the nose on my brooks b17 is ever so slightly tipped up...mine was comfortable on day one

The issue with leveling the brooks is that because the nose seems like is the flatter part of the saddle most people will level it based on that part. for me its the rear section where my sit bones are supported that is more important and when I level that part of the saddle the nose does seem to look slightly pointed upwards. Fiddle with it don't give up on it yet because one other thing you have to take into consideration is that the B17 has way shorter rails than most other saddles so your position may be different from your previous saddle only slightly but its enough to cause discomfort.

I had a B17 on my conversion with bull horns. Loved it. I think my longest ride was ~60 miles or so.

Brooks, just like all other saddles, is going to be hit or miss. I love my B17 and my Team Pro. Comfortable right out of the box and just kept getting better. However, a friend of mine absolutely detests the brooks design and can't stand more than a few miles. He went for a different option.

There is definitely a break-in period for Brooks saddles, but it shouldn't be causing you excruciating pain. If you tried different positions and adjustments and the Brooks is still causing pain I say go for another saddle or try one with a cutout.

is this a problem that spans both sexes? I have been thinking of purchasing a brooks for a while, but I dont want to shell out the money if my "va-jay-jay" is going to be killing me!

Find an LBS that has a good saddle policy. Some LBS will let you buy and try a saddle for a few weeks or a month and if you don't like it you can return it for store credit.

Or you can try to find a used one. Saddles are some of the most difficult bike purchases to make since everything is so personal and a hit or miss type of deal.

My GF doesn't ever experience any pain from riding and she has ridden some really crappy saddles.

do you ever stand up and give your nuts a rest?
I usually try relieve my junk from the saddle at least one minute out of every ten, and that's with a chamois.

Something tells me with the resale value of brooks' saddles and you being a girl that you wouldn't have a problem selling the saddle if it didn't work out. hell you might even be able to make a profit!

Probably not. If you're properly over the back of the saddle with your sit bones, your not likely to be contacting the tensioning bolt apparatus with enough pressure to be painful, no matter how aggressively forward your position is. (Seriously, think about it. You'd be rolled so far forward you'd be squashing your marbles flat to pull off that kind of position.)
I've got around 10,000 miles on B-17 saddles between 3 bikes. The trick to alleviating perineal pressure is the correct angle adjustment. Start with the rear (where your sit bones go) level, and adjust it from there. For those of us with our bars close to level with our saddles, we usually go with a slight "nose-up" tilt. It's commonly a slight "nose-down" for people with a steeper saddle-to-bar drop or more stretched out position over the bike. The issue with that becomes pressure on the hands/arms/shoulders since the B-17 is pretty slick and a forward lean could cause you to slide forward off the back of the saddle and onto the nose.

You say the saddle was on the bike when you got it. If the saddle was already broken in to someone else, that may be pitching you into the wrong position on it.
The other possibility is that you just need to change your position over the bike. What's comfortable for a 5 mile ride down the street isn't necessarily going to work for a 50 mile ride around the county. I had to make a lot of adjustments when going from 40 miles up to 100 miles, and again when I started riding doubles and longer.

urinary tract infection. get it checked out.

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

My b17 was comfortable out of the box. It's one of the most comfortable saddle I've ridden on.