[Making Progress]

All,

I would be hesitant about blaming ex-boyfriends for this problem - unless the doctor found an STD. I do think that our bodies can be more sensitive at times. When we are exposed to something new and our immune systems are weak, stuff happens. My doctor told me there is a balance between the different bacteria in the vagina. When yours is off you can get BV. Some people are more suceptible to yeast infections. The only time I get BV is when I eat yogurt or forget to take my double dose of folic acid everyday.

If you are having a problem right now, stop eating lacto-fermented foods (Yogurt, sour cream cheese) and take a double dose of folic acid for one month. Then eat yogurt for two days and wait two days to see if your symtoms get worse - better - or stay the same. What do you have to loose?

I wish you all luck in figuring out what triggers your BV. We are all too young to have our sex lives interupted with this nasty pest.

I hope your holidays are wonderful and full of great sex!!!

[jewelscando]

JWO: Read through the posts. Take some ideas from there. We are all now, mostly on Boric Acid, Folic Acid and B-3. But, you have to find what works for you. Enzara is a waste of time and money. It does not work, I've tried it myself.

Good Luck!!

[autumnbreeze]

jwo1880: Welcome! I haven't tried Enzara or the Jamu stick but you may want to read through the old threads because many women here didn't have any luck with Enzara and the Jamu thing...well...there was some drama with that.

[jwo1880]

i just ordered the jamu stick on ebay. hopefully it will work.

[jwo1880]

Hi ladies, im new on here.

Ive lived w/ vaginal odor for three yrs now. I ve been to my OBGYN fifty million times and she can't seem to find out why I have vagianl odor 24/7 of my life. It has caused bedroom issues w/ my boyfriend and I have no idea what to do now. Im only 26 yrs old and I feel like this is runing my life. It's embarrassing and I am lost.

I read about Enzara, i'm almost tempted to buy it to see if it wks. what do u guys think? i've done everything w/ the gels and I recently started taking acidophilus to see if that will help. I havent noticed any changes though.

i read some of your comments and noticed a lot of you guys were taking folic acid, do u think i should try it?

i need help and dont know what to do. my doc has no idea so if you can spare some advice, that would be awesome.

[neverending]

I put no faith in doctors anymore. Herbalists maybe! At least they act like they care.

[JenJen511]

But at least we have eachother !!! I haven't been on here in a really long time (so long not only did I forget my password, but I no longer have the email address it's tied to... LOL) I did the pantiliner thing today... I can't believe i didn't think of that before... but I was at least a little less self conscious... (never thought that was possible) I also got the folic acid and clorophyll last night after catching up on all of you... Just wanted to drop by and say hi and let you all know I was thinking about you.

So, I think I decided my aweful smell is from the ex-boyfriend... We were together for 4 years (no smell before him.... only after we had sex until now). Haven't been able to get rid of it... Doc says obviously there is something wrong... tested me for clymidia and ghonoreah (which I already knew I didn't have) When the test came back negative, he said just douche once a month and it will go away... HELLO!!!! DIDN'T WE ALREADY DISCUSS THAT DIDN'T WORK?!?!?! OMG..... So anyways, I started hanging out with this guy that I dated a really long time ago... and it's been a few months... and we had sex again... the smell was mysteriously gone... happiest month of my life (at least the last 4 years... lol) then i got my period, and started all over again.... any ideas???? In the meantime, I'm going to try everything you guys have suggested and see if any of that will help.... Hope you guys are all doing well!!!!

Happy Holidays

[jewelscando]

Well, as we all know, Doctors are in the business to make money. And sorry to say, it's always at our expense. Every prescription they have you fill, they get cut backs. So, why try to find a cure??? They would loose thousands of dollars if there was a CURE. Instead, we have to spend our hard earned money, over and over again, on prescriptions that do not work. Or, like 99% on here, have to result to bug killers stuck up our vaginas in order to get some relief.

AND THIS IS AMERICA!!!!

Thanks to all of you for your support. Like I said, the rash came back, so I went off the Boric. It went to my face this time, right under my eye. I haven't used it now for going on 2 weeks, and the rash is gone from my arms, but not my face. And the B.V. is back. Not fish smell, back to the shit smell.

Sorry to those of you who have had people other then your partners smell it. That's only happened to me one time, 10yrs ago or so, but the prescription I took then, took it away, and it didn't come back til years later.

Anyways, don't give up hope ladies. Our vagina's are depending on you!!!!

[neverending]

Same here! I never had health problems until I started/stopped birth control and no matter how much I tell doctors how adamant I am about birth control causing my problems, they NEVER look into it. It sucks that we have to do this alone.

[pianogirl]

pianogirl:http://www.helenpensanti.com/prodinfo.asp?number=EVS1

It's the plant kind not the real deal but it helped me a lot. I knew mine was due to hormones eventhough doctors said it was'nt.Doctors stick to a strict protocol and they will not evaluate anything outside of the box.So I just went for it!I thought I have nothing to lose.

Thanks Neverending..I ordered some myself just now...I agree with you in terms with the hormone issue as mine started after I first got on BC pills...Doctors don't really care and you can explain to them what you think might have offset this problem but they dont care its very sad...I told my doctor when this issue started I was on Seasonale and experienced alot of heavy breakthrough bleeding...needless to say she told me that once you stop taking the pill everything goes back to normal...not the case...I don't have any health insurance so it was very expensive to keep going to the doctor...oh and holistic docotrs...what a load of crap she didnt help me either....this is a very sad issue we all are dealing with...it makes you selfconsious and embarassed I sure hope we all find a way or a doctor that cares enough to help...


