Burning and Heavy Discharge, HELP!

I’ve been dealing with chronic vaginal irritation for a year now. It started as an internal itchy sensation that would come and go. I thought it was yeast so I self-treated with yogurt and Diflucan. When that didnt work I saw a Dr who prescribed me antibiotics- BIG mistake because it caused me to burn so bad I felt my vagina was on fire!!
Again assuming the issue was yeast, I tried multiple simultaneous treatments of yogurt, Monistat, Diflucan, Boric Acid, STRONG probiotics, but nothing worked. The burning continued. Sex was painful, especially afterwards when it’d sting as if someone applied acid to my vagina.

I saw several Doctors. They were all baffled because I continually tested negative for yeast, bacterial vaginosis, all STDS.

I saw a Pelvic Pain specialist and she told me I have Vestibulodynia. She prescribed me a compounded Lidocaine/Gabapentin topical cream which I applied every day to no avail.

An additional MAJOR symptom I’ve been having for 1 year now is chronic heavy vaginal discharge. Most of the time it is white, thick, creamy; other times it is clear and watery. It drips out in large amounts, causing me to switch through multiple pantiliners throughout the day. Also there is an odor to it, kind of like vinegar or french fries. (Weird, i know. But true.)
The Drs have all told me the discharge is normal, but i know my body and i know that something is not right. It was never like this before.

It has been several months and by now the burning has calmed down a bit but I still notice it on a regular basis. I still have an internal “itch” sensation that comes and goes. And the most bothersome symptom is the heavy discharge.

If anyone reading this has a suggestion for what might be causing this and how I can treat it, I would really appreciate your input. Thanks so much!

CYF,

We have similar stories it seems. I used to experience the same burning "down there" for about 3 or 4 years. It would calm down at times and then be really bad. I've tried all of the meds, antibiotics, and some home remedies that were all unsuccessful. After suffering for so many years and trying everything I could I decided surgery was best for me. I'm not saying that you should get it or anything...surgery is the absolute last resort.

As for the discharge I did have a similar issue, maybe not as severe as yours sounds, but I did have a problem with discharge to the point where I'd have to throw away underwear or wear liners every once in a while. After surgery I still have the discharge, but no where near as much as I did before. When getting the surgery I had (a full vestibulectomy) you loose one third of your natural lubrication.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd like to help you as much as I can!

-Jen

Hi Jen, thank you so much for responding. I hope you have found total relief since getting the surgery.

Did you try pelvic muscle exercises? Dr recommended I do that...

Was there ever a suppository you tried that gave you a little relief? Because sometimes I get the feeling that it is my inner skin/tissue that is irritated and if I just applied the right suppository, like maybe aloe vera or tea tree oil, or something stronger, I would feel relieved. I just feel a hesitant to stick something up there cause I don't want to exacerbate the burning.

Thanks again

Seriously you lose lubrication? Im already dry ugh no

CYF,

No problem! And thanks, I have been feeling much relief since surgery :]

Never did get the chance to do pelvic floor therapy. I'm a full time college student and at the time my doctor suggested I'd go it just didn't fit into my schedule. My doctor also told me that in the long run pelvic floor therapy wouldn't solve the problem so I chose surgery. Now that I've had the surgery I think pelvic floor therapy would really benefit my situation. If you think you can handle pelvic floor therapy I'd say go for it! I've read ,on other forums, stories from women that have done it and it had totally changed how they felt down there. Not everyone can have the same results though.

I never tried anything to stop the discharge. I never really knew it was associated with vulvodynia till later on. A lot of the time I treated it as if it was a yeast infection since I also felt the burning, but it never helped for long. I kept getting that burning along with the discharge. I wouldn't suggest putting anything down there unless you get approval from your doctor. My doctor had actually suggested putting Crisco down there....I never tried it, but she said that it helped a few other women that had been seeing her. You could also ask your doctor for 5% lidocaine cream. It helps numb the area that's irritated, just make sure you mix it with some KY lube because when applied in its own it will burn for a little. Mixing it with the KY lube, or any type of lube, will keep it from burning/ irritating the area.


