[g33k]

I've been battling with BV since the beginning of the year and had the same problem about a 1.5 years ago (for 1 year straight) going back and forth between yeast and BV. I went off of the pill (evil Ortho Tri Cyclen) which I had been on for about 5 years with no problems. After a few months of being healthy again I went on a low hormone pill with no problems. They started up again this year.
I have been following this thread off and on for 2 or 3 months now. I started taking B6 about a month ago and noticed a difference right from the start. I'm having a lot less discharge and odor. My main problem was discomfort and irritation which is gone *knocks on wood*. I definitely recommend taking 100 mg of B6 every day with a multivitamin.
Sometimes I wonder if the pill causes my vajayjay issues. My gyno swears that it's impossible.

[arj75]

So I've been taking Natrol Acidophilus and Nature Made B-Complex for 1 week and a half. I've seen a total difference, I definantly have little to no discharge. But the thing is the smell hasn't gone away completely (it died down ALOT), I'm guessing it'll go away within a week or two. I don't know if I should increase my dosage of the B vitamin (if so which one: B-12 or B-6?) or just continue taking Acidophilus 3x daily along with the single dose of B-Complex.
Oh yeah ... has anyone had their bacterial infection clear up completely without using anti-biotics? What method did you use?

A few months ago I visited doctor stewart the writer of the V Book (I live in the Boston area), and she said that my PH is normal and I don't have BV or a yeast infection. She also noticed that there was no odor. But yet I still have symptoms. She did notice alot of discharge during my visit which she thought was abnormal. On the 24th I'm going to have a visit and I hope all is clear.

I have cleared up my infections with garlic and gauze..not a real speeding process...and pain in the ass, but, yes..it has worked for me.

Do you mind in sharing this...I'm just curious..how much are her office visits?

I take a complex of all the b's and I just assume the makers have balanced them together as they should have...but I do know b-6 and b12 work well together. I have a book written written by Phyliss balch (Prescription for nutrional healing)....she is a nutritional counselor..she suggests Acidophilus (three times a day) and vitamin b-complex 50-100 mg 3 times a day...and then add extra vitamin b6 50 mg 3 times a day.

I posted an article recently about some new bacterias that were found..and not identified before..Like 17 species..and they were not in healthy womens vagina's...well...some types of bacteria produce toxins, some damage cells, some make our bodies cells the targets of our own bodies defenses, of course some just "take over"

...but there are some species that deplete or rob nutrients and minerals from our cells that are needed by our body to preform its proper functions..such as make hormones... or have a healthy immune system.......

I'm just making a wild guess...I think thats what they are doing..stealing from our healthy cells...

[SwtSimplicity]

So I've been taking Natrol Acidophilus and Nature Made B-Complex for 1 week and a half. I've seen a total difference, I definantly have little to no discharge. But the thing is the smell hasn't gone away completely (it died down ALOT), I'm guessing it'll go away within a week or two. I don't know if I should increase my dosage of the B vitamin (if so which one: B-12 or B-6?) or just continue taking Acidophilus 3x daily along with the single dose of B-Complex.


Oh yeah ... has anyone had their bacterial infection clear up completely without using anti-biotics? What method did you use?

A few months ago I visited doctor stewart the writer of the V Book (I live in the Boston area), and she said that my PH is normal and I don't have BV or a yeast infection. She also noticed that there was no odor. But yet I still have symptoms. She did notice alot of discharge during my visit which she thought was abnormal. On the 24th I'm going to have a visit and I hope all is clear.

[CanCan]

i don't know if this is a question that has been talked about before... but is it possible to have bv but have a normal vaginal ph? i used one of those vagisil ph testers twice and both times it said my ph was normal. right now (today) i feel ok, but some days i feel like it's there, the discharge and weird smell (i never had a fishy smell, just a weird smell.) but i don't know if it's just me being psycho since i've been dealing with this for so long or not. but so yeah, if i do have bv symptoms but my ph is normal what might that mean??

Well, according to our handy-dandy V Book, it says that no, it is not possible. If your ph is acidic where it should be, then you can't have BV. But it says that a yeast infection can live in acidic or basic environments.

