His and Her Health

I started dating a new girlfriend this year and we have been monagamous with each other the entire time. A couple of months into it she started having some spotting problems. This lasted a few weeks but eventually went away only to be replaced by a thick white discharge. She has been to the gynecologist and a local clinic probably a half a dozen times all in all. The last time I actually went with her and the doctor was completely hopeless, he was more worried about getting us on birth control than he was about answering her discharge or hpv questions. He told us that the discharge looked normal at the time...and she has been for paps more than once while having this problem and they always come back clear.

She went once to the gynecologist and they said she had a combination of yeast infection and vaginosis. They gave her one pill to take for one of the infections, and another pill that she had to take one a day for a week for the other infection. I think it might have stopped for a few days but it is back now and not showing any sign of letting up. She is only rarely in pain once in a while during intercourse, and I'm never in pain or itching or anything like that.

I guess my main question is what is this white stuff? If its vaginosis or a yeast infection wouldn't she be itching and or in pain? Wouldn't all of thos eshow up on the paps? My ex never had this problem. I've only been with two girls, but I've watched a fair amount of porn and have never seen so much white discharge anywhere.

Here is a discription of vaginal discharge that may answer your questions.

Different Types of Discharge

White: Thick, white discharge is common at the beginning and end of your cycle. Normal white discharge is not accompanied by itching. If itching is present, thick white discharge can indicate a yeast infection.

Clear and stretchy: This is "fertile" mucous and means you are ovulating.

Clear and watery: This occurs at different times of your cycle and can be particularly heavy after exercising.

Yellow or Green: May indicate an infection, especially if thick or clumpy like cottage cheese or has a foul odor.

Brown: May happen right after periods, and is just "cleaning out" your vagina. Old blood looks brown.

Spotting Blood/Brown Discharge: This may occur when you are ovulating/mid-cycle. Sometimes early in pregnancy you may have spotting or a brownish discharge at the time your period would normally come. If you have spotting at the time of your normal period rather than your usual amount of flow, and you have had sex without using birth control, you should check a pregnancy test.

Yeah I don't think it really fits into any of those. It happens EVERYTIME we have sex. It does have a bit of an odor to it that is not normal from my experience. She is not itching or in pain, which seems to put the yeast infection theory out of commission, but I just don't think it's normal.

I think I had heard in the past that when a woman has a yeast infection a guy can get it from her? Is there anyway I could be carrying some yeast bacteria or something that is showing no symptoms on me but causing her to get this recurring discharge? She gets frustrated when I am telling her that its not normal because shes been to the doctor so many times and all paps have been good after the one that diagnosed the combination of vaginosis and yeast infection. It makes intercourse messy and puts a damper on the oral action, I have to get to the bottom of this lol

If it happens when you have sex it could be normal for HER. Every woman is different and some woman do emit a discharge (female ejaculation) when they come. There is also a lubricating discharge if your doing your job right and turning her on before having sex. If the tests are coming back normal and it happens everytime you have sex like I said it could be normal for her body.

Seppi - you're not crazy to think this isn't normal. Yes, everyone's body is different, so I can't speak for your girlfriend, but I recently began having the same issue. Doctor consults have lead me to dead ends and long instructions on keeping my vaginal area clean, which is clearly not the issue. I've turned to this site in hopes of finding answers and will be consulting with a sexual health specialist OB/GYN next week. I'll let you know if I get any closer to an answer.

I am female and have white discharge a couple times a month. If there is no itching or burning, it is normal.

Also, you said it happens to her during intercourse..could she be ejaculating?

a number of ideas:

1:you keep mentioning paps. these have nothing to do with "disease". They are only looking for cancer. They do not test for gonnorrhea, chlamydia, etc, unless specifically asked for/recommended by her DR. All the tests for STDs are different swabs, they do not use the same sample that they use for the pap smear. The pap smear is to rule out abnormal cells that would lead them to be concerned about cancer. The pap smear does not test for ANY other diseases (except for occasionally HPV, but they only test for that if the cells are abnormal, and you can have HPV without having abnormal cells at the time of the pap)

Has she had tests for gonnorhea or chlamydia? these are becoming much more common in the general population again.

2: maybe she has thick/copious lubrication when she is aroused? Maybe this really is not an issue. especially since you mention that it happens mainly with intercourse

3; yes, if it is yeast (or bacterial vaginosis) you can be passing it back and forth. This is more common if you are uncircumcised, as yeast and the bacteria that cause vaginosis both like warm, covered, areas, but even if you are circumcised, you could be passing it back and forth.