139 User Reviews
★★★★★
I bought a value pack of douche (doesn't matter the variety, since I really only needed the bottle), 3% hydrogen peroxide,acidophilus capsules (2 billion active) and folic acid 800 mg tablets. I emptied the douche bottle and filled it with 1/2 peroxide, 1/2 water and emptied one of the acidophilus capsules into the bottle. I hopped in the shower and used the douche. It burned a little for a while, but it wasn't too bad. I then took 2 of the acidophilus caps by mouth and one folic acid tablet. I repeated the douche everytime DH and I had sex and take the pills once a day. The discharge, odor and slight itching are all GONE!! I feel fresh and comfortable all day. I can't thank all the ladies here at Earth Clinic enough!!!
Even though I tried all three (Perox, Folic Acid and Acidophilus), I believe that folic acid might really be the key. When I think back over the past 6 years, the only time that I was fully free of BV was when I was pregnant and now I think that's because prenatal vitamins contain 800 mg of folic acid.
Thanks again Earth Clinic!
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
★★★★★
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
★★★★★
After reading all the comments left by fellow women going through the same thing, I had to. Well, I douched with 1/4 peroxide and 1/4 water 3 times. I know 3 times sounds a little excessive but I wanted to be sure that if it could work it would work.
I had a strong fishy smell when I say strong I mean strong. When I douched the first time my whole bathroom was emensed in the smell. I had to do it again. After about 10 mins (after the third time) I felt bubbles and took 3 800 mg folic acids and 2 3 billion cpu acidolphilus. I took another shower and washed my lower region with the peroxide and went to sleep. When I woke I took the same amout of pills and I haven't smelled anything, no discharge...nothing :). I am so happy and will continue this but I will douche 3 days from now (only once) and take the pills two times a day 2 folic accid and 2 acidolphilus for a week and the just one of each a day after that.
I am sooooo happy I found this site. I have my self confidence back and I did not have to run to the bathroom everytime I thought I feel discharge to change my liner.
Thanks again and good luck!
~Asia~
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
★★★★★
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
I began feeling something was off wks ago, but figure it was my body adjusting. Well, 3 wks ago the fishy-est odor & discharge scared the crap out of me!! Looked it up & was introduced to BV. After a wash, the smell went away so I figured all must be well. Not so... on came the tiny itching, frequent urinating & slight bleeding. I came across the remedy of using a gauze-wrapped garlic clove suppository. This help alot, but the smell was crazy! I also came across the suggetion to use Tea Tree oil (which I happen to have tons of). This helped the 1st day but the second not so much.
I'm headed out to the store now, wearing a Tea Tree oil soaked tampon, to get folic acid & acidophilous. My mother always made me take these as a child, but as I'm forgetful about taking pills I've fallen off. That sure's gonna change! this irritation is unbearable!!! I'm also gonna feed both ends w/ yogurt.
This further supports my theory that women have it musch harder than men & still we manage to keep it together! they would die @ even the prospect of these issues. Will keep you posted. Thx again, for all the postings!
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
★★★★★
I have had problems with bacterial vaginosis since meeting my hubby. It was very demoralizing and debilitating of my self esteem, due to the odor caused by it. I had been to the doctor before and been diagnosed metrogel, which as many people have stated, works for awhile but comes back, and usually leaves you with a NASTY yeast infection. In fact my doctor at the time even said that she had many women coming in for their monthly perscription of this without even being checked as the infection was a pretty much constant recurring problem! I found that out. She even said that alot of the time it has to do with the sharing of bacteria between your partner, even if you are in a monogamous relationship, that this could be a lifetime deal!!!
I was so elated to find this home remedy and went out and bought everything right away. As many have said, immediately after doing the h202 douche, I felt clean and dry with no more foul odor! Today is the third day for me, and everything is going terrific! I am taking folic acid and acidophilis one time in the morning (with a meal) and one time at night (with a meal)
Thank you Earth Clinic, and thanks to all of these brave women for sharing not only an awesome remedy but your horror stories and battle with BV.
This is not something women talk about freely amongst eachother, but I am sure many woment have had this problem, and I am going to be sure to let all the women I know, in on this great secret!
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
★★★★★
Anyway, after all the disappointments that I went through with these antibiotics and no results, I gave up on going to the doctor. Then I stumbled on this site and did the peroxide, folic acid, and acidophilus treatment.
I started on Monday and notice a significant difference. There is NO DISCHARGE. NO ITCHING. VERY FAINT ODOR. I THINK IT WILL SOON BE GONE COMPLETELY.
I am happy beyond compare and would recommend this treatment to anyone and would also advise them not to use antibiotics regardless of what the doctors recommend. Finally after all these years, I have something that works without a prescription. A terrible weight has been lifted and I feel so clean now.
