Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum, and boy do I have a doozy of a story. I hope someone has experienced something similar and can help me out because I am absolutely at my wit's end.
This is probably going to be really long, just because a lot has happened over the last year and a half and I want to make sure I don't leave any details out (so thank you in advance for reading)
I am in my early 20s and in healthy condition. Back in January of 2008, I had a UTI for the first time. It ended up being pretty severe because I waited a good 4-5 days before I saw a doctor because I didn't know what was going on. My bf and I tried to have sex but I had so much pain with insertion we stopped. I was peeing constantly and it burned. Then I developed kidney pain and had fever and chills. I went to the Dr. and was put on Cipro. After a week I went back for a check up. The UTI was gone, but the Dr. said I had BV and yeast. I had developed a heavy vaginal discharge, which is still persistent. It has a weird odor, not fishy, I'd describe it as smelling 'sour.' I also had very bad pelvic pain and lower abdomen and lower back pain. The pain took about a year to subside. I'm not sure why it went away, but I no longer have the pain, just the discharge. I was put on many rounds of medications, flagyl, diflucan, clindamycin, etc. I had been on birth control pills for about 2 years prior to this incident, but I stopped them about 2 months after this mystery infection began. I have no taken them since and i have not been sexually active since.
After none of that worked after about 2 months, I decided to go see a gynecologist. The gyno said I had cervicitis and proceeded to do 2 cryosurgeries on me. I was stupid and did not seek a second opinion and went ahead with them. They did not help it at all. I saw another specialist who said it appeared to be BV and put me on more medication. I saw ANOTHER specialist who said she thought it was BV but the tests came back with nothing. She immediately referred me to a vulvar disorder clinic, because apparently they get all the mystery cases. He says the same thing, BV.
I can't remember the name of all the antibiotics I've been on, but the ones I can remember: Cipro (for the uti), clindamycin (2 or 3 times), flagyl (about 6 times), azithromycin, keflex, Naproxen (to deal with pain), doxycycline, diflucan, and was put on steroids for a month or two. There are about 3 more I can't remember. Some of those have been in the pill form, some have been in gel form. I find the gel helps more than the pills do.
The problem here is, most of the doctors I've seen are in agreement that it is BV. However, NONE of my tests show anything. I've had numerous cultures of my discharge sent out and it just grows out lots of WBC. Dr. looks at it under the microscope, the only thing he sees is lots of WBC. I've been tested for all STDs, all negative. I've been to an allergist, negative for that and I had blood work done that came back normal. My iGe level and SED rates were normal. Cultures have been done on the discharge and my urine, nothing but WBCs. Cultures have been done for yeast, anaerobic bacteria, aerobic bacteria, fungi, a culture was done on my endocervix as well as nothing but WBC.
(also, i should add that the first few doctors never cultured, they just looked at it under the microscope, said bv and sent me on my way with a prescription. the Dr. im seeing now has done about 12 cultures and nothing comes up)
Also, I had a papsmear and that came back normal.
I don't understand. Aren't lots of white blood cells indicative of an infection? How do I have an infection, but all the tests show I'm perfectly fine? Wouldn't a level of something in my blood show that I was fighting something off? Dealing with this for so long has really been wearing on me, physically and emotionally. I've become antisocial and very depressed. I've lost weight. My boyfriend has been VERY understanding through this all, and we have lived together for a while since before this started, but we haven't been able to be intimate and I feel so bad about that. I lost my job due to having to call in sick constantly because when this started I was in such severe pain that I could not move from the couch for days. I never told the boss about this problem, so they just chalked it up to me being lazy and let me go. I have a new job now, which is fine since my pain is gone, but that's the toll this infection has taken on me.
I know it's not my fault that this happened, but I can't help but feel bad about it. I've been doing everything I can, seeing all these doctors, taking all these medications, taking probiotics daily (acidophilus) and my multivitamin. Nothing even helps it just a little bit. I feel disgusting
This is probably going to be really long, just because a lot has happened over the last year and a half and I want to make sure I don't leave any details out (so thank you in advance for reading)
I am in my early 20s and in healthy condition. Back in January of 2008, I had a UTI for the first time. It ended up being pretty severe because I waited a good 4-5 days before I saw a doctor because I didn't know what was going on. My bf and I tried to have sex but I had so much pain with insertion we stopped. I was peeing constantly and it burned. Then I developed kidney pain and had fever and chills. I went to the Dr. and was put on Cipro. After a week I went back for a check up. The UTI was gone, but the Dr. said I had BV and yeast. I had developed a heavy vaginal discharge, which is still persistent. It has a weird odor, not fishy, I'd describe it as smelling 'sour.' I also had very bad pelvic pain and lower abdomen and lower back pain. The pain took about a year to subside. I'm not sure why it went away, but I no longer have the pain, just the discharge. I was put on many rounds of medications, flagyl, diflucan, clindamycin, etc. I had been on birth control pills for about 2 years prior to this incident, but I stopped them about 2 months after this mystery infection began. I have no taken them since and i have not been sexually active since.
After none of that worked after about 2 months, I decided to go see a gynecologist. The gyno said I had cervicitis and proceeded to do 2 cryosurgeries on me. I was stupid and did not seek a second opinion and went ahead with them. They did not help it at all. I saw another specialist who said it appeared to be BV and put me on more medication. I saw ANOTHER specialist who said she thought it was BV but the tests came back with nothing. She immediately referred me to a vulvar disorder clinic, because apparently they get all the mystery cases. He says the same thing, BV.
I can't remember the name of all the antibiotics I've been on, but the ones I can remember: Cipro (for the uti), clindamycin (2 or 3 times), flagyl (about 6 times), azithromycin, keflex, Naproxen (to deal with pain), doxycycline, diflucan, and was put on steroids for a month or two. There are about 3 more I can't remember. Some of those have been in the pill form, some have been in gel form. I find the gel helps more than the pills do.
The problem here is, most of the doctors I've seen are in agreement that it is BV. However, NONE of my tests show anything. I've had numerous cultures of my discharge sent out and it just grows out lots of WBC. Dr. looks at it under the microscope, the only thing he sees is lots of WBC. I've been tested for all STDs, all negative. I've been to an allergist, negative for that and I had blood work done that came back normal. My iGe level and SED rates were normal. Cultures have been done on the discharge and my urine, nothing but WBCs. Cultures have been done for yeast, anaerobic bacteria, aerobic bacteria, fungi, a culture was done on my endocervix as well as nothing but WBC.
(also, i should add that the first few doctors never cultured, they just looked at it under the microscope, said bv and sent me on my way with a prescription. the Dr. im seeing now has done about 12 cultures and nothing comes up)
Also, I had a papsmear and that came back normal.
I don't understand. Aren't lots of white blood cells indicative of an infection? How do I have an infection, but all the tests show I'm perfectly fine? Wouldn't a level of something in my blood show that I was fighting something off? Dealing with this for so long has really been wearing on me, physically and emotionally. I've become antisocial and very depressed. I've lost weight. My boyfriend has been VERY understanding through this all, and we have lived together for a while since before this started, but we haven't been able to be intimate and I feel so bad about that. I lost my job due to having to call in sick constantly because when this started I was in such severe pain that I could not move from the couch for days. I never told the boss about this problem, so they just chalked it up to me being lazy and let me go. I have a new job now, which is fine since my pain is gone, but that's the toll this infection has taken on me.
I know it's not my fault that this happened, but I can't help but feel bad about it. I've been doing everything I can, seeing all these doctors, taking all these medications, taking probiotics daily (acidophilus) and my multivitamin. Nothing even helps it just a little bit. I feel disgusting
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