Alana3,

Yeah, my surgeon told me that after a full vestibulectomy you loose 1/3 of your natural lubrication. You can still have it if you form a bartholin cyst...in which case they'd open then cyst allowing lubrication to come out. Gross yes, but I was so hoping for that cyst...I'm not completely dried up, but I need to use lots of lube now :/

-Jen

I'm going to give pelvic floor therapy a try.

Thanks again!

Hi,

I have very similar symptoms to yours. Have been told I have a yeast infection countless times, but all the tests come back negative. I've been tested for all STD's BV and nothing. Did you ever resolve this issue? I am currently doing Pelvic Floor physical therapy, for vulvodynia. But, I am worried this may be the wrong diagnosis because white discharge is not symptomatic of vulvodynia. Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Hi beebee,

It has been 2 years since my original post, and fortunately I can say that things have gotten a whole lot better. I wish there was something specific I could recommend, but I don't know "why" or "what" caused the improvement. I left it alone for a while, and the irritation eased up over time.

I still have discharge, but I think it is normal. It is less than the amount it used to be. It fluctuates throughout the month due to my cycle. I find that when I stay hydrated and drink several glasses of water throughout the day, I have less discharge.

The pelvic floor physical therapy did not help me. I stopped going after 2 months or so. Maybe it would have helped if I had gone for a longer amount of time, but I felt like I was spending too much money and I had a feeling it wasn't targeting the root of the issue. My physical therapist was doing massages to relax the surrounding muscles, and she was having me due dilator stretching at home. Again, I felt like this wasn't helping me, but maybe it would have helped if i had been more consistent with it. I wouldn't want to sway you away from physical therapy since it has been helpful for some women, though everybody is different.

Are you on the birth control pill? In my case, it really threw my hormones out of whack, giving me acne and a heavy, painful flow. I have been off of the pill for 2 years now, and I think it has something to do with why my discharge is not so heavy anymore. That is the feeling I get, though I'm not an expert.

Let me know if you have any questions and I'd be happy to discuss this further with you!

-C

Thanks for the reply! I am glad it got better for you, gives me a lot of hope! I've read so many scary things, and am trying to stay positive.

I've been really nervous about the discharge, and like you said I know it is not normal for my body. I've been worried about all kinds of horrible infections, trying to find something that looks like yeast but isn't yeast. Your story is making me feel like maybe it is vulvudynia.

I just went on the pill two weeks ago for the first time to see if this could regulate my hormones, I haven't noticed a difference yet. For me I don't think it is birth control. But, I was in an extensive car accident three years ago that did severe damage to my pelvis. I think physical therapy may be very valuable for me, and I am going to try and focus on PT instead of rare infections.

Thanks again for the help and encouragement!

Hi bee bee,

Back when my symptoms were bad, I too worried constantly about whether or not it was some rare kind of infection. I did several months worth of research and got tested for lots of things… But nope, it wasn't an infection in my case.

I really wish there was something more specific I could recommend. But please feel free to ask me any questions you want.

I'm sorry to hear that you were in a car accident. Since that is the case, you are right that it is worth a shot to try the physical therapy. I do know that my former physical therapist has been helpful to a number of women with vulvodynia concerns. I recommend a book called "Heal Pelvic Pain" by Amy Stein; maybe you could find some valuable info in there.

Take care,

-C

CYF wrote:Hi bee bee,

Back when my symptoms were bad, I too worried constantly about whether or not it was some rare kind of infection.  I did several months worth of research and got tested for lots of things… But nope, it wasn't an infection in my case.

I really wish there was something more specific I could recommend. But please feel free to ask me any questions you want.

I'm sorry to hear that you were in a car accident. Since that is the case, you are right that it is worth a shot to try the physical therapy.  I do know that my former physical therapist has been helpful to a number of women with vulvodynia concerns.   I recommend a book called "Heal Pelvic Pain" by Amy Stein; maybe you could find some valuable info in there.

Take care,

-C

This is so much like my story as well. Did you ever find out what was causing your symptoms CYF?

Hi yoginimom,

I read a couple of your posts on other forum topics, and it seems like we have very similar situations.

