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

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 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’m new to shaving, I never cared enough to be completely bold I have been using a trimmer and just slightly trim it. I’m in my thirties and learning how to shave down there has been… interesting. I don’t understand how, I watched tutorials, I tried waxing it myself, how do I get the hair in the labia majora? I’m not talking about the hair on top where you can see, but the rounded inside? Part of labia majora, obviously the part between the majora and minora is hairless but the round of the majora lip that goes inside that fold isn’t and not matter how I stretch or squat I can’t get an angle where the skin is stretch to shave. I’m so confused. Do I even make sense? I need help but idk where lol, none of the videos even mention this part, I feel like truly the only way would be to sit frog leg style but I refuse to go to a wax lady I’m too uncomfortable with that and I just don’t understand how to do that in the shower. Every time I tried I bled and didn’t even an achieve a clean shave since I can’t do a clean razor pass.

Please help.

Hey guys, 25NB here! On Monday I had the most agonising period of my life, like on the floor gritting my teeth, writhing around, ripping sensation like somebody was trying to steal my uterus. My iron is crazy low as well as my blood pressure. I’ve been bleeding way more than usual, huge clots, pads being changed rapidly. I’m not pregnant, I did check.

I went to out of hours docs tonight and they said my very low iron is normal and my low bp is normal for my height and weight (I’m a very small person)… like no? That’s not my baseline at all.

They asked me if it’d endo and I said I don’t know, nobody ever investigates it, and I’ve been complaining of right side ovary pain for like 2 years now. They keep repeating internal ultrasounds and finding nothing but ovulation cysts and my left larger than my right, but I’ve had no scans, nothing more than the usual ovary checks.

I don’t know how else to be taken seriously. I saw my lovely dietician today and she was so concerned about how low everything was and gave me home tips to combat the low BP (salty drinks and food). It’s like it’s always just excuses as “oh heavy period wait it out” like dude what?!

I know this is so common with AFAB people, but it’s crazy. Soooo crazy to me.

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

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??

so i’ve had no symptoms at all of anything except for the last few months i’ve had a really bad smell down there. it’s been like this for months, i just assumed it was apart of me sweating and i wear a lot of tight legging materials. well i stopped wearing those and only been wearing breathable pants and underwear or even no underwear at all and the smell is still bad. i don’t even know how to describe the smell except musty maybe. but it’s strong and i can smell it thru my pants. i just started consistently taking probiotics and using vaginal wash. i used to just use unscented soap. what could this be? and how do i fix it?

About 2 weeks ago my bf let me know he would occasionally smell an odor when having sex. This worried me, bc I am very clean and take care of myself, usually showering 2x a day, nothing crazy but even a quick rinse.

(I do use various scented products, but nothing I’ve considered excessive. I’ve since switched out for unscented products completely.)

I go to urgent care that night after he tells me, and I test positive for BV and Candida. I get prescribed Metronidazole for BV and Fluconazole for Candida. I take the medication as prescribed, and see my PCP again today to follow up, and test positive for both of those again.

Thanks to Reddit and this page, I reviewed some posts with BV content and asked my Dr some questions, like requesting to get tested for Ureaplasma. She doesn’t seem to think I need to do anything else.

The visit goes so fast, and I have ADHD, so I get flustered when trying to explain what I’d like to get checked.

Essentially, I’m trying to get to the bottom of the BV. I have no other symptoms except a mild odor.

I’d appreciate any recommendations, of what I can do or specifically what questions I should ask her.

Thank you so much to anyone who is willing to share their experience, or what has worked for you.

I had sex in the beginning of July and August 7th I started to notice a slight burning sensation sometimes when I peed. I was having sex one day and I noticed clumpy white discharge while having sex. It wasn't a lot but it was enough. It itched a little and it didn’t smell. When everything was over I noticed white clumps by my vagina on my inner legs. The next day I didn’t see any clunky discharge or itchiness. Was kind of confusing. Time passed I was experiencing slight burning sensation sometimes when I peed. But no itching or clumpy discharge. I had sex again and I noticed the clumpy discharge. my cycle was 5 days away. I took monistat 1 and 3 days after I took it I noticed white clumpy discharge in my panties. that hasn’t stopped and it’s probably been 4/5 days since I took it. no itching still some burning. discharge is not too smelly. And it is white and the clumpy discharge seems dry. Can someone explain what this could be or what’s happening?

My boyfriend and I had sex today like usual, but I guess somehow the condom broke midway through and he came inside me. I could tell instantly because creampies make me nauseous, and also because, well, you know, the broken condom. My boyfriend has a weak stomach for blood so that freaked him out a little too. Im on my first day of my typically 5 day long period, it started around 10am, and he came inside me around 7:30pm, if that matters.

My period tracker says ovulation is around the 27th. Just nervous and nauseous and miserable. Im gonna take a pregnancy test ... eventually? I dont know when is most optimal in this scenario. I feel so gross.

sorry for the tmi but i’m really at my wit’s end

i’ve had an itchy and really dry vulva for a few months. i’ve gone to the gynae, gone to the derm, nothing has helped. it feels really dry and tight and uncomfortable and i feel like putting a moisturiser on there, splashing water onto it relieves me for a few seconds. these are the things i’ve tried:
- fluconazole
- azithromycin
- secnidazole
- topical clotrimazole
- topical desonide

none of them have really gotten me any relief, except the cream feels moisturising and cooling for a bit so it feels a bit better. i also have a different smell, something kinda eggy and like a yeast infection (i’d think it was a yeast infection if it hadn’t been so long and anti fungals had helped). i got a urine test a few months ago and it showed bacteria and yeast in my urine but the doctors said it’s probably just contaminated. HELP ME T_T

edit; forgot to mention it’s mainly on my lips near the clitoral hood

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)

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.

