Newly diagnosed

I was diagnosed this past Friday with VV after having intense burning occurring suddenly in December. I was treated for yeast infections multiple times despite negative cultures. The treatments did not help and some made the burning worse. I have tested negative to all STD's and bacteria as well. I am to start Estrace cream tonight. I'm nervous. I don't like taking meds and this scares me. I don't get this disease at all and am so confused. Does anyone else have discharge with this? It is white, no odor, and looks liked fluffy cooked egg whites. I have had it already. I can only where sweats and don't want to go out. HELP please!!!!! I have been married almost 22 years and this is ruining everything.

Is it the outside of the vagina that it burns? The perineum? The lips? Im 27 and Ive been in a relationship for 5yrs now. Im lucky he is very understanding. He never asks for sex because he knows it will hurt me. Im on Lyrica for pain. When its bad I try Cymbalta along with it. How long has your pain been going on? Is your husband understanding?

Hi Christina

I can completely understand and empathise with your confusion and anxiety as my circumstances are similar - I was diagnosed last week after my symptoms started up in November, treated for thrush, all tests coming back negative etc.

Firstly a positive - I think we are both so lucky that we have been diagnosed so early. This means we can start treatment quickly rather than suffering years of pain and discomfort which so many other women have experienced. I'm also telling myself that this means that my pain will have less time to become embedded, less time for my body to have a 'memory' of this type of pain and therefore I have a better chance for my nerves to be 'retrained' back to 'normal' - no idea if this is possible but I will be asking this question when I next see my consultant in a few weeks. I've also come to realise very quickly that it is so important to be as positive as possible (can be hard i know). I've noticed that when I get stressed or upset about this my whole pelvic area tenses up and seems to make it worse (something else i'll be talking to my consultant about).

Regarding the discharge, yes I'm getting a white discharge but not curdy like thrush. My consultant wasn't concerned by this and said that discharge is normal for all women and it can vary during your cycle. I'm just gonna keep an eye on this and note any changes.

As for your treatment, it sounds like your GP/consultant thinks it might be hormonal/menopausal related? Was this discussed? what's your thoughts on this? Has anyone else here had success with Estrace?
My consultant gave me Lidocaine 5% to numb the area (worked the first time but burnt like hell the second time and seemed to worsen my symptoms so I haven't dared use it again yet - I will try again if i get a bad flare up just to be sure). She also recommended i use an emollient - i've been using E45 cream liberally and this seems to have helped - my symptoms have been relatively calm for the last couple of days. My thinking is that my lady bits have been subject to so much over the last couple of months that i'm trying to do the minimum to them at the moment!

I found the Vulval Pain Society's handbook very helpful - it costs £10 but is worth it. This would help you understand the condition. I can't post the weblink (i only joined this forum last week and there's a 7 day wait before i can post a link but if you google Vulval Pain Society you'll be able to access their website)
I also did loads of internet research - though I got a bit overwhelmed by all the potential info available and it stressed me out a bit so now i'm taking it a step at a time.

Hope this is of some help Christina. I felt like you in the first few days after my diagnosis but with help and support (medical and otherwise) believe things will improve.

Yes my burning is only on the outside. I can't touch any of the skin without it burning afterwards. I wasn't really told it was hormonal. Not sure why the Estrace. I'm only 41 and she said I'm young for premenopause but it can happen this early. I am also supposed to do salt baths but so far Im too afraid. Today I saw a new Gyn and she gave me a script for Lidocaine. I havent filled it yet. I was also started on a tricyclics antidepressant yesterday because I am now severely depressed by this. The psychiatrist also thought it might help with the pain. The discharge is annoying. I've never had anything like it before. I'm scared and don't understand why this came on so suddenly. I have never had issues below ever.

I use salt in the bath and it's been fine for me, start with just a bit and work up to more. I find it odd that they frequently associate generalised V to hormones because to me hormones would only affect the vestibule and not the external area, I have generalised V as well as VVS so it's something I keep coming across online but I don't really get it to be honest!

What kind of salt do you use? I was told aquarium salt from the pet store. The Gyn I went to yesterday suggested Domeboro instead. Has anyone tried that? Not sure which to try really.

I use Aveeno oatmeal bath usually, this seems to help a lot (and for soap, the Aveeno baby soap when I shower)... or the Vasaline brand bath beads with Vitamin E.. The ocean breeze one for some reason was the best for me, no idea why.

OMG, I tried an Aveeno bath and it burned so bad afterwards I almost had to go to the ER, but then I thought seriously what could they do. Maybe I will try the Vaseline needs. Just running plain water down there in the shower bothers me!