But when did you test the ph? If you just did a vinegar douche, or if you just used boric acid, or Replens, or some other acidifier, then it would alter the reading. Make sure you are testing while you have the BV symptoms. When you are having discharge etc. But I used those strips just recently, and it said that I was a healthy low ph, and I was then tested for BV by my gyno, and she told me that I still had BV. So maybe I didn't put enough liquid on the strip. And I think you should use the strips that are specifically for testing vaginal ph, not the regular ones. The regular strips start at 4.5, which is too high anyway, so it doesn't really give you an accurate picture.

Or maybe your ph goes up and down, because the BV gets better and then gets worse etc. depending on your cycle. Menses makes the ph go up, more basic, and then it goes back to acidic again.

[anitsirhc]

i don't know if this is a question that has been talked about before... but is it possible to have bv but have a normal vaginal ph? i used one of those vagisil ph testers twice and both times it said my ph was normal. right now (today) i feel ok, but some days i feel like it's there, the discharge and weird smell (i never had a fishy smell, just a weird smell.) but i don't know if it's just me being psycho since i've been dealing with this for so long or not. but so yeah, if i do have bv symptoms but my ph is normal what might that mean??

[arj75]

[quote name='witsend' date='Aug 20 2007, 10:01 PM' post='166544']
I don't post very often but have been battling with BV for two years after my c-section. Before that I am sure but it got real bad after my pregnancy. I went through IVF (lots of hormones and antibiotic treatment) I also have PCOS which brings up that PCOS can be linked to diabetes. People with diabetes are vunerable to reoccuring yeast infections/BV. Not sure if this is part of my problem but I guess it could be since I just had pancreatitis and had my gallbladder taken out in May.

I'm sorry to hear that witsend, I have a family member who has chronic pancreatits...and it is a very horrible and painful condition, I'm not trying to scare you but say put "your gaurd up" because I'm hearing the same story from your experience...she also is diabetic which occured after chronic pancreatis...and her gallbladder had burst.

Something funky is a brewing downstairs for me, and it's not looking pretty. I have been lazy, rebelliant, and to busy to take my probiotics, vitamins, or eat healthy...i went on a saurkraut eating frenzy at some german restuarant, got tipsy, hd sex (with a condom) had to go out of town on a trip that I was dreading to go on...then bam the funk was back the next day. I took the metro-gel. I have neverending refills the doctor wrote out to me, and now I have big glops of goop with blood, abdominal pain...and not to mention that my period only lasted 3 days which is not normal for "me". Even through dealing with all of my past stessors, my period was always on schedule, I even had them through out the time I nursed my son.

My doctor said that 7 days was normal....I have not done to much investigating this but from the little info I have read...says it's not...

I didn't start my period until I was 17..almost 18...which is also a sign of hyperthyroidism. I'm not gonna give up on finding a doctor who will respect my personal beliefs, and work with my hemopathic doctor.

I'm sorry that I believe spiritual, emotional, physical, genetics, and enviroment ALL play a factor in my health.

[witsend]

I don't post very often but have been battling with BV for two years after my c-section. Before that I am sure but it got real bad after my pregnancy. I went through IVF (lots of hormones and antibiotic treatment) I also have PCOS which brings up that PCOS can be linked to diabetes. People with diabetes are vunerable to reoccuring yeast infections/BV. Not sure if this is part of my problem but I guess it could be since I just had pancreatitis and had my gallbladder taken out in May. Regardless of this I found this sight and tried the boric acid, hydrogen peroxide washes, acidopholis, yogurt, tea tree oil to no avail. The boric acid irritated me down there and the itching soon returned. The tea tree oil gave me yeasty chunky discharge. I use the acidopholis suppositories but not sure if they have helped much. I do find some relief with the hydrogen peroxide washes. I think they have cleared things up a bit but it always returns. What has helped me most is I got a bottle of Echinacea tincture from my chiropractor. On a whim and after reading on the internet that you can douche with this I decided to try a wash like a did with the hydrogen peroxide. I boiled a cup of water and poured a dropper full in and used a dropper thing to squirt up there and used my finger to get it in the crevices. I did once a day for a week straight. Using this has cleared me up better then anything else. Now I don't have such a heavy discharge. I do feel a bit itchy at night so now I tried some yeast cream that I got from the store and I will see if this works. I have also decided to try the folic acid as suggested. I have also been using some dewormer that I got from the barefoot herbalist. Haven't noticed any worms but I do tend towards constipation so what the hell. Can't stand this bv, driving me nuts and interfering with my sex life with hubby. ACK.

