My vulva is making me miserable

[miserableandworried]

For the last 8 weeks I have had what can only be described as the feeling of a zester being scraped down my left labia.

The pain is concentrated just above where the hood of my clitoris starts, to the left, in the size of about a 5 pence piece. It burns, stings and feels like there’s an open sore, but here’s the kicker, there’s nothing there!

No redness, no visual irritation, no dry skin, just the constant feeling that I have a cold sore. For 8 solid weeks.

Full disclosure, I do carry the herpes virus but any outbreak I get is over and done with in a week and it’s visible that there is irritation if I do have a breakout.

I take antivirals every day to suppress the virus so I don’t think it can be from that, not for this amount of time. The back of my leg is now starting to feel like what I imagine is nerve pain?

Any ideas what this could be? I’m 38 and still have regular periods etc.

It honestly sounds like infection. I would go to the gp for a check.

Go to your local GUM clinic. It's their area, you'll get the good going over all in one go, rather than faff on with the GP.

What sort of infection? Oh forgot to say i haven’t been sexually active for about 5 years

I get this with thrush or a UTI.

Sounds like an infection. I would see the doctor. You can still get infections despite not being sexually active.

Could it be a shingles type infection following along the nerve? It may be that you need treatment dose anti-virals, I’d book into the gp to get checked out.

That’s what I thought it was a few weeks ago, certainly feels like the same sensation as shingles. I rammed up my antivirals (same meds for shingles) but nadda.

Really? Do you mean the burning or the leg thing?

How you've described the pain sounds like Shingles, which is also a strain of the Herpes virus (Shingles = varicella-zoster virus. Genital Herpes = HSV-2 or HSV-1).

The nerve type pain can occur without having a visible outbreak of sores and it can be excruciating.

You may need a course of anti-virals so it'd be a good idea to seek medical attention asap.

It really feels like shingles. I thought it may have “come out” by now though if it was?

How old are you? Meno makes your vulva very uncomfortable and there’s a thing called lichen sclerosis which is also painful. Sexual health clinic a good shout.

I’m 38. Not sure it fits the LS symptoms, but I’ll try and get an appointment to see a doctor

Not necessarily. I suffer from recurring bouts of Shingles and have done for decades. I occasionally experience intense pain, and feel unwell/under the weather with no sign of visible sores.

Herpes Zoster can be a nasty virus so it is the best thing to seek medical advice.

I have 2 twice had Bacterial Vaginosis (BV). The bacteria that cause BV are naturally present in your vagina. However normally other bacteria, also naturally present in your vagina usually keep the BV bacteria at bay. If those bacteria are killed, say slight decrease of the Ph level in the vagina, which can be caused by lots of factors, the BV can multiply quickly causing an infection. Best thing is to go to the doctor as they can take a sample of cells and test it for a whole bunch of vaginal infections. Not SDs but other vaginal infections and then treat with oral anti-biotics or cream or both.

I also had massive discharge and itching in menopause although it was post bleeding for me.