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Ongoing vaginal wetness and leaky feeling 2 months after unprotected sex
by forumgirl7, Dec 17, 2006 12:00AM
I am in my 40's and not on birth control. My periods are very regular, so I abstain during my ovulation times. I had unprotected sex with someone I know very well 3 months ago. Before then, it had been nearly 3 years that I had any sexual relations with anyone, due to my choosing. Immediately after having this unprotected sex, and since then, I have had this vaginal wetness and feeling like fluid is leaking out of my vagina. It feels like I'm ovulating every day, or like the semen feels coming out of you just after sex! It is clear and has my usual odor, and not a lot comes out on my panties. I have been to 2 doctors, including my gynecologist, which did a pelvic exam, pap smear, cotton swab, std cultures (at my request), urinalysis, etc, but he says that everything came out negative. I know my body and I know something isn't right!! I haven't had intercourse since that time. I need to know if anyone else has experienced these same symptoms, and what was your diagnosis? Could this possibly be hormonal? This is a very uncomfortable feeling and I want to get it taken care of. Thanks so much for listening and for any input!!
Is it possible you are just getting aroused?
Its been a while since you've been sexually active. Your mind can do some crazy things to your body (even unconsciously). Your paps and exams all came back normal. You arent pregnant. We can rule all that out.
And well the process of arousal takes a few seconds in young women and up to several minutes in older women.
You may be having fleeting thoughts or memories and than a long time later you notice you have wetness?
Just a thought...
I am thinking that this might be a hormonal situation.
I had the same problem when I hit about 45. I was sent to a urologist (by my ob/gyn) and after a series of tests the doctor said he could not find any problems. But, I continued to "leak." It was not enough that I needed to use any protection but was bothersome none-the-less.
Two years later, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer after an exploratory surgery (and bothersome cyst was removed...malignant cells were found). In no way am I suggesting a connection between a leaky problem and ovarian cancer, but I am just letting you know how it was that I figured out the problem since I was the one who had to figure it out...
I was sent to another urologist before we scheduled my hysterectomy (and ovary removal)...to see if a urologist would need to be on hand to do surgery on the ureter, since I was still having the leaking problem. But, again, nothing wrong was found. I had the surgery, the hysterectomy (no further cancer found, so no chemo) and the next day, my oncologist started me on bioidentical estrogen (I luckily found out about the crucial need for bioidentical progesterone nine months later and my quality of life improved dramatically). I noticed that after I was on a steady stream of the estrogen that my symptoms of leaking bladder cleared up.
Upon further study, I discovered that testosterone (which I started using about four months after the estrogen) can also be beneficial to help tone the muscles in that area. I obviously was having atrophy to that region once I hit perimenopause. But, none of the doctors ever mentioned the possibility of a hormonal connection...
I was fine for about 5 years with my routine use of bio estrogen, bio progesterone, and testosterone. I have occasionally used estriol or estrace in the vaginal region and that has helped immensely to stop the leaking that occasionally surfaced again and to decrease general dryness ( I know that sounds confusing, as in, how can there be leaking, thus wetness, and dryness at the same time). Both are bioidentical estrogens and also seem to treat the problem locally without adding more hormones to the system in general.
Lately, I have been having to adjust the dose of my progesterone since too low of a dose can be implicated with problems with the soft tissues (muscles/joint pain, pain in the legs from the soft tissues, and bladder problems). But, again, I have no ovaries to help me out with the production of these hormones.
Try to get hold of a few books that I wish I'd had when I was your age. Actually, I did have "Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom" by Christianne Nothrup and due to what I learned in that book, I was very proactive when my first bad pap smear came back...I had surgery for severe cervical dysplasia not related to HPV virus. I would not have known much without that book. And, I was able to ask for what I thought I needed due to the info I learned. THANK GOODNESS.
The main books I am thinking of are "The Wisdom of Menopause" by Northrup, and anything by Dr. Erika Schwartz,MD, and also work by Uzzi Reiss, MD to learn about the impact our hormones have on our body and what to do when the hormonal levels fluctuate and/or decrease.
When you are in perimenopause, which can start as early as in the mid 30's, you occasionally do not ovulate, and so you do not produce proesterone...and, unless you have had many, many children (an nursed them) over the years to help the body build up these critical hormones (and these days, this is just not happening), you are going to have hormonal problems. This is the first generation where so many hormonal problems are coming to the forefront...
Best of luck. Knowledge is power, as I am sure you know...good to ask questions and learn all that you can. This whole area can be rather confusing.
I just posted on the Ovarian Cancer site (recent post from Mary 53 that you might want to check...it has to do with the recent report on breast cancer/hormones....)
Take care, Mary
I hear you on the timing of this and all...and, I was thinking...what are the chances that this symptom of perimenopause could start the day after the, well, hopefully fun night :) Who knows?
Sounds like you are very proactive regarding your health, though...good for you.
Just another thought, too, hormonal imbalances can set off yeast and other infections...hmmm...maybe the night of passion for the first time in three years, as you stated, set off an imbalance. Hmm...just wondering.... (although, actual atrophy of this area would take some time)...The balance of hormones is soooo delicate. Pick up the books anyway, I think you would enjoy reading them. Believe it or not, I use them for my bedtime reading, and I am not considered "geeky" in anyway :)
Take care and thank you for the response,
Mary
JULIE