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
This has been an ongoing struggle for me and a current problem for the past 2 months. I had it before on enough occasions to know I didn't want to go to my GP who is useless on the issue. I was going to wait until I had cleared it up entirely before writing but I figure I might as well start a time line. This testimony is going to contain detailed descriptions of my symptoms and trials and tribulations of finding a "home remedy", so you have been warned. Please note that when I say "vadge" or "cooter", I actually mean "vagina".
Time: 3 months ago.
I wake up abruptly because I have to pee like nobody's business. It hurts when I pee. It looks all cloudy. It smells like I drank too much coffee, and a bit worse. "Great, a #*&!@'n bladder infection!"
Historically, this is always the pattern of events:
1. Get bladder infection--usually from having sex and not peeing after! DO IT EVERYTIME, LADIES! DO NOT STICK AROUND TO SNUGGLE! (if bacteria gets pushed up your bits, peeing after pushes/flushes it out).
2. Go to doctor all teary eyed, trying not to pee myself.
3. Get antibiotics that cause more vadge problems.
4. Get more antibiotics.
5. Get more vadge problems.
6. Cry a lot.
7. Decide to blame men for all my problems and ignore penis like it is the plague.
8. Things start to clear up on their own.
This cycle can take anywhere from a few weeks to many months.
So at first I try to treat it as I would a bladder infection, I drink unsweetened cranberry juice that tastes awful, I take cranberry pills, I drink whiskey to ease the pain and show up drunk at work, etc etc.
Eventually, the sensation of urinating molten lava starts to subside. Then I smell something funkier, and get a bit irritated around the whole area. It is half itchiness/ half pain. This is the start of BV. I want to point out this transition because I want to know if anyone else has very painful urination as a part of BV, or if I could have both. My theory is that it is the same bacteria.
At this time, (about 2 weeks from the initial peeing problems), I was using borax for household cleaning a lot. Borax is pretty awesome. I read that it could help BV and freshen my vadge too. I used it to wash myself in the shower with a big improvement in the stench department, so I took it from there.
I start shoving straight borax powder up my cooter and filling little capsules so that it gets right up there. This was probably as effective as peroxide for the smell, but it was much, much messier. It doesn't dissolve so now there's not only the BV discharge, but there's chunky laundry soap in it too. It was also drying, and unlike peroxide, it doesn't help restore any balance at all.
Because of the imbalance with borax, I shoved acidophilis capsules up there too. It didn't really work out. (gravity works). These blundering attempts went on for about 2-3 weeks. This is because they are actually partially effective. For the long-term however, it didn't look too promising.
Right now I am trying the H202 douche and I'm going to look for the folic acid supplements. The peroxide was such a blessing for me the first few days I used it. It does really help with discharge, irritation, and smell. I mostly use it straight based on what I read in a medical study. But tonight, it felt like someone had kicked me square in the vadge. I used it 3 days in a row full strength and it wasn't so painful at first. The medical study said 7 straight days I believe so I probably should have kept at it. For a few days I did nothing about it at all thinking it cleared up and now it seems to be worse and the peroxide is hard to use because of irritation from the BV. There is no smell right now, but there is a discharge that is like when I'm ovulating but scarier. I will update on my methods and success/failure with peroxide shortly. I am also switching to 1/2 water dilution method.
Other things I have noticed that I would love other people's opinions on (warning for frank discussion on sex and related issues):
1. We all know sex aggravates the problem. I think this is especially the case if the sex goes on for too long and I get really dry. I believe the lack of my own lubricant makes me far more susceptible to bacteria coming in (with or without a condom, but it is much worse without). Some types of lube disagree with me as well. The best one I ever used was actually oil-based, and shouldn't be used with latex condoms. Any recommendations? Similar observations? I heard good things about almond oil used as lube by a well known female sex doctor. Again, this shouldn't be used with condoms.
2. If I get semen inside me, you might as well just quarantine my junk in a tent for the next year. I heard that the vagina is naturally acidic and kills a lot of sperm. This is plausibly so that only the strongest sperm survive to impregnate you. I think these little guys want revenge from me, my long term boyfriend never understood.
3. My method of birth control is a copper IUD. When I get infections, reinfection is a bigger issue for me because bacteria can creep up the string/twine. Birth control pills also wrecked havoc on my sex life and I still got infections, and yes, with condoms too. I guess my point is, I strongly suggest an external use vibrator, I wont name names though. It really salvaged my self esteem.
