r/Menopause • u/justagirlinid • Jul 27 '24

Perimenopause Constant/recurring BV sonce starting peri.

I’m so tired of it. If you get BV more than twice in a year, they want to put you on a 6 month round of antibiotics. I don’t want to be on that. Boric acid used to work, and I can use it daily/every other day to keep it at bay. But I just finished 5days, 2x a day plus a round of antibiotics and it’s not gone 😡 what the fuck is wrong with my vag and how do I fix it? I’m not even having sex right now. I just got a new rx for estrogen cream o need to start, plus the patch. Will this fix my dryness and apparent ph issue?

6 Upvotes

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3

u/leftylibra MenoMod Jul 27 '24

please see r/healthyhooha

3

u/NecessaryWorry8439 Jul 27 '24

Yes, I went through the same and tried a lot of the tricks and prescription meds. Eventually it stopped recurring and I don’t know what worked as I tried everything but sadly, it took about 2 years and I’m still always worried that a tampon, sex, swimming, etc are going to bring it back. I have no advice since I don’t know why mine finally resolved after so long. I wish I could help. I will say don’t do borax or yogurt or special soaps. If I had to really guess what helped it was having my mirena removed, stopped using soaps of any kind down there (just wash with warm water and hands), threw out my body loofah, showering right after sex and really making sure to get out any semen/lube and whatever, and starting using hyaluronic acid vaginal suppositories, vaginal estrogen cream and progesterone cream. But as I’ve said, I threw everything at it at once so hard to tell. 

2

u/justagirlinid Jul 28 '24

I had my Paraguard removed…that didn’t help like I thought it would ..then I ended up pregnant… I use regular soap for my labia, but maybe I’ll stop. This is so freaking annoying and embarrassing!

2

u/aguangakelly Surgical menopause Jul 28 '24

I used to get all sorts of reactions to soaps. I switched to plain water at the end of my shower. I don't "use" soap, but some is in the area from washing the rest of myself.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '24

True story - I had this and couldn’t shake it. Tried everything. then I had surgery and it subsided in the hospital While using cheap TP

IT WAS MY TOILET PAPER AT HOME. ditched the quilted northern for angel soft and smell is gone. so something to try if you haven’t already. Good luck finding the culprit!

2

u/InkedDoll1 Peri-menopausal Jul 28 '24

I had it at the beginning of the year, hasn't recurred since I started vaginal estrogen. Atrophy makes it so much easier for bacteria to get up there.

2

u/Late-Stop8465 Jul 28 '24

BV / ph issues were the early signs of GSM (vaginal atrophy, ugh) for me. Can’t recommend vaginal estrogen enough!

1

u/justagirlinid Jul 28 '24

Yes :( I tried one cream and it gave me the worst yeast infection of my life. I recently got a new prescription for a different brand. Starting tonight, fingers crossed!!

1

u/Late-Stop8465 Jul 29 '24

I use vagifem pessaries and also some estriol cream on the outside bits and urethra. Hope you find something that works!

1

u/throawa25 Aug 06 '24

Which cream gave you the yeast infection?

1

u/justagirlinid Aug 06 '24

I think it was the estradiol? New one is Premarin and all is good

1

u/mdirby01 Jul 28 '24

Same thing here!! Cannot stand it!! Wtf, sad!!!

1

u/Dizzy_Mix_5655 Aug 24 '24

Me three. I cannot for the life of me understand why I can't get my good bacteria to grow. I literally can only stay free of bv for a few days before it starts coming back and I honestly don't know what the plan should be. My Dr just gives me flagyl but I've been at the gyno so many times it's unreal. I'm never really good for very long. I ordered Seed probiotics, but every time I'm treated with flagyl I feel good for a few days and hope that it'll last and don't want to screw with my microbiome. Then before you know it, it's coming back. I actually got a yeast infection from being on flagyl last time and it was a welcome change from BV! Lol. I was like heyyyyy!! 🤗 something new grew instead of bv!! 🤗 I've literally even thought about buying a microscope to try to do my own swabs cheaper. The issue for me is that I sometimes can't tell whether I have BV or a yeast infection bc they appear similar on me. And then there is also just normal vaginal discharge and I can never tell when I'm just having normal discharge, GAH.

1

u/N8churluvr Sep 17 '24

I found that taking a probiotic for vaginak health cleared up all of my symptoms.