To this day, I still do not know what was causing all of my symptoms. There is still soooo much more research that needs to be done on Vulvodynia and what causes it!!!
Here are a few ideas I have about what I think may have caused it….
First of all, my vagina has always seemed ultra-sensitive, beginning when I first started having sex. I was having sex regularly with my boyfriend at the time, and I would frequently experience pain after intercourse. Often my vagina would be completely swollen afterwards. Sometimes I even experienced what felt like "tearing". My boyfriend at the time had a very large penis, like larger than most men, and so sometimes I wonder if perhaps that "injured" me. Like maybe it caused harm to the tissue? I'm not sure.

I also suffered from very frequent UTIs. I got a UTI nearly every time I had sex, and eventually a Dr prescribed me a low-dose antibiotic to take after each time I had sex.
Sometimes I wonder if the frequent UTIs or the frequent antibiotic use contributed to the issue.

Another possibility is that perhaps my issue was caused by birth control. I was on and off birth control for several years. When I first started noticing the 24/7 burning sensations, it was during a time when I was experimenting with a new birth control. The birth control caused me a bunch of other symptoms such as crazy acne, so a part of me wonders if the birth control caused the burning as well?

But here's another factor. I sometimes wonder if it is a dryness/skin issue. Because at the same time the 24/7 burning started, I also started having issues with skin dryness, skin hyper-sensitivity in other areas. The dryness issue started at the exact same time as the V issue, so I do wonder if they are related somehow.

Now, let me tell you the things that made the burning worse. Do NOT go on an antibiotic. I had 2, (not 1 but TWO) doctors prescribe me antibiotics because they suspected it was a bacterial infection. I had tested NEGATIVE for ALL bacterial infections but these Drs. gave me the antibiotics anyways, because they did not know what else to do. The antibiotics made my burning WORSE. 100x worse!
Also, I was regularly doing over-the-counter yeast treatments and those irritated me even further. They sometimes relieved the burning very briefly, but then the burning would come back even worse.
I tried so many OTC treatments and nothing helped.

The only thing that helped me was to LEAVE THE AREA ALONE. I really wish there was something specific I could recommend regarding what made my V feel so much better. I really do not know. There weren't any major lifestyle changes. Whatever it was that was causing the issue, it balanced out over time, like over the course of several months. Also, I was not sexually active for a long time, and I think that contributed to the irritation calming down. "Not having sex for a while" was not something I planned, but that's what occurred. And I do think it helped the area to heal faster. Of course I wouldn't ever want to recommend "no sex" to anybody! I am just simply listing the factors that, in my personal situation, may have helped the area to ease itself over time.
I must say, I'd be lying if I said that I don't experience flare-ups at times. On most days I don't have an issue, but sometimes my V does feel a little burny. I'm not sure what causes the flare-up. Is it because of hormones? Diet/allergies? Dryness? Because I was sitting for too long? All are possibilities. I am still trying to figure that out. But I can say that the burning is 1000X better than it was 2 years ago and on most days I don't notice it at all.
I do take preventative measures to prevent the burning. For example, if I wear jeans and am sitting down for a long period of time, I'll feel so irritated and burny, so I make a point to wear comfortable clothes down there. Also, I can't apply most products to my vulvar skin because I know they would irritate me. The only thing I apply is coconut oil for moisture, and I seem to respond well to that.

Please let me know if you have any questions whatsoever. I would be happy to communicate further.

Wow thanks so much CYF! This was very helpful for me to read. It's giving me hope. I read your post about a week or so ago where you said you left it alone for a while and it straightened out over time. Something about that hit me, and i've been trying to just not mess with it. It makes good sense to me to let things balance out on their own. I'm a week in to that now and i do feel a bit better. I had 2 bed days this weekend, but overall it's been a pretty good week.

I'm trying to do whatever i can naturally so that i don't have to go on the nortriptyline. I'm really leery of the side effects, though i am willing to resort to that short term if nothing else works.

So far i do seem to be responding to the 'leave it alone' strategy as well as acupuncture and sea buckthorn berry oil so i'm going to keep going with it. Did you take any supplements that you remember? Thanks again for writing this, it was a big help.

