This is exactly right.

Let me take you back to when I was a weird, nerdy, 14-year-old.

I'd recently started menstruating and was incredibly self-conscious about managing my periods at school.

The popular girls would congregate in the school bathroom, so they'd hear the unzipping of my bag and the crinkle as they unwrapped sanitary products from their packaging.

I was terrified about what gossip would be spread around school if people found out that I was on my period.

I made the decision to avoid changing my sanitary products at school.

This created a lovely, warm, moist environment for yeast.

So it's no surprise that I got a yeast infection or thrash.

If you have not had the pleasure, it's like an infected horsefly bite.

It's an incessant itch that is constantly screaming for attention.

I couldn't sleep. it hurt to pee,

I couldn't concentrate on anything except for the pain of the itch. This, coupled with being a teenager,

with hormones coursing through my body, the shame and self-loathing of my poor decision made this a really distressing time.

To add to my humiliation, I had to tell my GP about my symptoms, but I lacked the polite vernacular to do so.

I eventually stammered that I had an itch at the front of my bum, and the GP took pity on me, and my mum was able to take over the consultation. I was asked no further questions and no invasive tests were performed.

I was given a prescription for caniston, and this was the first time I had ever used a pessery

and had no idea whether I was inserting it correctly. However,

I recovered and became scrupulous about my vaginal health and changed my sanitary products at least

every four hours as recommended. Fast forward, about 10 years, I'm in a sexual relationship

and I get the itch. I assume it's thrush and get

Kanniston over the counter at the pharmacy and then carry on with my day. The thrush

clears up for a while but then it comes back. So I call the GP and they tell me to go to the

...