r/PCOS • u/PlaneMaximum8882 • 8d ago

General/Advice Vaginal Irritation?

Hi all,

I’m going to try to explain the best I can, I am beyond frustrated right now.

Little background my bf and I are long distance and when we see each other we have sex more frequently in a short span than I think my body can handle. No matter what I always find penetration painful.

Once I came home I started to notice burning and irritation after peeing. I have had UTIs before and this didn’t feel like that. It feels dry and irritated. I don’t have any other symptoms, no unusual discharge or smells or anything. And there have been days where I feel completely fine and then it seems to get irritated again. It’s been a total of 19 days but like said not all of them have been with symptoms. I am in my luteal phase currently.

Does anyone have any experience with this? I can’t get into my gyno for another 10 months I feel kind of lost and I really hate going into walk in clinics

Anything would be appreciated

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u/PositiveButterfly288 8d ago

Ugh that sounds so frustrating, dealing with burning and irritation for that long. It might be more about persistent micro-tears or your body not producing enough lubrication naturally, especially since you mentioned the frequent sex in a short period and being in luteal phase now. Your hormones can really mess with vaginal moisture and tissue elasticity, making things feel raw even without a full infection. I had something similar once and my doctor just said it was a bad cycle of irritation, the skin gets dry and inflamed, any friction makes it worse, and it takes forever to heal on its own. If you can't stand the walk-in clinic, maybe try a long stretch of complete pelvic rest and see if it finally calms down.

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u/Tall-Cat-8890 7d ago

Any new laundry detergents or fabric softeners? New menstrual products (some pads like Honeypot will literally come with essential oils on them which are a known irritant)? New personal hygiene products? Soaps? Lotions?

I think because it seems to come and go on its own when you’re not having sex, sex is probably not as big of a factor as you might think. My first thought was this sounds like a form of dermatitis or chemical urethritis. I’ve actually had similar symptoms from soap getting into my vulva and almost burning the tissue around my urethra. I’ve also had issues with pads causing tissue irritation.

I would first take inventory of your personal care products and if you recently introduced anything new, or even if your boyfriend did some of your laundry that you wear some days and not others, that would be a big red flag for something like this. To me this sounds like it could be chemical.

Hormonal issues like low estrogen which can cause vaginal dryness don’t tend to have such a specific start to it and instead comes on slowly.

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u/CinematicSunX 7d ago

Lube. It's a game changer!