I posted about this a few weeks ago but did it on 30 days Only (stupid me) now it’s disappeared. I can promise you I’m not a troll. I have name changed.
Please help me. I am 39 and if this could be in any way relevant I had a Mirena inserted in August last year. That has been life changing, I had a few days of spotting and no periods since and no other side-effects to my knowledge. Around that time - and I can’t remember if it was before or after - I started getting a sore vulva. It comes and goes. I think it stops when I would usually have got my period.
Symptoms are a burning soreness, sometimes a bit itchy, but not really just more irritated. Sometimes it gets very sore and goes red, sometimes it’s just one side where the skin is quite delicate I think from where it was injured when I gave birth. Otherwise there is nothing else to see down there. It tends to get irritated by sex. Sometimes I get a burning pain when I pee, but that doesn’t happen very often.
I went to the GP and she said the skin looked a bit sore and split, took swabs for herpes which were negative, told me I needed to look after the skin. I then used aqueous cream, I don’t use any products on my vulva except water, I’m using sensitive washing powder now, cotton knickers, going commando as much as possible (overnight etc). I even switched to more soft toilet paper to no avail. I’ve never had sensitivity problems before.
My GP initially gave me steroid cream, that didn’t really do anything, I went back and she gave me oestrogen cream but told me she thought it was highly unlikely that that would work. I tried it for a few days but also used canaesten cream - I do think things got better but not sure if was just my “period”. But then I thought it was the thrush cream - this is because she did the initial swabs for herpes but also, the other one for thrush which subsequently showed a light covering of thrush (for some reason this didn’t come back at the same time). I then decided it must be a recurrent thrush infection after reading some of the threads on mumsnet, even though I didn’t really have discharge and it didn’t seem like thrush from when I’ve had it before. I’m currently taking the oral and pessary treatment, but if anything it’s become worse. I’m sore in the morning from the thrush cream irritating it overnight.
GP thinks I’m way too young for it to be menopause related etc. I don’t know whether I should be getting back on the oestrogen cream or what.
The only other thing I can think that’s possibly relevant is my DH has had itchy testicles which gp said was jock itch. He also had an itchy bum at one point and gp gave us all a worm tablet, no change. Sorry I realise it’s grim but at this point I’ll talk about anything if it stops it. We also don’t have sex a great deal - we might if I wasn’t so bloody sore.
It’s not an STI from a third party - I know some people will jump to that conclusion but I promise it’s not.
I am at the end of my tether and really just need MN wisdom on what this could possibly be? I feel like I’m bugging my gp and I live overseas where I have to pay each time I go. Please help MN.