Yeast infection that will not go away

Yes I have had a yeast infection for more than a year. I have taked many antibiotics from the doctor and have tried natural meds to over the counter. that does not seem to help. I dont have sex at all. my skin around my vagina is very itchy and irrated that it bleeds on the outside. I have tried baby diaper cream with zinc and no perfume of any sort on me. I dont understand why this is goin on. please help me.

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
If you were my patient, I would ask you to come in for some testing.  The first thing to do is to determine if this is truly yeast.  I would want to do a wet mount and possibly a culture of the yeast.  If it is NOT yeast, a skin biopsy might be helpful.
If it is yeast, the culture might help decide how to treat it.  I tend to like to use oral anti-fungals such as Diflucan.  I AVOID topical products that can cause dermatitis.  In your case though, a strong topical steroid might be helpful -- something like Clobetasol.
I would also want to test for diabetes and HIV as contributors to chronic yeast.
I think you'd better go in for a check up!
Good luck!
Dr B