Am I Dying by Christopher Kelly & Marc Eisenberg

Author:Christopher Kelly & Marc Eisenberg
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

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Your vagina itches or burns, and there’s a thick, white discharge. You probably have a yeast infection, which causes vaginal pain, itching, and a thick discharge that is often compared to cottage cheese (which you assuredly won’t eat again). Antibiotics can cause yeast infections by killing the normal, good vaginal bacteria that keep yeast in check. Women with diabetes are also at increased risk. Your doctor can confirm the diagnosis by testing the discharge. A single antifungal pill is usually enough to clean house. If you’ve had previous yeast infections and feel confident you’re having another one, just hit the drugstore for an antifungal vaginal gel, which is available without a prescription.

You have a runny gray or green-colored vaginal discharge. You likely have either trichomoniasis or bacterial vaginosis.

Trichomoniasis, also known by its street name “trich,” produces bad-smelling discharge along with vaginal itching or burning. Sorry to break the news, but it’s a sexually transmitted infection. Your doctor will confirm the diagnosis by testing the discharge. Unfortunately, you’ll need antibiotics and so will your sexual partners (since otherwise the infection will just boomerang back to your vagina). Good luck crafting those text messages. Of note, infected men often have no symptoms, so they should be treated even if their bits feel normal.

Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is generally not as unpleasant as trichomoniasis and occurs when the vagina’s normal bacteria get out of balance. BV is extremely common, though most women don’t have symptoms. In a select few, however, it causes a thin gray discharge bearing the delightful aroma of dead fish. The odor often worsens after sex, so consider lighting a scented candle as your partner grabs a towel. Unlike trichomonoiasis, BV does not cause vaginal pain or itching. If your underwear smells like a fishing dock in the late afternoon sun, ask your doctor to test your discharge. The treatment is antibiotics. (Male sexual partners don’t need treatment.) Unfortunately, treatment failure is common, and the disease can come back, so you may need more than one course of antibiotics.

You have heavy, painful periods. You may have abnormal growths of the uterine wall, known as fibroids. Fibroids are extremely common, particularly in black women. They’re not cancerous, meaning they don’t spread outside of the uterus, and usually don’t cause any problems. In some women, however, they result in heavy periods and dull pelvic pain. Sometimes the fibroids become large enough to push on adjacent organs, like the bladder (causing frequent urination) or guts (causing constipation). Fibroids on the inside of the uterus can cause infertility and miscarriages.

Your doctor can diagnose fibroids with an ultrasound. If bleeding is the main problem, birth control pills and other drugs can help. If the fibroids are really bothersome and don’t improve with medications, you may need a procedure to shrink or remove them. Sometimes a doctor can simply inject chemicals into the blood supply of the uterus to make the fibroids shrink. In other cases, the uterus has to be partially or completely removed.

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