Frequent bacterial infection

[Aimblue]

I have had bacterial infections for about a year now. Im not pregnant. Im only 20 so def. not menopausal. I have had about 4 this year and everytime i go back to the doctor i get the same medicine which leads to a yeast infection which i cure with monistat to only get a bacterial infection and the cycle continues. This time my doctor prescribed me a pill to take for the yeast infection i got after the antibiotics. I feel like its a vicious cycle and Im really concerned what do you think is causing this?

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
Unfortunately, I hear from many women who have similar cycle.  Often the symptoms worsen before the menstrual period.  If you were my patient, I would perform a wetmount and cultures to see if we could determine what the organism is that is causing the symptoms.  I would then use an appropriate antibiotic followed by diflucan ( the pill for the yeast infection).

One thing to do to try to break the cycle is to re-establish the "good" bacteria in that area--lactobacillus.  This can be done by taking pro-biotics or yogurt with live bacterial cultures.  The "good" bacteria compete with the "bad" bacteria and yeast to keep them under control.

I hope this helps!

Dr B

[Aimblue]

I know I have not changed partners either and Im really about to pull my hair out. I have been to the gyno 5 times in the past two months. Im thinking that you should make an appointment with a gyno. instead of the clinic because one time the clinic told my sister she had herpes and she found out months later that it was just hpv genital warts that are curable.

[Iceflower]

I have been having a scarily similar problem. My boyfriend and I have been dating nearly two years and we have been having problems since week two. When the problem first arose we were concerned about STD’s. After doing some research and based on the way I felt "down there" we came to the conclusion that I had a yeast infection. I had only had two yeast infections before. One when I was about fourteen, assumably from antibiotics I was taking at the time. The only other incident previous to the problem I am having now occurred after I had sex for the first time at age seventeen. I douched earlier that day in preparation. I know douching is bad but I was worried about smell and since I had never douched before and had no real plans to do it again, I figured it be okay just once. Both times I used the seven day home treatment and everything felt fine afterward. The incident with my current boyfriend caused him some irritation around the head of his penis (he experienced red tiny bumps, pain and flaking). So we made a trip to good ole Wally-World for two boxes of the seven day treatment kit. All of his symptoms went away and mine . . . lessened. We continued to have sex for the next couple weeks with me experiencing some slight pain and discomfort (since my boyfriend is well endowed I didn't think much of it) and then the problem came back. We followed this pattern for several months when I finally decided to go ask for help at the local free clinic. They ran some test and told me I had a bacterial infection and prescribed me antibiotics. I did the seven day regimen exactly as instructed and even waited three extra days before we decided to try intercourse, only to experience pain and discomfort during intercourse on my part and more red bumps and pain on his. So I went back to the clinic. I talked to a different woman this time who asked me about my boyfriend and after speaking to us both prescribed us both for a round of antibiotics. Apparently we were passing it back and forth. Unfortunately the antibiotics made me extremely sick and while I managed to suffer through the first round I only made it to day four of the second round. I was throwing up so much my boyfriend made me stop. He completed the seven days and we went back to the clinic. I explained everything to the woman and she said that I should be fine. She tested me and I was clear of the infection but after an exam she told me I had some yeast build-up that was probably caused by my period since it had just ended. So we bought another seven day treatment box and about eleven days later tried having sex. And it was great! No discomfort, no pain. That lasted for about a month until my period came again. We waited a couple days after my period and tried sex again expecting everything to be breezy. It wasn't. We talked about it and decided that since I had yeast build-up after my last period then maybe that was the problem again. Another trip to Wally-World and seven days later- still no go. That was about two months ago. The pain is currently the worst it has ever been for me. At this point I’m not sure what to do. My boyfriend and I have quit having sex entirely. I was told that bacterial infection can be caused by changing partners. I haven’t had a change of partners in a year and eight months. Also there are the tiny bumps in a specific crevice of my vagina. I pointed this out to the woman at the clinic and she said that she hadn’t notice anything out of place and that the bumps were probably a natural part of the interior of my vagina. Except I’ve never noticed them in all my life before this whole mess occurred and during sex that area feels the most sensitive ( in a unpleasant way) and hurts the worst post-sex. I also experience pain while urinating

[Aimblue]

Thanks for the response. That's exactly what my doctor did. The only problem is it seems like that diflucan may have made the yeast infection not as bad but its still there. I'm still really itchy and uncomfortable and I still have some discharge. It also kinda looks like the bacterial infection is back but this keeps happening and I think my doctor is confused to :(

[Aimblue]

Thanks for the response. That's exactly what my doctor did. The only problem is it seems like that diflucan may have made the yeast infection not as bad but its still there. I'm still really itchy and uncomfortable and I still have some discharge. It also kinda looks like the bacterial infection is back but this keeps happening and I think my doctor is confused to :(

[Iceflower]

Yeah well, I realize you get what you pay for so maybe the 'free clinic' isn't the best idea, lol. I'm just a broke college kid with no med insurance :)