Just wondering what symptoms have others experienced while having BV? My symptoms are smelly vaginal discharge which normally smells fishy. Recently and I have noticed in the past some achy abdominal pains and also swollen lymph nodes in my groin area. Does anyone have any similar symptoms caused by BV. I have had the infection for since September.
View 32 RepliesI was diagnosed with recurrent BV and was given a treatment of antifungals for it. Now my original symptoms are gone but I have a whole new set of them. My vagina and the insides of my labia majora are ridiculously itchy, they burn like no other, are cinnamon red, extremely hot to the touch, and have a smell that is simply rank, I've had to change my underwear twice today because it's so strong. I don't have unusual discharge or large amounts of it, it's quite the opposite, it's unusually dry.
Does anyone have any idea what's happening? Should I schedule a pelvic exam with an OB GYN?
If you need to know, they had me take a fluconazole pill every other day, three pills total. I'm turning 19 soon, and I'm not currently sexually active.
A couple of weeks ago, after experiencing right flank discomfort for a week or so, I went to my primary care physician who suspected kidney stones and referred me to a urologist. The urologist didn't seem overly concerned and doubted he would see anything on my CT, which is scheduled for next week. THe blood test and urinalysis my physician ran were all normal, together with blood pressure, etc.
Since I first went to the doctor, my symptoms have changed, whereas now:
-- My pain, a dull ache, really, is primarily under my right rib cage, just below the final rib
-- occasional burning sensation in the same area and more toward the center/left of my ribs
-- occasional, more stabbing-like pain in various areas of my back, both right and left side, as far up as between the shoulder blades
-- some fatigue -- consistently falling asleep in front of the TV in the early evening. Pretty new behavior for me
-- Occasional mild nausea (no vomiting)
-- an occasional very loud intestinal gurgling
Do these sound like gallbladder symptoms? I;m wondering because I don't have any of the urinary issues that seem so common and no diarrhea/constipation, etc., No jaundice, etc., though I think I'm more burp-y and gassy lately. What do you think?
I cured my BV by drinking LOADS of water. Maybe 4/5 litres a day.
I tried everything I could afford to try as a broke student. So from garlics to yoghurt to antibiotics to overpriced creams. I visited 4 doctors and none of them helped me much. I burnt the inside of my vagina with all the nonsense I did. My vagina got so bad that I couldn't want for longer than 5 minutes because I would be in so much pain and desperately need to scratch. I used to spend all day in my room with my legs wide open because my genitals wore swollen and they hurt so much. I even remember crying and not being able to sleep. LOL! It was horrible!!
Anyway I started noticing the only time my vagina felt half decent was when I was weeing. So I started drinking more water so I could wee more and the more I weed the less I itched. I drunk 4/5 litres of water for 3 days and really tried to flush out my system and then it just stopped. No more itch. No more discharge, no more stink.
The sad news is I have it again. It's quite mild at the moment but I'm going to start drinking water like crazy again. Hopefully it works again.
I have suffered for years with bv and tried just about everything! Here's what worked for me, it kinda happened by accident but I've been bv free for almost two months, I have been sexually active and even after my period it has not returned. There is no douching of any kind in my cure. Hopefully this helps all or some of you as I take into account that every body can react differently. Best wishes and relief to you all!
Upon waking (before eating) have large glass of water with a good squeeze of fresh lemon. Take a femdophilus pill with water.
After breakfast take an Alive Once Daily women's ultra potency multivitamin.
Drink water with fresh lemon throughout the day at least 3 large glasses.
That's it! Also, Try not to eat tons of sweets or too much red meat.
So I wanted to give an update on my post I made a few months back, on the "i can't get rid of BV!
All those remedies never worked for me. I tried the apple cider vinegar douche and the H2O2 douche. I even tried the diet thing,(candida diet) where you can't eat anything basically. Needless to say that didn't last very long, I think I did that for about 3 days because it was just waaay to hard for me. But anyways as I was trying that out I also stopped taking my birth control pills. I had been taking Lutera for about 3 years. (Which is around the time all my symptoms started to happen)
Long story short...my boyfriend told me to do one or the other. And since I had already stopped taking my BC (and that candida diet sucks!) I decided to just eat what I want and see what happens with everything going on down south. Well A LOT of my symptoms went away!! I've even had sex about 5 times with no bad reactions afterword(which before when I had sex with my bf, almost immediately after or the next morning the symptoms would be so bad sometimes I would cry).
