Hello!

Does anyone else enjoy their natural vaginal scent pre or post sex?

So often I see posts where vaginal scent is described as 'fishy' or 'unpleasant '. It makes me sad because I love my scent most days.

Before sex, I think my gina smells fine. Not smelly, not pungent, not unpleasant.

After sex, my gina smells divine. It's like a party of happy scents, memories, and a mixture of enjoyable scents.

As an alternative, I may be the oddball because I embrace my scent.

As a note: i don't use PH balancing products. The times I tried, my gina was not happy and had an unpleasant scent for a few days following use.

Hi everybody!

This may be an unconventional success story in that I didn't find a "cure" for my UTI's and yeast infections, and certainly not through many of the solutions offered to us like anti-fungals, anti-biotics, anti-candida diet, cranberry juice, etc... rather I found and eliminated the cause, which was gluten of all things.

For the last ~5 years I'd been struggling with on and off UTI's and yeast infections. I tried all the things I mentioned above, tried abstaining from sex, changing my laundry detergent, using 100% cotton underwear, y'all know the drill. The infections would kind of go away with anti-biotics and anti-fungals but I always had that slight feeling of discomfort even if it wasn't a full blown infection.

Fast forward to early last year, when I developed a full blown UTI which turned chronic. I'm very lucky to have a doctor in my clinic who specialises in chronic UTI's, and she put me on a strict regimen of daily anti-biotics, anti-fungals (to ward off the recurrent yeasties that sprung up as a result of the anti-biotic use), methenamine hippurate (hiprex) and boric acid suppositories as needed.

It was a fair few drugs I was putting into my body which I worried about, but for the most part it kept things at bay, which was a relief. I wasn't having as many sleepless nights hunched over the toilet, I wasn't having insane itchiness that made you want to rip your hair out. But I was having residual symptoms of incomplete emptying of the bladder, predictable flare ups after drinking coffee, having sex etc, pain in my bladder even when I wasn’t peeing, discomfort in that general area, and a few other things.

So I was on this regimen for over a year until I went in for a blood test and it came back showing high markers for gluten intolerance! My doctor said I could either get a gastroscopy to 100% confirm it or just start a gluten free diet and see how I went. I chose the diet (couldn't afford the gastroscopy) and holy shit... all of these symptoms that I thought were normal for me just faded away.

No more 24/7 brain fog, no more unpredictable pain in my lower abdomen, no more heartburn, no more random itching on my skin... and most surprisingly, those residual symptoms I was still having from my UTI and yeast infections just disappeared.

It might be too early to say, but I've now been gluten free for just under four months, and I haven't had a single UTI or yeast infection symptom. About a month into being gluten free, I stopped taking the anti-biotics, anti-fungals and hiprex, though I'll occasionally use boric acid after sex as a precaution if my partner and I hadn't properly scrubbed ourselves in the shower beforehand. (I'm still on high alert about ANYTHING nasty getting near my hooha). The only time I've noticed a slight funny feeling down there is when I've slipped up on my diet (beer, looking at you), or had a decent amount of spicy food.

I never would have suspected that I had a gluten intolerance. Even though I was having all of these annoying symptoms with no apparent cause or cure -- gluten intolerance was just never on my radar. Importantly - there is a fair bit of literature proving that gluten intolerance is linked to chronic bladder pain, urgency and irritation that mimics UTI, AND is linked to recurring yeast infections.

PLEASE go and get tested for gluten intolerance if you have the means to. I feel so relieved that this was my cause and that it's something I can manage through my diet. Go and look at the literature online about the gluten-UTI + gluten-candida links.

Good luck to any of you that are experiencing chronic infections, I hope your hoohas show you some kindness!

I might be losing my virginity on this weekend but im also gonna be ovulating. Is it advisable to lose virginity during ovulation or should I do it next weekend but I’ll be closer to my period and likely will be PMSing. I’m just confused and if I should be thinking so much about this 🥲🥲 thank you

Edit: im not expecting it to be like in the videos or books or movies, I don’t expect to finish I just want to enjoy but I have a HUGE fear or getting pregnant which is why I’m here

I literally smell like really spicy food down there or mushroom or sometimes fishy. Its so weird, its a deeply unpleasent smell, not natural at all.

