Herpes or yeast infection?..First time poster

[ABC7777]

I have been very worried and hesitant to post this, but here it goes, I apologize if it's long..

  Back in October I fooled around with a guy I was seeing at the time.  I asked him about stds and he had been tested, but I know now this probably did not include herpes.  We had fooled around a few times before this. We never had sex but we did oral both ways.  Well this time we both did oral on eachother and he fingered me (pretty rough), with a little genital-to-genital touching with no penetration.  That night I was little itchy and irritated down there, everything seemed ok though.  Fast forward to the following night, I was much more itchy.  The next day I woke up and had a lot of cottage-cheese looking discharge. I have never had a vaginal infection or been to the gyno, I now know that I should have gotten checked out for this.

  Anyway I thought it was a yeast infection.  The same day that my partner had gone down on me, I cut myself pretty bad shaving down there.  I read that damage to the membranes down there can cause a yeast infection, so I didn't worry too much.

  Within the next week or 2 I had one small cut in my vaginal fold.  And not too long after that, my vulva (only on the pubic hair area)  became flaky with some red bumps, which from what I've read, these things can be related to yeast.  This went away in a few days.

  Well, I never treated the infection. Since then I have had the occasional cut in my vaginal folds, maybe 3 times or so since then, but not within the past couple months. When this happened there was never more than one at a time.  They never hurt much and always healed within a couple days. I also have occasional ulcerations that I do not know the cause of (i.e. little abrasions on vaginal lips, by the clit..looks raw like the skin has been rubbed off. These also seem to heal pretty quickly.  

  To this day when I still sometimes have discharge that looks cottage-cheese like, usually mid-cycle.

  Since all of this, I sometimes also seem more irritated after sex (with current bf) than I used to before this incident.  

  Could I STILL have this "yeast infection" from October if I never treated it? Even if there is no itching?  I haven't had much itching since the inital yeast infection, in fact most of the itching seemed to subside within that first week.  Does this sound more like herpes or a yeast infection?  Can an untreated yeast infection last this long? Anyone with a similar experiece?  I know I should have already seen a doctor but it's easy to put off when you have no insurance.  ANY help would be greatly appreciated!

  

  

[gracefromHHP]

Go to planned parenthood or a public health clinic if you don't have insurance. They charge on a sliding scale so it will be cheaper than a visit to a private gyn.  You need to have a wet mount done for yeast and bacteria to see if either is an issue.  Some will offer the herpes type specific igg blood tests but not all do so you'l have to ask.  

the longer you don't treat vaginitis the more you are at risk of having the skin in your genital area become thin and then it breaks more easily.  Walking around with this for this long is just adding to your problems. Just go be seen and find out what is going on.

grace

[ABC7777]

Thank you so much Grace.  Yes I already have an appointment at planned parenthood, it's not for a whole month though! Ahh, waiting another month is going to be torture, I already feel stupid for not doing something sooner. In the meantime, what does this sound like to you?  I do not expect to get an internet diagnoses, but I have read a lot of your posts and you seem to have a lot of knowledge on both herpes and yeast.  Anyone else have any input?  I would appreciate it.

[md1733]

It sounds like we are in a very similar situation. I have been suffering from vaginal redness, burning, and discomfort for a few months now. I also get a tear right above my outer labia in my pubic hair region. There is only one and it appears in the same location each time. It occurs quite frequently now. It appeared, healed, and reappeared all in a matter of one week. I have been tested for herpes and STDs, and I had a wet mount done to check for yeast. Thus far, all have come back negative. The doctors that I have seen say that my symptoms are not like those of herpes, but I am still very worried. When I go for my next doctor visit, I am going to be retested for herpes and request both a bacteria culture and a blood sugar test.

From the various threads I have read, our symptoms could possibly be herpes, yeast, BV, or vulvodynia. I too wish I had more answers.

Hopefully we will both find some relief from all of this soon! At least it is comforting knowing that we are not alone!

[ABC7777]

Thanks so much for responding, I'm glad I'm not alone in this.  Sounds like you have already ruled a few things out.  If the other tests that you're about to take turn out negative, you might want to have them test for lichen sclerosis.  You might not even have anything as serious as this, and I am no doctor by any means, but I just know it's another condition that can cause redness and tearing. From what I have read it seems to be pretty rare though. I am no expert, just trying to help you possibly rule something else out.  :)  Let me know how everything turns out for you.

[ABC7777]

I also forgot to add that I've read that many women with yeast do not show up positive on yeast cultures, another thing to keep in mind.  Hang in there!

[md1733]

A couple of other possibilities that I forgot to mention - Staph or strep B infection can also cause symptoms similar to yeast infections...

I will definitely keep you posted. I'm going to be talking to my doctor in the next couple of days to set up appointments, so I will let you know if she suggests anything new....