Re: Strange white discharge when using Coconut Oil?

[Guest guest]

Jess, resend your post to the attention of Sandi Sharp. She too wrote of

this tacky material that cannot be removed from the vulva, I believe she

called it plaque. She may be able to help you with this..... I simply

cannot remember what she did to get rid of this. As she described it (if

my memory is correct), it sort of grew out of the skin and was not material

which had exited from the vaginal vault. Do you believe this material is

out of the vagina and then clinging to the labial folds and/or vulva? A

white lacy look to the vulvar/vestibular skin can indicate one of the Lichen

diseases and would need a biopsy for confirmation.

I really doubt that the coconut oil is causing this, but there is one sure

way to find out. Stop using the coconut oil for a week or so and see if it

goes away.

Increased irritation with the use of topical estrogens can indicate topical

yeast. Maybe it would be a good thing to get a biopsy/scraping of the area

and have it looked at for the Lichens and for yeast - identified by strain

and a sensitivity test run to see which med would stop the yeast.

I wish I could help you with this.

Good luck

Dusty

Strange white discharge when using Coconut Oil?

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since I've posted here. In the meantime, I saw Dr.

Metzger (and don't think I really agree with her general premise that

allergies, in particular food allergies, are causing my VV). I also started

seeing Dr. Weiss and his PT a few months ago. I really like them

both and trust them.

However, I am running into a few roadblocks with my treatment -

specifically, my vulvar skin is still way too sensitive, thin, and easily

torn (especially in the intralabial folds), and now I have this strange

white discharge that may be due to my use of coconut oil. As background,

Dr. Weiss thinks that my vulvar tissue irritation has been caused by my own

discharge. Over the last couple of years, my discharge has been really

driving me crazy with itching - and it is quite a copius amount of white,

thick discharge. So Dr. Weiss asked me to test coconut oil as a base and as

a skin barrier against my own discharge. His theory was that because I had

become so irritated over the last 2 years, an irritation that was triggered

by use of topical Estrace, I should then use coconut oil to protect my

vulvar tissues from my own irritating discharge. He also told me to take

sitz baths several times a day to remove the discharge, and to apply coconut

oil to the vulvar region right after.

The problem with this coconut oil (organic, by Spectrum - thanks

Dusty!) is that since I've been using it (about a week now), I've noticed

that the tissues inside my vagina (inside the labia minora) have been

appearing very, very pale - like a whitish pink. By contrast, the labia

appear normal pink to irritated red (as usual).

When I try poking around in the whitish vaginal tissues with a Q-tip, I can

see that the whiteness is largely (if not totally) caused by a very chunky

discharge, that's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove from the

tissues. There is a LOT of this discharge. The thing is, I'm otherwise

seeing no bad side effects from using the coconut oil, and I think it is

helping protect me from the itching of my discharge. Have any of you had a

similar discharge, and what should I do?

Thanks!

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[Guest guest]

I'm desperate to find a base that

won't irritate me! I've tried petrolatum, Aquaphor (petrolatum +

lanolin), and now coconut oil - no luck.

,

How about trying an as preservative-free as possible aloe vera gel

(most contain citric acid) or maybe emu oil? Personally, i alternate

between organic virgin coconut oil and emu oil and have had no problems along the lines that you're experiencing. Hope you can

figure out what's what.

Hollis

[Guest guest]

Hi Dusty!

>

> Jess, resend your post to the attention of Sandi Sharp. She too

wrote of

> this tacky material that cannot be removed from the vulva, I believe she

> called it plaque. She may be able to help you with this..... I

simply

> cannot remember what she did to get rid of this.

Thanks for that rec, Dusty. I emailed Sandi and we've been in touch.

As she described it (if

> my memory is correct), it sort of grew out of the skin and was not

material

> which had exited from the vaginal vault. Do you believe this

material is

> out of the vagina and then clinging to the labial folds and/or vulva? A

> white lacy look to the vulvar/vestibular skin can indicate one of

the Lichen

> diseases and would need a biopsy for confirmation.

