I have chronic BV; my story so far.
Posted , 28 users are following.
I can't even tell you how long exactly that I've suffered from BV, it feels like forever, but I'd think maybe the last 4+ years on and off... mostly on. I say suffered because it has been the dark cloud that hangs over my head and never goes away. My big secret i can't tell anyone. It's all I think about, every minute of every day. Do I smell? Can others smell me? Why aren't I normal? Why is this happening to me? Why does nothing work? Why don't the doctors care or even know what the main problem is? I change my underwear 2-3 times a day, I bring spare pairs of undies with me most places just in case I'm having a bad day with it and I'm not home. I have even thrown away every pair of undies I own more times then i can count. Then, there's the rare occasion where I actually have sex with my partner... I can't even enjoy it because all I'm thinking about is the smell or the discharge. He gets up and immediately washes himself and it just f*****g hurts me that I am not normal... that we can't have a normal sex life.
i constantly googled looking for answers and everything online said that I was normal... But there was nothing normal about this. No one else had it. I felt so alone and thought I had like a disease or this is how my life was going to be forever. You can't just tell your friends about this. Like, it's so disgusting and embarrassing, 'hey guys my vag stinks real bad all the time and I want to die'... yeah, no thanks. My partner is so lovely about this whole thing. A few months after we had started dating he looked at me and said 'sometimes there is a smell' I f*****g died inside. I wanted to break up with him right then and run into a hole forever... i was so ashamed and scared. since then we have occasionally spoken about it but I'm so embarrassed that I'm not sure he knows the full extent of it. He says that he's not going anywhere and is even willing to pay my doctors bills and do whatever he needs to help me. So amazing, but you still shouldn't have to deal with this s**t. I feel gross 24/7 and always think he's going to leave me because of it. Not being able to let your partner touch you when you want to, never feeling confident or sexy... it has taken a toll on our relationship and if he was any less of a man he'd be gone by now. Or he's just dumb, either way I love him.
The first time I got the balls to go to the doctor, I told her that I "smelled badly". She laughed in my face and said vaginas are smelly and discharge is normal, I went home and cried my eyes out because I just didn't understand. Is this actually what happens to everyone? Does everyone feel this way?! Not long after I went back to the doctor and burst into tears, said something is really really wrong with me. Again, she thought I was being silly and did a swab just to make me happy. A few days later I received a call from the doc apologising and saying I had Bacterial Vaginosis... WHAT THE F**K IS THAT. I'd never heard of this before, my brain nearly broke thinking about it and so i went to town on google. Most women have it? It's a normal thing?? It's common??? In all my years being a woman on this earth, no one had ever mentioned this s**t. What the actual f**k! i was so relieved that I wasn't alone! FINALLY AN ANSWER! I'm normal!!!! Other women on the internet had this issue! I was a whole new woman.. for a while. The doctor assured me it was a quick fix with some medicine. Now I'm pretty against antibiotics and modern medicines, and prefer the holistic version of things but I was absolutely desperate and relieved! She prescribed flagyl and my BV went away!!!!!!!! And then without skipping a beat, it was just back. This went on for ages. My heart was instantly broken and the black cloud was back, worse then ever. I began to research, write down information from different blog posts, peoples experiences and any holistic info I could find. I started doing everything I could.. making apple cider vinegar concoctions every day, eating yoghurt, acidophilus, oregano oil, garlic, pretty much everything you can find online! (Besides douching, I personally am just not okay with that) i spent every penny on vitamins and became obsessed. My BV began to subside.. not fully but it was nowhere near as bad as it was before. And then guess what. It came back yet again full force. The smell wasn't as bad but it was affecting my partner more. If he didn't wash immediately after sex his penis would become sore and red. What. The. Actual. F**k. Kill me. I wanted to go to the doctor again. Someone had to know about this! It couldn't be just me! I went to a new doctor. I picked a woman but she happened to be sick that day so I had a male doc. I was so terrified but I was ready to fix this, so i went in with ALL of my findings. As i began to tell the doctor he looked sort of shocked. Shortly into the chat, I realised that I knew more then him about BV. He even told me that. He had nothing new to tell me, same ol 'normal woman thing' type of bulls**t. But he said he was going to call his friend and ask about it. He prescribed me another round of flagyl at double the normal dosage to see if that would work. (He also laughed at all my remedies and said that they were A bit silly because they don't work...idiot) The medicine seemed to work okay and I had relief for a while. The doctor asked me to come back in and see him, that he had spoken with his friend and had some news. Holy s**t! SOMETHING!!!!!!!! We sat down and he started telling me that his friend didn't know much about BV, that no one knows much about it. He told me i may be allergic to my boyfriend and we should try wearing condoms. ? That was it. That's all he had to tell me... WTF. this made no sense to me. I had it before my partner, and we spent 4 months apart (traveling) and it was the worst it's ever been then. Why is this happening to me. It's ruining my f*****g life. And no one knows why.