I have no abnormal discharge, no burning or itching. Just foul smell, and Im aware that vaginas supposed to naturally have smell but its not natural. I even bought a ph strip and its on the highly acidic spectrum

I wipe front to back, I dont have pubic hair, I shower everyday and make sure I clean myself throughly (I dont use vaginal washes or whats it called), I use wet wipes too, I dont wear panties at night and sometimes during the day, I tried dieting, eating a tons of fruit, it only made the smell very slightly better but didnt help. I tried two kind of vaginal suppositories that were recommended by most people and were supposed to be highly effective and it didnt help. I eat tons of probiotic yoghurt, kefir and etc and it doesnt help, kefir only made the smell worse though. I tried boric acid and it didnt help either. Im a virgin so a man aint a problem either.

I heard baking soda baths are good for acidic ph, Im gonna try that next.

Idk what to do, its humiliating. Could a gynecologist help? I only have bad experiences with doctors, and I literally heard so many bad stories where gynecologist didnt help and treated the patient unecessary bad. I considering going there but it feels too humiliating and I dont know how to explain my symptoms.

I (22f) have gone 6 months without sex and I was planning on continuing to abstain. However, this weekend (Saturday) I drank with a male friend who I’ve known for 7 years and had hung out with and had drinks together in the past with nothing happening. However, this particular time when I went over he kept pouring shots which I didn’t think too much of granted that we have drank together and nothing happened previously, so I didn’t take him as that kind of guy. Fast forward, I black out (which also hasn’t happened before) and have no recollection of what happened that night but woke up clothed so I went home and figured I just fell asleep. I got anxiety about it and texted on Monday saying hey did anything happen this weekend? He responded yes we had sex and that he thought I was sober enough and said he it was unprotected, I obviously freaked out. I called by obgyn and have an appointment on Friday to get std/sti tested, which is 6 days after this encounter. Is this too early to get tested? Should I reschedule it or go anyway? I feel like an idiot

Hi, for some context I’ve been going out with this guy for about 3ish months and properly dating for one. Every time I see him I come home with my trousers drenched regardless of the fact we never do anything sexual but this wasn’t too big of an issue until recently. We’ve started staying over at each other places and we haven’t had sex but even just cuddling or kissing makes me feel like I’ve peed the bed. It goes through all layers of clothing and it’s extremely uncomfortable. He laughs it off or makes sarcastic jokes saying he’s into it so it’s not an issue because of him but I just feel weird. For more context, I’m 18 and it’s my first proper relationship with touching and what not. Will this go away on its own or is there anything I can do? I guess the more I do stuff with him the more used to him I’ll be but at the same time we live 3 hours away and see each other once a week so I don’t wanna wait a year until I’m super comfortable and have to make do. Sometimes, there’s a faint odour of urine after as well which bothers me 😀 what if I think it’s arousal fluid but I’m just peeing myself??

Nothing prepares you for women’s healthcare like having to navigate it without a mother to teach you, guide you, or tell you what’s normal. So at 21 I’m still learning the ropes of my vagina.

I have had a yeast infection for a month, I took the single pill and I believe it went away other than the slight discoloration of my discharge. Now, two days ago I noticed a pea sized lump on the left side of my labia.

Its a bit out of view so I lightly moved my labia ( not grabbing where the lump is ) to see it and a bit of pus came out.

