pelvic discomfort/itching after long covid

I am at my wit's end. Sorry guys, feminine health issues ahead.

I had long covid for 5-6 months with bizarre neurological issues and briefly couldn't walk. Between my initial infection and the onset of LC symptoms two weeks later, a family member was murdered which I didn't consider until I discovered TMS.

Time and a daily meditation practice helped me get to 50%, but I was still struggling. I started exclusively looking at recovery stories and so many people said "it was my nervous system." Longcovidcured.com was shared in a reddit post and that's how I stumbled upon TMS. I was almost 100% better within a month once I accepted what was wrong with me fully. I did have some bizarre headaches, but I was prepared for strange symptoms as I improved and they didn't freak me out.

Also around the time I started to get better, I developed BV, then a yeast infection, then BV, then another YI. I was tested and treated once I tested positive. I only had these infections like this 8+ years ago, when I was in grad school and an abusive relationship and very stressed. During that course, I had multiple infections, was tested and treated, then had the same symptoms - for me just itching/burning - for an additional four months while testing negative for any issues. My gynecologist just told me to not come back at that point, nothing was to be done. It resolved seemingly randomly.

When symptoms came on this time, I immediately grieved the idea of being sick for another six months once I was diagnosed with BV the first time. I catastrophized. I have now had these symptoms for three months, testing negative for everything for 1.5 months. It's itching, a dull achy feeling, and some burning and my gyn said I look totally fine. I did a vaginal microbiome test online and I am waiting to see if there is something my GYN didn't test for just to be sure, but have tried to commit to the TMS approach in the meantime.

Itching is hell. It feels like poison ivy and sometimes feels burning. The range of the symptoms seems to be growing (like halfway down my thigh will itch) and the intensity has only gotten worse since the infection was cleared. My GP thinks either the infection or medication could have caused a temporary bit of nerve damage. I am tense physically all the time since this came on, and all day long I try to pause and relax my muscles. I am not normally like this, I am just so deeply uncomfortable that my shoulders are up by my ears all day.

I tried not using Vagisil (numbing cream) and I am in absolute agony. I can get brief periods of respite (30 seconds or so) from symptoms once I meditate but I can hardly work without it. I am so much more tight and tense without it. Will it really set me back too much to use it? Are pelvic floor stretching exercises also not recommended while treating this as TMS? I am really struggling since Long Covid went away so quickly once I knew it was TMS, and this is unbearable and making me worried something is structurally wrong with me.

 

Thank you so much! I love Nicole's work and that episode was really helpful for me. Still struggling w/ this discomfort but I am working my way through the SEP. The first day I journaled, my feet felt on fire 5 minutes into writing - it was a weird feeling but helped me connect the dots between physical sensations and my emotions. I feel like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop on these microbiome test results coming in, but this panel I had done is so thorough that if it comes back clear I will be able to 100% know this is TMS and proceed without that piece of doubt.

And yes, the world-wearyness... the news cycle is no longer something I can keep separated from my day-to-day living and career, so trying to keep my head above water has been really hard on top of past trauma.

 

Hi there! How are you doing now? I have been dealing with the same kind of itchiness which I believe was “nerve damage” after having a bad reaction to an antifungal cream. Itchiness is already bothersome enough but to be in such a sensitive area is brutal! However, this symptom can very well be tms and honestly after going through my tms journey, I am convinced that most chronic things not caused by infection or tumor is all tms. Including autoimmune conditions. It’s fascinating and crazy what the brain can do.

 

I am better, but it ended up being a few things. I needed steroid cream to calm down an overwhelmed inflammatory response, which helped a bit, but it kept returning. I finally got in with an immunologist and I developed a immune deficiency after long covid that puts me at risk for vaginal Group B strep (I also had pneumonia and fevers for 6 months after this). It's not an issue for most people but I was experiencing an off the charts overgrowth. Not fun! Treated with antibiotics and weaned off the steroids. I think TMS might have played a part in my overactive inflammatory response, but finding a few good doctors that could think big picture around my symptoms that correlated with abnormal test results was the solution. The steroid cream was really helpful for calming down the inflammation/nerve issues locally so that I wasn't constantly thinking of it - dwelling on it made the symptoms seem to snowball.

 

Wow! I’m so glad you found out what was going on and got help! I’m in the process of ruling things out still and I’m wondering if I could have some sort of allergy. Did you experience redness or any physical signs with your condition? Honestly, Ive noticed a lot of my issues started up after having covid so… that’s very curious to me.