I'm not saying I don't have this anymore because I think I still do, I still have a white milky discharge, that dries on my panty-liners a sort of yellow-brown color, and it smells a little, not fishy but I don't think it's good lol. But i no longer have that severe itching that i use to get, which was the absolute worst!!!!!! TMI but i could probably sit there and scratch for like literally 5mins straight with out any relief, just a flared up vagina! ugh its sucked sooo bad!
But I'm just nervous to go to the doctor to get tested positive a for BV or yeast infection and have her put me on an antibiotic that might just make my symptoms worse all over again. Should I go to the doctor or try an OTC for a yeast infection??
I've had BV for 20 years, but have found that it's got worse over the last 5 years. Balance activ controls it until I next have sex, or have my period, then it inevitably returns with a vengeance. I've tried folic acid, fem dophilus (which worked but is too expensive for me long term)salt water douching etc.
However, on this occasion, I douched with salt water for 2 nights before bed to kill the bad bacteria and followed with a balance activ pessary to nurture the good, the next 5 nights I only used the pessary. I only wash with plain water, have taken folic acid and vitamins c and d and I'm eating a fage Greek yogurt with honey (from asda) every day as it contains L.Acidophilus probiotics. I've also reduced my sugar intake.
i recently just became sexually active in September. since September me and my partner has had sex each month until December. I've only been with one guy. i noticed bv started a few weeks after i lost my virginity but it would always disappear before i thought it was problem. January came and i noticed my bv was really bad, this was just a few days after me and my partner had relations. it was a watery discharge and i had a horrible fish odor. it was getting so bad that i became embarrassed to sit next to people.my panties would become really wet from the discharge and stunk so bad. i am a very clean person. i take showers everyday and night and right after sex too. i wash with summers eve and that usually helps with any odor, but not this time. i went to the obgyn and she said it would clear up on it own in a few days but it didn't. i started using baby powder down there. it did help the discharge and the odor but it wasn't helping get rid of my problem.i then switch to anti fungal powder which did help but i always had to reapply it. so i began to look for home remedies online. i created a mixture of white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and 2 to 3 drops of tea tree oil and put it in a spray bottle. every other night i would spray the mixture between the lips of vagina, i would then put a hot towel on my vagina for five minutes then hop in the shower. this did bring relief to me but i had to do it every week, butt hat's not healthy for your vagina. i am 18 years old but my mothers does not know i am sexually active so i told her i was having a real bad yeast infection. she then told me to take a tampon and soak it in coconut oil, the kind in the squirt bottle (liquid), and after my shower, insert the tampon and go to bed. after THREE DAYS i went back to normal THIS WORKED PERFECTLY. i no longer feel shame to sit next to people nor do i smell anything !!!! i do not do this every night but for the first week i did. ihaven't had sex in two months andunfortunatelyy me and my partner have taken a break so idon't know if my bv would flare up after sex but it doese flare up after my period. i do the coconut oil thing and after three days the discharge and odor is gone. everyone is different so don't know how others will react to this but i encourage you ladies to try this method. when it flares up i take a hot shower with summer's eve then after getting out the shower i wipe my vagina with a regular baby wipe, im a clean freak lol, i then take my tampon and put it in the oil and while its soaking i take a q-tip and dip it in the coconut oil and then trace the inside of my vagina with it and in my hole as well. this stops the smell and discharge, do this before bed that way to the oils can really cheap in and help your vagina.
quick tip * before sex I recommend you take a shower but don't insert the coconut oil soaked tampon, of course, trace the inside of your vagina with a q- tip and coconut oil. make sure you get inside your hole too, the coconut oil works immediately and mask the smell very well that way your partner wont be able to smell the odor you'll be comfortable, at the most your partner would think you smell like coconuts lol and they smell pretty damn good!
quick tip* i do spray my mixture still once a month just because it makes me feel even more fresh. Like i said ive only been with one guy, my hole is still tight but i do know that vinegar and masturbation can help strengthen your vagina muscles and get it back tight if the vagina has became loose.
my mixture
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup white vinegar
2 to 3 drops of tea tree oil
directions: spray inside of vagina then put a hot towel on it for five minutes then take a shower. i would do this while the shower is running or in the shower DO NOT DO MIXTURE METHOD EVERY NIGHT YOU CAN HURT YOUR VAGINA DOING TOO MUCH
I'm 13 and I think I have BV. I'm scared to tell my mom because its embarrassing and I don't know what to do but I wanna tell her very bad! It smells fishy down there and I hate the smell! I don't want to go to the doctor because its embarrassing too...