Yoginimom,
I noticed you posted another topic that says "intense constant burning at the vaginal opening without provoking".  That is what I had too.  I felt the burning 24/7.  Provoking it did make it worse, but the burning was there either way.  At one point it was so bad….. It felt like my vagina was on fire, and it was so intense that it was all I could think about.    
When I saw a vulva specialist and had a "Q tip" test done,  she pressed the Q tip on various spots along my vaginal opening, and there were a couple of areas that were more sensitive and "hurt" when she pressed on them. The right side of my vaginal opening particularly hurt when she pressed on it.  The Dr said that I had redness on that area too. Several months later, after I was starting to feel better,  she told me it wasn't red anymore.   Even today, when I firmly press my finger on that area, it feels very sensitive. Hmm.

I understand your desire to try natural treatments rather than medication.  My Dr wanted to put me on medication too, but I did not try it. Therefore I don't know any info on nortriptyline.
I am curious to hear about your experience with acupuncture.  I have heard that it has been helpful for some women.   Looking at your username...  do you do yoga?  

I'd like to mention the things I was doing during my quest to feel better. Again, I did not notice any direct cause-and-effect relationship, so I'm not sure what helped and what did not.  So while I don't have any specific recommendations, I do think it is worth mentioning what I was doing.

-Relaxation/Self-care/personal work. Personally, I know I would feel very annoyed if anyone were to tell me that my vaginal issue was "stress-related",  but I can honestly say that when the vaginal burning first came about, I was going through a weird and stressful time. I was on a career path that wasn't right for me, and I often felt anxious, self-critical or on-edge. Instead of taking care of myself I would berate myself.  Anyway…..   Then, during the several months when the burning was bad, that was a very stressful time too.  And the vaginal pain itself was a major source of stress because of course it is stressful to see so many doctors and not hear any answers. I was very worried about what was causing the burning and whether or not it would ever go away.  Also, I was in a serious relationship at the time and even though he was patient and understanding, I felt very stressed about how the vaginal pain was affecting our sex life, and we were having other frustrations in the bedroom too.  I spent hours and hours and hours on forums related to vulvodynia and it was all I thought about.
So I began to focus on taking care of myself…..   I made a lot of changes to my life. I did a lot of personal reflection on how to be more loving and accepting of myself and my body.  I changed career paths and am now on a career path that works way better for me personally. My stress level is so incredibly lower than it was a couple of years ago.   I could go on about this, but to sum it up, I am not saying that stress causes the issue,  but by relieving stress, I do feel that it created an environment that welcomed me to feel better.
Pain is difficult, there is no denying that, but for me it did cause me to look closely and make changes that were for the better.
-Yoga   I started going to yoga class regularly each week. I really don't know if it had an effect on my vaginal situation, but I did notice many overall benefits (no more back pain, better flexibility, more energy, calm)
-You asked if I took any supplements.  I did try probiotics. Also dong quai.  Fish oil/evening primrose oil/coconut oil aka healthy fats.   I didn't notice a direct improvement, but who knows, maybe these things did help.

Be gentle with yourself. Understand that this will likely take some time.  There is not some quick magic overnight fix for vulvodynia otherwise we would all be doing it.  Instead, it is different for each woman and it takes some experimentation.  But again, be patient and take it step by step.

I hope this helps….  let me know if you have any other questions.

Another last thing I would like to add is that, while I'm sure you've probably heard this before, do NOT douche with anything.    Way back when, when my vaginal burning was awful, more than one doctor told me that it would be a good idea to douche with Betadine. Another doctor told me to douche with Hydrogen peroxide.  At first i thought that the Betadine was helping, so I did that regularly, but looking back I cringe because I think that actually made it worse. I also tried applying baking soda which made me burn. I tried applying so many different things and I think my vagina was like "leave me alone"!

Thanks CYF!

Your story is so similar to mine it's crazy. I was doing yoga once a week and loving it, but about 6 months ago right before all this started i began getting what i thought to be hamstring tendinitis with really deep pain all around my sit bone and it forced me to stop. At the time i didn't know anything about the pudendal nerve, nor did i realize all my gyno problems and my sit bone problem were connected. Anyway, that hip issue forced me to stop doing the vinyasana style of yoga i was loving, but i do still do some restorative yoga at home, though not as often as i probably should.

I really appreciate you taking the time to write out your story. I find this information really helpful. I did see an energy healer, and was told that due to some severe traumatic events that happened in my pelvis area, my body has been stuck and unable to heal this. It did seem to strike a cord for me.

