Hi girls,

I'm currently left wide awake at 2:30am with an unbearable itch and I just can't stand it anymore!

It all started when I seemed to start getting this problem with my previous partner, months ago, where I would get thrush quite frequently (usually in periods we were having sex to the point of breaking the skin, you know how it is with young relationships). It started to become a problem on maybe my third or fourth round of Cannesten (spelling?), and we thought that maybe I could have had an allergy to condoms. So we stopped using condoms altogether, and I switched to using the Yaz pill soon after.

Not much changed after switching to oral contraception, I was still getting painful thrush more frequently than ever. I made sure that I urinated, showered and cleaned up EVERY TIME, IMMEDIATELY after sex. None of this seemed to help. Then my mum told me that my boyfriend could have had it all along, or even been a carrier. It made sense, and I got him to see a doctor and go on a course of Cannesten. Nothing changed.

My previous partner and myself split up in February of this year. Shortly after, I was raped by one of my dad's closest friends. I had a fling or two whilst getting myself back on my feet, and I've been seeing my current partner for a solid 3-4 months. Through all of this, my symptoms never really ceased, and only seemed to get worse.

I've been told that my current symptoms could be a psychosomatic side-effect of my sexual assault ordeal, as Cannesten does very little to ease the effects anymore. As someone with a high libido, it's starting to have a serious effect on my sex life, and at times, can hinder my abilities to undergo normal day-to-day tasks (even walking, urinating and showering).

I'm not even sure if it's all been thrush anymore. I've had a good 3-4 vaginal swabs, and even a blood test, and everything has come back clear, despite the symptoms. Doctors have made no comments at all, really. I feel a bit hopeless.

Today's been a particularly bad day for my symptoms, although this isn't uncommon for me anymore. I had trouble engaging in intercourse with my partner last night, without the need of a fair amount of lube. I was so sore and achy immediately after, and woke up this morning with an extremely sore and swollen vulva. The swelling hasn't gone down, but the pain and itching has kept me up all night. There has never been any kind of worrying discharge, just the usual really. I'm just starting to wonder if it's really been thrush at all? I'm just sick of the pain.

It seems to happen a lot more around my period, which strikes me as odd. And I can even go a week or two sometimes without experiencing any symptoms at all, other than some mild aching.

Does anyone suffer from anything similar to this, and can anyone offer any kind of advice at all? I'm just at a loss, at this point. Please help!

Thanks & sorry for the long post ❤️