View 2 RepliesIf I go through 2 rounds of antibiotics for BV, what are the chances that I still have it? I still have similar symptoms...but my only symptoms have only ever been vaginal burning. Or do I have a yeast infection?
View 1 RepliesThis started about a few days to a week ago, I began to get this itchiness at the opening of my vagina. I of course thinking its nothing at first, however over a few minutes it became a problem. It began to get worse over the course of time, the irritation and itchiness began to bother me constantly. I would go to the restroom often to clean myself and still feel dirty. I noticed that I've been having more discharge than usual and it was a little different as well. The color wasn't the usual clearish white range I'm use to. It was a light yellowish cream color and was a bit thicker. I began to worry and eventually started looking up a few things. I want to believe its just a yeast infection but you know how the internet is, a lot of things but never enough information to get an idea.
I want to get a clear idea if anyone has been through this and what they were told it was.
I had a blister in my inner lips of my vagina i hurts only when i pee like burn feeling so i had to spray with water whenever i pee. pls help me im in tokyo whee seeking tog professionals are very hard due to language barrier.
View 3 RepliesI'm currently taking acyclovir daily as part of suppressive therapy. Shortly after taking medication, I ended up with a yeast infection (confirmed by the doctor), and she prescribed me medicine. Those symptoms started feeling better, and I was feeling back to my normal self, but now I'm more reddish again than my normal color and feel a bit inflamed. My symptoms seem consistent with how I normally get with bacterial vaginosis (BV). Does anyone know if taking antivirals can cause BV? (similar to how antibiotics cause yeast infections?). I tried looking it up online but couldn't really find a straightforward answer, and I'm wondering if any of you have had experience with this.
I'm getting really frustrated, since my initial OB was pretty bad with swollen lymph nodes and other discomfort. Was getting over a yeast infection, and now I'm feeling like something else is going on! If this ends up being BV, and if taking acyclovir can potentially cause BV as a side effect, I'll have to take flagyl for that, which always ends up giving me a yeast infection. I feel like this is a never ending circle of discomfort.
Does anyone know WHY boric acid works to get rid of BV?
For example, for some women, VItamin C works because it changes the PH of the vagina to be favourable for good bacteria.
Hydrogen Peroxide douches work for some women because they oxygenate the vagina which sets a favourable environment for the good bacteria.
Probiotics work for some women by reintroducing the good bacteria.
But what about boric acid. How does that work?
Does anyone ever have lower back pain with BV?
View 3 RepliesFor over 10 years I have experienced the horrendous BV symptoms. At first it would happen occasionally and only when I had sexual intercourse. Each time it happened I would take metronidazole and it would fix the problem. Over the following number of years the BV became more of a regular occurrence to the point that it was there all day every day with or without sex. I eventually got fed up with going to get a check up as it was happening too often and would only come back again within days so I tried other methods. I tried absolutely everything as I was so desperate and was ruining my life. It completely changed my sex life, my personality and it made me very self conscious. I tried borax capsules inserted in the vagina, hydrogen peroxide douches, vinegar douches, iodine douches, yogurt inserted in vagina, you name it I tried it. One day after giving in to getting another check up, a doctor mentioned that there was a new gel that I could try called balance activ. I gave it a go and it did seem to help with the symptoms which was better than visiting the gyno at least once a month. Whenever I had the symptoms I would use the gel and it would be better by the next day. The only thing was that I couldn't be as spontaneous with sex as I used to be with my partner. But i had no choice.....so I thought. I really believed that BV could not be cured permanently, only short term fixes but I wanted to be free and didn't want to rely on drugs or gels or anything that was just covering up the root cause of these symptoms. Here is how I discovered my cure. This is going to sound a bit scary but I feel that I cannot stay quiet about it as I wish that someone would have warned me about this before it happened to me. Here goes....I became very unwell over a year ago which led to me having to stop working for over 6 months.... I am only 35!!! Look healthy from the outside, exercised 3-4 days per week etc etc. I discovered after doing some tests that I had a severe bacterial imbalance in my gut and a yeast overgrowth as well as parasites. I began doing a protocol to kill the yeast and parasites by taking botanicals and correct the imbalance by taking good quality probiotics. Another very important part of this protocol is that I changed my diet. I have stopped eating sugar and eat lots and lots of vegetables. I am basically on a low carb diet. As a side effect of doing this protocol for my illness, I have completely got rid of my BV. I believe after doing over 3000 hours of research that the gut imbalance and yeast overgrowth has contributed to my bv and it got so bad that it began to affect my digestive system. By correcting this you should be able to live a normal life without the worry of these horrendous symptoms stopping you living the life that you deserve to live. I wish I had known this before I became sick because my body was trying to tell me something for a very long time and just didn't pay attention until it got to this point.
