[lafemelle]

The yeast, sugars, and the actual alcohol component can mess things up. Also tannins in wine can be a problem for some people in regards to inflammatory response.

It happens with all alcohol, not just wine (that was just my example). And I can't believe it's related to the yeast and sugars in alcohol because sugar and yeast products in general have absolutely no effect on my symptoms. I guess it could be like you told amelillo, I could be conditioning myself to expect it and therefore whenever I drink my discharge gets worse. Who knows.

[ItsASecret]

And I can't believe it's related to the yeast and sugars in alcohol because sugar and yeast products in general have absolutely no effect on my symptoms.

All it takes is a slight change in a chemical, i.e not the same sugar in alcohol as in a regular piece of fruit for example, and a bacteria can act differently.

[amelillo13]

I also had to stop drinking alcohol a while ago. I would get terrible pain, pelvic and stomach, that would last nearly a week after and my discharge would be worse. Not sure if it was messing me up because of the vaginal problem and reasons mentioned here, or if it was because of my stomach issues. Probably both. Not that my stomach issues have been figured out either, but I've been told that there is no way any sort of stomach problems can be effecting my vaginal ones, so

What I still don't understand is that every single time I give a urine sample for anything, they always tell me I have microscopic blood in it. I NEVER had that before this vaginal infection started and my records will show that, but every sample since with several different doctors have had it, so what in the world is that about? Why is that not more of a concern? They also have always said there were WBC in my samples since this infection, but how are WBCs in my urine and my discharge? I thought urine comes from the urethra and the vaginal discharge is coming from another area. I mean, it's not like I'm having my discharge while I give a urine sample. Is it just that the areas are close together, or could I have two different things going on that involve WBCs?

Arg. I'm in the process of either finding new gyno, or an infectious disease doctor that will meet with me. Hopefully SOMEONE I see in the near future can help. I really don't know how much longer I can deal with this.

[lafemelle]

So...I've mulled over this whole thing a lot lately. I have come to some conclusions:

1) Contrary to what I've always thought, my discharge DOES seem to coincide with my monthly cycle. Right after my period, I have VERY little discharge. A week later, I have more and it's yellow. A week after that, I have really gooey, really excessive clear discharge. Then it dies down for a few days to very little again, and I have my period.

2) I'm pretty sure my irritation and redness is a direct result of the constant heavy discharge. I had a couple days recently where I didn't have a whole lot, and went the whole day without feeling any irritation. Now, I'm in that phase where my discharge is ridiculously heavy, and I'm constantly feeling irritation.

So, either my body just naturally had a mood swing with its hormones a few years ago and this is supposed to be "normal" for me, or there's something causing the excessive amount of the normal discharge my body would normally have. I read a post on another message board where a woman shared her story of being in a situation just like mine, and it turns out she had a uterine polyp causing excessive cervical mucous. As soon as she had the polyp removed, everything went back to normal.

I wasn't going to return to the doctor, but I'm thinking about going once more to simply ask about the potential for the cause to be inside my uterus itself (since in the 3 years I've dealt with this, no doctor has ever made the initiative to check).

[amelillo13]

Well, I saw my specialist today. He did the usual, pelvic exam, wet prep, sent out a culture, took the pH, etc.

He said my pH was at about 3, which is odd. It is usually a normal 4-4.5, however I just finished my period, but he made it sound like that would increase the number, not decrease it, so I'm not really sure why it's all funky.

Under the microscope, he said compared to my "usual", I appeared to have less WBCs and less bacterial overgrowth cells. Sounds great, but I still have this problem and I don't feel like it has improved any, so I'm not sure if he's just saying this stuff to make me feel better or what. Neither one of us expects anything to grow out on the cultures since it never has in the past, but he did it anyway.

So, with all that said, my doctor has told me that he honestly has no idea what to do from here. All of the conventional treatments haven't worked and he talked about referring me to other clinics in other states.

I brought up the possibility of that cytolytic vaginosis that was mentioned here and he said he's not sure, but at this point if I want to try douching with sodium bicarbonate and water for 2-3 weeks, that it wouldn't hurt. So, this is what I'm going to try. At this point I'd try ANYTHING, so why not? Hopefully this helps because if it doesn't I am either going to need to drive 9 hours or take a plane half way across the country to go to another suggested clinic location.

I don't know; these last two appointments have made me so confused since my wet preps show improvement but my symptoms haven't improved...nothing makes any sense, not that anything ever has for the duration of this mystery thing. Arg.

