[acudoc]

Hi ladies. So, this is the first time I've actually posted in one of these forums, although I've been reading through them for advice for quite some time. I have what appears to be recurrent BV and I'm madly trying to figure it all out. I got it for the first time many years ago when I was in a relationship with a man who months into our relationship, started sleeping with his ex-girlfriend again without me knowing about it. I don't know how and why it happened, but apparently, something about the person I was with being with someone else as well (and I shudder to think it, but possibly on the same day, therefore introducing foreign bacteria into me?) must've thrown me off. I then was married and had 2 children and never had a problem (of course, we were married for 6 years and only really had sex the first year , so I'm sure my system was functioning very well). Now that I'm divorced and in another long-term relationship, it's started acting up again. Seems that I get it every few months or so, but may always have a latent case of it b/c I was diagnosed with it at my last pap smear with no obvious symptoms (and she even said that I had no symptoms that she could see or smell). I am on a mission to figure this all out.

And I want you all to know that I am a Doctor of Oriental Medicine (acupuncturist) and as such, have a substantial health background. I have done quite a bit of study into Restorative Medicine and besides acu, have a lot of knowledge of herbs, supplements, nutrition and such. I'm not claiming to have any answers (as obviously I don't, because I'm still fighting this), but I have some thoughts that I'd like to share and I'll update you all on my progress as I work with this current infection.

First and foremost, there is a reason that anyone, no matter who they are, gets chronic infections. It's not simple at all and involves different things for different people because our bodies aren't all the same, but most of us have most of the things that contribute (this is a guess, of course): 1) our immune systems aren't as they should be (which is probably a mixture of chronic stress and it's effect on our adrenal system, which in turn affects essentially our whole bodies AND improper nutrition which leaves us deficient in a lot of things AND chronic exposure to allergens/toxins/things we have intolerances to), 2) part of our immune systems not working properly has to do with our gut...most of us, because we've taken antibiotics in the past without immediately restoring our body's flora AND because we daily eat meat/milk that is laced with antibiotics which DAILY kill all the good flora in our bodies, have a severe imbalance of good to bad flora (bacteria) in our digestive system, if we have ANY good bacteria....and let's not forget that MOST of the immune system is in the gut...true story.....this leads to imbalance everywhere in the body 3) infections are a form of inflammation which is also triggered from eating the wrong foods (our bodies become very inflamed from foods that irritate our digestive system or aren't broken down properly in the digestive system and enter the bloodstream)...GLUTEN is a HUGE culprit here!!!...many people who give up gluten find that all their chronic problems disappear....take dairy out of the equation too (because most of us don't tolerate it either) and you can 9 times out of 10 turn a person's whole life around....and SUGAR feeds bacteria, right?...so, for us, sugar is also a big one to avoid....4) almost everything we eat these days is acidic in the body and when the body is acidic, infections proliferate...we have to alkalize the body in order to change the landscape so the infections CAN'T flourish!...there are many ways to do this, but you can start with eating a whole, organic foods diet and taking daily ACV or kombucha (kombucha is easy to make at home if people are worried about the cost)....

There's more, but I'm trying not to write a book here....basically, we have to support our immune system/adrenals, alkalize the body, restore balance in the body's flora, and get rid of inflammation (things that cause inflammation)....then, there's also killing the infection, but it won't last if these other things aren't corrected.

I used Flagyl and Metrogel for my first 2 infections, but it came back with a vengeance and left me with a yeast infection every time. I decided I would no longer use these meds and throw my body off even worse. It's no wonder that the stuff always comes back given what we kill when we take these meds. I've successfully gotten rid of the last 2 infections and I have one yet again. I can, however, tell you that I haven't followed my own advice that I've given above, and I know that I could get rid of them if I did.

