Anonymous wrote:I'm suffering from a bad vaginal rash right now. I'm a bit swollen and have some blisters; plus it hurts to urinate.

It is not an STD, nor is it a UTI.

While yeast was my first thought, after lots of brainstorming, I'm now thinking that it's an allergic reaction to the "Carefree acti-fresh" pantiliners I picked up recently at a convenience store. I've been wearing them for two or three days. I usually wear Kotex.

Anyone ever get an allergic reaction like this to pantiliners? I don't know what "acti-fresh" is but I assume it's some chemical....

Plausible?

I've emailed my doctor but will wait until a reasonable hour tomorrow before calling.

Yes, I’ve had something like this. I now use chlorine free liners and no problem.

I just tried the Acti-Fresh carefree liners and had a bad reaction! Day one was a little irritated/uncomfortable, burnt when peeing. Day two suddenly was blisters, sores, redness, vulvar swelling, very uncomfortable to walk. No fever. No risk of STD's. Never had a UTI/bladder infection, etc...I was thinking possible yest infection (vulvularitis) or something like that. I tried Monistat which gave minimal relief. No discharge (vaginal or from the sores). Day three all of the above, but tried Neosporin + pain relief - this helped, but isn't recommend by my doctor...Day four, I started being able to walk with less pain and discomfort and it doesn't burn near as much when I pee. Used vagicaine after cold/warm PM shower... Still had sores but appeared to be healing. Day five - Huge reduction in swelling, starting to feel closer to normal again. Went to doctor and she said only use the vagicaine rarely, but it seems to helps so idk :/ She suggested Vaseline instead. My advice is don't use Carefree Acti-Fresh with odor eliminator/odor control. I will be going back to my Always dailies. I always get unscented everything, but I never expected an allergic reaction to a panty liner.

I've had same problem as OP.

U by Kotex is the only brand I use without problem

Yes! This happened to me too. They are unscented, which I always try for in products. I knew this was the first time I had used a product called “Acti-fresh.” I chose them bc I could no longer get the Always Dailies Sheer Light liners, which I wore every day for occasional spotting and light bladder leaks. They were so thin that I barely knew it was there, and, they stay on all day.

I wore the “Acti-fresh” liners for a couple of weeks. I thought I was getting a yeast infection, until I realized this started right after I started wearing them. I not only was inflamed and felt itchy and painful, I lost sexual function. I was terrified. Then, I switched to Kotex thong and all better. Yes, That, returned too!

I want to know what is in this “Acti-fresh,” but it is hard to find out. I recently found out I have a horrible reaction to sodium lauryl sulfate in my toothpaste. This time reaction was sudden. I had been using Sensodyne for sensitive teeth for a long time. I had horrible burning mouth and little clear, round sores that popped up in different places in my mouth, but then went away within hours. But, my mouth still hurt and burned. I went to doctors, with little help. I made sure I took certain vitamin supplements. Then, after searching the internet for what could be wrong, I found that sodium lauryl sulfate is a common irritant. I stopped immediately and got improvement immediately. Totally clear after about three days! I am wondering if Acti-fresh contains this??? Does anyone know?

Anonymous wrote:I have tried a number of brands and believe I am allergic to the adhesive - the itchiness is not in the vaginal area but in the front where the edge of the liner makes contact (and moves) and sometimes in the anal area. The sides never seem to be a problem. Without a liner I am so uncomfortable with damp discharge all day. Has anyone else ever had issues with adhesive? I have had reactions to the adhesive steri-strips used for my c-sections and breast cancer biopsies. I can’t find any liners with just a minimal bit of adhesive.

I have a latex/adhesive allergy. It could totally be that. I need to use cloth liners for that reason exactly.

Anonymous wrote:This is a great motivation to switch to those period undies instead of using panty liners....

You're fooling yourself if you think those are 100% cotton. OP could develop the same sort of sensitivities to them.