So ladies & gents, following on from my last post we had got to being referred to the gynaecologist and playing the waiting for an appointment game.
Whilst awaiting my Gynae appointment, the itching had got crazy, so I went to visit the nurse at the surgery. Upon examination she decided that I was suffering from a condition which is called “Lichen Sclerosus”. Now LS is a Pre Cancerous auto immune condition on its own, but does cause intense itching, so I can kind of understand why the nurse thought this.
Lichen sclerosus causes itchy white patches on the vagina, penis or bottom (anus), and men can suffer from it too (sorry guys).
Symptoms of lichen sclerosus include itchy white patches around the genitals or anus that may bleed if scratched.
There are some things you can do to help ease the symptoms of lichen sclerosus, including using an emollient soap substitute instead of regular soap.
There's no cure for lichen sclerosus, but you can ease symptoms with prescription steroid cream.
Its not clear what causes Lichen Sclerosus, its not contacontagious, not an STD and not caused by poor hygiene.
So, I was given some steroid cream known as Betnovate, to use alongside the Canestan Thrush cream 3 times per day. Guess what….nope it didn’t work!
In the meantime, all the swab results for every germ & STD going came back totally clear, which I knew would be the case, but still it’s nice to know. Now this left me even more baffled as to what on earth was going on with my lady bits. I was then asked to attend the surgery for the lovely Smear test, just to check. Thankfully, the results came back clear again, nothing abnormal showed on my smear test and also no HPV which can cause abnormal cells. I’ve popped a screenshot about HPV below.
So, my smear was clear and no HPV either…baffled…yep absolutely.
After all this time, now getting on to 3 months of trying to live with this horrendous debilitating itching, I got so frustrated and totally lost my rag, spitting my dummy, throwing toys out the pram the lot, and rang my GP surgery again. After telling the not so pleasant receptionists that if I don’t get to see my GP that day, I would be cutting the skin off my own vulva myself…. Clearly I wouldn’t have done this, but I couldn’t get across to them how much it was starting to hurt, burning and inflammation now in full force, by this time it was September!
I promptly received a phone call off my GP to immediately attend the surgery again, at 1800hrs that same evening. When the GP saw me, she was so shocked at the sheer speed of the changes that had occured, she upgraded my gynaecologist referral to urgent and immediately placed me onto the cancer pathway, meaning I have to been seen by the gynaecologist within 2 weeks. She was incredibly concerned that what she was looking at was some form of skin cancer of my perineum and vulva skin. Again, I was given more steroid cream, but she also disappeared out of the room and returned with what I would call “magic gel”. She gave me a box of “Instilligel” which is a clear gel, supplied in a syringe. It is a “local anaesthetic gel” which is usually used when us ladies have medical instruments inserted where they really shouldn’t be or coils etc fitted. She sent me off to the ladies toilets and I applied only a small amount. I swear to god, I could’ve kissed her! The relief was instant! She even ordered me another box, as the surgery only had a few small tubes, which she’d given to me, and also put them onto repeat prescription for me.
So, for the next couple of weeks, using the instilligel, and the steroid cream Betnovate the itching actually started to subside, but as soon as I showered or bathed, of course it would just return until I reapplied the gel and cream. Still, I could manage with that considering how bad it had been.
Around two weeks later, now towards the end of September, my GP called me late one evening asking how I was getting on, and asked me to pop and see her the next day. I really can’t fault her for that.
At my appointment. She was again really surprised at how quickly the inflammation had gone down, and the itching eased to an extent. She explained that I was now on the Cancer Pathway, and explained in full detail how important it was that I do my utmost to keep all appointments with the Gynaecologist once I get to see him. Funnily enough, that very morning, I had received my first appointment with the gynea for only a few days later.
Thanks again for stopping by to read my blog. The next instalment will be posted over the next week, once I’ve collated all my letters off the Gynae to make sure I’ve got all my timeline correct.
Dont forget to check your lady bits, and know whats ”your normal”
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