White discharge coming from the vagina

Frequent vaginal yeast infections

Sore area inside the lips of my vagina

Terrible smell coming from my vagina

Unpleasant odour in the private areas

Vaginal discharge and soreness: is it hormonal?

What can be done about a dry vagina?

Yellow discharge instead of a period

Question
I have a white discharge, which is not responding to thrush treatments.

It is creamy but dries yellowy and doesn't appear to smell. I have had swabs taken at the doctor, but nothing was found. It is sometimes a little irritated and appears to be more so after sex. It also seems to make my vagina expel air bubbles.

Can you give me an indicator of what might be wrong?

Answer
It would be a good idea to see your doctor once more. I wonder if you are suffering from a condition known as non-bacterial vaginosis. This is often difficult to detect on ordinary swab testing, but can respond to treatments other than thrush treatments.

From your letter it's unclear as to where you had your swabs done, but very often the most thorough place to have these checked is at a genito-urinary clinic. You often don't need to make an appointment to attend a GU clinic, although you will need to check about the ones in your area.

Rather than a simple swab test, you should have others as well, including a chlamydia test (although it is unlikely from your symptoms to be present).

Yours sincerely

Dr Roger Henderson, GP