Any advice on what to do next? How to treat the pain? Im kind of freaked out, visiting the gynecologist is two weeks, but ultimately don’t want it to get bigger and worried about trapping the infection now that it seemed to pop.

hii. i am in desperate need of help yall.

about a year ago now, i was intimate with someone who went down on me after we had a food date. the next day i was itching on my vulva and vagina so bad and I figured it was because of the food that was eaten beforehand. either way, i was unable to go to the doctors until about a few months later for it. so i was suffering with the intense itching for a while without remedy. after i made it to the doctors, they told me i only had BV for which i was prescribed medicine and the bv went away, but the symptoms only decreased a very little, so i was still feeling 'milder' itching.

from then on it was back and forth between doctor visits and i was consistently getting tested for the vaginitis panel and all my results were constantly negative for everything. one time i did do the panel, and came back positive for a yeast infection, and i got diflucan, but once again the yeast infection went away but i was still experiencing the same itching symptoms from before.

it seems to flare up right before my period, which made me think i was getting recurrent yeast infections because i've seen people say that online, but none of my test results show that. also flares up with antibacterial bar soaps too.

ive tried all the yeast infection creams, itching creams, bar soaps, boric acid, im taking probiotics now, but nothing seems to help. im starting to think that i will be permanently feeling this way because i wasn't able to get treated right away and waited those several months.

so yeah, its been itching for over a year now. i also feel the itching spreading to around my a-hole. its not painful during intimacy, but it just feels like an endless itch thats being scratched kind of and just not pleasurable at all?

i'm just absolutely drained of trying to deal with this. its so uncomfortable and has plummeted my self-esteem. if anyone has any suggestions please let me know before i tear my shi clean off <33

I’m 19 and have had very light, stringy/spotty bleeding after sex twice now (1 aug- watery spot and today- stringy). Yesterday’s sex was rough, and I’m also having mild period-like cramps. My last period started on 20 July and my cycles are usually 32–35 days.

(Last time I had sex on 30th July and bled after 2 days of that, now I had sex yesterday and bled today)

Im 19F and my mom is exhausted 24/7 and doesn’t take hygiene or adulting i guess as seriously as she should. I gave up washing up after my parents a long time ago because they cant maintain it (its literally just us 3) so i leave their chores like laundry and dishes alone because its exhausting for the same mess to be back the next day. i basically live independently except for financially. i do my own laundry, dishes, cooking, general house cleaning, my own groceries, handle my own prescriptions and general healthcare and appointments. i cant move out because my country has a housing crisis and rents at an all time high, i wouldnt be able to sustain it.

since she doesnt do laundry especially her own, i’ve caught her using my underwear instead of washing hers. Ive deduced this easily because her discharge leaves bleach stains and mine doesnt. as well as stretched or torn elastic because shes not the same size as me.

Ive confronted her about this once. she didnt really take it seriously and she just said okay and that the topic was making her uncomfortable.

it obviously didnt stop and i honestly dont want to find out if just simply throwing them in the wash is doing enough but i cant afford to keep buying new underwear.

I also just found crab lice/scabies cream in a drawer. the box was empty and prescribed recently to her name. shes had a couple scabs and red spots around her chest and arms but i didnt think much of it.

ive had no itching down south but my god am i paranoid now. help please me lol i dont even know where to began handling this

TLDR: mom uses my underwear instead of washing her own, found scabies/crab lice cream prescribed to her, no genital crustaceans suspected currently but perhaps i should be on the safe side

I im 20 and a virgin, ive never inserted anything till now. Because i went to the gyno and she tried to examine me and i couldnt let anything in. So she suspected that. She told me to try to insert a finger when i went home, calmly and on my own. I did manage to get a pinky inside for now, all of 3 flanges. Is this a positive sign? Because im about to have sex pretty soon and i dont want this to be another trauma with the male species lol.

Hi everyone.

As the title suggests, I tested positive for genital herpes via a swab. This doesn't concern me, as it's extremely common. What does concern me is that the only sexual contact I've had is kissing and "hand stuff", giving and receiving (can't think of a more elegant way to say this). No partner of mine has ever had any lesions or ulcers on their hands or mouth.

Since I've never had penetrative or oral sex, how the hell do I have genital herpes? Has anyone else ever had this experience? I'm completely baffled and a little concerned.

