allergic to semen??

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

hi all, this is my first post. i love this community. i have a problem though...

i am displeased. is it possible to be allergic--or at least very sensitive--to semen? my partner came inside of me for the first time a few days ago, and afterwards my pussy was very VERY angry. we tried having sex again that day but it hurt so much i had to ask him to stop! which pissed me off, to say the least, because i was otherwise having the time of my life. it was an intense burning pain. even now, a few days later, it's still angry & i worry it's gonna hurt to have sex again. i've been refraining in an effort to pacify it. this is insanity because before this happened, we'd been having sex just about non-stop for a week and a half (a slight exaggeration), with absolutely no soreness or pain on my part.

at this point i'm itchy & bleh. the itchiness it might have a little to do with the fact that i buzzed off most of the hair down there (which i don't normally do), and the short hairs are pokey & scratchy (not ingrown), but i think it's mostly still irritated from the other night. have any of you ever experienced this, having your pussy be extraordinarily irritated by semen? do you have any suggestions? besides using condoms (we have reasons for not using them), and other obvious solutions like having him pull out? hrm.

p.s. this is not a troll-- i'm using this account to remain anonymous because i don't want my friends/family/etc. to read this & know who i am... sorry for that.

Comments

[sadiedecayed.livejournal.com]

what about your discharge?
you might have an infection of some sort.
i was having unprotected sex with my boy for well over a year, and he'd cum in me every time, and i have never had any problems like yours except when i had a yeast infection. that's all. sorry i can't be more helpful.

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

thanks for your response... no abnormal discharge at all, though. the thing that made me think it was directly related to his semen was because it started hurting so significantly almost immediately after he came in me. i've also had this problem with past partners-- though not so significant, and we were always able to use condoms so it was never really much of an issue. that said, i've never had a yeast infection, so i wouldn't know one if it hit me in the face. are there tests for them? i wouldn't want to self-medicate if i don't have one. thanks! :)

[rockstarbob.livejournal.com]

http://www.vaginapagina.com/articles.php#Yeast Infections

:)

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

duh. *hits self in head*
thanks! :)

[ransim.livejournal.com]

It could be from PH imbalance, i use to have that problem, it eventually went away but it took time.

[bheansidhe.livejournal.com]

That's what I was thinking -- that he could be too acidic for her pH.

[katlynel.livejournal.com]

Other way around, actually. Semen is alkaline (basic), and vaginas are naturally acidic. This can result in irritation because the semen can upset the natural acidic pH of the vagina.

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

interesting. that sounds about right. do you remember how long it took to go away, approximately?

[ransim.livejournal.com]

well the irritation happened anytime we had sex for about a month, but during that time the amount of irritation lessened, like my body was adjusting to it.

I used balmex and nivea creme to make it more bearable. I still get it every so often, but not nearly as bad as it use to be.

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

ok, that's not too long. i was afraid you meant like years or something! :)

thanks for the tips, i'll try that next time.

[brandnewbeat.livejournal.com]

There's nothing to be embarassed about. I had the same problem with my (then) boyfriend about a year ago. I checked out this website: Intimate Allergies (www.allergies.about.com/library/weekly/aa121800a.htm). But for short-term relief, a warm and wet washcloth, anti-inflammatory pills (like Advil), and peeing directly after intercourse, which helps flush out the semen, are all really helpful.

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

thanks for that link & the advice! i will try the washcloth & advil next time. peeing after intercourse actually makes it hurt worse for me, i've found, because it seems caustic on my already irritated vagina. BAD PUSSY! i'm angry at it, can you tell? :)

of the symptoms listed on that site, it doesn't sound like i have a severe allergy, if i have one at all:

"The localized reactions can include vaginal burning, pain, swelling, redness, or blisters forming within 30 minutes of exposure to semen."

i only have the burning/pain/swelling/redness. no blisters, thank god!

i'm hoping that maybe this will go away over time, as my pussy gets more desensitized to his semen.

thanks again!

[brandnewbeat.livejournal.com]

i'm hoping that maybe this will go away over time, as my pussy gets more desensitized to his semen.

It did for me.

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

You should try to pee after sex anyway, because it helps keep away the urinary tract infections. I know it stings, but getting the UTI too would just suck!

