Can a yeast culture be wrong? Please help!

I am a 22 year female. I don't have diabetes or HIV, or any other health conditions. Since the beginning of March, I had what I believe to be recurrent yeast infections, or one infection that has never gone away completely. I have tried Monistat, Diflucan, Teronazole, as well as Boric Acid. All of these seemed to be a temporary fix, the itching and burning came right back. My symptoms got a little better while I was taking Probiotic supplements, but not completely. I do take oral contraceptives, but I have for several years without problems before this. Last time when my doctor did the yeast culture, it came back negative! He said it could be some sort of skin irritation, and gave me a cream. But my symptoms really feel like the day before I would get a yeast infection, but it's not getting to the point where I'm itching everywhere and can't stand still. I currently have a burning feeling inside my vagina, with just "jolts" of itchiness that only last a few seconds at a time. I don't have any discharge, but if I reach up my vagina with my finger, around my cervix is a thick, clumpy, white discharge. Like watered-down cottage cheese. I can't have sex with my boyfriend due to the discomfort. Can the culture be wrong? Could it still be a yeast infection? And if not, what could be my problem? Could vulvodynia give me these symptoms? I'm desperate for answers!

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
It sounds like you have a good doctor--a yeast culture is exactly what I would suggest at this point.  Unfortunately, it wasn't very helpful!  Some womens immune systems have difficulty controlling yeast. It sounds to me like you should continue with your probiotics as well as any other source of "good" bacteria such as yogurt.  You may need to take Difflucan periodically, and I don't recommend using anything topical except for an anti-inflammatory agent such as Clobetasole.  Topical agents can cause dermatitis which is a skin irritation that feels as bad or worse than the yeast infection itself.
You may need to stop your oral contraceptives.  Long term use can change the characteristics of the vaginal tissues because the estrogen in the pills is different from your natural hormones.  If you do stop, it will take awhile to reverse the effects--6 months or so.  Another way to do this might be a trial of vaginal estradiol, although I would be concerned about dermatitis with that too.
One hint I got from an expert was to use Crisco on the vulva for relief of symptoms.  It sounds crazy, but it really helps!
I hope some of this information is useful!
Good luck!
Dr B