Probiotic Supplements for Bacterial Vaginosis

With that being said, I wanted to share with everyone how I have beat this thing! The last 2 weeks have been completely BV free. Woohoo!

I started with a trip to the gyno. She prescribed me metrogel (again) and I knew that if I really wanted this thing gone I would have to partner up with some other natural cures. I did some research and stocked up on probiotics. These little guys saved my lady parts. I started taking them right after I started the metrogel. My logic was that the meds would be killing ALL of the bacteria in my bod, so I needed to build up the good ones before the bad took over again.

I also decided to switch up my diet while on the meds just to help push my good bacteria over the edge. To do the same you would need to cut out processed sugars, booze and grains completely. Also, limit dairy, fruits, and caffeine. So basically I just ate veggies, lean proteins, yogurt and pure cranberry juice all week. It was a rough week, but it seemed to do the job. (:

A couple of other notes--

• I went out and bought Summers Eve PH wipes and shower gel from Walgreens. It seemed to help!
• When I have alot of sex or just got off of my period I take two probotics. One in the morning and one with dinner.
• The metrogel causes a yeast infection in most women. Just head to Walgreens and get the 3 or 7 day pack and keep doing what your doing.
• I still attempt to make healthy food choices, processed foods are out and green veggies in!
• I drink a small glass of Kefir in the morning, or eat a bunch of greek yogurt. Both are plain and unsweetened, but you could add a couple of berries to spice things up if you have a bad sweet tooth. I also drink pure cran juice whenever I can. Its pretty sour but if you cut it with sparkling water its not too bad. (:
• I now make my man clean up before we get intimate and I always shower with the PH wash after. Or if anything I'd use the PH wipes when in a bind. (Oh! And TMI-- I won't let him cum inside me anymore, sperm has a PH of 7 and our lady parts need to be at 4.5)
• I'm still taking the probotic every morning and hope one day to stop completely. But I figure that if I have to take this one small pill for the rest of my life to not have BV, I'm ok with that.

I hope this helps and works for you ladies!

Best Wishes! -A

The tablets are easy to insert and do leak a little as they dissolve over night, but are more discreet, far more straight forward to use and far less messy than any other home remedy I've tried, and I've tried lots. The tablets are also less expensive than many other over the counter treatments and have kept my symptoms at bay for over a year. I highly recommend you try this home treatment. I was getting desperate before I found these, and I totally sympathise with those of you suffering with this condition, it can be a real living nightmare. I truly believe more research needs to be done in to the use of probiotics as treatment for Bacterial Vaginosis and it's a shame there isn't more of a spotlight on this humiliating problem.

With regards to other home remedies my advice would be as follows - Each woman is different and not everything will work for everyone, you must find what works for you, undoubtably something will. However I would say this- never put anything in your vagina which you wouldn't put in your mouth. Natural is probably best, and chemicals may make things worse in the long run. I hope my suggested treatment works for you and helps you to find some peace.

I tried h202 but I did not douche. Instead I placed two cotton buds(swabs) in a solution of 3% h202 and then placed them up my vagina. I did that twice a day for a week and I saw an improvement with both smell and colour BUT it wasn't working as well as I liked mainly because I was not thoroughly cleansing the entire vagina but instead as far as the cotton buds would go. Shortly after this I got my period so I could no longer use the h202 method.

I then tried a probiotic blend (Bifidobacterium longum; Lactobacillus rhamnosus; Bifidobacterium infantis; Lactobacillus acidophilus; Lactobacillus reuteri HA-188) (the other one DOES NOT WORK in my experience, you need this one because it has the right bacteria in it which travels to the vagina) and I saw an improvement almost immediately. I was worried that my discharge would be weird again but it is absolutely normal (for me). There is no smell, no heavy yellow discharge, no itchy, no swelling, no nothing. It has now been two weeks since I started taking the probiotics and I feel 100% again.

I took only take one per day at noon. I also eat around 100grams of greek natural yoghurt per day and I truly believe that these two helped my flora return to normal. I am so thankful for that because I was suffering for over a month with both yeast and bv (more bv than yeast! Thankfully the yeast cleared up along with the bv).

1) For the BV --- I was given two weeks of flagyl. I told myself that that would be the last time I'd use flagyl. During and after that treatment I went to wholefoods and bought probiotics with atleast one billion live and active cultures per serving. I used ___ and ___ everyday (___ is often used for those with chronic yeast infections like HIV patients. Very powerful. After two weeks it was clear. It's been about 4 years and I have not had BV or a yeast infection since then. PROBIOTICS ARE AN ABSOLUTE MUST FOR A HEALTHY VAGINA AND INTESTINES.THERE IS NO WAY AROUND IT. CONSUMER REPORTS HAS A LIST OF REPUTABLE PROBIOTICS BECAUSE MANY ARE GIMMICKS OR INFEFFECTIVE.

2) For the Yeast--- I eliminated cheese, yeast, breads, cured meats and did a a mostly pescatarian diet, seafood with fruits and veggies, brown rice. I also cut out alcohol for at least a month. I have not had a yeast infection in 3 or 4years. Now I pretty much eat what I want, but I am mindful. Moderation is key.

As for HPV --- the jury is still out. I had a pap in June 07 and June 08 and both times I tested positive for HPV (hpv sensitive test) but my paps have been normal. My next pap and hpv test is next week. For the past year I've taken 800 to 1200 milligrams of folic acid everyday, a prenatal, vitamin A (spinach, mixed leafy greens, carrot juice). I'm anxious to see if it has helped. I will report back regarding the hpv. As for the bv and yeast --- it hasn't returned in 4 years:-) Probitics that include reuteri, acidophilus, bifodus etc are key.

