When I was a young girl, around 12 years old, I had UTI which was treated. I had problems urinating. I had that feeling where I wanted to pee but I couldn't however I didn't experience painful urination or itching, though when I went to the doctor, I was told I had UTI. Soon after taking treatment for the UTI, I started growing bumps in my vagina and the itching sensation started. I then went to a gynecologist and she checked it. She said there was this fungal infection of some sort so she gave me medicine to treat it and it eventually went away. However on the verge of trying to heal from that, my vagina experienced shooting aches that felt as if I was being shocked down there. Sooner or later, all of this disappeared, so I stopped taking the medication and I've never seen any doctor ever since to give me a check.
I did notice though that back in the day, my vaginal odor was so much stronger that I could smell it while I'm sitting up. It wasn't a pleasant smell either. I worried about it but since I was 13, it was not a big deal. At that time too, I wasn't very hygienic and I was prone to sweating because I lived in a tropical country and it was always hot in the area I lived in, so I used to sweat a lot but I never bothered drying myself up. I also used to clean my vagina with a bar of soap because I didn't know better back then so I believed that worsened the odor.
Nowadays, that I don't use soap and I wash myself every chance I get, the odor's not strong. i don't sweat as much because I've moved to the US. There is some sort of a fishy smell but it's light and definitely not something that I could sniff if I have my clothes on. Sometimes if I've spent a long day without washing, then the smell would be a little bit stronger, especially when I urinate and I can smell it. Is this musty-fishy smell but it's not as overpowering as it used to be. I've heard that a lot of people say that's normal but I want to hear any of yall's say about this.
Discharge-wise, because there are some days I don't change panty-liners, I often see brown stains on my panty-liners by the time the day is done. I always thought that it was something out of the urine and the discharge just kind of mixing together and the mustiness of it all due the poor hygiene throughout the day (gross, I know!), but when at home and I'm able to wash myself more, I don't get these same discharges and my vaginal odor isn't strong at all.
Sometimes i'm not very hydrated throughout the day so my urine is very yellow which I know is not good, and I believe not wiping as well can stain my panty-liners with the yellow urine and it could be seen in a different shade by the end of that day. It's more like a stain than a clump of discharge when I'm talking about the brown color. I read that having brown discharges is abnormal especially when accompanied with itchiness or a burning sensation, but I don't have that problem, and my discharge color is not exactly brown. It's white. It's just the stains at the end of the day is brown and I'm not sure why. When I do get the chance to be very hygienic throughout the day, I don't get those stains.
I'm also going through a lot of hormonal changes and since I'm in a very stressed state at the moment, I'm sure it affects my vagina's normal functions. I also don't feel any pain in sex. I think my vagina's normal and okay as it currently is and it's just the hygiene that is the biggest problem. I never really wondered about this stuff until recently where I'm more exposed to such issues that most women have (like STDs, especially when some of them have very vague symptoms). I also wonder if my UTI is still persisting and it never healed because I never really got a thumbs up from any of my doctors when I was younger. I just stopped when my urination went back to normal and the entire vaginal problem was gone.
I'm an adult now and I've only had two partners that I've had sexual intercourse with in my life, both protected. I'm just curious as to whether I am fine down there and if how my vagina behaves now is normal. It's hard to tell because reading about it, everyone's got different opinions about discharges, smells, and what is and what isn't normal. I understand that the vaginal behavior can be so complex, and I would like to know what you all think about it.