Using yogurt for BV?

**amelillo13** · 05-19-2010 09:34 AM

I've read online that a lot of women use plain yogurt to help re-establish their good bacteria. Some sites said you just kind of try to goop it up in there, others say you put it on a tampon and freeze it and leave it in for a few hours, others say use the tampon applicator to make a yogurt freeze pop that you leave in....can you imagine if they sold those? hah. Anyway....

I've never tried this method, but I want to. What exactly am I supposed to do, as everything I've read kind of conflicts? How long do I leave it in? Any risks involved? Has anyone had any success with this? I thought only certain strands of acidophilus actually help the vaginal flora and that it's not found in yogurt.

I've tried just about everything to get rid of my BV for the last year and half and nothing works, so I figured this is worth a shot.

Thanks in advance for any information

**sourpuss** · 05-19-2010 09:37 AM

Ive been told that the probiotics in yogurt, while good, aren't enough.
I just got a pill that is multi-strand. Supposedly we need thousands of strands to regain balance.
Do you have a local health food store where you can go talk to someone? I'm not sure about the yogurt tampon thing so I can't comment there. But I think you would need more than just plain yogurt.

**amelillo13** · 05-19-2010 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by sourpuss

Ive been told that the probiotics in yogurt, while good, aren't enough.
I just got a pill that is multi-strand. Supposedly we need thousands of strands to regain balance.
Do you have a local health food store where you can go talk to someone? I'm not sure about the yogurt tampon thing so I can't comment there. But I think you would need more than just plain yogurt.

I did buy a bottle of 20 strain like 10 billion or more acidophilus pills from the health food store. I have been taking 1 every day for a while, I've not noticed any change in regards to the BV and excessive discharge. However, I find that if I ever skip taking my pill for a day, I almost immediately get a yeast infection.

Wasn't sure if it's not helping because it's only in my GI tract or what. It's a huge horse pill, so I'm not sure if I could even use that as a suppository so it is directly at the source. My doctor said I could try eating a bunch of yogurt every day, but I can't stand yogurt and have a bit of a lactose intolerance so I opted for the pills instead.

**Sarah001** · 05-19-2010 01:15 PM

I tried the yoghurt method and inserted some in a syringe but it didn't work. The way I understand it is firstly it's not the right strain in yoghurt and secondly there are only a certain amount of bacteria that live in the vagina and unless you kill off some of the bad stuff first the good stuff can't flourish because there isn't room for anymore than this certain amount if you see what I'm saying. I know you can buy good bacteria pessaries that are specifically designed for the area but they are expensive and obviously it still leaves the issue of there only being space for a certain amount of bacteria in total so it would still require something to kill some bad ones off.

**amelillo13** · 05-22-2010 01:56 AM

would Kefir work better than normal yogurt? it seems to have a lot more active cultures in it, some of which are in things like repHresh pro-B.

**Sarah001** · 05-22-2010 06:50 AM

I'm not really sure, it's worth a try I suppose. I have seen online a cream called Cervagyn that contains lactobacillus which you insert into the vagina and smear around the vulva which is supposed to put good bacteria back where it's needed but I don't know if it works, I haven't personally tried it.