[amelillo13]

Do you find your skin looks as though it may bleed with any friction either of you? The reason I'm reluctant to go down the low dose anti-depressant and lidocaine route is my skin looks as though it may bleed with the slightest friction and I can't help but think those methods aren't going to help that. My partner and I haven't had sex for months because of this, if my skin would just heal I'd be halfway there!

Mine doesn't. It looks pretty normal; some days it is just red and irritated. Does yours look like it may bleed because it is dry and cracked? If that's the case, has a doctor ever mentioned atrophic vaginitis? That deals with having an estrogen deficiency.

[Sarah001]

Do you know that's exactly what I want to try but as per the doctors are all saying estrogen cream isn't something they want to give me at this point and wait until I've been to dermatology (which could be months away) so I'm not thrilled about that. I have to use oily products like petroleum jelly several times a day because otherwise the skin gets so dry and puffy and not to mention excruciatingly painful it looks like it may split. I'm desperate to try it and I actually have no daily discharge at all which clearly isn't right! I can't find any pictures of atrophic vaginitis online though to kind of verify what I should be looking for. I'm going to have go for yet another begging session at the doctors aren't I? Sigh.

[amelillo13]

Do you know that's exactly what I want to try but as per the doctors are all saying estrogen cream isn't something they want to give me at this point and wait until I've been to dermatology (which could be months away) so I'm not thrilled about that. I have to use oily products like petroleum jelly several times a day because otherwise the skin gets so dry and puffy and not to mention excruciatingly painful it looks like it may split. I'm desperate to try it and I actually have no daily discharge at all which clearly isn't right! I can't find any pictures of atrophic vaginitis online though to kind of verify what I should be looking for. I'm going to have go for yet another begging session at the doctors aren't I? Sigh.

Really, they should at least try it. Your symptoms seem to fit with it.

[lafemelle]

Yeah Sarah, my mom has atrophic vaginitis and from what she's said about it, it sounds very similar to what you're experiencing. I'm actually quite surprised you're having such a hard time getting a doctor to consider it!

My skin, like amelillo's, usually just looks red and irritated. Some days it looks better than others. Amelillo, I really do think you and I have the exact same symptoms. Sometimes I get really worried there's some new infection out there they have yet to discover and learn how to treat, and it's ladies like us who get to be the first for it. The thought pops into my mind that all infections/conditions we know about were, at one point, mysteries, and it scares me to think I may have something no one has a cure for right now. =(

[amelillo13]

Yeah, I hear you Lafemelle. Many years ago my aunt had endometriosis and it was not well known at the time. She was sent from doctor to doctor and they couldn't figure out what was wrong with her until years later. BUT they did figure it out; it just took some time and as many depressing days as I have because of this, I have to hold onto some hope that it'll be figured out sometime.

If I could just manage my symptoms to the point where I could have intimacy back, I don't think I' would really mind the rest >.<

[Sarah001]

I think the reason they won't consider it is because I'm under 40. I got my appointment for the dermatologist today and it's not for another 2 months!! I can't go on like this indefinitely so I'm going to make an appointment with a GP to ask what she thinks the problem is. I feel exactly the same way amelillo, I just want a normal sex life again.

[Sarah001]

I came across an old herbal book of mine the other day and thought I'd just see if there were any recommendations in there, mostly they were normal ones but it did give a way of douching with acidophilus rather than just inserting capsules if either of you fancy it. It's basically very simple and they advise opening the capsule and mixing it with 10ml of warm water then use it that way, it would cut out the problem of gritty discharge and get good bacteria where it's needed. Just a thought.

[amelillo13]

I came across an old herbal book of mine the other day and thought I'd just see if there were any recommendations in there, mostly they were normal ones but it did give a way of douching with acidophilus rather than just inserting capsules if either of you fancy it. It's basically very simple and they advise opening the capsule and mixing it with 10ml of warm water then use it that way, it would cut out the problem of gritty discharge and get good bacteria where it's needed. Just a thought.

Wouldn't warm water kill the acidophilus? All these bottles of stuff I've purchased always say it needs to be refrigerated.

[Aithneu]

a little confused.. what do ya'll mean by "growing out" exactly?

[amelillo13]

a little confused.. what do ya'll mean by "growing out" exactly?

When a swab of discharge is taken, it is sent to a lab. They usually just watch it in a petri dish or a flask or something to see if any bacteria is present for a few days. Let's say the particular bacteria they are looking for is aerobic and/or needs warmth to grow, so it needs air to thrive and warm conditions as well. Well if you put the swab into those conditions, say incubate it or put it in a flask, the bacteria will feed, multiply, and thus, grow out to the point where you'd be able to see what the pathogen is. If nothing is growing out, nothing is showing up when the swabs are cultured.