Hi, I have always been one to keep myself clean and all. I try to take a bath everyday, and I wash everywhere. I have a 10 year IUD birth control method, and I have had it for two years and it has done wonders. I have had pap smears and everything and they keep coming back normal so I am not sure what is wrong with me. Before I am sexually active I am fine, but it seems like after it is done and during the day the rest of the time or at night, I start discharging or feeling really wet down there, and I do not know why. Whenever I go to the bathroom I wipe and I try to clean off the discharge off of my panties and everything, but when I go back there is always more. I am taking azo yeast three times a day for an infection but it doesn't seem to be working. The discharge is sometimes light brown, and sometimes when I wipe it looks like their could almost be a little blood in it or atleast the color is that way. The smell isn't like a dead fish or anything, and I don't really know the real smell of yeast, but I am kind of concerned. I don't just get it though when I am sexually active, I get it sometimes before I am. I am also wondering if with my IUD and everything, if after I am done with sexual intercourse everything comes out instead of staying in me, like my fiancee's cum and ofcourse my vaginal fluids, because I can go to the bathroom and I have liquid so to speak all over me, in my panties and in my vagina region. If anyone could help me I would appreciate it, because I am really confused, and keeping myself clean doesn't seem to working like it should.

Hi.

I just read your concerns and actually, yours is a very common problem among women your age, especially if using IUD. There are a lot of reasons to have vaginal infections, other than being sexually transmitted. A very common one is perineal hygiene or the way how you wash the vaginal region. It is not enough to wash it, but you have to do it in the proper direction- the urethral area as the most sterile towards the anal region which is the most unsterile or dirtiest. If you do it otherwise, that's where the problem usually starts. E.coli or normal anal flora are the ones usually causing vaginal or urinary infections because of this, because any normal flora outside their habitat starts to make infections in those areas. After you wash, make sure that the area is dry before you wear your undies. Also, IUD can be a very good media once you have the infection.

To help you with your problem, start doing the perineal hygiene properly and use vaginal suppositories with combined Metronidazole and Miconazole (usually Neo-Penotran or Flagystatin)1 suppository at bedtime for around 7-10 days with coital abstinence (no sex) within the treatment area. The suppository should be inside you for at least 5 hrs but the longer it stays inside during the night, the better. In the morning when you wake up, do expect some of the meds to come out. It only means that the amount of the meds you need was already absorbed. Try to look for proper directions in using these suppositories and how to store them. Also, use only cotton panties and don't wear tight jeans. Try to avoid using thongs and bikinis for a while.

You would expect improvements with these tips, but I suggest that you go to your gynecologist so you could be checked properly, especially that you are using IUD. I am also a gynecologist myself, and I really would like to check my patients first before starting any treatment on them to make sure that the plan I have for them would be the best for them. So go get yourself checked first and your doctor will guide you properly on this. Goodluck !