[arj75]

Can you take 1600mg of Folic Acid or is that too much?

I'm not sure...I have been exploring alternative medicine here recently, and I am now under this impression...that just as it's not smart to self medicate ourselves with medicines not prescribed to us and not being observed under doctors care...it applies this way in alternative medicine too.... I might not need any folic acid..you might need 1600 mgs...

But, hemopathic (however that's spelled lol) doctors, holistic medicine whatever you choose to call it...they are much less expensive than doctors...and spend more than 5 minutes talking with you. Why? They are interested in getting you healthy and not how many patients they can get in and out of their office in a day.

I was advised to find a doctor, who understands that not everyone is happy being on anti-depressants, hormone therapy..or whatever have you..and have he/she will work in conjunction with your doctor.

I heard this tid-bit on the radio the other day. With all of our advanced medical research/drugs/equipment...of all the countries we are listed number 41 in regards with shorter life spans. What this says to me...lifesyle & diet....most important. Some country called Andora (not sure how it's spelled) sits between Spain and France I think...it is number 1.

[neverending]

Can you take 1600mg of Folic Acid or is that too much?

[CanCan]

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/408951_8

Probiotics in Prophylaxis and Treatment of Urogenital Infections

Since the initial clinical observation that there was an association between recurrent urethritis and absence of lactobacilli,[36] we have conducted a number of clinical studies with L rhamnosus GR-1 and L fermentum RC-14 or B-54, which have shown very encouraging results in preventing recurrent UTI.[57-62]
Restoration of a normal vaginal flora has been tried by others with some degree of success, as reviewed by Sieber and Dietz.[63] In our studies, the organisms have been given as a vaginal douche in 3 mL skim milk or as a freeze-dried preparation in gelatin capsules. In the former, vaginal application of strains GR-1 and B-54 increased the number of adherent lactobacilli per vaginal epithelial cell from zero to as high as 110.[57] In the latter, strains GR-1 and B-54 stimulated 10-fold increases in vaginal lactobacilli after intravaginal delivery (from 10,000 to 100,000 per swab per mL).[60] More recently, both GR-1 and RC-14 have been detected and found to be associated with an improved vaginal flora after local insertion of the organisms in capsules.[52] With respect to vaginal colonization, strain GR-1 is more commonly recovered in more women and for longer durations than B-54 or RC-14 (manuscript in preparation). However, RC-14 is a preferred complementary strain, as it produces hydrogen peroxide and potent anti-infective biosurfactants, and in some women colonizes better than GR-1.

[CanCan]

Hello everyone ..Havent been on here in a while I have been extremely busy.. Just wanted to give you all an update on my condition. I am still BV FREE and I have not used yeast arrest in 2 months. I am actively taking probiotic acidophilus with 20 billion active organisms. I take it twice a day it is refrigerated and in liquid form versus what I used to take which were the capsule form. So all is well this way I really need to catch up on the board and will have to find time. Have a great day

Hi,
What brand of probiotic are you taking? And what did you take again to get rid of the BV.. please don't make me go back and read all your older posts!!

[bvgirl]

Hello everyone ..Havent been on here in a while I have been extremely busy.. Just wanted to give you all an update on my condition. I am still BV FREE and I have not used yeast arrest in 2 months. I am actively taking probiotic acidophilus with 20 billion active organisms. I take it twice a day it is refrigerated and in liquid form versus what I used to take which were the capsule form. So all is well this way I really need to catch up on the board and will have to find time. Have a great day

[arj75]

I'm not sure if everyone has already read this article, it was dated November 3, 2005.

http://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/STDs/tb/2063

Women with bacterial vaginisis appear to play host to about twice as many species of bacteria as previously suspected

In addition, 19 of 35 species of bacteria detected in the vaginal fluid of women with bv appear to be newly identified......


The authors bypased standard bacterial culture techniques and instead extracted from the samples bacterial DNA, cloned the DNA segments, expanded them with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) then looked for the 16S ribosomal RNA genes unique to each bacterial species.

In each sample, with newly recognized species in 32 to 89% of clones per sample. Women with bv had 1 to six different bacterial species....

( they have no scientific names for the bacteria yet.

But at least they are looking right?

