[jewelscando]

Well, I didn't get my info from the Internet. I read it in a magazine. And no, it wasn't a tabloid either!! But I did do a search on Google, and you are right, it isn't true. So, I'm actually happy about that. I will go buy some and use if for the peroxide. It will be weird, since I had a hysterectomy 6yrs ago!! But, hey, it's worth the try.

I also have been tested for all STV's and mine were negative as well.

[chachaheels]

That's great, sassy, and everyone should be tested for STDs. However, people still need to get a diagnosis if they have symptoms that we're recognizing here as common ones for BV.

Those symptoms are so general, they could indicate any number of diseases, including but not limited to STDs. It is still the first thing to do if these very general symptoms arise: go and have a battery of tests done, and MAKE SURE. Get a diagnosis. Then you can decide what you want to do next--whether that is try the treatment your doctor may suggest, or seek out another form of treatment.

I especially think a repeat visit to the doctor is in order if you were diagnosed with BV and the symptoms persist despite trying your doctors suggestions. Someone on this board posted that they were experiencing a greenish coloured discharge after being diagnosed with BV--that, to me, says, another test is in order (the discharge colour indicates at least 2 other diseases to me, where it is a very strong indicative sign).

What a tragic thing to be treating BV if there really is a much more dangerous disease at work--or to treat BV when the causes have to do with hormonal changes that can indicate glandular or organic distress, which could be found and corrected.

[sassy]

I've been tested regularly for all STD's...not an issue.

[fedup45]

Hey I just wanted to let you guys know that so far my symptoms are gone!!! I uesed the tampon soaked in peroxide 2 times yesterday for about 30 minutes each time......im going to keep doing this like i said for a few days just to be sure but im amazed /this is the first time in all the years ive been dealing with this crap that ive been without that smell WITHOUT taking antibiotics/ I feel like ive died and gone to heaven...lol/anyways I just wanted to share/I hope we can all get rid of this someday....I wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy/ Everyone have a great day!!! and not to make any waves BUT if anyone on here is from OHIO or is a Buckeye fan....GO BUCKS:)!!!!

[chachaheels]

Free spirit is correct--the symptoms of BV and of yeast look so much like many other symptoms and signs of more serious diseases. There are tests available and your doctor can take a sample or two from you and order them up to rule out trichomoniasis, gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamidia, yeast, and cervical dysplasia. You must go and have these tests done in order to be certain that what you have is indeed what you think you have. If you just go ahead and start treating what you think is BV, but what you've really got is gonorrhea (for example), you may get rid of your symptoms, but you'll definitely be suffering from the disease's more insidious, destructive effects (which produce symptoms you can't easily detect).

Fear of the diagnosis is really no excuse. If it is difficult for you to see a doctor, do whatever you can to ensure you can make this trip--bring someone with you, find a doctor who will do house calls, ask a counsellor or someone who's looking after your if you do have a social anxiety disorder to recommend a practitioner to you...do what it takes. There's no point in self-treating here unless you know what's wrong; and if the symptoms are bad enough that you want to take steps to self-treat, you need to find a doctor and get a diagnosis.

No: tampons do not contain asbestos. But they are often made of a rayon component, and the wood fibre in this material can harm vaginal tissue.

Most tampons are bleached and they do contain dioxin. Which is many times worse than asbestos.

[free_spirit]

Have any of you been tested for Trichcomosis (SP?)
I have read that the symptoms can be similar. Some of you may have that and are mistaking it for BV and or Yeast.
Just a thought.

It would make sense to check if you have this because it may need to be treated differently from how you treat BV or Yeast, and maybe thats another reason why you can not get things to clear up.

(Just a thought)

[pollystyrene]

*de-lurks*- Tampons do not contain asbestos! Internet malarkey.

[Eralc Alegna]

So I just started my first night of metrogel tonight. The only problem is how long to use it for. Docs say a week but the last time I used it my doc said six weeks because the week long stints before did nothing. I've got two boxes... I want to suppliment with probiotics so I don't destroy everything and throw myself even more out of whack, but if i do during the metrogel use than it'll just die right away and be a waste, right? Should I do a week on and a week off with probiotics or would that not be long enough? a month? go until symptoms stop and then go probiotic? do I just use the metrogel for the week and then see? I'm so confused! I just need to get laid!

[neverending]

WELCOME TO THE BOARD fedup45 AND Ugh27!

[klee]

Kefir is like a yogurt drink...it's lighter and more like a smoothie but it's pro-biotic and you can probably get it at your grocery. Definitely at a more whole foods-ish type of grocery.

Oh, and tampons do not contain asbestos. You can do a search on Snopes if you're curious. But I stopped using them because I hear they're not that great for your vaginal health.

[jewelscando]

The only problem I can think of with the tampons is what I said on here a long time ago. I read in an article that tampons carry asbestos or something like that. But, I like your idea. I've used a Q-Tip but obviously, it doesn't hold enough.

I'm really not doing anything about it right now except dealing with it. I'm not having sex at the moment, so I figure, what difference does it make. I don't smell the fish at the present time either, just a funky crappy smell, and that's only if I try to smell it.

DO NOT BY ENZARA. It's crap, and does not work. AT ALL. And no response when I tried to get a refund.

[Ugh27]

Ughhhh... I am so glad I found this forum. I am 18 and I am pretty sure I have BV or some form of it. I have a discharge that comes out watery and the smell is disgusting. Sorry to be so graphic. I also do not know if I have a UTI or if the discomfort when urinating is coming form the infection because the discomfort is not consistent. I also have a cloudy urine. I hate this.. I am a virgin (except to toys.. lol) so I know it is not an STD and I am so scared to go to the doctor. I have never been to a gynecologist before and I am so embarrassed of the smell plus I have social anxiety disorder... which makes it even worse I REALLY do not want to go to the doctor. But I heard if it goes untreated I may not ever be able to have children. So there pretty much is no way of curing this without going to the doc huh?

