THIS THREAD!
OMG I had the EXACT same symptoms and problems everyone outlined here and as soon as my doctor saw it he said for sure it was herpes. I thought yeast infection because I’ve had yeast infection sores before and he said no, it was HSV for sure. I had recently had unprotected sex with my partner so I absolutely freaked out and started researching everything. THANK lord-jesus-buddha-allah-vishnu I found this thread because 2 weeks later my blood test came back NEGATIVE for everything. My doctor chalked it up to a very gnarly yeast infection (as I thought to begin with). I’m so happy to not have herpes!! (After researching thinking I did have it, I realized it’s not as catastrophic as you’d think so at least life isn’t over). If you want to read more I’ve outlined what I went through below, see if it matches anything you’re going through, it might give you some solace. Reading through other experiences on this thread really helped calm me down when I was in the most pain and freaking out that I had an incurable STD.
Friday 8/11 was the first day of noticing symptoms.
I live in San Francisco and I had tickets to a 3 day music festival. Naturally, I was excited to go to the shows and party hard with my friends, so I didn’t really notice much itching because I was anticipating a weekend of badass music and partying and sometimes things just itch down there. For two weeks prior, I had been battling a cold/sore throat/sinus infection thing and I had been "burning the candle at both ends” and not getting enough rest. Despite that I thought it would be a grand idea to eat some magic mushrooms and rage face all weekend with my friends while dressed in onesies, leotards, tights, and tight shorts (i.e. not enough vag breathing room). I noticed a bit of itching on the next day (Sat) but I figured it was just my one piece rubbing the wrong way, and I was drinking and watching music so it was easy to ignore. That Saturday night my partner and I had unprotected sex (for the second time). We just talked about getting tested the week before but neither of us had the chance to go yet (figures).
Monday following the festival I had to catch an early (6AM) flight to the east coast for work a couple days (still running my immune system into the ground). I happened to be going to Charlottesville right after the protest, so not only was it hot and humid (i.e. greenhouse vagina), it was also stressful and tense. That Wednesday (8/16) I noticed my vag area was more itchy than normal, and it burned a little to pee. I investigated more in the shower and realized I had a tiny little sore/fissure forming right near the base of my vulva and labia. I figured I just had a yeast infection since I had noticed more discharge than normal (no odor though). I get a yeast infection roughly 1 to 2 times a year so it isn’t an extremely abnormal thing for me and I just wrote it off.
I took a Diflucan (Flucanzole) when I got home late that Wednesday night and didn’t think much more about it, except it really started to hurt when I peed, not burning like a UTI, but burning like I had cuts around my vagina. I got a hand mirror to check out the undercarriage and I saw that it was really red, and there were actually two tiny sores, not one. Both at the base of my vagina on the edge of my labia, both of them painful, and my whole labia was horribly itchy. I started to use the antifungal crème my doctor gave me last time I had a yeastie and figured it would go away. But I wanted to go away sooner and I did some things that I thought would make it better that actually made it worse (sometimes I’m an id**t).
Things NOT to do that I did:
1. Washed your vagina too frequently (thinking soap and hot water is good, right?) You throw off the PH and slow the healing process if you’re washing your kitty 3 times a day
2. I dried it with a blow dryer when I was done showering (cool setting) because I thought it’d be good to dry it out, no! Pat it dry say the doctors. Air drying with irritate it further.
3. I went tanning the next day for the same reason, thinking it would dry it out. Literally the dumbest thing I’ve ever done because yeast actually thrives with UV light so DO NOT do that!
4. Put Vaseline on the sores (this helps relieve the burning but is bad if it’s a yeast infection). It actually slows the healing process. Use Vagasil to relieve the pain (it has a numbing agent in it)
5. Don’t eat magic mushrooms if you might be getting sick, they wreck your immune system
After I went tanning I got two more sores at the top of my labia. Then I really started to freak out because even though I had sores from yeast before (when I was young before I had sex) I started to think it might be something worse. I took another Flucanzole just in case (my Doctor gave me three last time in case one didn’t work so I had extras left over) and got lots of rest. That was on Thursday evening. The next day, day 7 of symptoms, was a Friday and I had a reunion dinner with old friends that had been on the books for months… so obviously the medicine I took didn’t work and I destroyed my immune system even more by having a few drinks (extra stupid, I know). It was the worst that Saturday to Tuesday (day 8 to 11). It burned sooooo bad to pee and everything was so crazy uncomfortable, even sitting. I had only a few pair of pants that I could wear in hot wear that wouldn’t touch the sores and send me reeling in pain, and underwear were out of the questions because they slow the healing process (plus hot house vag is no bueno!). After I that dinner I realized it really wasn’t getting better and started to hit it with everything I could – I used every cream – antifungal, vagasil, monistat, I did the Monistat internal treatment, I was slamming vitamins (including Melissa Lemon Balm), getting loads of sleep, using hydrogen peroxide on the sores (not sure if this is good, but it felt good!) and taking exquisite care of my body. NOTHING seemed to help so I scheduled an appointment with my OBGYN. I also stupidly (again, so many stupid choices because I was desperate) began to restrict my calories/fasting thinking that I could starve the infection. I only drank pressed juice, tea, and ate vegetables. It worked to a point, but I did two full days and then I started to get sicker again because my body needed more calories.
