Intense Vaginal Pain

[Ladypartsproblem]

I've had intense vaginal pain for over a week now. I have a high pain threshold but peeing has me in tears and I don’t know what to do other than to present at A&E. I’ve been to the GP who initially said I had an infection & possible thrush. I was given a course of thrush treatment along with 3 days of nitrofurantoin which I completed and I’ve been drinking 3 litres of water a day. I have lower back pain and my now skin hurts to touch on my thighs and groin. The gp tested my urine again today and said I was clear of infection but the dipstick I did at home instantly turned purple showing positive for leukocytes which would suggest I do have some sort of infection still present. I have an appointment booked for the morning for my smear and triple swab but the pain I’m going through is truly unbearable. I can’t sit, walk or pee without unbearable pain and pain relief isn’t helping. What do I do? Also a urine sample was sent to the lab for further testing on Friday but isn’t back yet and I’ve no idea how long it will take. I’m terrified of having a speculum put up me tomorrow as even water touching my genitalia is agony.

Tests for unrine infections are notoriously unreliable abd give false negatives. Guidlines have changed so that you should get treatment if you have symptoms. Also look into aerobic vaginitis. In my experience very few doctors know about this condtion. You may need to get a private test from digital microbiology. I then self treated with fluomizin.

Thank you for sharing this. I’ve just had a quick read about it- I don’t have the yellow/green discharge but noticed that it mentions

“superficial erosions or ulcerations of the vaginal mucosa.”

This is also something I have. It currently looks like an open cut that hasn’t healed despite being there for over a week but I don’t remember cutting myself and haven’t shaved my vaginal area for a fair few weeks so could tie in with AV and explain the random lesions.

I also did a urine test and vaginal swab through digital microbiology and had aerobic vagina. I can highly recommend them.

I would also consider aerobic vaginitis as I have experienced this and sounds a bit familiar to me. You can do a cheap self test by taking a cotton bud swab of your vagina, swish it in 10 mils of cold water and then use the urine dipsticks to test this. If you get a strong positive for white blood cells this strongly indicates vaginal infection. Could be thrush but could also be aerobic vaginitis.

Feel free to PM me for any further advice

I hope you feel better soon. Xxx

Thank you. The plot thickens - I saw the nurse this morning who called in the GP and then referred me to the hospital. I was absolutely astonished as the gynae doctor suspects it could be herpes. I’ve been in a long term relationship for 20 years of which 15 have been married. Prior to that the only sexual activity was when I was raped as a very young teenager. It’s safe to say I’m absolutely devastated. I don’t for a second believe that my husband has cheated on me so I’m left feeling confused and horrified. I did mention AV to the gynae doctor who said she has never heard of it and I am awaiting the results of the vaginal swabs to confirm/rule out heroes but as it stands, that’s supposedly the only explanation. I’m still in absolute agony & have started the treatment for herpes to avoid any delay in case it is that. I was due to be admitted to a ward but after waiting 12 hours for a bed to become available, I was given my medicines via IV whilst sat in a chair and discharged home to come back again tomorrow morning!

Oh poor you op. What a horrible horrible shock.

Herpes is as common as chips, in those of us too old to have had the vaccination. No need to look for the source of yours. Every reason to be glad you’re getting treatment.

i hope you get the pain sorted soon. that’s awful.

i would however be looking for the cause and getting dh tested as he may have it too, and will reinfect you if untreated. if he doesn’t have it he wont want it.
he may actually have given it to you which makes me think has he been with someone else.

having said that it could just be the nurse isn’t up to speed with all the various infections it could be and it’s something completely different.

i know it can lie dormant for years and you may have caught it from an awful experience in the past, im so sorry that happened to you just awful, however it was so very long ago could it lie dormant that long? im not convinced it could but i dont know.

getting the pain gone is hopefully the first thing to happen. and then potentially questions to be asked.

I do hope you feel better soon. I would say with herpes it can lie dormant with no signs for a really long time. A friend of mine was a single parent, gave up on men (and sex!) for over 20 years and came down with a really nasty case when she started treatment for breast cancer. Apparently it can just flare up especially if you are stressed, ill, compromised immune system.

I wouldn’t leap straight to blaming your DH although I appreciate it’s tempting

I’m so sorry you’re going through this, how awful.

