Please help - awkward fanjo ishoo :(

[OhMyLadyGarden]

I posted this thread a while ago. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/1768509-Very-sensitive-issue-please-help The saga continues..........

Brief history: virgin who is on immunosuppressant medication and has a history of redness and sores down there. It flares up and down. I'm very embarrassed by the whole thing tbh, all the drs in my surgery have seen my bits!

I saw a dermatologist who said it was either eczema or an allergy but he was leaning towards the latter and told me to not use soap, only dermol. Unfortunately, despite a speedy(private) referral, the bloody 'thing' can cleared up and there was nothing to see! So, the eczema or allergy diagnosis was just - in his words - an educated guess. However, as I said, the world and it's wife has seen my fanjo and they all agreed something was wrong.

For the last few weeks, I have been symptom free but this morning, I woke up and it's bloody back! My vulva is red, swollen and sore and my stomach is tender. It appears there is a red sore right inside but it also kind of looks like a cut?? I'm due an internal ultrasound because I've been having random periods and they want to rule out anything like a polyp. I'm wondering if this is all connected? It's painful, sore and I'm miserable - this heat is not helping matters either.

Any ideas?!

look up lichen sclerosis, it could be that. I can completely empathise with you, not knowing what's causing discomfort is so frustrating!

Can i ask how old you are? as some of those symptoms are seen during peri-menopause.

Fox The derm was adamant that it was not really anything but there wasn't anything to see.

NK I'm only 25 so hopefully it's nothing like the menopause.

but if there is redness and sores then clearly there is something to see, albeit intermittently?

please do look up lichen sclerosis. it's a vulval skin disorder which can come and go, and it can be treated. it is relatively rare so very often misdiagnosed.

Fox I did google it but mine doesn't look quite like that. But thank you for the replies.

GP had a good look today. He diagnosed thrush and a fissure and took another swab. A different GP was insistent it is thrush, took a swab and it came back negative, so I'm not convinced. He said it looks inflamed, swollen and sore but apart from the fissure, did not see any lesions or anything else. I have a stronger steroid cream, so I'll give that a whirl.

I do wonder if these issues are just related to being immunosuppressed???

Embarrassing Bodies will sort you out, they seem to be able to diagnose some obscure stuff.

well that's one thing you can rule out then I hope you are able to get some help, long term fanjo issues really are the pits one of the (many) GPs that had a look at my bits said "sometimes it's just down to how women are designed down there" so helpful!

I saw someone mentioned systemic thrush on the other thread - did you look into this? fungus like candida can cause all sorts of problems, and may not show up on your swabs, depending what is tested for. even if it's not directly thrushy in that area, if its in your digestive tract it can cause irritation and soreness on exit.

I hope it improves and you feel better. which steroid are you using? pure emu oil and a wonderful cream called Palladin are helpful on inflamed vulval skin. and do continue to use dermol instead of soap, and ask your GP to prescribe hydromol emolient.

just wanted to add, candida is a known issue for those who are immuno-suppressed. so it is definitely worth checking out.

would you say you eat a high sugar or high carb diet? If there's any chance it is thrush, it could be exacerbated by diet.

I supplement with caprylic acid capsules and oral garlic pills at first sign of bad thrush. Got some other supplements too but those 2 are my go - to treatments of choice.

also baths with tea tree oil added.

I had something very similar after child birth. It lasted about six months and I still get it occasionally over a year on at different points in my cycle.

I was red, swollen and developed lots of small cuts which really hurt. Walking and sitting we're painful. Any sort of bath products, tee tree oil, etc made it far worse. It was miserable.

GP initially treated me for thrush but it didn't clear up, swabs were neg. she told me to give it time and allow my immune system to kick in again, which it did and it went.

Thank you for the replies & support. :)

I do think systemic thrush is the most likely option given that I have a sore and split skin around my bottom as well as chronic diarrhoea which I assumed was IBS. I'm using betnovate and had another dose of fluconazole. I'm showering less too. I was sore and the cool water soothed it but in the long run, I think it was making things worse.

I probably do eat quite a high sugar and carb diet. I am now really looking at what I am eating and trying to eat more healthily.

There's not a lot I can do about being immunosuppressed and I've just added another even stronger drug, so I don't think it's going away!

Behcets?