I really, really appreciate everyone who wrote their personal experiences here so that we could all learn from them. I hope my experiences will be helpful to someone when I get this under control as well. Stay strong everyone, I know how awful this can make you feel about yourself. You are not alone. One day the medical profession will take this more seriously. Until then, I hope we all find a healthy way to manage on our own.
(Toronto, Ontario)
02/05/2009
★★★★★
Update from 12/10/2008:
When I first wrote back in December, I had tried borax, H202 and acidophilus (both internally and externally). Shortly after, I began taking folic acid which was present in a tablet marketed for "stress relief", which had different B vitamins as well. I felt I had to update because I think the status should be changed from "better but not cured" to "cured".
Ladies, when I was initially struggling with the smell and irritation, I wanted something that would give me relief IMMEDIATELY. The H202 certainly provided that, but it was only temporary. I was in no rush to run to the pharmacy to get folic acid because I had assumed that it was more of a preventative measure, and wouldn't have any immediate impact on my symptoms. I was wrong. When I took those multivitamins with folic acid in them (3-4 tablet = 1mg of folic acid in each), I swear my severe irritation dissipated significantly within 1-2 hours. The H202 had helped the odor and the next day, the folic acid seemed to prevent the smell and abnormal discharge from returning. I went out and bought a bottle of just folic acid -1mg tabs, and continued to take them with acidophilus for about a week or 2. I would take 2-3mg of folic acid and about 3-4 acidophilus capsules which were said to contain the following:
4 billion active cells at time of manufacture of the following:
lactobacillus rhamnosus - 80% 3.2billion
lactobacillus acidophilus-10% .04billion
Bifidobacterium longum- 5% .02billion
Bifidobacterium bifidum- 5% .02billion
Shortly after I started taking these supplements routinely, I had my period and afterward my symptoms were gone entirely. I have been symptom free and feeling great for over a month. I know some girls ask if they have to keep taking the supplements after the symptoms go away, and from my experience, I have not been taking them everyday or even regularly and my symptoms have not returned. I do try to take them whenever I remember because I believe they are great for your vaginal health, but personally I did not find that I was forced to continue taking them forever.
Other things to note are that I have not had intercourse in a while after getting better, this could be part of the reason for not relapsing yet as this was one of the most aggravating factors for me.
I also continued to have some issues with bouts of painful and urgent urination that was sometimes cloudy after my BV felt better. I cannot be certain, but I believe what wiped out this problem entirely for me was when I started to drink 2TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar with 2TBSP Molasses and 1TSP of Cayenne pepper combined together in hot water (in a very large mug) and drank like a tea. I don't know if the actual amounts are that important, my reasoning for those measurements were that it tasted the best to me that way. I have been drinking this every other day or so now, because the taste sort of grew on me. I drank it with a straw most of the time to avoid teeth sensitivities. I wanted to try taking these supplements after what I read on this site about how they are good for your overall health. I wasn't intentionally trying to help my bladder issues but I strongly believe it did. I also seemed to have a shorter period with a reduction in the severity of cramps (these were becoming problematic due to my copper IUD). I believe this is because of the iron and magnesium in the molasses. I was not using blackstrap molasses btw, it was the Crosby brand of "fancy" molasses that is common here in Canada. I will keep an eye out for the blackstrap stuff.
Thanks again to everyone who wrote here and the admins for having such a helpful site. I wish the best health for all of you.
EC: YEA reflected on your most recent post and BETTER BUT NOT CURED removed...
(Altoona, FL)
02/06/2009
(Cheyenne, Wyoming, Usa)
10/03/2010
Haha, J! Your descriptions are priceless. Thanks so much for this post. I can totally relate, especially to the whisky part. I was sitting around with a tea tree oil-soaked tampon inside me when I came across this website. Hooray! I have always taken acidopholis (orally) and probiotics but never more folic acid than was already in my B-complex vitamin. So last night I took an extra folic acid capsule and inserted an acidophilus capsule directly into my 'vadge. ' I was a bit worried about it dissolving, but it seemed to do so, no problem. I woke up with a bit of gritty discharge from the acidopholis but otherwise the BV odor was gone. I proceeded to douche with a 50/50 peroxide/water mixture (with a few drops of tea tree oil) and this seems to have helped as well. I am also considering using a bit of colloidal silver and water for my next douche, but I will alternate it with the peroxide douche for the next few days. I think that during the first week or so, it is probably a good idea to douche daily and insert the acidopholis daily also (while taking daily acidopholis and folic acid supplements), and then after everything seems fine to continue daily oral acidopholis and folic acid supplements as well as a peroxide douche once in a while for freshness. I will update my experiences as time goes by. Thank you again, J, and everyone who has posted on this site for your wisdom, advice and support!
