[missbutterfly]

wish there was an easy answer for you it can be hard being a woman all the things we put up with. I only know that I have experienced this same issue and my father being a doctor I went to his clinic and we found that it just happens with hormones and stress, and that hormonal fluctuation can manifest in the vagina with yeast and other irritation. I've even had times when I was itching like crazy and went in it wasnt yeast or anything not BV nothing, but it was still itching...sure enough it's hormones then it went away, comes back...it fluctuates with my hormones, I've pretty much had to just have a battle attack ready for any yeast or just something to keep the vaginal calm and cool during these situations. I use neem ointment mostly to calm irritation. Its hormonal for me even with my hormones being normal just part of the way my cycle works and women there hormones fluctuate all the time. A hormone test means little, your hormones are always changing based on factors stress etc... Stinks! Hope you figure it out.

[missbutterfly]

Ill explain it this way for you too:

Not only do hormonal fluctations, eating sugars, lower immune system, stress, illness, antibiotics, and birth control or hormone therapy increase yeast infections and irritation of the vaginal.


But so does Cortisol :
When a person is in stress, the adrenals produce an anti inflammatory hormone Corisol. It breaks down into different tissues to release sugar, The longer the stress continues, so will the Cortisol. This will lower the immune system as well as raise blood sugar. The hormone Cortisol may sometimes kill friendly bacteria and those that give protection against Candida.


Any imbalance between estrogen and another hormone namely progesterone would lead to yeast. Do you constantly know if your hormones are fluctuating prob not they change often every cycle based on stress.. etc listed above (factors).


Many things can cause yeast infections and irritation of the vaginal in a woman but hormonal changes inside is the main one.

Hope this helps some... I really think most of your irritation for you ladies is nothing of a mystery or you have some rare strange illness, I really think its within your body (we change ladies month to month factors change we eat different, we have stresses, our hormones change, immune system, medications we use etc..) so I think it very well could just be one of the factors above. I didn't start getting vaginal irritation and yeast till well close to 30, my mother never had one until she was 48 our bodies change based on factors.

[chalupamom]

hey ladies! i hate to mention this because it is very embarrassing, but i do feel there may be a connection to how i feel down there. uggg... during this whole period, i have also had pretty bad anal fissures....internal and external. i don't know if anyone else here has ever experienced them, but they are small tears on your rectum. i have a just a few before, but nothing serious and they usually go away in a couple of days. but not this time! they have been around for months. so not only do i have vulva problems but rectal as well. i am thinking that the burning i am feeling may be from that other area. anyone else have this problem too? i know it is so embarrassing, but i guess i am grabbing at straws here and looking for an explanation!!!! and unfortunately i haven't mentioned it to my doctor, but maybe i should. YIKES!

[missbutterfly]

Aww don't feel bad I have two internal hemorrhoids I got it from constipation some women get them during pregnancy. Ive had them for years since I was only 23 years old they itch like crazy at times. But I usual can tell when my vagina itches and its a problem there compared to my anal. A doctor can give you something for your fissures or hemorrhoids. I like to wipe with witch hazel after bowel movements to help too. Most hemorrhoids will always be there unless you want surgery to fix it, I an anal fissure is the same way about surgery. Mine arent too horrible yet so I put up with them. Have your doctor do a rectum exam or colonoscopy. Mine were found on a colonoscopy

[missbutterfly]

Also just heads up wasnt sure if you realized anal fissures are different from hemorrhoids. If your having internal and external ones than I'd think you have hemorrhoids, suppositories over the counter help and witch hazel and fiber. You can get surgery if you want but thats up to you. Anal fissures are different I havent had those. Anyways wishing you luck!

[viola]

I had a hemmoroidectomy many many years ago. I was in my 20's when I had horrible bleeding problems....finally I got it taken care of when I was 37. Never had problems after that!!! But, a few years ago, a doc told me I had an anal fissure and just be careful it doesn't tear. I really didn't have problems. Anyway, you could try to just make sure your bowls are soft, psyllium helps, with lots and lots of water. As long as you don't strain yourself, it will tear them more. Prep H soothes the area.

[Sarah001]

Hi again chalupamom, I don't know if this is your problem with the rectal issues but tight pelvic floors can cause something called "outlet constipation" where the body has enough fibre and fluid to make stools but when they reach the rectum the muscles won't relax to pass them easily so the person has to strain to push them past the spasmed muscles. As you already know vulvodynia can be caused by pelvic floor spasm too so maybe the pelvic floor is your problem.

[chalupamom]

i think i am going to bring it up to my doc. when i see her next. i also just got back from the derm. and apparently i have no allergies to any products. so, by process of elimination, i guess we have to assume that i had a yeast infection from the very beginning, it just presented strangely. i had no discharge (at first anyway) just redness and severe pain/irritation. i wish i had been treated for it immediately instead of waiting a month. then the treatments didn't even work at first, which leads me to where i am today. i still have burning, but my therapist, who is a sex therapist and deals with vulva issues, says that i could be clenching the muscles involuntarily, and building up lactic acid which could account for the burning. and considering that this has been going on since september, that is A LOT of clenching. i have to consciously relax the muscles down there. not an easy task. so, it looks like the infection is gone, but now i have to deal with this !
sara001, how are you doing? haven't heard from you in a while. hope things are going well for you!!

[viola]

building up of lactic acid?? Hmmmmm, that's interesting. Wonder if that could lead to itching as well as burning...I'll have to look that up.

[Sarah001]

Vulvodynia patients frequently have tight pelvic floors and clench them without realising it, I was doing it 24/7 in the beginning and even now months later I still do it at times. The build up of lactic acid is one theory and tight muscles irritating nerves and soft tissue is another but there definitely seems to be a high amount of vulvodynia patients with pelvic floor dysfunction so there's something in it. Vulvodynia can cause itching but it's usually more pain, rawness and burning.

I've reached a bit of a standstill chalupamom, my physio hasn't been available for a couple of months and I'm having frequent SI flare ups so can't relax my pelvic floor any further until I get some advice about it. My resting tone is now 12-14 which is still way too high but as I'm sure I told you previously I have hypermobile SI joints so need to stabilise them as I go along which is proving harder to do than it sounds! I started with a resting tone of 20-29 though so I've made a bit of a dent in it! It should be 2-3 for anyone wondering. Still a long way to go and still got constant symptoms but until I get it much lower than it is at the moment I won't make any more progress.