View 92 RepliesI've been with the same person for 13 years now, we are monogamous. About 2 months ago, I started out what I thought was a yeast infection, truth be told I have never really had one up until this point, they weren't something I got at all. First i'll say i had been taking minocycline for my skin, i didn't take it everyday, just when my acne was flaring up, i had been taking at this time, to get my skin cleared up for the wedding. I went and got some monistat, which didn't help at all, this all occurred right before my brothers wedding. I'm assuming it was from the stress of the wedding, so anyway after dealing with monistat, and it not going away after 3 weeks I went to stat care, and they diagnosed me with BV. I took flagyl and it cleared up. I was normal for probably 2 weeks. UNTIL I got my period. So after the period I had that slight itch again, so 2 days later, i thought it was back. ( I should mention that in those 2 weeks that i was normal, i had a gyno appointment, my pap, and hpv test can back normal at that time) So i go back to stat care (I'm only going to urgent care because it takes 3 freaking weeks to get an appointment with my doc) So he looks at my urine again, and tells me there are no "clue cells" but he did see a bit of yeast. At this point i was also diagnosed with a sinus infection. So basically the doctor told me to leave the yeast go (which i guess is easy to say if you're a man that isn't leaking stuff from a private orifice of his body...( i don't know why he didn't mention to treat with monistat) but basically he told me to live with it for 10 days while on amoxicillin, because he said it would just come back after the antibiotic. So he also prescribed me diflucan. Diflucan, has not helped me one bit. Is this normal for many? I thought it might be weird since i have never taken it before. At this point I've been dealing with this for a month and a half. Also, i started the amoxicillin i went and got some ultimate flora, maximum strength for vaginal health with over 50 billion cultures. Which I've been taking religiously since i put the first amoxicillin in my mouth. (can i double up on these, and take 2 per day?) Anyway, so i take the first diflucan, and 3 days later no help. I did notice the symptoms ease up a bit, but still not gone. So i took a second diflucan and nothing... still the same crap. So i call my doctor who is aware of what's going on and he prescribed me 100mg of diflucan two times a day for 10 days. This seemed to be helping, the symptoms seemed to have eased up but never went away fully. I want to mention, I'm also on weight watchers so i have been eating basically lean protein and veggies for the past month or so. Lost 10 lbs, but anyway, I'm on my 7th day of the smaller does of diflucan, I'd say things were going okay up until last week when i got my period again. Things were okay during that time, my period ended just Saturday, and wow it's like an explosion down there now. I used pads which i normally never do, but didn't want to mess up the good that i was seeing. So Saturday was pretty bad, yesterday i notice things were back in full swing. I don't have much itching or irritation, just this annoying discharge that wont stop. I feel like I've been on my period for 2 months straight now. I wonder if maybe my yeast cleared up, and now im back to bv? Can leaving the yeast untreated cause bv? Can you have both at the same time? I can't figure out why this diflucan isn't working. I've never even taken it before this last episode. So last night i woke up and had this hard lump, it almost felt like a swollen vein, right to the upper left of my clitoris, it's not on the lip, but on the soft part of the skin between the clitoris and the outer lip, it really does almost feel like a long vein that is swollen, it's not so hard today, but it's definitely causing swelling, not enough to make me in pain, I'm just confused as to why it's there. I'm finally coming up on my obgyn appointment i made which is a week from today, and I'm getting to the point where i can't take it anymore and might just go back again to the stat care doctor because I'm sick of wearing these stupid pads, i feel like i have a wet diaper all day long. (also wearing the pads is causing boils on the inside of my butt cheeks, and thighs, from where the pads are rubbing. I'm one big bunch of miserable here. I have tried everything, except douching, i don't want to mess up the "flora" anymore than it is. Last Thursday, at my wits end i also went back to the health food store and picked up (from my research on the internet) cranberry, rephresh pro-b, folic acid, garlic, magnesium, evening primrose oil, Echinacea, I also was already currently taking vitamins, D, C, B, and a multi, i just added these other things to my routine, in hopes something would help. I'm lost, i don't get why out of nowhere i would have issues with this, first of all, and 2, i just don't know what to do with it anymore. Ever since the beginning of this I've been wearing 100% cotton undies, i have always wiped from front to back, i just don't get it. So currently this is what i take first thing in the am, I'm taking ultimate flora (1 capsule, and rephresh pro-b 1 capsule) can i take 2 of each of these per day, until it's cleared up? Can you overdose on probiotics?