[CanCan]

I've never hear of inositol-I guess I have some researching to do. I have been doing the hyrogren peroxide wash and I don't know if it's that what's helped or what but it seems like when I do do it-for a few days no smell and then it comes back a few days later. It hasn't been as bad as it was when I was on the metformin. I'm surprised I didn't have cats following me! LOL! And I don't know why my husband didn't bring it up. It's really hindered our sex life because I'm afraid for it to come back or to be smelling that stuff in the middle of us getting it on. I thought it was him or something and that I was allergic to his sperm and that's what was the cause.
Does anyone know if men who have sex with women with bv should undergo any cleansing or treatment?

Congrats on getting pg with PCOS without inf meds! i got pg 2x with the help of clomid.

Inositol is one of the B Vitamins. All of the B Vitamins are very important for your health, and for balancing hormones, which has been linked to (in some cases) BV. B-Complex has inositol in it. But most people need more of it.

As for the PCOS, I don't have it.

[firecrotch]

I've never hear of inositol-I guess I have some researching to do. I have been doing the hyrogren peroxide wash and I don't know if it's that what's helped or what but it seems like when I do do it-for a few days no smell and then it comes back a few days later. It hasn't been as bad as it was when I was on the metformin. I'm surprised I didn't have cats following me! LOL! And I don't know why my husband didn't bring it up. It's really hindered our sex life because I'm afraid for it to come back or to be smelling that stuff in the middle of us getting it on. I thought it was him or something and that I was allergic to his sperm and that's what was the cause.
Does anyone know if men who have sex with women with bv should undergo any cleansing or treatment?

Congrats on getting pg with PCOS without inf meds! i got pg 2x with the help of clomid.

Firecrotch,
I have had PCOS and chronic bv. The PCOS seems to be cured with inositol (I am now pregnant without any assistance) and my bv tales are scattered throughout this thread--going off oral contraceptives was helpful. I think that diet can do a lot to help both--but the inositol, including eating buckwheat for breakfast every day, was really amazing for the PCOS.

[lapis]

Firecrotch,
I have had PCOS and chronic bv. The PCOS seems to be cured with inositol (I am now pregnant without any assistance) and my bv tales are scattered throughout this thread--going off oral contraceptives was helpful. I think that diet can do a lot to help both--but the inositol, including eating buckwheat for breakfast every day, was really amazing for the PCOS.

[pympmama1]

LORI


YOUR BLOG is GREAT AND U have completed it... I can now click and be directed to the link VERY COOL... b/c I was about to ask abt the vagisil screening kit and pooof i click the link and now I know where to get it.... VERY well done...


Someone asked about PCOS I do not have that but I have hemorrhagic cyst and I am having a hard time finding correlations between cyst and bv... if anyone finds more info please share.....


Laser hair removal ....I am afraid but I am tried of razar bumps and accidental nics on my nonni... can some one provided a price range....

[searpr]

I am sooooo glad I stumbled across this forum. This should be published everywhere for everyone to see. I thought I was just a freak with the never-ending crotch rot from hell. Now I know I am not the only one who has to go back and forth to the doctor to get every antibiotic under the sun with no luck. My gyno once even sent my slides off to an infectious diseases specialist -- no luck!!!! I also find it interesting that the fact that Metrogel/flagyl etc DOES NOT WORK is not more widely published. I can only imagine the number of people that were wondering what the fuck is wrong with their stuff like I have been for years. I've not had it continuously, but every so often it rears its ugly head and I was just sick of it, UNTIL....

Upon the wonderful advice of the threads here, I went and got some B6 and acidophilus (I already had some folic acid). I'm not sure if the B vitamins made a drastic difference, but on day 2 of the acidophilus, my smell TOTALLY changed. It went from --- well, just foul to sweet smelling and NORMAL! WOW!!!! I'm almost afraid to jinx myself at this point, but the difference is just amazing. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

[searpr]

*double post*

[firecrotch]

Hi ladies, I have a question. Do any of yall who suffer from BV have PCOS? Poly cystic ovarian syndrome. I have that and my doctor told me that BV is one of the side effects to it. I was put on metformin and it seemed like when I stopped taking the meds my BV cleared up or it wasn't nearly as bad. I haven't heard of any other women w PCOS who have chronic BV or maybe they did but were too embarrassed to talk about it.
I'm glad I found this board because this is a very embarrassing topic to discuss over coffee with my gf's.