The last few times I've gotten one I've:

Immediately started taking Garden of Life's RAW Probiotics, 3, 3xs/day on an empty stomach (these are the best one's I've ever found)
Immediately taken very large doses 3-5g of Vitamin C throughout the day (I use LivOnLabs lipospheric Vitamin C because it's so highly absorbale)
Taken Kyolic garlic (2, 4-5xs/day), Oil of oregano (3xs/day), and Goldenseal (dose depends on which one you get...this is only for short-term use)
Drank LOTS of water and cut coffee and sugar out completely
Used Tea Tree Oil Suppositories internally (once in the morning and once overnight...with a pantyliner to catch it)

This has always worked for me in the past. This time, I will still use the Tea tree at night, but I'm also going to try the H2O2 douching (you can actually buy 3% food grade at the health food store...usually in the dental area) and I'm using a 50/50 mixture of Yin Care (a chinese herbal external wash) that I've soaked a tampon in and am inserting for 3 hours, 2 xs/day as per the directions online for more serious vaginal infections.

I will report back how it works, but I'm guessing it will. There's a lot of research behind the Yin Care. It will be interesting to use it myself instead of just telling patients to use it (for other things, of course). I'd be willing to bet that if we all did the things above, at least for a period of time long enough for our bodies to fight the infections off completely and allow our immune systems to recover, we would all be without BV. It takes a lot of perseverance to do all the things I mentioned though. I'm sure that there are those of us that are desperate and willing to do anything. I'm glad to talk to anyone and answer any questions. Would love to be of help.

In summary:

**STOP eating gluten!! (and dairy if you're really strong...the D.O.M. in me says it's necessary)...at least, only eat organic dairy
**Take a good probiotic and take a LOT (yogurt doesn't do it, as it's mostly pasteurized AFTER the organisms are added, killing them)
**Eat a whole foods, organic diet of mostly vegetables, beans, non-gluten whole grains (very little grains though), and very little fruit (sugar)
**NO coffee or other stimulants (stress the adrenals) and get a lot of sleep
**Take antibiotic/antifungal/antiparasitic herbals
**Use someting topically for the infection (tea tree, H2O2, yin care...etc...)
**Drink a lot of water
**Take herbs/supplements that benefit the immune system/adrenals (VitC, VitD, zinc/copper, all Bvits, ashwaganda, siberian ginseng, medicinal mushrooms like corcyceps and reishi....etc...)
(oh, and B12 is a water-soluble vitamin and is not highly absorbable...it's essential, but in a more absorbable form...try to find someone who will do an IM injection, or use something lypospheric or sublingual....the oral kind that you swallow aren't going to work)
**Oh, and of course, get checked out to make sure that what you have is actually BV because quite a few STDs masquerade as BV and trying to treat them at home can leave you infertile (at best)...do a full STD panel to rule out STDs before trying any of this....it's easy to get checked for BV...you don't have to accept treatment with pharmaceuticals if you choose not to...

I'll post more as I think of it....just wanted to get some of this out of my head while I can....

[LATEL18]

I suffered from reoccuring BV for a long time. Went to the doc and got the same prescription drug as everyone else. It would work for a while but the BV would always come back. I read some things online and started to do these four things and rarely ever get BV or Urinary Tract Infections (UTI's) anymore:

1. Douche - half purified water, one and one half to two caps of apple cider vinegar, two squirts of iodine and top it off with about a cap of peroxide.

2. Only use Vagisil feminine wash - On a day-to-day basis I use the "Vagisil Odor Blocker" then the week leading up to my menstrual cycle, I use the "Vagisil Ph Balance".

3. When I actually experience a BV or a UTI, I drink a 6 - 8 oz glass of warm water with 2 teaspoons of baking soda in it. This also helps with the Ph level. I would drink a glass in the mornings and one at night.

4. Drink Alkaline water daily. - One of the biggest problems our bodies face is that foods like this are far too acidic and the pH balance in our blood is completely out of whack! The presence of alkaline in your body can restore your acid – alkaline balance that has been damaged due to accumulated acid wastes. This is because alkaline ionized water has an abundance of hydroxyl ions that aids in effectively balancing the pH level of your body. This in turn strengthens your immune system which aids in resisting all kinds of diseases. This also means that in the event of infection from a virus, your body will be capable of recovering more easily. Alkaline ionized water also creates an environment that hinders the progression of diseases.

[Sarah55]

I have suffered from BV (bacterial vaginosis) on and off for 4 years now but in the past year it has been constant. I have tried everything from doctors, naturopaths, chinese herbalists, gynecologists, healthy diet, you name it, I’ve tried it.

