Hello again. I woke up yesterday morning with severe vaginal symptoms and I am seeking your insight. 

Yesterday morning I awoke to severe itching around my vaginal opening. Upon inspection I found the opening lips of my labia minora to be extremely red and inflamed. My epithelium tissue was rough and red. I also had many red bumps on my vulva on both sides of my labia majora and my clitoris. These bumps were not clustered, they are scattered with at least a cm to an inch apart from each other. They are raised like pimples, but with no head. The base is red and the top looks like a “head” but not one you can pop. It looks like tiny tiny circles of skin. Not an ulcer, like if a pimple popped and there was a circle of skin left. Other symptoms include:

-white discharge

-mild burning

-itching 

-swollen vaginalis opening

-tender to touch 

-no burning while urinating

I went to my PCP last night. She and another doctor took a look and said it was a yeast infection. She said the bumps look typical for a yeast infection in addition to the fact that I have a thick white discharge. She initially got a culture but when she learned it would cost me hundreds (no insurance right now) she said it wasn’t needed, only routine procedure and she was confident it was yeast.  We did not send the culture to the lab. I began using Monistat last night and, though my symptoms are persisting, I do feel a little better. The bumps are still there but appear to be “drying out” if that makes sense. They look like tiny white circles of skin on top of the red bumps.

I am wondering if I should be concerned about herpes for the following reasons:

1. About two weeks ago, I had a cold sore develop over top of an area where an existing pimple was healing(under my nose). Before I realized a cold sore was forming, I was rubbing and scratching the area. Without washing my hands, I then proceeded inspect my vagina because I felt an itch. I know autoinocculation at this point is rare, but for 10 days I kept my eyes on my area and no symptoms came about.
2. Sunday (4 days ago) my boyfriend and I had sex multiple times. He went down on my for 30-40 minutes which is not our usual practice. A few days prior to this I had popped a pimple along the edge of my lip, breaking the skin open. It was and still is healing. I don’t believe this was a cold sore; but if it was, my boyfriend and I made out and kissed immediately before he went down on my for that extended time. 

I guess my question is as followed:

1. Do any of he above scenarios put me at risk for acquiring hsv-1 genitally? I realize that we have discussed how unlikely it would be for me to subsequently get a genital infection after having had confirmed cold sores since I was 13, but I guess I just want to know that neither of the situations I describe would be enough to infect me even if that weren’t the case. 

2. Do any of the symptoms I describe sound herpes related? I am going back to my PCP this morning for a culture for peace of mind and I’m scared. Will having Monistat in/on my vagina affect a herpes culture test? 

Thank you!

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Update*

Last night I noticed that the bumps had decreased in size. I took a cold shower and rinsed the area thoroughly and kept it cool and dry for a few hours before applying the cream again. In fact, when I went to apply the cream last night, i saw without a doubt yeast growing inside the opening of my vagina, but I thought the bumps were gone completely because I couldn’t see them with the naked eye anymore like I could hours earlier. This morning, I woke up and my symptoms dramatically improved. The bumps are still hardly visible to the naked eye and a few are gone completely. When I take a photo of the area for a better look, I can still see the irritation is faintly still there, but it looks much better than yesterday. It just looks like the mucosa in those areas are a little inflamed and pink with white dots on top. None of the area hurts to the touch and there’s no crusting or oozing. I also learned that my boyfriend had put beard oil in his facial hair before giving me oral sex, so now we are both wondering if this irritant might have contributed to my yeast infection or caused an allergic reaction on top of it. 

So, in total, the bumps appeared Wednesday morning and were very visible and raised but by Thursday evening they were much much smaller, flat, and unable to be seen without looking closely in the mirror or on a photo. Also, as of this morning the redness/roughness in the vestibule has improved and it no longer burns when I urinate. It still stings slightly when applying the cream, but it is no longer painful to sit. So, my symptoms were severe on Wednesday and calmed down significantly by Thursday evening and even more so this morning. Here are my questions. 

1. I have read on your forum that yeast medication can make herpes sores worse. Since my symptoms have improved on the Monistat and the bumps have gone down in size, is it safe to assume that this is truly a yeast infection and is evidence against herpes?
2. Also in my research from reading your forums, I learned that herpes does not appear and go away in a day. It takes 3-7 days at least I believe. Since I noticed symptoms Wednesday morning and by Thursday evening they were almost unnoticeable, that would mean that symptoms were improving within 48 hours which is also evidence against this being herpes, correct? 
3. Since I don’t have insurance and didn’t get a culture, I plan on having an HSV 2 blood test at my next OBG annual in November. If this test is negative, can I safely assume these symptoms were not due to herpes and forget about this? 

Thank you!

I know I already posted 3 times; however, in awaiting your response I have new updates. The bumps are almost entirely cleared up at this point. All that remains are areas that appear to be healing. The  bumps themselves even after decreasing in size resemble images I looked up called “cutaneous candidiasis” which I know is yeast, only very small.  The more I look at images I took over the last few days, the rash looks like small white satellite lesions and, if I remember correctly, my doctor said so as well. She said the bumps looked like something starting with an s...I thought sellium or sellibium or something but followed with “that are typical of a yeast infection. It’s just so hard because so many infections mimic herpes and I’m unsure whether or not what I was seeing the first two days was a result of anxiety or if what I’m seeing now is just wishful thinking that it’s fine or what. Anyway, I guess I just wanted to clarify that the bumps appeared Wednesday, dramatically decreased in size by Thursday evening, by Friday morning there was still irritation and some bumps but it was difficult to see with the baked eye and now today they are almost gone entirely. All that remains is a very itchy vestibule, where there are red patchy areas and continued discharge. Overall, a pretty drastic change since symptoms first arose Wednesday. I guess my questions from my last post still remain unchanged. Just wanted to take the opportunity to give you the most updated information in case that influenced your insight in anyway. Thanks for all you do!

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