I *think* that my usual thick white discharge exits from the vaginal

vault. (my PT) thinks the copius amount of discharge is due

to connective tissue problems. I think that the discharge is coming

from the vaginal vault for two reasons: (1) when I peer into my

vagina, I can see the discharge there as well, and (2) I don't have

any discharge at all when I'm on my period - in fact, my vulvar

tissues look great - pink and healthy! This may have something to do

with the fact that I use tampons when I'm on my period.

However, the PLAQUE is something new, and has only, I believe, started

when I began to use the coconut oil. What's odd is that the plaque is

only presenting within the labia minora (on the vaginal mucosa), and

there's no plaque at all on the labia majora/minora themselves (on the

labia majora/minora, there's only my usual thick white discharge,

which washes off relatively easily). I'm wondering if maybe the

coconut oil is changing the texture of the discharge such that the

discharge is somehow being thinned out and concentrating within the

labia minora in a very thick, durable way. I'm just very puzzled.

> I really doubt that the coconut oil is causing this, but there is

one sure

> way to find out. Stop using the coconut oil for a week or so and

see if it

> goes away.

I may indeed have to do that - but I'm desperate to find a base that

won't irritate me! I've tried petrolatum, Aquaphor (petrolatum +

lanolin), and now coconut oil - no luck. I would love to be able to

start applying compounded meds (e.g., estrogen, lidocaine) to start

healing and calming down the irritated vulvar tissues. The

interesting thing is that the coconut oil is really helping with the

irritation and itching, I think. So maybe I'm not really allergic to

it...but then there's that darned plaque problem.

> Increased irritation with the use of topical estrogens can indicate

topical

> yeast. Maybe it would be a good thing to get a biopsy/scraping of

the area

> and have it looked at for the Lichens and for yeast - identified by

strain

> and a sensitivity test run to see which med would stop the yeast.

>

That's a very interesting comment - I never knew that topical estrogen

irritation might = topical yeast! But if clinicians have looked at

the discharge under a microscope and ruled out yeast, does that mean

that all strains of yeast are ruled out? I've been tested for yeast

quite a few times (slide under microscope), and most of the time

they've found nothing. In terms of lichen sclerosus, Dr. Metzger had

observed that there might be some atrophy of the clitoral hood and

labia, but she wasn't concerned enough that she wanted me to get a

biopsy immediately - I think it was something she just wanted to

follow. Also, both Dr. Learman (old gyn at UCSF) and

(current PT), when asked by me about l.s., replied that they wouldn't

know what to biopsy/they didn't see anything indicating l.s. However,

I think that I may try to see Joanna Badger (vulvar derm., Stanford)

to see if she may have any insight as to these annoying skin problems.

> I wish I could help you with this.

You and the other women of this board are absolute sweethearts for

trying to help me (and so many others!) through this. Bless you.

Thanks,

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Hollis, I will look into the aloe vera preservative-free and

also the emu oil. There has to be SOMETHING that works, right?

>

> In a message dated 5/27/2006 2:01:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

> f782f@... writes:

>

>

> > I'm desperate to find a base that

> > won't irritate me! I've tried petrolatum, Aquaphor (petrolatum +

> > lanolin), and now coconut oil - no luck.

>

> ,

>

> How about trying an as preservative-free as possible aloe vera gel

> (most contain citric acid) or maybe emu oil? Personally, i alternate

> between organic virgin coconut oil and emu oil and have had no

> problems along the lines that you're experiencing. Hope you can

> figure out what's what.

>

> Hollis

>

[Guest guest]

I use Aloe Vera Gel in all of my compounds. I have a problem with the bases also. Aloe is not as thick as the bases you have tried.

Sherri

-------------- Original message -------------- From: Zdamask@...

I'm desperate to find a base that won't irritate me! I've tried petrolatum, Aquaphor (petrolatum + lanolin), and now coconut oil - no luck., How about trying an as preservative-free as possible aloe vera gel (most contain citric acid) or maybe emu oil? Personally, i alternate between organic virgin coconut oil and emu oil and have had no problems along the lines that you're experiencing. Hope you can figure out what's what. Hollis