I've been able to manage it okay the past few months but last week I wore a certain pair of undies and now it's bad again...
I've always had this weird feeling that maybe I couldnt have kids. I had a miscarriage when I was in my early 20's but the thought was still always in my mind. And for some reason yesterday i was thinking about this and got back on the google machine. Bad idea. Women were saying that long term BV had caused them to become infertile. It scars and damages your tubes. The past couple of years I've had HORRIBLE period cramps so that would make sense.. next minute I'm crying because now I think I'm ruined and i can't procreate. All I've ever wanted is to be a mum. Have a big family and live the dream... all these thoughts came into my head and I freaked the f**k out. I realised I couldn't go on like this anymore. I'm in a constant depression and I'm scared. I just want to be normal.
I remembered I knew a naturopath (apparently she's f*****g amazing)! I'm pretty broke at the moment but i thought f**k it, I don't need to pay for groceries this fortnight, I need this. So I'm seeing her today at 4:30pm and I'm f*****g terrified. What if she can't help? What if she tells me that I'm broken? What if I have to be like this forever? I just want one tiny bit of answer. I am going to document everything now that I learn. If she tells me I have to eat carrots for 6 months and it'll be gone, I'll eat them for 12. I'm ready to get my life and my back. And to buy heaps of new nice undies. I just wanted to share my story somewhere because I've never been able to before and I hope I can help someone.
6 likes, 34 replies
kelly71047 Superwoman18
Edited
Exact replica of my story! I know the feeling. I know exactly how you're feeling and you're not the only one!
I gave up and became depressed but I researched hard and found salt! Yes I tried sea salt and it has so showed results and improvement for the first time in my life. I've tried everything!!!!!! EVERYTHING!
Just buy sea salt and put two spoons in 100ml of water and put a tampon in it for 30mins then insert and leave in for 2-3 hours. Repeat twice a day for 7 days. Take vitamin D tablets during the process and follow up with canesten probiotics vaginal tablets to restore the good bacteria! Hopefully this works because so far I haven't had any itch or smell. I'm actually so surprised. I'm on day 5 and so far I'm impressed! I just hope this is it because out of all treatments this is the longest I've been without symptoms from natural product. The only antibiotic that helped me for three months before returning was Dalacin vaginal antibiotics but then the BV returned after 3 months.
Bv won't stop coming back because the bacteria has formed a biofilm that sticks to the vaginal wall and won't break apart. So everything we've doing has just been making the bacteria resistant! So try this method it works by dehydrating the bacteria and killing it! I hope this works for you.
I know your pain. Let me know how you get on.
Court3660 kelly71047
Posted
I've had the same exact issue for just about 4 months which seems like nothing compares to women who have dealt with it for years, in only 20 and so scared that I'll have to worry about this for the rest of my life, and I've tried everything, after reading all the efforts of others who have had no permanent relief your salt water tampon idea seems like my last hope. Do you know if this is actually safe to do like will it dry out your lady parts in the process? Please follow up with your results. I'm willing to do anything to get rid of this for good.
kelly71047 Court3660
Edited
I haven't had any problems using salt! It really helped me! I'm on the probiotics stage of the process and so far I'm actually impressed! I'm comfortable and it seems as though my discharge has returned to normal and no smell and no itch! I just hope it stays like this but I think it will because I've never felt like this before for two years.