I like what you said about doing some personal reflection work and taking a really good look at stress levels. My main source of stress is vulvadynia but i also really do believe that stress makes my muscles tense, and it makes good sense to try some relaxation techniques.

I'll give it a go and see what happens!

I'm holding off on the nortriptyline for now ... thanks again so much for your story.

Hi yoginimom,

Thanks for your reply. I found it to be very helpful. Yes our stories are so similar so I'm glad that we are communicating. One thing that stood out to me was how you mentioned the pudendal nerve. This got me thinking. I had heard of the pudendal nerve before but I kind of overlooked it. But now I am wondering if my vulvodynia is related to pudendal nerve irritation, and/or if it is related to muscle tightness/tension. I am so incredibly tight in the hip/pelvis region and it has been that way for years. It's not just a moderate tightness; it is extremely tight! The whole area feels "closed" and stiff. It's the same situation with my hamstrings. When I go to yoga class, I am physically not able to do some of the basic poses that everyone else seems to do so effortlessly, due to hip/hamstring stiffness.
Yoga of course helped when I was doing it regularly, but I stopped going to yoga a couple of months ago, and now my body feels so achey and stiff. Especially my back… Ouch. So I've decided I need to start doing yoga again!
I am sorry to hear about the pain in your sit bone area. Are you tight in your hips/hamstrings like I am,or not so much?

Another thing I want to mention is that my aunt has struggled with vulvodynia as well. For a while she was not able to sit without sharp pains. Nowadays her situation has improved but it still comes and goes. Of course this makes me wonder if there is a genetic component? My aunt is also very stiff and achey in her back/pelvis/legs.

I am wondering if I were to really focus on opening up the pelvis/hamstrings/etc, would I notice an improvement in the vaginal region? Is it all related? Also, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, I discontinued physical therapy because I felt it was too expensive and I wasn't sure it was helping. But I wonder, if I were to regularly do the self-massage and stretching exercises at home, would it help? I am thinking it is worth a try. Just this week I experienced a bit of a flare-up. It was mild, but still, I wonder what caused it to come about. It may be mild but I want it to go away completely. Also, I am concerned about my future sex life. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I haven't been sexually active in a while, and I do think that largely helped my situation to improve. But I want to have sex again in the near future, and I don't want this to be an issue!! So I am thinking the stretching is worth a try.

Do you have any IBS symptoms? Back pain?
Also, have UTIs been an issue for you in the past?

Have a good weekend.

-C

HI C! Nice to hear from you. Your post makes me wonder if you do have some pudendal nerve issues going on. I was really sure my issue was yeast at first, and then i was sure it was a skin issue when the burning was really bad. Yet every time the osteopth adjusted my hips and sacrum the pain would be totally gone for days. The burning and skin irritation, everything.

What i have been using at home, that seems to be helping a lot, is a video series i found on youtube. I'll put one of them here in my post, but if you look on the side of the page (on youtube) you should see several more that you can try. She has a hamstring one, as well as a pelvic floor one too.

I've also been doing the 'light fast stroking' technique that i found on a different thread in this forum, and it's also been helping. He says it's about lymph and cell healing, or something. But my feeling is that it's helping the nerves somehow. I've also been juicing and mostly taken dairy out of my diet, because i feel like all my mucus membranes are somehow irritated and inflamed. That's really been helping also.

Oh, and acupunture. It's been helping a lot too! I notice that i will feel really good overall after a treatment. And it makes me feel like the problem isn't just isolated to one area of my body, but that if i feel good everywhere, my girl parts feel good too. Strange, but true.

PS CYF i just put an update in the thread titled "pain free with Dr Robert Morse" ... i have listed several helpful things in that update that worked well for my pudendal nerve issues. So i wanted to let you know about it. Some of the techniques may be useful for you too?

I asked my specialist about my discharge, which I ALWAYS have. It's usually white, sometimes off yellow, and sticky/tacky, but not stretchy. I and my normal gyno thought it was just normal "unfertile" cervical mucus because I'm on the pill (so it would make sense to have it month-long instead of just during a non-pill-taker's short nonfertile time). My specialist said that it's actually a result of the irritation that causes vulvodynia. When your vaginal walls get irritated by whatever it is that sets you off, they inflame, and they produce the discharge to try to "flush out" the irritant (which is not possible in our case, but would be helpful with yeast/bacterial infections). He said he could actually see it being produced while he was examining me.