Anyway, I went to my doctor and he looked at it for a second, did the exam and then told me it was herpes. I had all of the symptoms for herpes (swollen glands, sores, itching, burning, pain, etc. almost the whole nine yards except for the fever) and he told me he didn’t see much yeast (I had taken two Flucanzole pills). He sent me for a blood test and put me on Valtrex (herpes antiviral meds). I texted my partner to let him know that my vag was out of commission and that my Dr. thought it might be an STD, or herpes, ugh so awful. Fortunately, he had just gotten tested and he came back totally clean, so I felt better about my predicament (because I would’ve got it from him) but was still freaking out about the uncertainty. That was on a Wednesday, day 12 of my symptoms. My doctor informed me that my results wouldn’t be ready until the following Monday :’( AND unfortunately for me I was headed to the desert for Burning Man that weekend and wouldn’t have any service for a week. So my doc scheduled me an appointment for 9/5, nearly three and a half weeks after my first symptoms!! Ahhhh!!! It sucked so bad not knowing (layer STD uncertainty with being on *some* drugs in the desert elements using only port-a-potties, so intense!). Fortunately, my symptoms finally went away the Saturday I left, 15 days after the first sign of the yeastie (thankmfggggoodddd because biking in the desert wouldn’t have been possible!).
Finally the time came for me to see my doctor again and he let me know all my results were negative, no herpes, no clap, no warts, no HPV, no bacterial vaginitis/osis, no insane bacteria infection or random unidentified virus, just the WORST FUCKEN yeast infection the world has ever seen mimicking all of the symptoms of herpes and other illnesses!!! f**k.
So, if you’ve reading this far, you’re probably experiencing the same fear and anxiety that I had about having some ridiculously disease or permanent condition, I had neither. My doctor was so sure it was herpes and it wasn’t. There’s hope, your doctor could be wrong, because the body does weird sh*t sometimes. Get a blood test ASAP!!! I know I’ll be using condoms from now on until I’m married!
Iv been sleeping with the same guy for coming up to a year have always used condoms we arnt together more of a friends with benefits situation suits us just fine we both haven't slept with anyone else in the past year .. anyway iv noticed a few times after sex my vagina is sometimes abit raw and itchy and I sometimes have a discharge with the consistency of wet toilet paper? Iv never had it checked and it's never bothered me anyway last week after sex I felt the same and I stupidly read online that putting some moisturiser down there will help ... well I thought someone had poured boiling water down there iv never been in so much pain rushed to the bathroom got cold water and washed it off was quite sore of course anyway That was Saturday .. on Sunday night I was still uncomfortable so checked it out with a mirror and came face to face with an open sore was just red raw no discharge or anything it was on the inside of my lips ( not good with technical terms) I panicked then yesterday(Monday I checked again) and I had more red sores on the opening of my vagina and almost like a cut on the side of my clit it kills to pee I can sit ect it only hurts if my underwear touches a sore I got a docs appointment today and she said oh it's herpes!! She's taken a swap and taken one for any stis but I did have one 6months ago that was clear but didn't check for herpes she's give me some tablets and said it also could be thrush but she's convinced it herpes ... I'm now totally freaked out and iv got to wait for my results she didn't say how Long to wait ... I suffer from utis a lot and had one in July that I had antibiotics for but I lost the last two so never completed the course and tbh I silly me didn't even bother with it I will update everyone with my results when I get them
However, she did put me on a 10 day Valtrex , a tube of lidocaine, and suggested Equaphor or A&D over it.
I went thru hell a whole first week and let me you ladies.
I carried these items in my purse :
Lidocaine, A&D, a damp washcloth in a ziplock bag, a bottle of warm water with a few drops of tea tree oil.
Using the bathroom became my nightmare! I would squat, push it out as fast as I could and cover the bottom part of my vagina (since it was literally raw) with the wet washcloth to avoid urine from hitting it. The wet washcloth saved my life because it would absorb urine quickly. Then I would pour some of the water on me. Add lidocaine and A&D and feel a lot better. Of course it still stung a little But did not compare to using toilet paper or having urine hit your sores. I rinsed the washcloth with hot water and put it away again.
I'm waiting on my results this week. I'm still leaning towards it being a yeast infection because of all the discharge and he texture of it . Hoping for the best and praying !
Hi all, so i just wanted to give an update on my previous post. After my swab came back negative i had my boyfriend get tested as well but since he had no symptoms (never has) they could only do a blood test which came back negative for herpes. As i stated in my previous post i still plan on getting a blood test as well just to be extra sure. But the point of this update is that I think i finally figured out what my issue was. Last week my bf & i had a few rounds of vigorous sex. (Round 2 did hurt but i kept going like an id**t on to round 3 lol) By the end of the day i was very sore but figured it was normal sex pain. By the next day i was in more pain so took a mirror to check & once again on inner lips (both sides this time) i saw a sore. Or better description looked like skin had been rubbed raw. I did my research & most likely culprit is i wasnt lubricated enough as this is the 2nd time this happened & both were after a few rounds of "marathon sex". Honestly i started to even wonder if i was alergic to his sperm cuz in my case it almost looked like id been burned with acid! So it took about a week to heal thanks i think in most part to coconut oil which is a miracle oil! I saw my gyno today & she also thinks not being lubricated enough was my issues & def not herpes. Since healing we have since had sex & ive made sure to put some coconut oil down there before & after & so far no more "sores". So while this may not be the culprit for some for me my "legions" which made me rush out to get tested for herpes was actually just my delicate vaginal skin torn from lack of lube during sex. But i still recommend anyone who sees anything should be tested just in case!