I had that reaction to semen at first too, and it did go away with time. It still happens occassionally, but I think now it depends on what he eats and drinks (it burned today, and he had a glass of wine and a beer yesterday at a wedding, so I suspect the alcohol and dehydration was the cause - the semen also smelled different, probably because of that and the meat he ate, because he doesn't normally eat meat or drink alcohol often.) I think any change like that can trigger some burning from time to time for me, but mostly it doesn't happen anymore. Give it a month or two, and see what happens. In the meantime, keep him hydrated, and ask him to try to stay away from spicy food and alcohol. Good luck! :)

[krasota.livejournal.com]

Do you have any allergies? If my husband eats soy or papaya, I have severe reactions to his semen.

Does he use a different laundry or body soap? You could react to that.

It's also possible that you're reacting to the change in pH. Semen is alkaline, while our vaginas are acidic. It could've been that he ate something which made him very alkaline that day, or possibly he's always that way.

It is exceedingly rare to be allergic to semen itself, but it's possible. Generally folks react to one of the other culprits I mentioned above.

If you don't want to maintain your anonymous account, you can always ask the moderators to post a question for you anonymously. You can find their information on the userinfo page for the community. :)

Good luck!

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

that's interesting how it's tied to what he eats. i'm generally a very un-allergic person, in that i don't have any allergies that i know of (thank god). however, i do have extremely sensitive skin (i can't really wear earrings or anything because of it)-- so the suggestion that the irritation could be caused by a pH balance difference seems quite plausible to me. i wonder what can be done about this... hrm.

i don't mind having an anonymous account, but thank you for the suggestion! :)

[rusty-sunshine.livejournal.com]

I've actually had the same problem, though not to the degree you seem to.
After being militant about condom use for over 7 years, I finally decided that since I'm on the pill and in a serious monogamous relationship, I'd go without them every now and again. Afterwards, I do notice that there seems to be a slight burning/irritation that lasts a few hours. It's not bad enough to make me stop, but it's definitely there. We haven't tried pulling out yet, but even the precum seems to do it to me.

And yeah, I've been tested for everything in the book, and he's clean, so that's not it...I think my vagina just isn't used to semen yet.

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

interesting... fortunately, the precum doesn't seem to cause any problems for me. glad to know i'm not the only one, though. thanks for your response!

[bheansidhe.livejournal.com]

I'm not clear; your partner came inside you for the first time -- is that the first time for this partner, or your first time ever?

If intercourse is painful, you could have a yeast infection or bacterial vaginitis. It could be "honeymoon cystitis" -- a urinary tract infection caused by the friction of rubbing back and forth over your urethra during sex, forcing in bacteria. (You should always pee after sex to flush your urethra and prevent UTIs, even if you don't have one).

As far as his semen goes -- could it be too acidic? Or since you've been having a lot of sex this week, you could have internal abrasions from the friction, and his fluid could be irritating that. I really don't know. If you have more painful intercourse, you SHOULD SEE A DOCTOR because you could potentially have PID (pelvic inflammatory disease) which will make you very, very sick and possibly sterile.

I don't mean to frighten you. Just please take your health and your body seriously, and go to a doctor. Go to a planned parenthood clinic if you're too embarassed to talk to your family doctor. Good luck!

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

oh my.

well, to start, it was the first time this partner came in me. in the past, other partners have come in me & it was also kind of painful-- but it never posed a huge problem because we could use condoms then. i'm hesitant to think it's anything like a yeast infection or bacterial vaginitis, because this happened literally only hours after he came in me for the first time-- whereas before he came, we'd been having sex almost non-stop for a week, with absolutely no pain. i know it's not "honeymoon cystitis", fortunately, because i already went through that right after i lost my virginity 3 and a half years ago (boy, was that a pleasant surprise!). i do try to pee every time after intercourse... but fortunately i'm not terribly UTI-prone. i haven't had one since that first time.

it sounds to me like it might be a pH problem as you've suggested, aggravated by the fact that we've been having a lot of sex. what kind of pain is caused by a PID? i don't know anything about it, it seems like that kind of thing would be an aching muscle/flesh pain, rather than a burning skin type pain (which is what i was having).

thanks for your response!

[rockstarbob.livejournal.com]

My doctor once told me that it's common for women to experience disruptions in their vaginal health when they get with a new partner and have a lot of sex. Sometimes the PH and/or bacteria can be irritating to your body. It could take time to get used to it -- that's what happened to me. You could feel the effects of an infection right away, too -- that's entirely possible, according to my doc.