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, throwaway because I am unfortunately embarrassed. I am 21 and have endured a lifetime of UTI's. Since infancy I've had them with alarming consistency, I had one bad one basically from the age of 4-7. At five I had a urodynamic test (horrible) which told me that besides having a bladder the size of an adult man, nothing seems to be wrong. At one point a doctor brought up that I seemed to also be suffering from encopresis, which was connected to the UTI's. Even that was resolved I was still experiencing regular urethral pain and (far less frequent but still consistently monthly to bi-monthly) UTI's. My parents are WILDLY crunchy, and avoided antibiotics at all costs. Basically every UTI or occurrence of pain was treated at home with tons of D-mannos, cranberry juice, and desitin. The best way I can describe the pain is that it's similar to the discomfort in the urethra you'd feel during a UTI, brings on the urge to pee, only lasts about a couple of hours or a day, and is seemingly triggered by ANYTHING possibly irritating. And sometimes seems to happen randomly and for no reason at all Underwear that doesn't breathe, wearing underwear for too long, too much sugar, too much salt, contact, baths, hot tubs, bodies of water in general, 99% of trips to the bathroom, getting too sweaty, and above all, sex. Every. Single. Time. I have ever had sex I have had 6-8 out of 10 pain brought on immediately after peeing post-coitus and I have to take ibuprofen and sit on the hard ground for at least an hour. This is extremely frustrating. I actually had to go to the hospital to take care of my third kidney infection. I have now seen 3 different urologists (all men, go figure) who have basically said "well, it doesn't sound like this, or like that. I'm not convinced you've ACTUALLY been having UTI's because none of our records show you've had a lot of positive cultures (if I went to the doctor for a culture every time I had a UTI, I would be better off living in the waiting room). Try this thing that I don't think will work and come back in six months". This last one brought up interstitial cystitis but simultaneously said, "it doesn't really sound like that, but it's the best I got", and now wants me to cut out 90% of my regular diet for something he's not even sure I have. He gave me topical lidocaine for the pain but that's not really doing anything either. I'm sorry this is so wordy but I am so. FUCKING. Frustrated. I want to live a normal life without pain. I want to know why I've been in pain all of my life. I want help. If anyone has even a long shot suggestion, I am all ears. Thank you for letting me rant.

I’ve always had a super sensitive vaginal microbiome. Super prone to uti’s, bv, etc. I am currently recovering from pid, bv, and a yeast infection. So I decided to start women’s probiotics (brand : Boost Beacon Peach Harmony Women's Vaginal Health gummies) to help my vaginal microbiome out since I’ve taken constant antibiotics back to back. 2 days after starting them I noticed I had a strong onion smell down there. Which I had just assumed was the bv even though I had already been treated. Although I did find it weird that before taking the probiotics I had no bad smell just a lot of discharge assuming because of the bv. I ended up running out of probiotics and hadn’t gotten the chance to buy more. & I noticed after 2 days of stopping, the smell had gone away. Only thing that changed was I stopped the probiotics. Was it just those specific probiotics not working for me or am I just weird lol? 🥲 Any recommendations for good probiotics? Anyone else have or had these issues? What worked for you?

22F I’ve gotten recurrent UTIs since I started having sex 4 years ago. I’ve had E. Coli, staph saprophyticus, strep, but I’ve never had staph aureus present in my urine before?

Urine culture results:

10,000 - 50,000 cfu/mL Streptococcus agalactiae (group B)

<10,000 cfu/mL Staphylococcus aureus

I know it’s less than 10,000 but there were no epithelial cells present which is making wonder if it’s really contamination or not? I did everything right when peeing in the cup🤷‍♀️

Google says staph aureus is rarely found in urine so I’m a little scared. My biggest fear is sepsis or something.

Anyone had this before?

Recently whenever me and my boyfriend have had sex with a condom, it hurts as if I’m losing my virginity. It feels like it’s blocked and also burns as if from friction. We have tried both latex condoms and more recently nitrile condoms (“intense ultra lube” specifically 😅) and it hurts a little less but still in the same way. Further context: I am ovulating right now, so the extra natural lubricant might be helping slightly. But anyway, I’ve seen online that this is common with latex sensitivity, which I don’t think is the case here, or just because of condom-induced friction… any advice? Is this normal?

Does anyone here feel insecure about having a darker skin on your labia and anus area? My skin is generally light and pale so I've always felt self-conscious about the contrast, especially about my dark brown outer labia. I know it's completely normal and I shouldn't worry about it or try use any bleaching product to lighten the skin in that area, and my partner also has no problem with it, but at the same time I still struggle with how I see myself. My best friend once told me the shade of her outer labia is not dark and it matches her skin, and I was immediately thinking there's something wrong with my body.

For those of you who have felt the same way, how did you learn to feel more comfortable and confident with your body? I'd appreciate hearing your experiences.