Is it vaginal dryness? Help!

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Originally Posted by saffire I recently was 'diagnosed 'with a yeast infection and in two weeks have taken 3 Diflucans and one dose Gynazole. The relief each time was brief hours each time. No cure. The symptoms I had were deep vaginal pain, burning and some itching, as well as thin, watery discharge. Not too much smell to the discharge either. So I took the 1st two Diflucan dosages the first week and then the Gynazole over the first weekend. Following Monday back into the doctor with a request to do a culture on 'whatever it is in there'. He told me during the appt that I had quite a bit of yeast but since 2 Diflucans and gynazole didn't cure it I could be resistant to the 'azole' kinds of meds. He prescribed boric acid capsules that you get from a compounding pharmacy. I used one of those vaginally nightly along with one more Diflucan and waited. I noticed the pain starting to abate slowly so decided to add acidolpholis capsules as well, and FINALLY, 6 days later I have relief. I did research about boric acid and it appears that it has a 98% cure rate of actual yeast infections when conventional cures fail. As a note, my doctors nurse called to tell me that my culture also showed no yeast so that's WHY the yeast infection meds didn't help me. I am pretty certain now that in I have a 'case' of vaginal ph upset. Hormonal imbalances can contribute to it, which makes sense since I just had an oppherectomy a month ago and have switched estrogen HRT. I am going to continue the boric acid and acidolpholis and see how I feel in another week. My suggestion? Talk to your doctor about trying boric acid capsules and consider adding acidopholis capsules to see if that helps you too. Good luck!!

Hi Saffire, this is Fiore. I just saw my OBGYN. As expected, he suggested the boric acid capsules. I was wondering how you are doing. Are you better? My concern is that I may not have a yeast infection. My cultures are always negative although he says that he sees yeast spores under the microscope. On the other hand, my family doctor commented that under the microscope most women with no problem will have yeast spores. Also, and the OBGYN agrees, the cultures should still be positive. What did your doc. said?
Thank you. I do hope you are better.
Cheers,
Fiore

How do you like the boric acid capsules so far? I was a little concerned about burning or drippage and since I used them at night, not a problem. I seem to go two steps forward and a step back. I'll feel better for a couple of days and then I won't. It's the weirdest thing. I am staying hopeful though.

Let me know how the boric acid works for you fiore, okay?

Hello!
Yesterday I went to see the new $400 no-insurance doc. She was horrible, a real disaster of a human being. I really did not like her. However, personal reactions aside, she did spend more than an hour with me and answered all my questions (and my husband’s) in a rather convincing fashion. She thinks the most likely final diagnosis will be vaginal atrophy or vulvudinya. They are both chronic conditions and very difficult to treat. In most cases, the best they can do is to manage the symptoms. As you can imagine, I am rather down. She does not think is a dermatology problem and advised against a biopsy at this point (too much has already been going on down there and my vagina “needs a rest.”) She said I have no yeast infection and that cultures would reveal even the ones that do not respond to standard treatment. However, she found a urine infection and put me on Cipro which may cause yeast. Thus, I will use boric acid for 2 weeks. Once that is done, since I never finished the Vagifem treatment, she wants me to start it all over again and keep at it for 3 months. She said that, although some improvements may be seen earlier than that, it takes at least three months to determine whether it really helps. She also recommended that, during the 3 months, I avoid using anything else. Basically, she wants to try to restore a “normal” vaginal environment and all the medications I used are not helping. In three months I have to see her again and will take it from there. I still haven’t absorbed well the entire thing but I think I will try to do what she said. What choice do I have? She also gave a few advices on how to deal with the burning, etc. (loose clothing, cotton underwear, cold water compresses, water based lubricants,…) but nothing we had not already written to each other on this thread. I can’t think of anything else at this point but write me back if you have any question. A big hug,
Fiore

PS. For Saffire: I was waiting for this woman so I have not yet started the boric acid treatment. She said boric acid is good to restore the vaginal environment in general, not only to cure yeast. So, it should help no matter what. I am starting tonight and I will let you know how things develop.

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Originally Posted by saffire How do you like the boric acid capsules so far? I was a little concerned about burning or drippage and since I used them at night, not a problem. I seem to go two steps forward and a step back. I'll feel better for a couple of days and then I won't. It's the weirdest thing. I am staying hopeful though. Let me know how the boric acid works for you fiore, okay?

Hello,
How are you doing? I have been overseas for a while. I tried the boric acid and it burned. I stopped after a few days. It made things worse for me. Also, although I did not have any symptoms, doc found I had a urine infection and gave me 12 days of Cipro. While on Cipro all my symptoms went awy. I was fine! I though I was out of this mess. Instead, 36 hours after stopping Cipro, I ended back with all the symptoms. I was overseas and did not act on it for 10 days. On Tuesday I am back to the doc. to see what he says.
Stay in touch,
Fiore

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Originally Posted by whatsnormal Fiore. I AM NOT doing better. I will PM you tonight. I think we really need to get together on this. I can't take anymore! During our PM we will get more details on each other, right now I need to shower & go see Dad!

Hi Whatsnormal,
I can't find your email address anymore. How are you doing? Stay in otuch.
Fiore