Vaginal Discomfort, Discharge With No Odor, Burning. Had DVT In Pelvis During Pregnancy. Could This Be Hormonal?

Posted on Sat, 14 Jul 2012

Question: Hi there,

I have had a re occuring issue with my vagina since Nov last year- At this time I was pregnant and put it down to hormones! I was swabbed and checked internally and nothing came back from swabs. I have what feels like a horrible shadow feeling down below followed then by discharge with no odor- and what can only be described as white flakes of skin- I need to stress this isnt thrush. Its milky no smell but full of what I think looks like skin. As this comes out I feel its buring my skin between vagina and bum cause it stings after a few days of this discharge making its way out..... Now when I was pregnant I had dvt in pelvis (i didnt know) and ended up with massive bilateral PE in my lungs and since then never had this feeling in my vagina so I put it down to that. But this week out the blue its restarted. But its not dvt in pelvis cause I am on thinners and my haemotologist is confident this feeling isnt related. My thyroid is under weekly obs with no medication yet- could this be hormonal? Periods are HEAVY but regular have history of cin2 but last smear last May 2011 was normal

Answered by Dr. Chetna Jain (3 hours later)

Hi XXXXXXX

I went through your records carefully.
The kind of vaginal discharge you are describing is very typical of Candida(thrush).
I would like to know why do you believe that it is not thrush.
It is important to get examined again.
Candida may not always grow on vaginal swab culture. However a smear made on slide with or without stain will show candida better.
You may try using clotrimazole vaginal pessaries and cream to see the difference.
If your symptoms reduce then you may continue using them as required.
Candida is milky white skin like non smelly discharge which leads to a lot of inflammation of skin and it burns.You may apply a diaper rash cream to soothe the skin. Exposure to air will also help. Try and keep yourself dry.
Use of intimate washes for the bikini area( nonperfumed ones) will help.Your vaginal discharge cant be hormonal. It has to be of infective origin.
Heavy periods might be due to blood thinners that you are taking.
Please ask your hematologist if you can use tranexamic acid during menses.
You may also consider MIRENA insertion in the uterus to reduce the menstrual flow.
For CIN 2 you must follow the British Recommendation and do a regular follow up.
Please continue with thinners till they are recommended by the hematologist. Plan your next pregnancy if you wish to once your DVT is settled. You must understand that the recurrence in next pregnancy is very high.I hope that you have been investigated for thrombophilias.
Best wishes
Chetna Jain
MS MRCOG

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Chetna Jain (21 minutes later)

Thank you- I have tried high level prescription pessarys and creams with no avail! I have had thrush a few times and its more cottage cheese texture and much thicker- this however is really wet. my partner is booked in for the snip as i will never knowingly risk my life for a child as I now have three! And the PEs was a first time for me and hoping a last!!!! I wasnt tested for any genetic disorders- he seems to think its pregnancy related.... hope he right x

Answered by Dr. Chetna Jain (27 hours later)

Sometimes a different species of candida is present which does not respond to clotrimazole.
You must get a high vaginal swab smear done on slide to look for candida species and actinomyces.
I am glad that your family is complete.
Please ensure that you are tested for hereditary thrombophilias. If you test positive then your siblings and offsprings should also be tested.

Note: Revert back with your gynae reports to get a clear medical analysis by our expert Gynecologic Oncologist. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar