yeast imbedded in vagina walls

[simplybasics.livejournal.com]

i read in a comment thread on here a couple days ago that, over time, yeast can become imbedded in the walls of your vagina.

i thought that sounded rather scary..so,

is there truth to this? if so, how much? is there a way to help remove it?

Comments

[neaira.livejournal.com]

It's true. In junior high I visited the gynecologist and they did some tests on a particular nasty yeast infection. It turned out I had a high yeast content in my body. I was put on a yeast free diet for awhile... I think it was about a year? Wasn't too bad, and now I only get yeast infections when I've been on antibiotics.

[simplybasics.livejournal.com]

what types of things were you allowed to eat on the yeast free diet?

[neaira.livejournal.com]

This was years ago, but I'll try to remember.

I ate a lot of steamed chicken, lots of vegetables, rice... Some fruit, although things like oranges have the kind of sugars that promote yeast growth. Watermelon and apples were okay, though.

I drank a lot of water, cut way back on juice, drank sugar-free soda (think Diet Rite brand).

http://www.womentowomen.com/digestionandgihealth/candida.asp That site right there has a lot of the guidelines I followed, although my exact diet plan was outlined by a nutritionist my mom took me to.

[free-me07.livejournal.com]

Google didn't turn up any results for yeast embedded in the vaginal walls. That sounds rather odd to me, but it may just be the wording. It is certainly possible for a person to suffer from chronic yeast infections or have a chronic overgrowth of yeast in the body. Yeast is present in every person's body, but certain people have more difficulty controlling yeast and may have to eat a special diet (like the person in the comment above). This is especially common in immunocompromised people.

If you have not had problems with chronic/recurring yeast infections, it is nothing to worry about. I'll leave you a link to a wikipedia article that has some reliable information about yeast as well as some links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candidiasis

[mermaiddrowning.livejournal.com]

I was the one who posted about this. It's usually only cause when there is a yeast over growth in the body. Some women with vulvodynia have yeast embedded in their vagina tissues which causes the constant burning sensation and once they go on a yeast free diet (for months or even years), after yeast die body and the body re-balances the burning stops. However, this theory about yeast and the vulvodynia link has not been medical proven but some women have cured themselves this way. Also, you have have a yeast over growth and yeast embedded in the vagina tissue without having vulvodynia, that was just an example.

It really isn't someting you need to worry about it, it's a rare thing that happens. If you are really interested in learning more about yeast and the yeast free diet, I highly recommend a book called The Yeast Connection : A Medical Breakthrough or The Yeast Connection and Women's Health both are by William G. Crook.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/104-4219256-6803118?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=stripbooks%3Arelevance-above&field-keywords=yeast%20connection

[pinkdramon.livejournal.com]

So this is why I keep reading so much about women, before they are diagnosed with Vulvodynia, they are diagnosed with Chronic Yeast Infections and/or Thrush instead?

[mermaiddrowning.livejournal.com]

Probably, when some women first develop vulvodynia, doctors who don't know about vuvlodynia or think that it's so rare, they automatically treat it as a yeast infection, even if the women's test show she does NOT have a yeast infection, which ultimately makes the vulvodynia worse and more difficult to treat and manage when they are properly diagnosed.

Also, a lot of women with vulvodynia do believe that there is some type of connection to yeast that has not been proven yet. And many women with vulvodynia (myself included) start off with an actual yeast infection and then it develops into vulvodynia.

[simplybasics.livejournal.com]

thank you very much. that was very informative. i am now a little bit more educated :-)

[mermaiddrowning.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. I try to info as many women as I can about vulvodynia because so many have never heard of it and don't know a few things they can do to hopefully prevent it from every happening to them. I never want any other woman to go through the type of pain I went through.

[wingsoflace.livejournal.com]

Wow, this sounds pretty much exactly like what I experience.. a lot of itching and burning/discomfort, but whenever I go to the doctor they tell me I don't have yeast and what I'm feeling is "normal" :(

If you don't mind me asking, how do you handle having sex? It's really begun to be a problem with me lately.. all the burning and discomfort is just too much for me to handle, and I always have to stop.

