Painful, blistered vulva after thrush

[RLI1105]

Hi everyone,

I'm just looking for some advice/reassurance for a condition I have developed. Basically my vulva is red, sore and has started to blister.

For background I am 26 years old and gave birth in December 2019 via ceserean. I developed a wound infection and was in antibiotics for 10 days. A couple of months later I developed thrush. I have had it before and pessary and some cream always does the trick. This time it seemed to work but in the coming weeks a few times it would feel like it may have been coming back but never came to anything.
Over the last couple of months I have been trying to get back into shape and my husband and I bought an exercise bike
Which I was using for an hour 5 times a week.
3 weeks ago I was literally woken up in the night with returning thrush - it was a bad case. I couldn't get a pessary at the pharmacy but took the tablet. This didn't seem to work so I finally got my hands on a pessary. After a week it didn't seem better. The discharge had gone but I was still red and sore. I read up online which said cycling can make thrush worse and cause swelling. My plan was to not use the bike for a week and review.
Things seemed to be better and yesterday I had sex. It didn't hurt but stung a bit afterwards. Today I have woken up and the skin at the bottom of my vulva is bright red and peeling. The rest of the area is pretty red as well. I doesn't itch but is very sore.

Has anyone else had this? My vagina is fine so I don't think it is still thrush. The internet has led me to believe I now have a chronic skin condition that could take months to go and I am beside myself. I have read steroid creams and estrogen creams can help - has anyone used them? Has anyone experienced anything similar on the whole?

Sorry for being long winded - I just wanted to get it all in! If you have read it all then thank you very much! xxxx

Could it be an allergic reaction to.tgebtgrush cream and pessary? So contact dermatitis in other words. When I had this, the thrush kept coming back as the broken skin would invite it back. Contact your gp - they'll know if it's an allergy.

The thrush cream, I meant

My GP prescribed an eczema wash and steriod cream and I only use the tablet treatment for thrush.

I felt like this at the start of the year and was examined and told it was still thrush. I kept using the cream and eventually it went. I still have soreness but I seem to be like that everywhere, I'm allergy central. Sorry for not helping

Hi everyone - thank you so much for messaging back!
I haven't actually contacted my GP yet. I know that may sound a it mad but due to what's going on they don't want to see anyone at all. My plan was so wait until the end of the week and see if it gets better at all (hopefully not wishful thinking!!) and if not then call then.

I would be surprised if it was a reaction as it's been over a week since I used a pessary or the cream but I suppose it could be! I'm not someone who is allergic to lots of things and suffers from eczma etc.

Again thanks so much for messaging back. I really appreciate it!

It can take a while for skin to calm down after a reaction if that's what it is. Just wash the area with water alone, don't put any creams down there, let it calm down. I wasn't itchy just sore. Try wearing skirts and no underwear to let the air at the area.

Also the thrush would have irritated the skin ( my GP says microtears happen due to irritation then the thrush arrives back) and you get a circular infection so that the thrush never quite goes . Having never previously been allergic to canestan cream I suddenly was reacting to it. Also in my case I don't get itchy with thrush just really red and sore. I hope it sorts for you. Pharmacists can give good advice too.

Sorry I didn't mean to contradict the previous poster about putting cream on. If you think it might be an allergy or if the cream is making it worse perhaps hold off on application.

Have you treated DH for thrush? It is possible he has with no symptoms and is re-infecting you. He needs to be treated/checked too. Especially if sex has set it off again.

Also it may not have been thrush you had. It may be that you had something else (there are NON-sexually transmitted conditions you can get due to being run-down and certain bacteria overgrow etc that have similar symptoms to thrush) you may have been treating thrush but it wasn’t that.

I had problems about 20 years ago - repeatedly treated myself for thrush - was very sore and very swollen but no discharge - assumed it was thrush as hadn’t had anything else before then.

It wasn’t thrush. Finally went to the docs as got no better. They were not sure either. They did the whole washing powder/soap/allergy palaver, nothing helped. Lots of tests and my GP contacting a Hospital Consultant for advice and it turned out to be Identified as a bacterial skin infection. Not a clue why I had got it other than I must have been run down/immune system low. I had also had a baby a few months beforehand by c-section - I don’t know if that (The c-section bit) is relevant though? It took several courses of oral antibiotics and antibiotic creams inserted at night at the same time to clear it. Took about four/five months or so altogether, but it did go.

I do sympathise! It was absolutely miserable having it. Could only wear skirts and no underwear throughout as everything made it worse. Periods were not fun as needed to wear knickers to use pads.

You need to see a doc and get swabbed. This isn’t going to go away on its own I don’t think.

Also my symptoms were all vulva and external not vaginal, but had to use a vaginal cream - I assume to cover everywhere - don’t know - I would have done anything o was told at that point to try and get rid of it! .

Hi everyone - thanks so so much for messaging. I really appreciate it!

Since Monday things have seemed to get better. The skin is healing where it has blistered and my vulva is a lot less red. It's still a bit itchy and sore but not bad. It just feels like the start of thrush!

I spoke to my GP who feels it sounds like recurrent thrush and my long course of antibiotics have made me susceptible. She has written me up for a full weeks course of treatment with all the bells and whistles tablets, pessary and cream. My husband has some cream too to cover him. If things have not improved for a week I'm to have swabs taken.

Fingers crossed it continues to improve.
Thanks so much again for everyone! xxx

That sounds great OP. I need to take two tablets - each a week apart to get the darn thing gone. It can be soooo sore. I hope it continues to improve. I'm so prone to thrush that I can no longer take baths because even plain clear hot water sparks an episode. So it's showers for me!

I get terrible thrush and I've been on strong antibiotics for ages which has meant it's triggered my thrush

I found vaseline was the best thing for the sore areas x

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to give an update! So as I said below my GP prescribed a weeks full treatment for thrush. I had another pessary, cream twice a day and a 50mg Fluconazole tablet to take everyday for a week. My husband also got a one off dose to cover him even though he didn't have any symptoms.
Anyway to cut a long story short it worked! I would say things are back to normal. 😄I'm still being careful about what I wear (no tights, baggy trousers) and still putting the cream on at night if I remember. I've also not had sex just to give everywhere full time to heal.
Thank you all so much for your suggestions and just being so nice. It really is horrible when you don't know what's wrong with you and you're worried it will never go!
Thanks again!

Oh thank goodness RL. I'm glad you are on the mend. And thanks for the update.