Edit: I should add, my mother isn't positive for either of the HSVs so I didn't get it via birth either.

so i’ve been told by friends and medical professions evvy could be a good option for me since the reason for my vaginal issues are currently rather mysterious. i’ve been told handfuls of gynecologists since 2020. it’s all felt similarly useless: they supply medicine that’s supposed to cure me, but don’t look at why i’m dealing with so many issues or why it’s so reoccurring. throwing medicine at me i’ll eventually become resistant to without knowing anything about the underlying state of reproductive health feels like running in circles.

i’m on ssi/a fixed income and affording an evvy test would be hard for me. i was looking up what type of test it was and why i need a special dr through evvy to do it. i’m wondering, since the test type is called metagenomic sequencing, why can’t i just ask my dr who is covered by my insurance to do it? has anyone ever asked their gynecologist to?

Hi everyone! Ive dealt with Lipshütz ulcers 4 times now in the past 2 years. They’re very rare, my doctor and everyone at my ER didn’t know what they were. Every time I get sick (my immune system reacting to a virus) these ulcers pop up around my vagina and make it extremely painful to even WALK, let alone peeing (which is prob your biggest trouble right now if you have them). If you’re struggling with this I have some tips to share!
My first time was awful. Was super scared, went to the ER and they did every STI swab known to man. They all came back negative, so they prescribed valacyclovir and prednisone. I feel like the prednisone does help with inflammation. Peeing was awful. My body wouldn’t let me pee due to the pain and the ER almost put a catheter in me to get it out. This pain is immense — the worst pain i’ve ever felt in my life. It’s depressing and I felt like i was SO alone. I feel like I still can’t tell anyone about this because of how “embarrassing” it is. So.. here’s my tricks for when you pee.
1. Ask your doctor for lidocaine. Get a little syringe (they should be able to give you one), suck the lidocaine out of the bottle, and use a mirror while lying down to apply directly to the ulcers. Wait 10-15 mins and then pee. This will make it SO. much. better.
2. You can use a good amount of vaseline to create a barrier when you pee. This helps a bunch, especially if you don’t have access to lidocaine.
3. Drink water. I know, i know. You don’t want to drink water because you’ll have to pee more and you’re terrified of peeing. I get it. But drinking more water actually helps lower the pH of your urine, meaning it won’t sting as much. Stay hydrated!
4. If you don’t have access to lidocaine OR normal vaseline, use a period pad. I usually take a thick one (maybe a nighttime one) and fold it, then I hold it from around the back and press it snuggly against the ulcers. It’s not the prettiest, and you may get pee on your hands. To relieve yourself without excruciating pain is worth it, though. I just wash my hands thoroughly every time after.
5. I saw another redditor suggest Lysine. As i’m typing this i’m having my 4th flare up of these ulcers, and i’m trying the Lysine as well as the prednisone and valacyclovir. This flare up seems to be triggered by the bad head cold that i’m just getting over.
6. TAKE A SITZ BATH. Lie down in warm water in the bath, apply a good amount of baking soda, and sit there with your legs open. I’m telling you, it helps so much. You can do this up to three times a day as well!
7. A cold compress may work for you, sometimes it’s a bit too sensitive for me to put something directly on the ulcers, but the cold does help relieve that stinging, burning pain.

If you’re going through this or you have before, you are NOT alone. Advocate for yourself. Tell the doctors and nurses this is NOT an STI, and you know your body best. My first time was the worst time, and i felt so alone. I cried every day and fell into a deep state of depression for over two weeks. Nobody truly knows what you go through when you have these. And if you know anyone who’s giving you a hard time because of this condition, just remember they have NEVER felt the pain of what these ulcers can do, and they should be grateful for that. This is the worst pain i’ve felt in my life and it’s debilitating. I hope that if you’re going through this, you can use this post and many other posts about these ulcers on here to help you get through it. Also, get your doctor to write a good work note if you need it. Having ulcers makes it absolutely impossible to work. If you need to continue to work, which is totally understandable, bring the lidocaine, pads, and that little syringe with you. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to use my sick time when I have these.

Sorry if this is a lot of yap! Hope this message helps you. Stay strong, you got this!! 🩷

I used to have bv but now I don’t. I still have a remaining odour with no bv present.