So I haven't been diagnosed with BV, but have been to 3 doctors in the 6 months that I've been having problems. The problem began with a thin, milky, profuse discharge for the first month and a bad smell that never got overwhelming, but was always present. All 3 BV tests I had came back negative, but I'm certain that's what I've got since I've ruled out all other problems (got STI tests done at the same time and am in a monogamous relationship with my partner).

So the smell has ebbed and flowed. The discharge went away after the first month. I've been taking" _____ Multi-Probiotic", which was the most complete probiotic I could find. The smell goes away when I take this capsule consistently, but if I miss a day or two, the smell is right back, like it never went away.

I'm confused about this boric acid vs apple cider vinegar debate. As I understand, vaginas are naturally on the acidic side of the pH scale. A fluctuation in vaginal pH usually means things are getting alkaline, and that's what's causing problems. So why douche with boric acid and make things even more alkaline? I thought that sperm was sometimes problematic for vaginas because it's alkaline and vaginas are acidic? (I don't sleep with men, so I don't know about that personally.) I don't understand how boric acid can help, but all of these doctors are prescribing it to the people in this forum! I also don't want to start messing around with drinking vinegar because I've had candida problems as well as acid reflux in the past and vinegar/acidic foods don't do well in my body.

Does anyone have any good, scientific links to supply more information on either boric acid or ACV beyond just "it worked for me"? I'd like to know WHY it's supposed to work.

Also, folic acid. Why is it supposed to work? Beyond just the supposition that it's a "woman's vitamin" because it's a (very good) prenatal supplement for neural tube defects in fetuses. Please be careful about taking too much folic acid- I've seen some posters here detailing the amounts of folic acid they are taking- and it's a lot! Too much folic acid can mask symptoms of other B vitamin problems so be careful.

So. Other than my questions, I can say that I:

- Eat an extremely healthy diet, rich in leafy greens, colourful veggies, whole grains, very little dairy, no processed foods whatsoever, and no meat, other than fish maybe once every two months.

- I don't smoke, though I drink socially

- I take a multivitamin and a B 100 complex daily, as well a very strong probiotic, and a bowl of natural, organic yoghurt with breakfast (the B complex and multi are more than enough too cover my folic acid levels and I remain skeptical that folic acid does work until someone tells me why! :)

- I don't eat sugar, and have switched my caffeine source down from coffee, to black tea, to green tea. I've been drinking green tea now for a while, with no honey or sugar in it.

- I'm in a monogamous relationship with a person who I trust. And we're not even having regular sex due to this problem, so it's not getting re-aggravated by sexual activity.

- I use unscented bath products, don't overwash (once daily with natural, unscented soap), never use scented menstrual products (organic cotton tampons are all I use).

I'm living like a bloody saint! But the second I miss a dose of the probiotics, the stank is back!! If the probiotics work while I'm taking them, why don't they change the problem permanently? Is it only masking the problem? Is the problem wreaking havoc under that mask?

So why should I do the boric acid or the apple cider vinegar? If you've taken them, where did you get the directions/information to do so? I'm not sticking boric acid up my cooter without hard evidence that I'm not going to burn a hole into bowel-ville by doing so.

Likewise, the ACV. Drinking vinegar is not good for my body (candida) either.

The probiotics work, but only while I'm taking them! What to do people! What to do!

Good luck to you all!

So anyways again I went out and bought Natures Bounty Extra strength acidophillus pills which has 1 billion per pill.... didnt have much of a selection. Ive been take 2 every day for the past 3 days. and my smell is far more less then it was before taking.

I have started having smelling and discharge issues since i got off BC back in 2003, then got preggo and it got worse, doctor could have cared less cuz i was medicaid patient. so i was never prescribed or tested for anything other then the normal pap's, all were ok except i was positive for beta strep whatever. so anyways gave birth , still had it , off medicaid, no doctor, so i just dealt with it, got preggo again and still had it and no doctor did anything. they said it was normal. ok so then i finally snagged one of my lil sisters scripts for metronidale or whatever... my issues cleared up the next day and i was clear of anything for about 4 months then i got it again . and its just like before no nothing , just smelly and white stuff coating my insides. so here i am , completely fed up , and ready for this crap to go away and really i dont care what i gotta do.

funny thing i have had 20+ sex partners in my life and no one problem from 14-18, then i met my current man for the past almost 8 years and now i got someone forever that we got struggle with this crap !

DOCTORS, THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED IMEDIATELY BEFORE YOU HAVE BIG OVERWHELMING MESS OF SMELLY WOMEN COMING FOR YOU! THIS IS REALLY RIDICULLOUS AND REALLY UNFAIR THAT WE HAVE TO UNDERGO ALL THIS JUST SO WE SAY THAT YEA WE ARE CLEAN AND PEOPLE BELIEVE US! I MEAN COME ON!

I started my treatment after my period which is when symptoms flare up a bit more. And I started in the morning by taking my B-12 capsule and 1 garlic capsule. At night before I went to bed I inserted my VH Essentials BV Treatment vaginal suppository and placed a panty liner on my underwear because there is some discharge and took 2 Folic Acid capsules, 1 Zinc, 1 UltimateFlora Probiotic. During this time avoid any sexual activity which is roughly 6 days. After the VH Essentials BV treatment is finished continue taking the vitamin supplements and begin to use Luvena every 3 days during the night. Make sure you wear a pantyliner at night because the only bad thing about Luvena is that it drips. As I have stated continue to take all vitamin supplements and do Luvena once every three days.

I have been BV free for 3 weeks which is a record in itself because I have at the longest been only 1 week BV free. I'm very excited and I will continue this regimen until I feel that my vagina has reached it's normal level of flora. I hope everyone else that tries this has the same success because this infection has been nothing but negative to me.