I have had numerous amounts of antibiotics in the past to try and get rid of it but it has just kept coming back.

Having BV for such a long time has made me insecure, stressed and upset.

I started to think that it would never go away which was a real concern as it can affect you when you are trying to have a baby also.

So my friend suggested I try Isla Soap Stick. I thought to myself how can this work if nothing else has? I used the Isla Soap Stick product which I bought online for 3 days in a row and I could not believe it!

My discharge and odour has completely disappeared. I thought I would wait a month and see if it returned but it has completely gone!

I have been amazed by this product and I cannot thank Isla enough for helping me.

I cannot rave about this product anymore than I have. I have told everyone I know and everyone wants one due to the sexual benefits also.

I am sharing my story in the hope that it may assist other ladies who are suffering from this same problem and have tried everything like I had and thought it was something I was going to have to live with

[jennn]

Phew, where do I start?... I just read this entire thread. Took a while but seemed to be educational. I'll start with a, hopefully, simplified version of my story.

Started with what I thought was a yeast infection (first one I had) so I treated it with Monistat. Didn't work. I then went to the doc and surprisingly they diagnosed BV right away. Got presecriptions, Metronidazole which made me feel like throwing up the entire time I was on it and it did absolutely nothing. Then I was prescribed Diflucan without even going back to the doc. This also did nothing but make me nauseas. I gave up on the doc as they said that I didn't have BV anymore when I went back to them. I still had an odor and discharge which I know she smelled and saw but still said I was wrong. Got all the STD checks and that was all fine.

Ironically around this same time (April 2011) that I got this I started to develop acne that I never had before. I am only 21 but never had acne in highschool at all. I tried over the counter treatments and prescriptions which neither helped at all. Not even cleared it up temporarily. So I turned to natural remedies for this. I picked up tea tree oil, vitamin c, probiotics, magnesium, vitamin e oil, and apple cide vinegar. I used all of these on my face for a month or so. It helped a little but it still isn't gone.

I then did more research and came to the conclusion that I have an overgrowth of candida in my system which is not helping the BV alternating with yeast infections. Again, ironically since I had purchased all of these things for my acne, I realized I could use a lot of them to treat the BV and yeast as well. I did add one other ingredient after thinking about the candida overgrowth. I went and bought extra virgin coconut oil. I would have to say that I love this stuff! I use it every single day. I take it internally daily (1-2 tbl) and use it on the outside of the vagina. I have been also soaking a tampon in it and inserting that for a few hours since this has anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral properties. I will be gradually increasing my oral intake to help with the candida. I read that taking too much at once will produce horrible die-off symptoms and easing into it will help those to not occur.

To add to my whole mess of problems. I haven't had a period in almost a year. My doctor seems to think that there is nothing wrong with that and I am perfectly fine. I don't feel that shes right at all. I don't see why a woman, who is supposed to have a menstral cycle every month, wouldn't have one for a full year! I am slender and she tried to tell me it is because of that. I don't believe that either, I may be skinny but I still eat quite frequently and quite healthy as well. From my understanding, being skinny would only affect your period if you have an eating disorder that would interrupt your system from working normally.

Not having a period is AWESOME for your sex life, if I could have sex... I have had a boyfriend for almost 5 years now. Since we are still young, he doesn't understand anything about what's going on with me. I don't usually have a BAD smell unless we have sex. It's been 4 months now... We have been able to stay together, thank god, but I can see this is taking a big toll on our relationship. Not only that but it's taking a huge toll on myself. I can't have sex with my boyfriend, I have an ongoing infection, and I have acne. Talk about all around feeling ugly and like crap, mentally that is.

So, here is what I have been trying most recently:

Morning:
1. Bathing in ACV daily (2 cups in a bath of warm water filled just enough to come up to my belly button when sitting down)
2. 1 tbl Coconut oil mixed with 2 tsp lemon juice and water to chug down on empty stomach (tastes really good actually! kind of an energy boost as well)
3. Taking 1000mg of vitamin c, probiotic, and magnesium with breakfast (magnesium isn't specifically for this, was recommended for asthma which I have)

Mid-day
1. Soaking a tampon in coconut oil and inserting for 4-6 hrs along with rubbing on the outside of the skin (used to use tea tree oil for skin but found it to be drying and smells VERY strongly to the point that some people would ask what kind of lotion/perfume I was wearing...not good!)