Then i take my diflucan about an hour to an hour and half after. At lunch i take my multi, b, c, d, garlic, folic acid, and evening primrose. At dinner i take evening primrose, d, Echinacea, cranberry, and magnesium. I take my birth control at least an hour after that, and my diflucan in the evening. I try to leave at least an hour between everything so that i don't get interactions. I read about drinking baking soda water, but don't know how to do this, and not sure if i want to throw something else in the mix. I'm just very confused. I'm going on a vacation this year in 2 month, the first vacation I've had in 8 years, and i don't want this mess ruining it.
I had to share my story in hopes of helping someone else. I had BV for about 3 years and when I did not have BV I had a yeast infection. I was a mess! I had tried absolutely everything you could read on the internet I was obsessed in curing myself. The doctors did not help all the stuff they gave me made me so much worse and I was back to square one. This is what has worked for me after my three years of trying everything and anything. Months later I have no symptoms. What I can tell you that has actually worked for me was: Stop taking baths (only showers). Do not let your partner finish inside you (use your imaginations on this one there are other ways. Do not insert anything into your vagina (NOTHING). Do not douche. Do not wash your vagina with anything but warm water. Do not wear underwear all day (let it breathe when you get home). Drink lots of water. Drink unsweetened cranberry juice. Do not let anything inside you that will change your PH of your vagina. Cut out sugar, and all junk food. Do not use scented tampons. Be patient for symptom relief for about 10 -14 days when taking these supplements. I now take a probiotic, cranberry pills, garlic pills, vitamin D, B complex, and vitamin C. Yes that sounds like so much stuff but I am telling you all the things I listed have a good reason behind them. The supplements are 100% needed to cure you from the inside out and the vagina when left alone will do what it needs to to cure itself. I hope this helps someone to weed threw all of the info online and finally be free from this horrible problem that ruins your self esteem.
View 3 RepliesI don't really remember when these symptoms FIRST appeared, all I know is, these past 2 months have been hell...
I am 17 years old, I have had 2 sex partners. Every single time I have had sex, I've ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS used a condom, it has never broken before and there has never been a rip in it to cause a leak.
My symptoms are hard to describe.
1. I have NO discharge
2. There is NO smell
3. There are NO symptoms including "fevers, headaches." anything that pertains to my body, it is all down in my vag.
4. I have 3-4, small red bumps around the opening of my Vagina, not on the rim part, but like that in that deep part of your vagina that's hard to look at...
5. It BURNS AND ITCHES SO BAD but really only when touched...
6. It used to burn to pee, but that went away after 24 hours.
7. It is NOT spreading.
8. I tried a 3 day Vagistat yeast infection treatment and it didn't do anything.
9. The bumps DO NOT look anything like Herpes or Genital Warts, they do not bleed, they look like "extra flakes of skin" ??
10. NEITHER OF MY PARTNERS ARE EXPERIENCING ANY SYMPTOMS.
I was diagnosed with a uti and treated for it. Few days later i get "yeast infection" symptoms so my primary doc treated it as one. this has been two weeks. i've never had this happen in my whole life i am 38 yrs old so i am really freaking out i've done the monistat 3 day and 7 day also took the pill twice i've done the yogurt, the apple cider nothing helps it eases it for a min but never stops the itching.
View 2 RepliesI went to a compound pharmacy, made a small capsule myself - followed a couple of hours later with coconut oil capsule and probiotic.
I hope my sleep turns this out. Has anyone had a negative effect from the boric acid? I'm sore now! But no smell.