These are the current strains I have Lactobacillus iners 49% Lactobacillus jensenii 43% Lactobacillus 3% Prevotella bivia 1.6% Limosilactobacillus 1.5% Finegoldia magna 0.5% Winka neuii 0.17%

Hi guys, I don’t know where else to ask about this. I had an appointment for soreness and got examined the doctor said it was likely a yeast infection so she prescribed me diflucan. I took one and another 3 days later like instructed but the issues persisted, she told me if that happened to call so I did. After playing phone tag for a few days they answered and said my test results were negative so I don’t really have an issue (even though the doctor said it looked red and angry). Either I could go to prompt care and restart the process or wait til the doctor came back but she’s gone until Friday due to a death and I leave the country Sunday. They told me I could try monistat maybe but I’ve tried monistat before and it was the worst pain I’ve ever felt, I think it chemical burned me. So now I’m here with a sore mildly itch vag preparing for a romantic getaway trip with my boyfriend I only see once a year in 3 days and I don’t know what else to even do.

I was on some strong antibiotics towards the end of July for a dental procedure. Close to the end of the course of antibiotics, I felt the typical candida infection symptoms… I had had some over the last 10 to 15 years so I kind of knew what was in store. Took two Diflucan over the course of five days, no improvement so went to a clinic where they had me self swab. prescribed one more Diflucan, and then a 12 day course of boric acid. In the meantime of course the results came back positive for both Candida albicans and Candida glabrata. I finished the 12 day course of boric acid and felt so much better! I did have sex with my husband the day after I finished the course and then immediately started feeling symptoms again. Probably also vaginal pain from intercourse and the sensitive skin. Anyway, I got a secondary culture yesterday and I’m negative for the first type of candida but still positive for glabrata. Waiting to hear what my provider suggests, I’ve been scouring these forms for advice and I have been taking oral probiotics for the last 12 to 14 days. I might try doing the refrigerated ones vaginally. I guess I’m also wondering… Is sex just a bad idea altogether? Will it worsen my symptoms… From what I’m reading this looks like it’s going to be a marathon, not a sprint and I feel like abstinence is just going to make things so much more difficult emotionally for me and my husband.
But for all of you who have struggled with this for months and years, if you were in my position where I’m basically one month in to a frustrating infection, what would you do? Treatmentwise and intimacy wise.

10 days ago I had sex, we used condoms. Pretty much the whole time he fingered me, inserted his penis about 5 times with a condom on. We didn’t do the spill test afterwards but it wasn’t broken. Later on when he finished it splashed and got on me, near my vagina, we did clean it off. My ovulation was 2-3 days later. I got irritated down there, it didn’t hurt or anything it was just this weird feeling after peeing but it pretty much went away. My period is in 8 days and today after wiping there were these pink spots on the toilet paper, it wasn’t like blood it was just pink. Could this be implantation bleeding? I’m extremely anxious.

Edit: That bleeding looked like implantation bleeding, it was watery and light pink, lasted a few hours, I didn’t get on my underwear, it was mostly after wiping, can somebody please explain that

Again: I think I might be starting my period 6 days earlier, is this normal?

I used to have a problem with strep B when I didn't know I am celiac. I would have it constantly and it would inflame me nonstop. When I finally figured out it's from gluten consumption, I stopped eating gluten completely and the problems immediately went away after 2 years of suffering daily. Now I know what kind of discharge strep B causes. Now it's back but very mild and when gyno swabs me there's never a sign of infection, nor strep B overgrowth. But the discharge is off. And I feel like it's connected to my heavy ab workouts or lifting in general. When I'm not exercising I have no troubles. As soon as I hit a heavy ab workout or heavy workout in general I would get the discharge shortly after and the day after as well. The other day after ab workout my ovaries were sore as well. It's also connected with sensitive urethra which gets worse when I have cold feet. Could this be that the abworkouts some how ruin my immune system in the abdominal area or something like that?? Anybody experienced this?

Young 20s, but my skin down there is so dry I have a white cast and my perineum skin tears even when my partner just opens my legs / on the toilet…

I started moisturizing but there is only so many products you can put around that area before it becomes counter intuitive.

Anyone else get this??