Night: (really bad with this one because I normally sleep at my boyfriends house so I don't have all my supplies there...)
1. Insert a probiotic pill (non-capsule form) right before bed.

My symptoms have improved but are not gone. After reading this I will try the hyrdrogen peroxide douching and the ACV/Tea Tree Oil tampon soak. I feel as though all my issues right now are correlated with one problem. What that exact problem is, I don't know yet. Hoping it's candida so I can treat it and be gone with it. Some stories on here are a bit concerning, such as infertility. I haven't had this for a year yet but with the no period thing that really concerns me now. I don't have medical insurance right now, good because I don't want to take their prescriptions but bad because I can't afford to have other problems checked out (such as my asthma).

Anyone with ANY suggestions for me would be amazing. Most stories on here seem to be mainly just discharge and odor, not that it is a good thing, but I seem to have others on top of that. Anyone think everything is related? Any suggestions on re-doing my routine? I deperately want to fix my relationship with my boyfriend and this is really holding us back. PLEASE HELP ME!!

[littlemama28]

acne help

**jenna

I am 28 and suffer from recurrant bv and also have severe acne. I believe my problems are mainly due to my medication and hormonal changes. The one thing I have found that works REALLY well for acne, especially when its caused by hormonal issues, is milk of magnesia, yes, the laxative. You put it on a cotton ball and spread a thin layer all over your face and let it dry like a masque. After it is dry you can either wipe it off with a clean wet cloth or, what I do and find much more effective, wipe off the dried layer with your hand or a soft dry cloth and apply a good face lotion. I always use the Equate brand version of Aveeno daily face lotion. I have exceptionally sensitive skin and this is the only brand that doesn't negatively affect my acne prone skin. Do this as often as you'd like but I suggest at least once a day. I do this before applying makeup, after a shower and at bedtime and after trying nearly EVERY acne treatment on the market this is the only thing that consistently clears up my acne and noticeably fast! I know this doesn't solve the bv issues but hopefully it will help with the acne.

As a note, when I was 20, I had severe pain during intercourse with my husband but around 25 (after having 2 children, 1 c-section, 1 vaginally) the pain just went away. the doctor never did find anything wrong and only gave me lidocane to numb my vagina during intercourse. I am left to assume it was hormonal changes that, while not totally balanced, have improved as I've gotten older.

The painful sex, sadly, put such a strain on my marriage that it ended up with him cheating a number of times and eventually divorce. I understand what you are going through and you are not alone. I know that doesn't provide much relief but I would have felt better if I didn't feel like I was the only one who knew what I was going through at the time.

I hope you are able to find an answer to your problem and that your man is understanding of your situation. It is impossible for them to relate so we just have to hope they can try and be trusting and sympathetic.

Oh, and I would suggest doing some more research on the period issue. It is NOT normal to go a year without a period if you had previously had relatively normal menstrual cycles. some women have very light short periods but unless you are on birth control that is stopping your menstruation you could have a hormone disorder or even more serious reproductive issues. I would suggest finding a different doctor. Even a gyno at a free clinic is a second opinion.

[DAYLEEYAH]

I posted on another BV thread. I suffered for years but was diagnosed in March 2012. I had alot of discharge, smelled like ammonia sometimes. I tried almost everything on written about on forums including this one. Folic acid, vitamin d and b complex helped with the smell but the discharge was still a problem. I tried boric acid, it did help but did not totally stop the discharge.

I decided to try a few things, I stopped wearing pantyliner and started wearing only cotton underwear. This helped alot, the discharge lessened but didn't stop.

I started taking MSM to grow my hair and nails, after a few weeks I noticed that the discharge lessened. I had also ran out of folic acid and my b vitamins so until my order came for iherb I was only taking the MSM consistently. The smell didn't come back and the discharge was reduced. I think the MSM helped my BV because it regulates PH and controls blood sugar. I started taking 1 veggie capsule a day. I make them up myself. After a week I increased it to 2 per day, I take it with meals. The MSM keeps you very regular which is why I take it with meals.