This sounds like something worth making a call to your doctor for. Good luck, and I hope you're feeling better soon so you can get back down to business. ;)

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

thanks for the info!

[amiga500.livejournal.com]

I could be wrong but . . .isn't semen basic?

[bheansidhe.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I thought of that AFTER I hit "post comment." krasota's answer clarified the issue, and the people who talked about intimate allergies had great info. Better luck for my brain next time. ;)

[elfbabe.livejournal.com]

It IS possible to be allergic to semen, though it's rather rare. There are some articles about it at http://www.actionlove.com/cases/case9591.htm and http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/living/health/conditions_diseases/allergies/6140432.htm .

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

thanks for those links! it sounds like i might possibly be mildly allergic, or maybe the irritation is coming from a pH inbalance... thanks again!

[alitaorg.livejournal.com]

do you use lube? whenever i have an unhappy cooch that screams with stinging when i pee after sex, it's usually been either after rough sex or sex for the first time in a long time. i learned that it was due to my vagina getting something close to a carpet burn - ouch. lubricated condoms obviously provide a bit of lube, so don't be afraid to use some without the condom.

[kalijean]

My skin reacts to semen. If it stays on me for more than a few seconds, I get a bad rash.

[fakingsincerity.livejournal.com]

after having sex with my girlfriend recently, and bringing her to another orgasm with my hands after I came, I drew a cute little heart on her stomach (also a little oak tree, but the heart was truly adorable) with the fluid on my fingers. Much to our surprise and mutual amusement, the semen washed off in the shower, but her skin had turned a deeper pink where I had doodled, and the heart stayed for hours afterward. Just think of it as a sexy and impermanent form of tattoo!

[kalijean]

Buy some henna ;)

[pillu.livejournal.com]

that happened to me once, but it wasnt quite so cute. My fiance pulled out and came on my stomach.....and it was in a little pool, when I showered, I had this little red patch that looked like a burn mark, it was so freaky hehe. so I teased him and said he had branded me hehe.

Had similar issue

[beinaughty.livejournal.com]

Well I had issues when my husband would cum in me and still do. I am sensitive to all kinds of scented things and have to use very mild douches. I would pee b4 sex and after. The other thing I would do was make sure I sat up right afterward so most would come out. I get yeast infections like 99% of the time he does it so we limit it to like once every 3 months. Some women cant handle it others can on a daily basis. I think that is not so good. Well anyhow if he wasnt freshly showered he could have been sweaty and that can cause a burning sensation or if he did just shower and the soap didnt rinse clean. Maybe the soap he uses your vagina cant handle. It could be so many things you'll have to take not of change to see and then it will make things better in the long run. Yeast and bladder infections can cause a nasty mix with male cum. Good Luck and hope you find the source cause it is a great feeling to have your man cum in you and you feel that heartbeat...he always get to feel that so not fair.

[broken-dreams2.livejournal.com]

Hey,
I'm so so glad I found this post! I have been searching everywhere and havn't been able to find anything.

I'm having this problem also, Everytime that my boyfriend has cum inside of me it is this intesne to the point of crying burning inside of me.

I know I don't have a yeast infection or anything of the sort, so if you could let me know how you got any relief from it that would be great,

[ajaiaajaja.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure it's a pH issue, like someone mentioned above. Vaginas are acidic, semen is basic. If you have sensitive skin, it makes a lot of sense that such a delicate area would be irritated by a difference in pH. I've actually wrestled with issues with pain during sex for years since I first made this post... The initial irritation I described here never went away, not even when no cum was involved. I finally seem to have solved it by using RepHresh (http://www.lildrugstore.com/RephreshCat.aspx?Category=b79a2267-df1c-490c-8276-503d415c3a60), which balances the pH of the vagina (makes it more acidic, like it should be). This stuff is a godsend.

As for fixing the problem of his semen causing irritation... I don't know how to solve that, sorry :( Since I first ran into this issue, I've always either used condoms or had the guy pull out before cumming. I'm too scared of how much it hurts! Fortunately, I don't want to get pregnant yet, and I'm not yet in a position to be having condomless sex. I don't know what I'll do when I get there. Maybe using repHresh after you have sex would help... I dunno. Good luck!