Help with yeast/bv/herpes as docs are confusing me!

[DiDiva]

Hey girls, can anyone help.  Long story short, I am trying to get a diagnosis for herpes but the docs keep giving me different info about yeast and bv infections.  Can anyone help with a few questions?

1  Can a yeast infection cause internal vaginal pain and swelling and redness?
2  Can a yeast infection cause itchy outer vaginal lips that bleed a little when scratched?
3  Can either yeast or bv cause a general hot blotchy rash that comes and goes in a day?
4  Can either cause open cuts in and around the vaginal?
5  Can a yeast infection cause swollen lymph nodes in the groin?

Thanks a lot if you can help.  These aren't all my symptoms but the ones linked to queries over yeast/bv.  Thanks.  I'm so sick of being sick :(  Been 7 months now of recurring symptoms after a one night stand with someone who was 'clean'.  Sigh.

[Dr Prasad, MBBS]

Hi,
thanks for query.
You seems to very much concerned and disturbed with your problem. Any infection in genital area can lead to enlarged lymph nodes in groin. In your case the other infection like fungal must have occur over yeast infection. When ever there is recurrent itch the area becomes sensitive enough so that it bleeds when touched. The best option for you is go for swab examination of discharge from vagina and get a final diagnosis. Maintain good hygiene and take proper rest. Avoid unprotected sex.

Wishing you good health.

[DiDiva]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to reply.

[chrisk833]

I hope this helps, but I have had a fungal infection that has had most of those symptoms, everything but (#3 and 5).  I definitely had little open cuts that did not come from scratching and I FREAKED out.  I went to the doctor about 4 times during this 6 month period (some days were bad some were okay, but it never fully went away during that time) and she gave me a bunch of different yeast infection cream and finally took a biopsy of the skin with the infection.  It came back that I had a fungal infection that isn’t normally seen in the vaginal region and she gave me a pill (it’s a yeast infection pill that’s one dose but she ended up giving me 3 doses to take a week apart just to be sure).  It finally went away, however, I have had a couple other yeast infections sense but never that bad and there has also been cuts with those.  If it doesn’t go away you can ask for a skin biopsy (which is painful) but at least they might be able to get some definitive proof!

[DiDiva]

Wow thanks for that.  This is a little bit of good news, if ya know what I mean.  Perhaps it is just a rare type of yeast infection.  but I'm not so sure.  at the first onset of stuff I got so ill, shivers, chills, sweats, burning up, EXTREME pain inside the pelvis with MASSIVE internal and external itching and burning and LOTS of thin discharge.  I've had yeast in the past and was just itchy with lumpy discharge so I didn't think it was it.  Cause of the very sore groin nodes and fever etc i was convinced it was herpes.  No way a yeast infection could cause all that.  But who knows.  All stds came back negative so nowhere really to go now.  Think i'll just keep treating it as yeast until i get seen again.  They can cuts as many chunks off me as they need to,to tell me what the heck is going on.  I really don't care now.  Been 7 months of misery and so much pain, so a biopsy isn't even a concern tbh.  Thanks a lot for posting.  It really really means a lot.  Glad you finally got it sorted.  Do you know what caused this infection in you?  And what was the name of the tablet you took.  Ta.

[chrisk833]

I'm glad I can be somewhat helpful.  I'm not sure about feeling extremely sick when this all started, but I know I thought I had something else to begin with too and I actually made myself feel sick worrying about it so much (I guess that’s the power of thought).  I was achy all over and nauseous.  At times the fungal infection wasn’t itchy, it was almost like my vagina ached (like I got kicked or something) so it wasn’t the typical yeast infection symptoms.  And then it would hurt/itch internally too.  I didn’t have much discharge with mine, but I think that can depend on the person, but the discharge I had was thin rather than the typical lumpy thick discharge.  I’m not sure exactly the name of the fungal infection I had but the medication they gave me was Fluconazole (150mg tablet), again even though it was a one dose tablet my doctor prescribed 3 to take a week apart).  I too was worried about herpes (especially with the little painful cuts and the fact that my ex cheated on me) and my doctor told me that sometimes it takes up to six months for herpes antibodies to be high enough to test in your blood, but if you have a test after that and it comes back negative you should believe that it’s not herpes.  I was super miserable too, it was CONSTANTLY on my mind but after the biopsy and them giving me the medication I was like a new person.  Also many prescription and over the counter yeast infection creams did hardly anything for me (the symptoms sometimes went away for a week or so, sometimes not) so if you don’t get results from over the counter stuff don’t be worried.  Hopefully you get some answers soon!

