[amelillo13]

You know, r3dh3ad, my mom, who happens to be a nurse and worked for an allergist, told me the same thing. She made it sound like the blood test would have still shown something though. I remember specifically asking that doctor about this vaginal infection and if any food or something could be causing it (after I switched to hypo-allergenic everything) and he made it sound like nothing would unless the area was constantly being exposed to something...like if you were allergic to latex, then having sex with condoms would cause the irritant vaginitis, but it would go away once you stopped exposing that area to latex. He made it sound like food wouldn't do it, and another doctor I asked about it said no as well. But once again, according to other women, it can and does happen!

We do know our bodies better than anyone else though, you are absolutely right. I can't get in to see my vulvar specialist guy until late August/early September so I think I will try eliminating dairy first and maybe do the peroxide douche/insertion of acidophilus once my period is over and see how that goes.

[r3dh3ad]

Sarah you hit the nail on the head when you said that doctors annoy you when the say everything is normal without taking the individual into consideration! I agree 100%! I liked Lafamelles idea about the food journal- so I may incorporate that that into my no dairy diet. I have had my cortisol level checked before- it came back normal. Which actually kind of surprised me. But that is the only hormone level my doctor would do because he said that estrogen and progesterone are at diiferent ranges at different times of our cycle. So if one showed a litlle high or a little low- it could be explained by where we're at in our cycle. I am going to request again that it be done anyway at my next appointment.

[r3dh3ad]

Amelillo - what does your mom think of your symptoms? I am a nurse also - my work is strictly with mens health. The doctor I work for is the one who told me that allergies wont show up unless the the allergen is present- He's not an allergy specialist though. Too much contradictory information- I apologize if my information was incorrect.

[r3dh3ad]

Oh- I also tried the acidophilus. Vaginally it made things worse-It was horrible! Orally it did less than zero. With the hydogen peroxide I felt a whole lot cleaner for a while but the symptoms were still present. I think it was Lafamelle that mentioned the hydrocortisone. I have been thinking a lot about when I tried it because I swear the Very first day I used it ( a cream) my symtoms vanished! I was elated! Thought I was cured - but my symptoms came back the next day- It was crazy. So maybe I needed a stronger milligram or something- I don't know but I want to explore that again. Geez- I just wish I could have my normal vagina back!!!!!

[amelillo13]

My mom primarily is an oncology nurse (20+ years), so this is completely outside of her field. She worked for an allergist for about 2 years. She told me to ask the doctor to test for certain pathogens that are less common that can cause it. Aside from that, she has only suggested to go see an infectious disease doctor. She said they are probably more aware of things that could cause issues if they aren't showing up on normal tests. With anything, there is always the chance of getting false negatives though. We live very far away from one another, and it's kind of hard for her to suggest things since she can't see my test results and doctor comments...not that I can either, but I want to.

I've been taking the acidophilus by mouth every day and haven't noticed a change, BUT if I ever miss a taking a pill, I almost immediately get a yeast infection if I have the slightest bit of sugar. That didn't start until recently, but I guess it's at least keeping that at bay, though it may not be 'helping' my symptoms.

I've only tried a mild water and vinegar douche that my doctor told me to do. Oh my god. It stung sooooo bad. I used maybe like 1/4 of the bottle and just said 'forget it' because it burned and burned. I'm hoping the peroxide won't do that too.

With most medications I've been on, the vaginal gels particularly, I do feel better while I am on them. It may be in my head/coincidence because it seems like any time I do ANYTHING, it helps for a few hours or a day or two. As soon as I stop inserting the cream though, everything comes back , so I guess it might be masking it more than actually helping it. Hard to tell, really.

[Sarah001]

I'm the same with the acidophilus, miss a tablet and I've got a yeast infection! If I take them daily they keep yeast at bay but obviously they're not helping my current issues.

As for the hormone tests, that is true about how they fluctuate through our cycles but there are times when say oestrogen is supposed to be high and if they tested then it would be evident if it wasn't. I've actually bought a 3 strip test that you use at home in urine to check FSH levels which should at least tell me if I'm perimenopausal but it has to be started from when you are actually on a period and done for 3 weeks in a row so I haven't got the results of that yet.

When I tried the vinegar douche I was very conservative with it and used a 10ml syringe with about 3ml of vinegar and 7ml of water and it didn't sting. I'm actually considering trying that again too because I seem to think it made me feel slightly better afterwards but periods and doctors appointments where you aren't supposed to douche before you go just get in the way of lengthy trials!

[Sarah001]

Well I've seen a GP this morning and she flatly refused to test my hormones, apparently as long as your cycle is still a cycle it's fine according to her so regardless of the fact my periods are closer together than they have ever been because they are still far enough apart to be considered in the normal range it isn't something they check. She examined me and said she thinks my problem is Lichen Planus and has given me a tube of Clobetasone Ointment to use for 10 days and if that doesn't work she's going to try oral steroids and I guess if that doesn't work she'll refer me on to someone else. I don't know if Lichen Planus is my problem but it is something I've considered because my soreness is bilateral and symmetrical (typical) and I've got distinct dark red lines either side which again can be a pattern for Lichen Planus so we'll see I guess.

[lafemelle]

Sarah, that sounds so frustrating. If the Clobetasone doesn't work, you should definitely see a different doctor and demand a second opinion on the hormone testing.

A question came to mind when we were all discussing the diet thing--if it was an underlying yeast issue (for any of us), wouldn't our wet mounts or our cultures show yeast every time they were done if that was the case? And wouldn't yeast treatments (diflucan, boric acid, etc.) at least provide temporary relief? That's what one doctor I recently saw had told me, is that since the diflucan pills and boric acid suppositories have never even provided the slightest bit of relief, it's not yeast-related. But then I guess maybe that's just me, especially since I can't place a definite connection between my symptoms and the foods I eat...

[r3dh3ad]

I went out yesterday and purchased otc hydrocortisone cream that has aloe vera in it. I used it topically not intravaginally. I used it quite liberally, though and within a few hours there was a significant difference in the amount of redness and irritation that I'm used to. I almost looked normal. I think there was less discharge than normal too but I can't tell exactly. Nothing I have ever used has worked like this or showed this much of an improvement. I have tried metro gel topical and vaginal and clindamycin topical and vaginal a few times in the past with no results whatsoever. Up until now I was pretty convinced that the discharge was causing the vulvar irritation but I'm not so sure now. I considering purchasing some aloe vera today and use that alone just to see what happens. I know it can be used for skin irritation and burns so I need to find out if it's the hydrocortisone cream working or the aloe vera. Or maybe it's the combo- I don't know yet.

[r3dh3ad]

I want to look further into DIV now. I match the symptoms EXCEPT my discharge is white and most of the information that I have seen is pretty steadfast of a yellow discharge. One site I visited on line linked DIV to the use of broad spectrum antibiotics and low estrogen levels. However all the others stated normal estrogen levels with DIV- which separates it from atrophic vaginitis. Either way I'm telling my pcp and hopefully, hopefully he'll do a hormone level on me.