Happy Holidays

[neverending]

pianogirl:http://www.helenpensanti.com/prodinfo.asp?number=EVS1

It's the plant kind not the real deal but it helped me a lot. I knew mine was due to hormones eventhough doctors said it was'nt.Doctors stick to a strict protocol and they will not evaluate anything outside of the box.So I just went for it!I thought I have nothing to lose.

[sassy]

Sorry to hear everyone is having a bad couple of days. Not to say my BV is completely under control but I feel like I'm managing a little better. The folic acid helps me and I still use the boric acid vaginally about twice a week at night. I also remembered yesterday that I had bought the hydrogen peroxide. Since I could never find anything to get it up inside my vagina (some girls were using a funnel), I just poured it around my genital area in the shower yesterday and then today, my smell was gone. I still had some discharge but it was different than my BV discharge. So yeah, I didn't even put it inside my vagina and the hydrogen peroxide helped. Has everyone else tried it? All of these methods don't cure BV but they are helping so that's something I guess until we find some kind of cure. *sigh* Stay positive girls!

[Eralc Alegna]

Deprime, I feel for you. I can smell myself sometimes, but have never had someone else comment that I wasn't sleeping with. I can't imagine how traumatizing that would be. I don't know what to tell you, nothing I've tried helps my BV and yours seems to be even worse.
I'm doing folic acid and b-vitamins, boric at night and acidophillus during the day and pretty much nothing has changed. I was due to get my next gardasil shot next week and was going to have another culture done while trying to pressure them into doing blood work and checking hormones and shit. Problem is I found out yesterday I have no insurance anymore! I was dropped from my mom's policy without notice and am now stuck with a $310 bill to pay. Plus i can't get the next shot which means I have to start the entire series over when I can get insurance. So now not only am I completely on my own to try and solve the BV thing, but I'm stuck with a huge debt for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and no insurance or protection from cancer and warts.

Canada anyone??

[pianogirl]

Hello Ladies,

Neverending where did you buy estriol suppositories? I am 25 and would like to try them...my BV started almost 2 years ago when I had gotten on BC pills (which I will never take again).

Please let me know..I am also taking folic acid everyday 800mg.

Thanks

PG

[deprime]

thanks for the advice ladies... I generally try to avoid any feminine sprays (I think thats what brought on the incurable BV in the first place). At this point (four years and counting!), I'm simultaneously trying to work this out gradually from the inside while covering it up at the same time. If I could take six months off of work and admit myself into some sort of intense treatment facility, I would -- but I don't have the time or money for that.

neverending: I tried the boric acid (Yeast Arrest suppositories), and they only made things worse. I don't understand! I think I'm going to make another appointment with my so-far unhelpful gyno.

[autumnbreeze]

deprime: I can empathize with you. I know how embarrassing it is when someone else gets a whiff. That happened to me ONE time when I first got BV and I swore I would never let it happen again. My advice would be to use a good odor-absorbing pad or pantiliner (I use Always brand pantiliners, you won't even feel it) and occasionally a lightly scented fem spray. When getting dressed, I put on my undies with a liner then spray a little fem spray around that general area--outside the panties, then put on pants/skirt. When I do this, no one can smell the odor, only myself when I use the bathroom. Depending on your odor/discharge, you may have to use more than one liner/pad a day. Hope this helps.

[neverending]

deprime:Don't give up! Keep doing what you are doing because in the long run it will help.Have you tried the boric acid? That should help cover it up for the party.If not try RePhresh! I think that should hold you over also.If all else fails plug it up with a tampon.I hate to say it like that but how else could I have said it. Sorry about your job.People suck sometimes! I remember people saying things like that to me and I don't think they realize how devastating this is for us.I finally got rid of mine a month ago(knock on wood) I used the estriol suppositories and folic acid. I also became a vegan oops pesco-vegan and I make sure I eat some kind of yougurt everyday.I'm hoping by the middle of next year I won't even have to worry about taking all this stuff anymore.Stay strong and remember you are not alone.

Happy Chanukah!

[deprime]

Ok... so here's my update: I've been taking the folic acid (800 mcg/day), drinking one tbsp of liquid chlorophyll/day in water, and doing the regular probiotic stuff (two acidophilus supplements/day)... none of this has worked (and I've been doing it for more than a week now.) I'll keep going at it, because this is going to take time to cure...

But the smell is still there! It culminated last night when my manager at work came into the break room and said "EW! What is that SMELL?!" I wanted to cry, because I knew it was me.

I don't know what to do. I'm actually quitting this crappy job in a couple weeks, because I feel like I've worn out my welcome (and it's a bad job.) Anyway, tonight I'm off to a Chanukah party at a friend's... I really want to go but I don't want to smell. Anyone have suggestions as to how to cover this up?

[autumnbreeze]

mfc10: Nope, mine is fairly constant whether I eat fish or not. I wish it was that simple for me!

[maggalicious]

Hmmm...interesting!
I just want to say I think the chlorophyll is helping, the discharge has thinned to the consistency of water which sounds like could be due to the folic acid...the smell is WAY down as well.