[DiDiva]

I honestly can't thank you enough.  I am going mad here and it is giving me light at the end of the tunnel to hear that someone else has been through this with a yeast infection and not herpes.  I have been given creams and internal tablets, but once i was given an oral tablet too.  Maybe I've got what you had - a really bad strange yeast thing that I caught fro this guy and I just need loads of oral tablets to take rather than just one. However I've read you can't catch a yeast infection from a guy's penis.  Plus I have had oral problems too that don't seem like yeast (sore raw patches on lips that take ages to heal and swollen inside lips and a burn feeling sometimes. I did get a shallow blister too at the start but it didn't burst, just kinda dried up and went away, but that's another reason I thought herpes - but my blood test after 4 months was negative - still finding it hard to believe but you're giving me hope!)

What type of internal pain did you get, cause this is the thing that is causing me most trouble.  I feel a huge swelling feeling inside and like my cervix is sore and all the way up and down and across the pelvic area.  The whole thing is very uncomfotable.  Sometimes I go 2-3 days with not much pain or little bursts of achiness during the day but then it all comes back and i'm in agony for days and can barely walk, with sore groin too.  The cuts can be really long and deep (one time one was like 2 inches long which has left a rasied white scar!) and hurt badly when touched or pee hits them, but it's this internal pain and swelling feeling that's driving me mad.  It's kinda like a baring down feeling too at times.  

Anyway,I'm rambling, sorry, just excited to hear someone else out there having the same thing - I've searched for AGES for answers. Thanks again for sharing your story.  When I finally find out what's happening to me I'll post an ending to all my threads on the boards cause maybe it might help someone else in the future.  Hopefully you'll find the time to post again to let me know about your internal pain etc?  Ta.

[DiDiva]

chrisk833, sorry I just HAD to post again.  Seriously, I have re-read your posts about 20 times in the last 24 hours!  You have NO IDEA how much you have helped me.  THANK YOU. Look forward to hearing from you again soon hopefully.  You have really given me hope. I seriously didn't think (and neither did doctors) that these symptoms could be just from yeast/fungus.  Kept being told that it wouldn't cause internal symptoms or pain.  I have hope now that this can be cured and I can get back to normal.....

[chrisk833]

I’m glad I have helped; I know how much I freaked out too!  Although I have to say that the internal pain wasn’t nearly as bad as you feel, it was more like a dull ache around my cervix and the surrounding area that extended to the skin but it didn’t feel that unbearable.  I def didn’t have trouble walking and it was more like I felt like I was bruised inside (if that makes sense) but when I touched the area (like you would push on a bruise) it didn’t hurt at all from pressure.  The cuts I got were also much smaller (about 3 cm and not deep at all- they did sting when I peed and touched them) and I never had any sort of oral problems.  After the really horrible yeast infection that lasted 6 months I did get another one right after hooking up with a guy (we never had sex but there was contact) and I had more cuts with that one too.    The symptoms started about 2 days after hooking up with him, but once the doctor told me it was another yeast infection (and gave me another 3 dose treatment) I never thought that it was associated with him.  I too thought it was herpes because it was right after I hooked up with a guy.  It doesn’t sound like my symptoms were as bad as mine, but they are definitely very similar so there is hope!  I hope you get this figured out soon, I know how terrible it can be.

