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Clear, white vaginal discharge
This doesn't sound like a yeast infection because you don't describe vulvar itching and burning or a whitish thick discharge usually characteristic of yeast. Therefore I don't think using yeast medication will help.
   
Itching and dry skin - is it yeast?
Itching is often a sign of a contact allergy. The fact that it is happening during your menses would prompt me to ask if you are wearing any type of pads or liners (as opposed to a tampon). Could you be sensitive to a certain brand? Yeast usually produces burning rather than itching but not always. Sometimes there are other fungal infections such as tinea species that can produce itching on the "dry" skin. If this persists or worsens it should be checked out.
It can be. We see reactions to vaginal foam that contains nonoxynol 9 but it's hard to tell if its that specifically or some of the other carrying agents used. The only way to tell with the condom is either going back to a brand you previously used or abstinence for long enough to tell if the problem goes away. This is an area where you will need to be your own detective with trial and error of different materials/substances that that area comes in contact with.
Odorous vaginal discharge
An odorous vaginal discharge can sometimes be a symptom of bacterial vaginitis. It should be checked out. I know you may feel uncomfortable talking about this with your doctor, but that's what the doctor is there for. This is a common problem that your doctor has heard many times before. If you avoid bringing it up, the poor doctor will go out of business! In general, vaginitis doesn't cause sterility. If you get a sexually transmitted disease, that can cause sterility. The doctor checks for that by doing a cervical culture or smear at the time of a vaginal exam. As far as home remedies, the only thing I know of would be douching. In this process you are rinsing out any vaginal or cervical secretions so that bacteria have less material on which to produce odorous causing chemicals. There actually is evidence that regular douching seems to increase the incidence of vaginal infections. However, if you already have a problem, douching is often effective in reducing the symptoms. Betadine douche is one still recommended by many physicians. If the symptoms don't clear up after douching 3/week for one or two weeks, you really should see your doctor.
Recurring yeast infections - milky white discharge
A milky white discharge is usually normal. It represents cervical and vaginal secretions that contain old vaginal wall cells (epithelium). As long as there is no vulvar burning/itching, this does not represent a symptomatic yeast infection.
Allergic reactions (contact) of the vaginal or vulvar epithelium are often confused with yeast infections because they cause a histamine release in the skin of the vulva with subsequent itching or burning. That is one reason why culture for yeast is so important because you may assume it's a yeast infection when in fact it is allergic. The most common allergens are feminine hygiene sprays, contraceptive foam and jelly, even carrying agents in anti-yeast preparations, lubricants on condoms, or soaps or bath oils. It doesn't sound as if these are a problem in your case but you have to be your own detective with allergens. The fact you are sensitive to terazole does make allergy more likely.
Make sure this is yeast. Sometimes women with sensitive skin will react to any normal vaginal secretions when they get on the vulva because the secretions are naturally acidic. You can try petrolatum jelly (Vaseline) to coat the vulva (a small layer) to protect it from acidic discharge or you can use a tampon to block the discharge from getting to the vulva and irritating it. These would be tests to see if it is just an acidic (but normal) discharge you are reacting to or a yeast infection. These things will usually not prevent the reaction to a yeast infection.
Some women will get more yeast infections on certain birth control pills. I think it has to do with the specific progestogen in the pill. I would suspect that Levelen would be worse than Ortho Tricyclen because it has a stronger progestogen than Ortho- Tricyclen. Sometimes when we have women discontinue pills, recurrent yeast infection gets better; other times there is no difference in the rate of infection. It would take a 3 month trial off of the pills to tell.
Boric acid as treatment for recurring yeast infections
Boric acid vaginal suppositories have been used in the past for resistant, recurrent yeast infections. Many experts in vaginitis clinics use them still. Unfortunately in the U.S. we don't have any commercial vaginal suppositories with boric acid. Perhaps in Europe there are some if that's where you are. We have to have the pharmacist mix them up. Find an experienced pharmacist who remembers the formulation.
These recurrent infections usually run their course after several years. Something in the biochemistry of the vagina changes and they disappear or at least get much less frequent as long as there is not an underlying disease. Have hope. At the risk of losing you due to repetition, make sure this is recurrent yeast infection by culture and not just by visual diagnosis of the physician. I can't count how many women I've seen who thought they were having recurrent yeast infection when in fact their cultures were negative and their discharge was just irritative, but not infectious.
Resistance to Diflucan®?
Resistance of candida (yeast) species to Diflucan are becoming more and more a problem, probably because it is being used so much to treat yeast instead of topical, vaginal medications which usually don't develop as many resistances. Terazol® which you react to, is actually the most effective topical medication with the least resistance. That being said, it is still extremely important to make sure of the diagnosis. Vaginal and vulvar irritation can be due to causes other than yeast. (See our news about cultures for yeast. Assuming that you and your doctor are absolutely sure of the diagnosis of recurrent yeast infection and there are no predisposing factors such as diabetes, antibiotic use, immune disease or immunotherapy use, then the treatment becomes problematical trial and error. You need to work with the physician to find medication to use periodically to keep it in check. Dietary change and douching may also play a role.
Clumpy vaginal discharge with white cells
Vaginal discharge varies in its nature and consistency from one person to another and even for one person throughout the menstrual cycle. Commonly the discharge is grayish white or clear. The cells come from the vaginal lining and fluid from the vagina and the cervix. It often gets thin (non clumpy) at mid cycle of the menses because the cervical mucous is thin and copious if ovulation has taken place that cycle. In the 2nd half of the cycle it becomes thickened and sometimes clumpy under the effect of progesterone. These are all normal mechanisms to help a woman become pregnant at the mid cycle time of ovulation and then "block" the cervix in the 2nd half of the cycle so that if a pregnancy occurs there won't be any ascending infection.
When a woman is anovulatory, there is less discharge and not the monthly variation in consistency. It sounds as if, in some respects, what you describe is normal now (for ovulation) and was just different when you were anovulatory.
The white cells in the discharge change things a little. Usually there are not too many white blood cells (WBCs) in vaginal discharge. It's difficult to know if what your doctor has seen is "too much" or not. WBCs can indicate infection but usually of the cervix, not the vagina. If the cervical mucous is clear or white, not yellowish, there usually is not an infection that needs treatment. All that being said, there have been instances where doctors have just treated with antibiotics for a "cervicitis" just because of the amount of vaginal discharge. Sometimes it gets better and other times it doesn't change because there really wasn't any infectious process in the first place. Usually, if I see numerous white cells on vaginal wet prep, I treat with an antibiotic cream (Cleocin®) vaginally or and erythromycin or Zithromax® oral antibiotic as an empirical trial. I would say it clears up the problem about 50% of time.
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