(Whooville, Cat In The Hat, United States)
10/05/2010
Hello to you all! I have constantly read posts on here since my mother told me about this site. I developed BV about 5 months after my first child, never had it before in my lifetime. After I got pregnant, my body went absolutely crazy. I have had crap-loads and I do mean a lot of anti-biotics (Tindemax, Metro-Gel, and Torcel, I think that is what it is called. Anyway, I could go into horrible detail about how this "stuff" has completely turned my life upside down. Who ever would have thought something like this would make me cry everyday. It seems like pulling teeth just to get through the day. Well, many antibiotics and two doctors later, I am now on Boric Acid. I take it twice a day for seven days and then once a day for all eternity I guess. My question is this, I have also been doing the Acidophilus vaginally. I use Ultimate Flora and do this twice a day. They are veggie capsules, but you don't really find a lot of organic where I live. They are more stuck on traditional medicine. So, I have told my doctor and he is fine with me doing this. I am doing this with the Boric Acid. I also take two probiotics everyday, with Kefir, which I drink like crazy. I also take two 8oo mg of Folic Acid, 6 garlic pills everyday and vitamin c. Is there a better probiotic to use?
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
★★★★★
get a bottled water bottle. empty half the water out and fill the other half bottle with 3% hydrogen peroxide. get a infant measuring syringe (from babies r us ,target).
suck the peroxide mixture into the syringe(about 3-5 ml depending on how big your syringe is) lay down on the floor or bath tub or bed(get a towel or something to catch the water mixture)insert the syringe and try to hold or at least lay there for a minute or two after insertion. if your talented enough to raise your hips a little to allow it to get even deeper than do so. repeat once or twice if you want.if repeated pour the mixture in a small cup or shot glass as not to badly contaminate your bottle mixture.which i keep the bottle mixture premixed for easy access for up to a week. but you dont have to do it that way. if you dont want to lay down then do it standing up over the toilet or have a towel to catch.
take 800 mcg folic acid orally twice a day and what's most important is the L acidophillis at least 1-2 BILLION orally a day. i try to take mine first thing in am before i eat. you can increase the acidophyllis up to 7-8 billion through out the day if certain things bring on your bv (sex,period,stress.) increase the dosage to that amount as well if your flushing more frequently. but 1-2 billion a day should be cool but you'll learn what works for you. i take the chewable 1 billion per tablet acidopholis (walgreens)more convenient for me.i want to try inserting liquid acidophillis with the syringe overnight once a week but i have to find an unflavored kind.
you can flush when needed not neccesarely everyday but if you do, take the acidophllis . i flushed after sex and about every day for a while and it kept things at bay. but your gonna need the acidophllis in conjunction no exceptions.
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
★★★★★
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
He deployed to Afghanistan a week after our wedding and the odor and discharge went away within a week. We are eagerly anticipating his return for mid-tour leave in a week and I am so worried that the symptoms will return with our first love making session.
At this time, I am symptom free. Should I start doing these douches and taking the acidophilous and folic acid now? If so, how much of the acidophilous and folic acid/day and how (by mouth, or inserted)? I will take whatever I have to for the rest of my life as long as those symptoms will stay away.
(Nashville, TN)
01/02/2009
★★★★★
Just wanted to follow up to let you ladies know that the H202 douche and acidopholis (sp) capsules worked! The entire time that my husband was home on midtour, I used the douche and inserted acidoph. daily and ALL of my BV symptoms stayed away! We are highly sexual couple (4 or 5 times a day) and not one symptom! It didn't even effect my natural lubricant!
Ladies.... it worked!
Thank you all for sharing your experiences and what works for you. Thank you all for having the courage to to discuss our issues and helping so many women.
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
★★★☆☆
WORKED TEMPORARILY
Hydrogen Peroxide, Folic Acid, Acidophilus
★★★★★
I was a little weary at first about using hydrogen peroxide 3% internally, but I went for it. I emptied a summmer's eve douche bottle, filled it with 50% H2O2 3% and 50% bottled water. Laid in the bathtub and let it go. Held it for 30 secs. (there was a slight burning sensation but I swear its NO BIG DEAL) then pushed it out. I took 2 Folic Acid pills (400 mcg each) along w/2 Acidophilus pills (3 billion CFU's or 240 mg. each) and went to bed. By morning, I had NO SMELL, NO DISCHARGE, NO TRACE OF BV WHATSOEVER! It's been a full 24 hrs. later and still smells like pure water down there! And I worked out and haven't even showered yet. UNBELIEVABLE! I plan on taking 2 Folic Acid pills and 2 Acidophilus pills 2x daily for first week, then taper off to once DAILY. What a wonderful, life changing discovery earth clinic has been to me!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will update this in 1 week.