Anyway, thanks for the tip, I never looked into vulvodynia before, and I will now!

[wingsoflace.livejournal.com]

Oh, and like you, I used to have really severe, frequent YI's about a year ago and now it's just turned into this. Also, I meant to ask you, what is the "proper" way to treat vulvodynia? I've been managing my "yeast" with boric acid and avoiding sugar, supplementing with acidophilus, etc.

[mermaiddrowning.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. If you don't have any STI'd or any infection that myabe causing your symptoms, you probably do have vulvodynia. My vulvodynia was so bad I couldn't have sex, there was no way possible, the pain was too excurciating. Mine started off as minor itching and burning which was somehwat manageable and felt like a yeast infection (without the discharge, I've never had discharge or smell with infections anyway), until the doctor kept prescribing me topical medications. Those made the pain a million times worse and the vuvlodynia became so intense, non-stop vaginal burning day and night. And because of the pain me pelvic muscles became so tight, I develope pelvic floow dysfunction. It was a horrible expeerience. I'm not trying to scare you, I'm just being honest. I really hope youd on't have vulvodynia.

Treatments vary, so women cure themselves by going on a yeast free diet (which can take up to months or even years to stop the burning), some women get better over time, some need surgery, some are recove by using anti-depressants. I finaly found relief for the constant burning by tkaing an anti-depressant called Effexor. It's worked for some women and not for others. I was pain free about 3-4 months after taking it and stayed on it for about 9 months to prevent a relapse. Once I was out of pain, then I could have sex again.

Really the best thing is to avoid sex while you're in pain because it can make the vulvodynia worse or it can send the worng singal to you body and brain about sex. It can make you fearful of having sex or possible even develop into vaginisums.

My advice to you would be to read webiste and article that you can find online about vulvodynia. When you find a really informative article you like, print it out and bring it to your Gyn. A lot of gyn's have never heard of vulvodynia. Consider seeing a Vulvar Specialist. The are perfect for helping you figure out the best treatment for vvd but be warned, they are often VERy expensive and most do not take insurance. mine didn't and now I have about $4,300 in medical debt. But in all honesty, it was worth it to stop that pain and live a normal life again. Also there is a vvs/vvd community, post your story over there and ask the women (I am there too) what they think.


Here's ana rticle about VVD/VVS and other vulvar conditions my doctor wrote
(just fyi there are pics that aren't work safe):
http://www.ourgyn.com/article_retrieve.php?articleid=63#

Here's a link to a forum where my doctor answers questions about vvs/vvd for free, you can also post your story there and see what he thinks:
http://www.hisandherhealth.com/cgi-bin/ubb_newshe/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum;f=2;hardset=0;start_point=0;DaysPrune=0&r=nfx

and finally, here's Dr glazer's site, he has a lot of good info:
http://www.vulvodynia.com/faq.htm

Try to post your story in the guest book, the women there are very supportive and full of wonderful info:
http://www.vulvodynia.com/postform.htm



Also, if you wouldn't mind be more specific could you please tell me your story, what happened exactly? how did your symptoms start off and how did they progress? What treatments have you tried? What symptoms do you have now? Is the burning in your vulva or vagain? Does you vuvla hurt? Does it hurt to sit? How does sex feel? What tests have doctors done on you? What supplments are you tkaing? Does anything relieve your pain ever? How many doctors have you seen? What are their thoughts? Do you think you have a yeast over growth? and so on... Post your reply to this at the vulvodynia community and I can help you some more.

http://community.livejournal.com/vvs_community/

Best of luck.

[wingsoflace.livejournal.com]

I joined the community and am waiting for approval.. I'll post the whooooole long story for you when I am approved! I just want to add another thank you, again- just the words "post... so I can help you some more" are really helpful and calming, knowing that I can talk to someone else so I can figure this out. :)

[mermaiddrowning.livejournal.com]

You are very welcomed, I'm happy to help. I wish I had some more there to tlak to when I first developed vvd symtptoms. It was a really depressing time. ANything that you ever need to tlak about, I'm here.