[Eralc Alegna]

Thanks for the kind words . I'm thinking I might go back on metrogel for a while. I have a ton from my last RX cause it was for 6 weeks w/refills. It's just so messy and inconvienent with having to always wash the applicators. I even e-mailed the mayo clinic today ( I'm in MN ) cause I went to the site to look for clinical trials or new info and NOTHING. the only infor given was the standard anti-biotic, wipe from front to back, may or may not be sex related, go see your gyno crap. I expected so much more from them...

Klee, remind me what kefir is again and where I can get it?

[klee]

Eralc - I haven't used Enzara but I think the consensus around here is that's it's a rip-off. I understand how frustrated you are, as I'm sure we all do.

What I might suggest if your symptoms are really bad, is to go to the doctor and get a RX for flagyll or whatever works best for you. It will knock it out and once you get things settled in terms of yeast and whatnot, try to do some preventative things such as the HP douches after your period. I never had good results w/taking probiotics. It seems to make things worse for me. I thought drinking kefir seemed to have better results though - and it might be important after antibiotics. But right now I'm drinking Emergen-C which includes B 6 & 12 as well as loads of C. And I drink lots of water.

[fedup45]

I just found this site a few days ago and am so relieved that I am NOT the only one dealing with this/I thought I was going to lose my mind/Ive been reading through all of your posts and the different treatments. The peroxide is something I hadnt heard of BUT like the rest of you I will try ANYTHING at this point/So today I got to thinking about an easier way to to the peroxide and I decided to use a tampon(which I know arent really good to use )and completely soak it with the peroxide and, although its a bit messy i was able to insert it as far up as possible and i left it there for about 30 minutes or so and just wore a pad/I have already noticed a difference...the smell was gone which totally floored me/ Im going to try this a couple times a day for a few days and see if this will do the trick and ontop of that I had just read about a probiotic called Jarrow Fem Dophilus that I have ordered online/i read about it in one of my womens magazines and hopefully it will help keep this in check/If anyone else out there has tried this probiotic that ive mentioned please let me know how it worked for you/I know we are all different but id still like to hear/ALSO im a little worried about using the peroxide in this manner and am not sure if i could be doing damage to myself or not so if anyone knows any reason why this may not a good idea pleas please let me know that as well/i am so desperate to be well again/im 45 and i have been dealing with this for so many years and like all of you have been through the same circle of BV/yeast infections over and over again/

[Eralc Alegna]

For those of you who have tried enzara, how well did it work? how much did you pay? If it didn't work did you get a refund? (the website promises one). I'm thinking of trying it, I'm so frustrated that the HP and probiotics didn't help.
I'm back at square one with the symptoms as bad as ever. This is ruining my life I swear, you have no idea (or I guess you all do) how depressed it makes me to have such a platonic relationship with my boyfriend and to feel rotten and defective all the time. Even when I know he's willing to have sex regardless I just can't because it's impossible to get in the mood when I know how things will turn out, it makes me feel disgusting. It's like I'm half a woman. And god damn it I want oral sex again!
Where has everyone been? did everyone find something that worked but me?!?

[klee]

I notice that my discharge is a little lumpy right after the HP washes. I think it's the yeast reacting to the HP. But it's been about hmmm...maybe two weeks since my 3 day stint of holding the HP for 3 mins in the vag. It's still all clear. I've been taking a break from yogurt and trying to eat more whole grains, quinoa at the moment, and drinking Emergen-C every day. Also had sex last weekend. Everything is good but I still need to wait and see after my period. Still smoking though...ergh.

[neverending]

jewelscando:Girl you are so CRAZY! LOL! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[Eralc Alegna]

Just looking for some advice/opinions here... I've been doing the HP douches and using probiotics orally and vaginally daily for about two weeks now. the only changes I've seen is that about two or three days ago the discharge went from a thin milky red/brown (Finished my period about a week ago) to the light but bright yellow green color I usually associate with the infection. The smell isn't as noticable, and the discharge was a little lumpy when i first noticed the change. ANYWAY... should I continue with the probiotics for a while and see where this goes or give the kitten a rest for a while? I've got 2 days worth of the probiotics left and it was like $43 for the bottle of 30. Any Input?

P.s. I did miss a day on sunday of treatment because i was sick. could this have anything to do with it?

[chachaheels]

Anatomy definitely has something to do with making us prone to reinfection. There are some ways to minimize this--such as avoiding the use of tampons (the strings tend to act as a conduit of infection back into the body), so does the way you clean yourself after a bowel movement. This is one of the reasons bidets are really kind of necessary in every bathroom--but they've never really caught on in North America.

BV poses a lot of problems for women because you won't find a lot of time being spent in research or treatment of women's illnesses in general in conventional medicine. This is quite a long and well documented fact, and really not much has changed even though conventional medicine now has as many female doctors as male doctors. Fact is money isn't set aside for research in this area of medicine.

Which leaves you the typical options: exhaust the possibilities in this form of treatment, then do some research and find out how alternate forms of medical treatment approach the same problem. I definitely think BV is curable--it's just not very likely to be treated effectively using the conventional approaches because the conventional approach doesn't actually consider the BV as an ailment taking place IN THE CONTEXT of your over all health picture; so it often recurs, comes back worse, or disappears and reappears as a deeper infection that's much harder to treat.