[amelillo13]

Anyone making any progress?

I've been doing the baking soda douche for I guess about a week now, maybe a bit longer, and while it has definitely cut down on my amount of discharge, the internal burning sensation has gotten worse. I wonder if raising the pH like this is causing other issues? I tried to have sex for the first time in like two years with my bf, since I wasn't getting so much discharge, and since inserting the douche applicator didn't hurt; I thought I might be ok. BIG mistake. He couldn't even get in. He tried to insert and it burned sooooo badly internally. That was hours ago and now I am bleeding and have a discharge. I'm not sure if I should continue the baking soda thing or not since it'll only make the burn worse. Arg. Feels like I've hit a wall. I mean, if a person is douching with ANYTHING at all, the discharge would stop, right? Or would it not? I can't figure out if the baking soda is helping or making things worse =/

As far as I remember I've always had the burning with insertion since this "infection" or whatever it is started, but it has never been as bad as it was today.

[r3dh3ad]

I had a doctor appt last week and simply asked if they had ever heard of cytolytic vaginosis or lactobacillosis. They had not (which I assumed) so I didn't even have the wet mount. I have come to the conclusion that whatever this is I will not find a 'cure'. I have to accept that. I will never consider this normal, though. It's not. I was glad that Lafamelle posted about the discharge correlating with her cycle because after I thought about it I beleive mine does too. The doctor did put me on medroxyprogesterone for my periods which they have wanted to do for a while. My periods are every three weeks and for one one full week it feels like i'm bleeding to death so I just thought I would give it a go. It hasn't even been a full week but maybe If nothing else, my periods won't be as long and heavy.

[Sarah001]

This might be a bit far out but are you ladies sure you're not dealing with vulvar vestibulitis/vulvodynia? I ask because I belong to a forum for vulvodynia sufferers and some of them have excessive discharge whereas some are like me and don't have enough. I may be completely wrong of course and it's something else.

Amelillo I would stop the douching if it's making the burning worse, you don't want to increase any of your symptoms if you can help it. I seem to recall you were told you had vulvar vestibulitis a while ago? That would make sex really painful and the douching making the burning worse might be making the vestibulitis worse. If you press into the muscles just inside the vaginal opening are they tight and painful? Try the 5 and 7 o'clock area in particular and press downwards to see if that hurts.

I've not made any progress, haven't seen my physio for months and have just been taking lots of tablets recommended by the vulvar specialist that dope me up but don't seem to make alot of difference pain wise. I really must get in touch with my physio and get started again, the only thing I've been doing really is massaging some of my tight muscles of which I have lots.

I'm adding Cat's Claw to my daily supplement regime soon too, I'd given up on supplements but this one is popular because it boosts the immune system so well so I thought I may as well give it a few months and see if it helps.

[amelillo13]

This might be a bit far out but are you ladies sure you're not dealing with vulvar vestibulitis/vulvodynia? I ask because I belong to a forum for vulvodynia sufferers and some of them have excessive discharge whereas some are like me and don't have enough. I may be completely wrong of course and it's something else.

I've been wondering about it, actually. The specialist I see at the medical school specifically deals with vulvar vestibulitis/vulvodynia, so I would assume if anything was wrong with that, he would have mentioned it? He did say that he thought I had a bit of vulvar vestibulitis going on, it's at about 6 o'clock at the vaginal opening. He said that's a really common place for women to have pain, and instructed me to keep doing the lidocaine cream. My main issue though, is inside the vagina and I thought vestibulitis/vulvodynia was outside? Whenever something is inserted, it just feels like my insides are being rubbed with sand paper, no itching or anything else, just the burn. The doctor has always said the skin on the inside looks completely fine and healthy, so if there was something like that going on, wouldn't it show, or does it not work like that?

Right before and after my period the burn is always worse; I'll get it even without inserting anything because the old blood coming out irritates the out of it. I figure because blood raises the pH and it makes it more irritated? Anyone else get that? If that's the case, then the baking soda douche is a terrible idea since it's doing the same thing.

[Sarah001]

Well with vulvodynia some women feel burning inside, or other odd sensations, the skin usually looks completely fine but can look inflamed (mine looks inflamed but the majority of women on the other site look completely normal most of the time) and alot of women feel worse before, during and just after a period. Some women have excessive discharge and others not enough as I said before and repeated infections such as yeast or bv are frequently found with vulvodynia sufferers. Another thing often found is lots of antibiotic use. I don't know if it is that but it's probably worth looking into.