What to do about undetected BV?
Asked by
Fluthyou (
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)
October 7th, 2016
I’ve had evolving BV like symptoms for over a year including smell (sometimes fishy sometimes yeast like), discharge (what was once thicker white/yellow discharge is now clear white liquid), itching (has now stopped), I’ve been to my doctor twice this year and both times the results came up negative. I’ve tried my fair share of natural remedies including the basics of just using natural soaps + rinsing thoroughly, wearing cotton underwear, avoiding sugary foods, eating yogurt, etc. My doctor just says its usual for women to have discharge, but it feels that mine is an unnatural amount and the odour still makes me feel self conscious. I don’t want to wear panty liner forever.
That said, any suggestions for next steps? Is it even BV? Should I try another doctor?
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There are antibiotics you can take. Try a different doctor or nurse practitioner. Sometimes doctors are less than understanding. Do not steam or douche. Don’t use tampons for a while.
We do have different discharge at different times of our cycle. It shouldn’t smell bad. That is sign of an infection.
Here’s a UK website that explains about BV. This is good quality information – the medication in the UK is different but the description of the condition is the same for all us humans!
@Stinley (us humans with vag, did you mean to say?) The article says that it isn’t sexually transmitted, but it can be male to female. It isn’t the common cause of it, though.
@cazzie yes, all humans of the female variety!
Sorry, I also said it was about BV but it is about vaginal discharge in general with links to common causes of abnormal discharge.
To be completely honest, antibiotics suck and they don’t really “cure” the problem… Only mask it…. I would really look into more natural ways to deal with BV…. Antibiotics don’t really work, and you will just keep getting BV plus it lowers your immune system :( DO NOT USE any soap, even if it is all natural….. Just warm water…. I would suggest to not even wear underwear if you can help it… Coconut Oil is amazing….. You can use as a suppository. Hope this helps a little. @fluthyou
Get ready for possible years of no help. I hate to say it but the medical field is woefully inept in this realm. Being told its regular discharge is just simply condescending (I don’t mean what cazzie wrote, she clarified about the odor, I mean what doctors might be telling you). Especially if you are over the age of 16 and have been menstruating for 4+ years you know what’s normal.
The things to try are metro gel, oral Flagyl, Augmentin, Clindamyacin, Cipro, Keflex. Some natural remedies are boric acid suppositories. I’m not recommending one over another, except to say that if you are reluctant to take a lot of antibiotics I suggest the next time you get a sinus infection ask for Augmentin not a z-pak. Kill two birds with one stone.
The standard of care is the metrogel intravaginally. That’s fairly harmless to try.
The medical establishment believes these infections are not higher up in the GYN tract. I disagree. But, obviously there is no way for me to know exactly what is wrong with you.
I think only antibiotics will cure it, the problem is medical scientists haven’t figured out really what they are fighting and how to cure it.
If your sexually active I think it’s passed between couples. Most doctors don’t agree with me on that. A few do, but it’s not what is the standard belief nor is it part of the standard of care.
It’s basically accepted that it’s almost “normal” for women to develop an imbalance in vaginal flora. I say bullshit.
“Get ready for possible years of no help. I hate to say it but the medical field is woefully inept in this realm.”
Yup so true :( I am a female and have had these same issues :(
BV stands for “clueless” in my book. Can’t identify anything, but you have the same mal symptoms as millions of other women. Women who were fine and then something went wrong.
Just remember stomach ulcers also were supposedly out of nowhere and Lyme disease too. One day they will isolate the bacteria for BV I think. If anyone bothers to care about women.
@JLeslie
Exactly…. Very strange…. I don’t really understand it either…
Women are dismissed. Chlamydia used to be considered normal flora.
Doctors will give women the same treatment ten times expecting it to finally work? It’s stupid.
@Fluthyou Did they test you for micoplasma and chlamydia? I didn’t mention Doxicycline, but I really think it’s worth trying that too. That one doesn’t usually cause yeast troubles.
I was going to mention Gardnerella as a possibility, but I checked and it turns out that it’s the same thing as BV, or close enough—cause and effect.
I was diagnosed with that once, many years ago, after conventional treatments of yeast infection failed to help. My gynecologist said it was important to know the difference because the treatment is opposite to what you do for yeast infection and so the usual thing just makes it worse. I have never researched or verified that, and this goes back decades, but that’s how I remember it. At least there’s some searchable data there.
Whatever he did, it was effective, and the condition never returned.
@Jeruba Great point. Gardnerella is diagnosed as BV. That usually does culture. Doctors also seem to use BV now as a catch all for something isn’t right and every test looks fine. Flagyl is what they use for Gardnerella, and what they give to most “BV” patients.
**This is purely based on anecdotal story from my lived experience. Nothing I say is intended to replace actual medical advice.**
About four years ago, I spent the better part of a year yo-yo’ing between BV and Yeast Infection symptoms. It was extremely unpleasant, demoralizing, and nothing seemed to make my symptoms budge. It all started while living abroad and contracting extreme dysentery and gastroenteritis. It knocked me down for two months, during which I took powerful antibiotics like Cipro and Z-Pak to save my life. Unfortunately, they also killed a lot of the “good bacteria” in my body along with the “bad”, leaving me sans gut flora and sans the healthy vaginal bacteria I had long taken for granted.
When I returned to my country, my OBGYN kept on Rx’ing me Diflucan, Metronidazole, and Clindamycin for my “lady problems:. All these did was make my symptoms worse and caused me to swing between extremes in vaginal PH. My ex was from a different country and was uncircumcised like most guys from his homeland. I wonder if this also helped to keep the infection and allowed it to spread between the two of us (asymptomatic for him).
Anyway, the following things happened before I was “cured”:
– Dumped the boyfriend for many, many reasons
– Cut back on tampons during my cycle and let my vagina “breath” for a bit
– Used coconut oil up there to neutralize my PH
– Unsweetened, organic Greek yogurt on a tampon (My friends laughed at this until a number of them tried it themselves)
– Taking several months off of sex penis-in-vagina intercourse to give myself a break from friction-related irritation and latex from condoms, sperm, etc. Pretty much a total embargo on all “traffic” down there.
Anyway, it’s hard to say if one all, some, or none of these steps cured me, but I’ve had no problems since. In the meantime, you should see a Doctor if you are able. These are just things that worked for me.
Wish you the best.
@LeavesNoTrace
Yay you mentioned the coconut oil like what I suggested earlier !!!
Coconut oil does wonders!!! I knew I was right !!! :)
For me also, I dumped my ex boyfriend…... That helped…. Also greek yogurt too! I use this organic, non fat, Greek yogurt that I think is amazing…. I’m also holding off on sex and being celibate…. To give my vagina and body rest…. I think that will really help a lot too….
Anyway great advice!
I’ve also been taking a good multivitamin for women, drinking organic pure Cranberry juice, coconut water, etc….......
I really think too that holding off on sex and giving the vagina time to heal / recuperate will do wonders.
Oh and also not wearing super tight pants or clothing….. Super tight thongs, jeans, leggings, etc….. This is probably too much T.M.I but if you can, also try not to wear underwear (if you can), or wear skirts/dresses….. To let your vagina breathe. @Fluthyou
@FlutherBug No such thing as “TMI” on this thread! ;)
Agree 100%, no tights, tight pants, or non-cotton underwear for a while. Sleeping without underwear is generally a good idea too. I’ve also heard good things about Boric Acid capsules in the vagina.
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