nothing odd coming out...could be possible that I am allergic to this kind of stuff?! Any answers are welcome. I'll take any opinions of what you think! Thank you so much

**ItsASecret** · 12-24-2011 10:01 AM

If you were allergic to the creams you would know the day or the minute you started using them, it would hurt so much that you would end up back in the doctor's office. An allergic reaction like that with such a concentrated formula would have an almost immediate reaction, not be okay for treatment period and burn months later. The more likely thing that is happening is the creams work, they rid of whatever infection or pH imbalance going on, and after that the infection reappears. That reappearance after treatment can cause the burning months later, not the cream.

**Beautiful Disaster** · 12-24-2011 10:09 AM

Well I had this whole response typed out and hit the wrong button and lost it.

A few weeks ago I experienced what I believe was an allergic reaction to an antibiotic I was taking for a sinus infection. I had taken this antibiotic before with no reaction, but it's the only thing I could pinpoint that had changed that could have caused this. I thought I was getting a yeast infection (I've never had one...) so I took two rounds of diflucan with no relief. I experienced no discharge, just red itchy inflamed labia minora and around my vaginal opening. On a scale of 1-10 in irritation I would've given it a 3....but discovered that even a 3 down there is enough to make anyone crabby and miserable. I had scratched to the point of tearing skin and causing light bleeding. So anyway, after ruling out yeast, I decided I MUST be allergic to something. I knew it wasn't my laundry soap because I had just switched to a "natural" homemade soap, but was experiencing the irritation before the switch. I was already using a very mild unscented feminine wash, so I knew it wasn't that. Out of desperation, I decided to try some hydrocortisone cream (NOT internally, only externally) paired with sprinkling baby powder in my undies to keep the area dry. After using the cream for 2 days, my irritation was totally gone and did not return.

If you try hydrocortisone cream, and keep having to reapply and reapply and reapply, then you haven't fixed your problem....it is only band-aiding your issue. And with you showing up positive for bacterial infection, it's also possible you have BV (there's a whole long thread about that here...) so this may not work for you at all. Worth a try though. Apply the cream when you're clean and dry. Avoid using ANYTHING perfumed. Sprinkle powder in your underwear. Then tonight, try taking a sit down bath and putting some baking soda in your water. Afterwards, repeat the process with the cream and powder.

If this works, the next step is deciding what you're allergic to. Have you changed laundry soaps? Body wash? Lotions? SHampoo or conditioner? Have you been taking any new meds?

**Beautiful Disaster** · 12-24-2011 10:12 AM

Oh...and one more thing in light of what IAS said about ph balance and potential reoccuring infection: try adding some things into your diet that help to balance ph levels (yogurt with live culture, unpastuerized apple cider vinegar, etc). And please make sure you're communicating all this with your doctor (which I'm sure you are...).