[DiDiva]

Thanks.  I am glad there is someone who understands the 'freaking out' and the not knowing, with having these symptoms - they aren't clear cut for anything obvious. I hope you don't mind if I stay in touch with you about this for a little bit while I figure it out?  There doesn't seem to be anyone else out there been through this!!!!!

Because of all the symptoms and it happening about 10 days after a new guy, I was sure it was herpes. Were you convinced you had herpes too?  Did you ever get tested for herpes? To be honest when the stinging and burning skin on my buttocks start up again before I get spots or getting the internal pain and swelling - I still think it's herpes but the blood test is telling me different. Maybe I have just started getting folliculitis at the same time as a yeast infection causing internal swelling?! Sigh.  My first symptoms were the internal pain and discharge then the swelling and itching etc. However, I do know that cuts, general itching and discharge are more common with yeast, so I'm crossing my fingers this is just a stubborn yeast infection that won't shift.  Who knows, it may not be either!  

Just want to be normal again.  It is consuming my life. It is getting in the way of everything, and I mean everything.  I think about it constantly, mainly cause I have constant symptoms, I am not focussed enough at work at all, I have stopped interacting with people cause I just feel so miserable and different in my body now, and then at night I can't sleep and when i do i dream about it. Then I worry about never finding out what this is and passing it on in future.  i'd do anything to turn the time back and avoid this happening.  People shouldn't get this sick from a short encounter from someone who has no stds?!?!?!?!?  BIG lesson learnt.  Sorry for rambling, suppose I just felt you'd understand my 'offload'. Moan over.  Thanks again for your info on this.  I hope I find the answer soon.  When did you relax about it not being an std?  And if you got a clean slate from std testing, then what did you think it was?  Did you think it could be just yeast? Do you ever get bv too with a yeast infection?  Sorry....my mind is racing.......I'll stop....

[DiDiva]

OMG!!!! I just read one of your other posts about growths in the vaginal opening.  I was going to ask you if you'd ever had anything like that from the 'yeast infection' you got, cause I have.  When you mentioned biopsy in your above post I was going to tell you about mine but didn't want to mention yet another symptom and complicate things and bombard you with hundreds of questions hee hee, that at the time I didn't think was relevant.

But do you think your growths could be related to your yeast infection? How long ago was your yeast infection if you're getting bumps now.  I wonder if they are similar to what I'll describe? I developed fleshy bumps and long growths in the vagina opening and urethra as well as little hard bumps inside the vagina and under my tongue from this encounter. They definately aren't warts or molluscum.  They don't look like that at all.  When I first noticed I showed my doc and said it was just normal hymen tissue that had grown a bit or changed shape so thought nothing of it. At routine dentist they said it was normal variations and not cancer or anything so not to worry.  But then I got more so went back to doc just to be sure on a second opinion (probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for all the other stuff going on, so thought it might be a clue to what the heck this infection was that I'd caught!) To check for me, they did a biopsy of one of the vaginal entrance growths and I just got it back yesterday (wishing now I'd got a biopsy done on one of the cuts when they were present too from what you've said!).  Showed a fibroepithelial polyp.  It is a benign tumour that occurs for no reason.  Well, I don't believe that for a second ha ha. EVERYTHING happens for a reason - action and consequence, it's the way of the world. They have appeared due to whatever this infection is.  Maybe it is just from the swelling and irritation or something.  Maybe you should ask for a little biopsy just to make sure. You've already had one so you know what to expect.  I'm the kinda person who'd rather have all the tests going to make sure everything is ok rather than just taking someone's word for it and hoping it's alright. Seen too many people's health be destroyed by doing that with more serious stuff.  Just how I work, like to remove all doubt hee hee :(  

[chrisk833]

hey, I just read your posts and wanted to let you know that I'm out of town till next week but I promise to post more when I get back, I want to put together some type of timeline because I think I mixed up when I had some symptoms.  Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I hadn’t abandoned the forum!

[DiDiva]

Thank you so much.  Speak soon.