Unbearable itch and soreness below

[Oomph]

Hello all, I'm hoping someone with a similar experience can help me. Forgive the long story, but I think it's probably good to have a chronology!

• I started with what i thought was a UTI 2 months ago: urgency to pee, itchyness, burning sensation after peeing. I was given ABs (nitrofurantoin) for 3 days which GP prescribed without taking a look or a sample, over the phone.
• After this 1st course, symptoms did not go away so I returned to GP who this time took a sample and gave me a second course of antibiotics. Still no fever, just general itch, urgency, feeling in my urethra.
• Sample came negative for infection from lab
• I started to feel increasingly itchy and was told it was probably thrush (yeast infection) due to two courses of ABs. Took Canesten but itch remained. This has been going on for 2 months now
• I have red, raised patches of rough skin and what looks like little tiny bumps in my inner labia, and the itch is un-bear-able.
• The GP gave me oestrogen cream as she thought this might be vaginal atrophy due to perimenopause. This seems to have made things MUCH WORSE after a few days.

Some googling is throwing out lovely stuff such as Lichen Sclerosus and Lichen Planus. Has anyone had similar symptoms and could you let me know how you've coped with it? I'd be really grateful, as it's driving me nuts and I don't have another appointment with the GP for a week. And then I'll probably need to be referred to a dermatologist, so another wait!

Thank you!

I had something similar at one point and Dr Wolff’s Vagisan (now called V-San) provided instant relief and actually has sorted out the very occasional flare ups ever since. Might be worth a try although quite expensive?

I had this in spades at the point of menopause- in fact used to google on here to see if others mentioned it because I had never heard it mentioned in relation to menopause!! The only thing that helped was a special coal tar cream I got from Australia of all places.

It did gradually recede- took about 18 months. You have my sympathies, it drove me me nuts

Oh my god, ,@Crikeyalmighty 18 months???? Did you ever find out if it was a particular condition, or just normal dryness and soreness caused by menopause?

Mine started with the menopause and it still occurs 15 years on. It is manageable now though.

For everyone joining in with their tales of woe. I would recommend that you get it checked out at some point by a doctor, if you haven't already, even if you are keeping it in check with washing etc.

My GP told me that if it is lichen sclerosus it needs checking out on a yearly basis as there is a slightly higher risk of developing cancer. Fortunately she thinks I have lichen planus which is a more straightforward eczema related condition but that she would still like to see me next year if I need to use the steroid cream she prescribed.

@Oomph doctor said not lichen related - pretty common in menopause and women struggling with it often don't like to discuss -

I had the symptoms described by OP mainly stinging, lack of impact from thrush cream or any UTI for 18 months. Nothing visible just soreness stinging and burning. I stripped back all the things like washing powder, fabric conditioner, shower gel etc and still no different. In the end the GP trialled amytriptyline which is nerve pain medicine, a low dose was effective almost immediately. I was also referred to gynae who diagnosed vulvodynia. It is a difficult condition to manage and understand but for me a very low dose of medicine has removed all symptoms.

Dermatitis. ... i have it. You need some hydrocortisone creme

I have itchiness down there quite frequently but a couple of paracetamol tablets usually works for me
Your problem, OP, sounds more serious but there are lots of helpful comments on here.

On a different note, I would love lots of little lockable booths in town centres, where you can just nip in to have a good scratch, to change period pads, or to clean up with wet wipes if needed. In other words, intimate care booths.

I have staggered home sometimes with such an itchy bum that was like I was burning up. All it needed was a quick wipe.

Good luck with your problem, OP.

I have something similar in that I experience bumps/lumps. Some are just that, others itch and hurt. I think it's linked to my menstrual cycle as they come and go around that time. Sometimes I get lots at once, sometimes I can go months without any. I've seen several GPs who misdiagnose because they haven't listened properly to me, or don't know what's causing it and I've also seen a Gynaecologist who diagnosed me before looking, then looked and said it's not what she thought and she doesn't know what it is 🤷

Thanks to all that posted. The itch is real and now I have a burning sensation when I pee. My aunt is a doctor, but she lives abroad and has suggested I use a mild cortisone cream morning and night in a very thin layer to manage symptoms until I see the GP (who won't be able to diagnose it either). I think I'll do that, just to get some reprieve!

Can I recommend this book to everyone, it's written in a light hearted way but is very informative and covers a lot of the issued discussed on here https://www.mymenopausalvagina.co.uk/

Have you been tested for std's recently? It also sounds like it could be herpes, mine started very similar.

Could you share a link to a product. I need to find a non steroid option for similar issue

Someone on here suggested daktakort which treats intertrigo (jock itch). It did work. I have to wear tena lady because of urge incontinence and a spinal condition which means that I move very slowly. Estriol cream has helped somewhat.

Bloody loo roll is perfumed fhs why!!

clean with sterile water and vinagar 50/50

It'd be nice just because that'd mean i've been having sex. Sadly, not much of that for a while due to menopausal woes and teenagers in the house.

What did your dr say it was and what was causing it, or is it just one of the perks of menopause?

@Oomph I have been going though something similar this year ever since having a hysterectomy in January. I had thrush for a while after using the pessary tablet and put it down to that. However, once I stopped the itching and soreness didn't stop or go away. I have tried steroid cream and ointments, I now use Blissel gel for atrophy and emollient cream for moisture and washing, and am waiting to see gynae vulval skin disorders clinic. For me the itching is on the hair line of the outer labia, so not internal at all, and I have scratched so much it's bled.
It is having a huge impact on mine and my dhs private life as I feel too sore externally for sex, and even when things haven't been too sore, afterwards it comes back and I am back to square one again.

@longtompot That's exactly how I was. GP said menopause related just due to declining hormones. He did say that HRT could well help but I was at the time reluctant to take. It did go away but for 18 months I scratched till I drew blood and as you said it totally killed sex life

@Crikeyalmighty It really is awful, more for the fact there is no clear info about it! I do use Estrogen gel every day for my hrt and now using the Blissel internal gel twice a week. I really thought after having the op things could finally be normal for once. I've had years, over 12, of really heavy or prolonged periods so no sex then, and now this. I'm only 52, but I feel this part might be over before I am ready for it to be.
Im glad you are through the other end. Do you think that is due to the coal tar stuff you used, or it was a natural end/levelling of hormones?

@longtompot the coal tar stuff definitely took the burn and soreness down a lot- but I think it was just the hormones settling down that finally settled it.

Weirdly I had a blood test 18 months ago - ( I'm 62 now ) and I still had about 31% of those kind of female hormones which I was told was pretty good

For the itch.

buy a pack (or 6) water wipes (not any other wipes) They cold & amazing. Wipe carefully, taking care to wipe in one direction,then get a new wipe, lay on your bed, open it up length wise and place it lengthwise between your labia & distract yourself with MN & allow it to cool you down &take the itch away. Once it's warmed up I replace it.

it really works (for me anyway).

best wishes for getting it sorted.

Hi, whether or not I have a UTI, or thrush, I always wash with plain water and then slather organic coconut oil "down there".
It feels so heavenly and I feel less vulnerable to getting problems.
I also take a good probiotic/prebiotic, as I've read they help ward off UTI's.

Lichen was a clear figure of 8 in white, female gynaecology consultant stated that's classic - steroids thin your skin over the years (15) - sounds bizarre but I find Vic works for me. Hit me like a ton of bricks the bane of my life - it seems to be incurable and nobody seems to care in the medical field about the impact of this on women and relationships

Oh my god also this. One brand of loo roll at home & god forbid DH buys anything else. Coconut flavoured bog roll ffs!