Could this be yeast?

[siestapixie]

Hi,
About two weeks ago I finished a 7 day course of Bactrim when I wasn't sure if I had a UTI or if this was IC. I still have not been diagnosed with IC, so now I am wondering if my current symptoms could be more of a yeast related problem. In the past week as I am approaching my period again, I have gotten reddness, irritation, and some burning around my vagina and vulva. I'm following the IC diet and that has helped (for about 2 weeks now) with most of the burning with urination and frequency I had then. I sleep through the night only getting up once, have a decent urinary stream again, and don't ever have any pelvic area pain (like from my bladder). My vaginal area doesn't seem swollen, and I have no unusual discharge or smell. It's just red most of the time and irritated, but not extremely so like in vulvodynia where a q-tip touching me would send me to the ceiling or anything. Just an uncomfortable feeling. So I've been rinsing off everytime I pee, and using some pure sweet almond oil when necessary.

Does anyone else experience these symptoms as part of IC, or could this be yeast??? I just need to know if maybe my urine, if it is acidic, could cause this to happen at this point in my cycle due to hormones changing. And maybe it will clear up after my period? I just don't know what to think, and I have no insurance or doctor to be able to see right away. Please let me know what YOU experience in your "region" so I may know if this is just normal for ICers.
Thanks a lot, and hope everyone has a painfree day!!

Donna

[ICNDonna]

If you think you might have a yeast infection, you really should be tested to be sure. There are effective treatments available.

Warm healing thoughts,
Donna

[siestapixie]

Hi everyone,
Just a quick update on my above questions.....I went to Planned Parenthood to get checked for yeast and they DID find I had it. This is a first for me, so I hope the Diflucan works well. They gave me 2 doses to take 5 days apart. All that redness and irritation, and sometimes itching was from yeast mainly, but only time will tell if I will still have IC symptoms regardless. At this point I'm just not sure how much could have been yeast in the last 2 weeks, but I did have a lot of urinary symptoms even before all that. The funny thing is I really didn't have any weird discharge or odors, so it was confusing to me because I had never had a yeast infection in my life and expected the fullblown symptoms to be present. Just goes to show, you can have it without having a lot of the usual discharge, etc. I sure hope my problem clears up with the Diflucan.
BTW, I gave in and had chocolate ice cream yesterday with one prelief, and had NO PROBLEM from it. I was sooooo happy to have chocolate!! But I will still be very cautious with everything I eat until I know more of what's happening in my body. Thanks for the support and warm thoughts Donna!!

[Cassaundra]

I hope you feel better soon! Difilucan does not work for me, but hopefully it works for you! Yeast infections are very yucky....

I know a lot of women that get YI's from antibiotics, so maybe from now on you should get a dose of Diflucan when you get prescribed some antibiotics to be on the safe side....