I have lichen planus, which presented as a weird lesion like a big, deep paper cut. When I first went to the GUM clinic they said it could be herpes ‘but it doesn’t look herpetic’, like it was a bit of a guessing game because it wasn’t a typical presentation. They also gave me antiviral treatment for herpes which did seem to help, though it’s hard to say if it was just a more minor LP flare anyway.

They do their best to work out what it is but I needed a couple more referrals before I was diagnosed. Even the consultant who diagnosed LP, an expert in blistering conditions iirc, said she was not guessing exactly 😀 but taking a view based on not very much evidence.

My swab was negative, a biopsy showed inflammation but nothing else, no one really could say 100%.

This is all to say that you may need more time to get a definitive diagnosis and as a PP said if it is herpes it’s notoriously unpredictable, popping up in weird ways when you least expect it. So don’t rush to conclusions just yet.

My flares eventually stopped and I haven’t had one in years. I hope you feel better soon.

I was told mine condition might be herpes and was treated for it but it wasn't herpes it was AV. I doesnt surprise me the gyane had never heard of it that was also my experience. If further investigation/treatment for herpes does not improve symptoms continue to investigate AV as it took me over a year and and I saw about 6 different private gynaes before I make any progress. I ended up with nerve damahe which I wouldnt wish on anybody so just keep it in mind.

Just in case treatment for herpes doesn't help and you still suspect aerobic vaginitis, here is a link to my story which you might find helpful. Xxx

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_health/5190130-beating-a-chronic-uti-success-stories

Hi all,

Just thought I’d let you know I ordered the digital microbiology kit today as I started the Herpes treatment on Tuesday but it hasn’t helped at all. The hospital hasn’t got back to me re:the outcome of my tests either. When I returned the next morning, I was given a prescription for oral medicines as there was simply no space in the wards or ED for a bed. It’s been 7 days since I last opened my bowels and just sitting on the toilet feels like I’m about to tear from front to back. It’s absolute agony. My husband has been off work to help me this week as sitting/walking etc has been incredibly difficult but I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I also don’t know how to explain it to other family/friends - I just said I had a kidney infection initially as that’s what I was expecting it to be before the sores/ulcers started. My family are mainly from a medical background (not me ofc) so when I’m still avoiding visitors/socialising a week later I’m being asked things like have they scanned your kidneys? Is it stones? The antibiotics should have kicked in by now etc etc. It’s too embarrassing to tell anybody about. I’m starting to feel very down in the dumps as well as being in pain with it all.

Utter sympathy op, I have nothing helpful to add, hope you get some answers soon

I'm so sorry you are still struggling. I saw a consultant recently who is very good with gynae infections. He does microscopy for diagnosis. Would you like his details?

I really hope you get some answers soon as to what’s going on, sounds pretty bad.

Yes please! I saw a wonderful doctor at the sexual health clinic today. I’m still very sore with lesions going from the labia menora to majora. The doc prescribed some instillagel to make it less painful to pass urine/open my bowels. He said it doesn’t look herpetic but if it is then the lesions are likely caused by a cluster of sores. He also said he will have a look into AV as he’s not sure about it. Can I ask when you had AV were your sores internal only or external too? I haven’t been able to send off my digital microbiology sample yet as my menses started as the kit arrived and it suggests waiting until bleeding stops before taking a sample.

Hello again. I didn't actually get sores just very bad vaginal pain. I have seen Austin Ugwumadu at the Nuffield hospital in Wimbledon and I do actually think he knows his stuff. I hope this gets better for you soon. Xxx

Hello @Ladypartsproblem - I was wondering how you are getting on? I do hope you found a solution. Xxxx

Hello,

Thank you so much for thinking of me. I am feeling much more comfortable thank you. The herpes swab came back negative but that’s not to say it wasn’t herpes as it could have been that the swab was taken too late. I also have AV but still trying to work out how to treat it & make sure it is gone for good as my GP was useless when I shared my results! I have been following the advice here and online. To throw an additional spanner in the works, I finally had a proper vaginal examination and they found a localised growth on my cervix which didn’t bleed when poked and didn’t look like a standard ectropion therefore the doc I saw made a referral on the cancer pathway for further investigation just to be sure it’s nothing nasty! I’ve still not heard back from them despite it having been a week since that was done 😬