Another thing that basically stopped the discharge totally was grapefruit seed extract. I read about grapefruit seed extract on another forum and bought the liquid and the tablets. I decided the try douching, I used 1 cup of distilled water and 10 drops of the liquid. I used a syringe and held it in for a few minutes and repeated. It stopped the discharge totally, a little discharge returned a few days later but it was so much less. I repeated the douche again and I have been discharge free for a month now.

My menstruation finished a few days ago and I repeated the douche. I think I will keep doing this because it seems to help more than anything I've done in the past. I have also been reading about DMSO. Do your research and make sure you use only glass with it. It is a solvent and will bring anything you add to it directly to your cells. ANYTHING. Please research first before trying it. I had to buy amber glass to store it, glass syringe for douching, glass funnel, basically everything glass to deal with it.

DMSO will bring anything you add to it straight to your cells so you have to be really really careful with it. When I was researching DMSO a lady said she used it to cure her BV. I e-mailed her and she told me she douched with it. I really hope this helps.

[Juheyy]

If I am on my period should I still do the hydrogen peroxide wash and probiotics? Or wait until my period is over and then continue.

[crys333]

Help

Ok ladies i need help. Im 20 years old and have suffered with bv for about 1 year now. At first i didnt know what it was and i was just hoping it would go away on its own. But then i noticed that it would smell after sex. Thats when i really started worrying. My boyfriend and i did research and bought douches and peroxide and acidophilus tablets like many of you. I douched for three days straight then stopped because my bf was doing more research and said douching was bad. So i stopped that and i continued taking the acidophilus tabs. This happened about a month ago btw i douched then stopped the discharged continued. I kept taking the tabs and it still continued. Last week it stopped completely. nothing on my panties no smell it was clear. But the next day it came back! The discharge i have now is not white or thickish anymore. Its more light brown and watery and i believe it smells worse. What should i do? Should i go back to douching? Or should i insert acidophilus capsules down there? If you have anymore suggestions please let me know..thanks in advance

[VaxilRae]

Hello Ladies, I am posting my unusual BV story in hopes of finding other women with the same problem.

I first developed a classical case of fish smelling BV after a round of the antibiotic Bactrim. I took Flagyl 500 and the problem cured itself for a few weeks until oneday after peeing, I noticed a green, sour-smelling discharge. I went straight to my Gyno and she STD tested me (of course clean) took a swab, and of course diagnosed me with BV.

For the next three months, I was in an endless cycle of taking metrogel, Flagyl, and tindimax one after another - however - none of these antibiotics made a different - and I mean, during the entire course of these treatments i had the green discharge, the antibiotics didn't lesson, nor did they take the green sour smelling discharge away. It was as if I was either severely antibiotic resistant, or I was taking antibiotics for the wrong infection.

I went to my doctor and she gave me Clyndamycin cream - I was amazed IT WORKED!!!! I was cured for all but a week and half and than my period came back, along with a new rotten smelling discharge that I've never had before.

I am FURIOUS, and at my wits end! What the in the name of God could possibly be living in my vagina that is so drug resistant? I have taken endless courses of Flagyl, Tindimax, Metrogel, Clindamycin, Augmentin , NOTHING WORKS. I feel disgusting walking around with a foul smelling pantiliner all day, morning noon and night!

My theory is that once the delicate balance of the vagina is over thrown, its impossible to get back. That or it's not just Garnerella or Atrobinum bacteria that are coming back, but a completely different bacteria doctors dont look at.

[chlsjn]

Hi ladies, so I've been fighting BV for the past year on and off. However my only symptom seems to be a large amount of discharge. I've been to the clinic twice where they did a swab test and confirmed that I had BV. After the second round of pills (Metronidazole) not working, I decided to use the methods in this thread. I've done the hydrogen peroxide, yogurt, apple cider vinegar and tea tree oil methods and all worked for awhile but have now suddenly stopped! (I also take probiotics, folic acid and drink lots of cranberry juice as well.) It seems that after my period, whatever methods I've used stop working on me! I don't know what to do anymore and my sex life is becoming nonexistent because of this!