u/earlydaikons

TLDR : 23(F), never had a yeast infection before moving to melbourne 3 months ago. had 3 in the past month, self treated with canesten 3 day cream for the first two, now on fluconazole pill for 2 weeks for my current third.

I’d never had a yeast infection before this month, and now I feel like I’m stuck in a cycle and I’m scared this is just my life now.

My first infection started with INTENSE itching and thick clumpy discharge. I self-treated with a 3 day canesten cream and it seemed to go away completely.

Then maybe 1–2 weeks later, after a lot of unprotected sex/being finished in, I got symptoms again. The second time was weirder — less itching (or almost none), just clumpy discharge and that yeasty smell. self treated with 3 day canesten cream again. symptoms disappeared

my partner left the country and suddenly, 3-4 days after that, i had really heavy watery/milky discharge. At one point it was literally dripping down my thighs. I also developed tiny “paper cut” fissures at the bottom of the vaginal opening that sting when touched.

I thought maybe it was BV because my partner once noticed a fishy smell, but we just shrugged it off as old semen as we were intimate 4-5 times a day.

I went to Melbourne Sexual Health Centre and they said they saw “tons of yeast” on microscopy. My vaginal pH was 3.8 which they said was normal/healthy and more consistent with yeast than BV.

They tested me for STIs too:

- HIV negative

- waiting on chlamydia/syphilis (not likely as my partner just got tested, all negative)

- not pregnant

The doctor said I may be one of the ~5% of women who get recurrent yeast infections. She prescribed:

- fluconazole once daily for 2 weeks

- then once weekly for another few weeks after that

- follow-up appointment in 6 weeks

I’m only on day 3 right now. The watery discharge has decreased and now it’s more thick/clumpy and pale yellow/musty smelling.

I’m also not having sex again until late June so I’m hoping giving everything time to heal helps.

I know this sounds dramatic but I genuinely feel devastated because I’ve never dealt with vaginal issues before and suddenly having multiple infections in one month has made me terrified that my body is permanently “ruined” or I’ll never go back to normal.

Did anyone here actually recover from recurrent yeast infections and eventually stop getting them?

like the title says, i gave a nail salon my number for loyalty customer rewards. came home to take a nap and i woke up to 8 notifications, 5 from klarna, 3 from afterpay to verify a new account, both half an hour apart.

I do not use either service personally, and I have no existing account with them.

unsure if i need to do anything - have changed my password for bank accounts and emails.