It's very possible that if it was in fact a yeast infection that set this whole thing in motion, the infection set off/caused your vulvar burning, and that set off the now-constant discharge.

Yoginimom,
I can't believe I forgot to respond to your post from a while ago. I found it to be helpful - thank you! I also read your comments on the "Dr Robert Morse" forum. Has the light fast stroking still been helpful?


Horsejumper,
Thanks for leaving those comments. What your specialist said makes sense.

Hi,

There has been a major update so I wanted to update this thread in case anyone is reading.

I decided I don't want to have any kids so I did a Laparoscopic Tubal Ligation (tubes tied). During the procedure, the Dr. diagnosed me with Endometriosis (because he discovered it during the Laparoscopy). Apparently the Endometriosis is what has been causing my vaginal pain/painful sex all these years. It baffles me that it has taken FIVE YEARS to get an accurate diagnosis, but I'm glad that now I have validation that "No the pain was not just in my head!"
The strange thing is that several years ago, I saw an Endometriosis specialist because I suspected I might have it. When I told him that NO my menstrual cramps were not extremely painful, he immediately dismissed the possibility that I have Endometriosis. But not everyone with Endo has bad cramps. Some women have severe cases of Endo yet virtually no symptoms.
If anyone has questions about Endometriosis, please feel free to comment on this thread. Wishing you all relief and healing.

-C

wow C that's huge! I'm so glad they finally figured it out. Do you know what treatment they will be doing to help you? I'm still fumbling along my healing journey, some days no pain at all, and sometimes random flare ups with no real clear trigger. Did they explain to you why endo causes VV symptoms? I'll have to read up on that!

Hi yogimom,

Regarding how to treat the endometriosis/prevent flare-ups, I am not yet quite sure. I got a few books about it at the library. There is still a lot that isn't known about Endometriosis (Drs aren't quite sure what causes it). Apparently my uterus produced a lining of tissue OUTSIDE of the uterus (when the tissue is actually supposed to line the INSIDE of the uterus). If the tissue was inside of the uterus, it would have left my body during my menstrual period, but since the tissue was in the wrong place, it just remained in my body and caused irritation and pain. My Dr explained that during intercourse, the misplaced tissue was getting hit/rubbed against, therefore causing my pain. During the laparoscopy, my Dr removed that tissue, and he said I ought to feel better for a while. However he said that it's quite possible that the tissue will return. Therefore I'm going to do my research regarding how to prevent that.

Many women with endometriosis are prescribed the birth control pill. Supposedly it is supposed to help with symptoms. I am VERY hesitant to go on birth control because of all the horrible side effects it gave me in the past. Not to mention, a part of me feels like the BC pill messed up my hormones and contributed to my vaginal problems to begin with. I don't know. I wish I knew more. I'm going to look into it. I'm not opposed to BC if it's going to help me. I got a book on "natural approaches" to treating Endometriosis and maybe there is some valuable info there in terms of gentle hormone therapy/nutrition.

Frankly, I don't quite trust my Doctor. I don't think I am going to see him again. It is a fortunate thing that he discovered the Endometriosis during the laparoscopy and I'm grateful for that. He was a good surgeon. But regarding post-treatment, whenever I speak with him, he is rushing through it and I get a sense that he doesn't really care. When I met with him for my post-surgery appointment, I had to remind him what procedure he did/had to remind him about the Endometriosis. Then he was like "Oh that's right" and showed me my X-ray photos. When we were discussing it, he just seemed SO rushed, to the point that I was uncomfortable.
Regarding the endometriosis, he was wanting to give me a strong hormonal shot right there in the office and I told him I didn't feel comfortable with that due to all the side effects I've had to birth control in the past (I had to remind him about that because he had forgotten). So I didn't do the shot.
I get the sense that a lot of Drs aren't sure how to treat it so they just prescribe the BC pill/shot because that's what the textbook tells them to do.
Anyway… I'm going to seek my treatment elsewhere.

Thanks for your reply to my post… And thanks for reading. Wishing you well along your healing journey.