The salt didn't dry out my lady parts. Let me know how u get on
Court3660 kelly71047
Posted
Oh that's awesome I'm glad to hear you have found some relief and I will definitely try it out myself. Just curious i know you said your story was similar but do you think this has helped with the odor for you? I think that's my biggest concern at the moment it seemed like I was only dealing with the discomfort for the first couple months.
elsie47730 kelly71047
Posted
Court3660 Superwoman18
Posted
I'm not sure if you've tried this yet and it is pretty pricey but if you're like me at the moment I'm willing to pay anything even if it's only temporary guaranteed relief, the rephresh odor eliminating gel gets rid of the smell, only for 3 days at a time but it has helped me a lot with the embarrassment of being intimate with my boyfriend. Although they're very supportive you still can't help to be self conscious and I would be even more devestated if I didn't have this as an option when nothing else works.
stretch22 Court3660
Posted
I take the Rephresh probiotic tablets and they seem to help a little, I have not tried the gel yet.
sydney07157 Superwoman18
Posted
pamela41728 sydney07157
Posted
I am exactly the same as you and the person who started this conversation at the top, I have tried absolutely everything. I have been like this for around 15 years!!!! when the doctors did swabs for me they used to come back clear until my last one last month first time it shown up.
Sick to death of this problem feel dirty smelly, unfeminine, UN sexy, and have avoided sex with my husband for the last 15 months because of it.
My lady bits smell sour and so disgusting if I go to a public toilet I think the next person in after me can smell me.
It's definitely getting worse and now I am waiting to see a gynaecologist dreading it because they all say the same thing, it's normal. Don't think they have a clue.
whitney30675 Superwoman18
Posted
I have the same issue. It's so embarrassing. For the last year it's gotten worse finally was told it is caused by my birth control (IUD).
abigail11670 whitney30675
Posted
I’ve had the coil for 12 years now and never had an issue until a year ago, I’ve read a lot that the coil can trigger B.V .. maybe it might be worth getting removed and trying another form of contraception? I feel the same this is so embarrassing and I feel so utterly self conscious .. doctors can’t seem to help 😥
abigail11670 Superwoman18
Posted
elle00399 Superwoman18
Posted
Your confession brought me to tears. I also suffer from chronic BV for more than 10 years.
All gynaecologists keep telling me that it’s normal and I know that it’s not because I know my own smell and my vagina definitely doesn’t “normally” smell like poo.
I’m that manner of thoughts I totally emphasise with you and because you seem very intelligent and the type of a person who does their homework, I say let’s get together in this and do our own research and find out the cause.
My main suspicion is that the reason behind doctors “not knowing” anything about BV is business related.
We might be using products which are causing ya this problem.
For example strongly perfumed sanitary pads.
Honestly I nearly vomited from the perfume of Always Ultraa year ago. The perfume was so intense it made me sick!!!
Imagine what such strong perfume can do to our vaginsl flora!
So I say let’s find a way to get in touch andvtart our own research!
Best Regards and looking forward to hearing from you! Xx
Charlie8833 Superwoman18
Posted
OMG
Thank god someone who can relate . I been searching for answers forever . My doctor has tried me on the same medications such as flagyl . None of it works, from the probiotics in supplements pills or yogurt, douching, suppositories. Ugh . None of it lasts
It always comes back . Ugh I been dealing with this for a year now, I hope I don't have to go through this for years, I know there's a solution . It's like a process, you have to try elmininating what you think could be the problem which could be one or more of many things .
trina22 Superwoman18
Posted
Omgggg I just want to hug you. Your story is the exact same as mine. I've been battling BV since my very 1st boyfriend when I was 18. I'll be 38 this year. Please don't be discouraged you can have healthy kids. I won't lie it's extremely hard to get preggo when you have BV but in my honest opinion pregnancy is a cure for BV because after I had both of my kids it was gone and did not come back until I slept with an ex that I felt gave it back to me. It does cause miscarriages though and I have had 1 and I honestly believe it was due to BV. In my honest opinion nothing works to get rid of it but those stupid antibiotics but once it's gone then you have to doctor on it and baby your cookie jar. Use condoms for a while and look into treating your boo as well. That helped for a few years once before but I always mess it up by sleeping with that same ex that always gives it back to me again.(I know what an idiot right) Anyways, I'm here if you need to vent and bounce ideas off of. We're going to find a cure for this or at least what works best for us. lol *hugs* 😉😉