Hi, I am 22 and in the UK and have compltely and utterly had enough. I have tried multiple courses of metronidazole and 7 day courses of balance activ BV gels. I take acidophillous tablets twice a day, folic acid and drink lemon water twice daily and nothing works. The doctors are useless and dont realise how much this is emotionally destroying me. Im lucky my boyfriend is very understanding but it is tearing me apart 
Please can someone help, I dont know what else to do?
Hi hun.
I was in exactly the same position as you a few months back. I had bv every month for 7 months & I'm totally free of it. Like you I had been to the doctors & got prescribed the sane stuff & also used balance active pessaries. Nothing worked. I went to the hospital where they told me I should be using the medication off the doctor straight after my period was finished. I did so. Also on my next period I decided to go on the contraceptive injection , because I haven't been having a period I haven't had an episode of bv since September. Bv is usually caused by the pH balance & when you have a period that can mess it up. I swear till this day its my injection that has stopped the bv , I dunno if your on any contraception but if not maybe give it a go? Hope this helps hun I know how horrible it can be xx
Hello hun
oh bless you..
i had BV recently, it took two lots of Clindamycin vaginal antibiotics for me to cure, also as my Gyno picked mine up on a smear, he suggested thrush treatment after as the antibiotics cause thrush aswell and you can feel you still have BV but infact have thrush aswell..
also i monitor my vaginal PH levels now with home testing kits, they are called eco care vaginal PH testers, and now I know all is okay .. They are very good to have and keep an eye on things from amazon uk or ebay..
could you have thrush now do you think from the antibiotics, canestan once is aleays good to do after a BV treatment ..
Jay x
Oh I so know how you feel it is totally soul destroying, try to keep your spirits up as I think getting down about it lowers your immune system. I am also in the UK and a lot of the suggestions just arent available in the UK. I have spent a future in lotions and potions to the point my daughter even asked if I was dying I bought some much I'm currentky taking one candida tablet and one biotic balance ultimate flora tablet as I go from bv to thrush. The smell is better but I can smell it faintly though nothing like before. Mine is definetly from semen. I have ordered tea tea suppositories so I"ll be trying those tomorrow night as I have heard they smell quite strong and dont want to be conscious of that when I seee my boyfriend. I have also ordered rephresh which apparently you use every three days to keep you bv and thrush free again I haven't tried them yet.will keep updating x
Hi Shannon, I found when I bad my period the smell would go then as soon as I finished it was back, I changed my combined pill to progesterone only as read it may be the pill and that didn't work. I go on holiday 27th and so desperately wanted it gone by then it will put such a dampner in it, I'm so conscious everyone can smell it
X
Hi Jay,
I don't think this thrush but may give that a go just Incase, don't think I've tried clindanycin but I find if I go antibiotics it always come back with a vengeance and is even worse x
Hey macc, yess please do let me know how you get on with the rephresh and other bits you ordered, I'm reluctant to try antibiotics again as it seems to come back with a vengeance. I'm desperately trying to be rid of it before I go on holiday end of the month x
That was the same as me. It would always come back after my period. Nothing seemed to work for me I tried everything. Even putting yoghurt on my bits haha. But don't do that it caused me to have thrush. Do u still get a period as your on the pill? I've not had a period since the beginning of September as I'm on the injection & I've not had Bv since. Also try not having sex with your boyfriend for a while , it is really horrible I know how you feel. I went all summer with mine & being out in the heat was worse I could just smell myself. I hope u get it sorted hun xx
I have had two lots of antibiotics and both times it has come back. Surprising how much tuna I was eating and apparently this is high in acid as is chicken which is the only meat I eat though I have always eaten fruit and nuts. I think I am going to get some acid strips as mentioned on here to try to see whether my pH levels have good and bad days and perhaps start a food diary.
The only relief I found was putting apple cider vinegar on a tampax overnight . one each night for two nights no smell for two weeks then my period kicked if off but please do your homework on it though as some people mentioned bleeding and my period did start but it was due to anyway so who knows. Did put me off trying it again though it did work you just smell like fish and chips all night so your boyfriend may try to eat you but not in a good way 
sorry I have to joke about it otherwise I'd cry .... X
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Hi Shannon, I changed my pill from combined to progesterone only as I read somewhere that may be the cause, it wasn't, however I find im spotting every 2 weeks now and the pill has made me so depressed an emotional just adding to my nightmare, think we're going to refrain from Doing anything for a bit to see if it is the semen. at a loss with what else to do wish the doctors knew more about it and took me seriously
X
My GP refered me to our local GUM clinic because although this is not sexually transmitted they have more up to date knowledge than many GP's. Infact one of the consultants there is a BV specialist. Not sure if would help you but may.
Hey,
Yh I tried out local GUM clinic, they gave me antibiotics, I didn't find them very helpful at all but may try again n ask if they have a specialist
Thanks
Sometimes gynaecology have BV specialists too.
My Gyno detected my BV
Gyno best choice if your able ..
( NHS very doubtful option ) some Docs specialise in Gyno though.
my old UK Doc did ..
good luck
jay x
I have spent the evening crying my eyes out to my partner reading through page upon page
There is alkaline drops for your water and probiotic tablets etc, I wonder if anyone's tried the alkaline drops? From what I have ready elsewhere the key is restoring the balance to the normal ph, eating alkaline high veg such as broccoli is another too. I have spent so much money on this already I don't want to waste money on fob products that don't work but this site is the first glimmer of hope I've had in an while. Failing that I don't know what else to do, beyond depression at this point.
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Hi ive had recurrent bv for almost 2 years tried everything and had minimal results rephresh was ok but a bit messy, anyway just found out the reason I got it was because of a leep procedure i had on my cervix after abnormal smear results apparently it removed some protective cells and its not so easy to regulate ph balance without them, just thought if anyone has had the same situation the only solution is a procedure called cold coagulation which basically uses a probe to seal the affected cells, hopefully this helps someone 
It looks like both our links were removed sounds like we were reading similar website though. I hadn't had any smell all day I thought thinks were looking up then my period starts ! Dam. So I think over the next week I am going to try to live a vegetarian life style to see if any improvement, the drops seemed expensive and as the pH in water may change depending on the area you live in they may or may not make a difference. I looked through things I shouldn't be eating acidy , anything to do with an animal basically! Something I had noticed was that boiled eggs were suddenly making me feel sick so there may be some truth in it.
Please stay strong I know that's easy to say but getting down just lowers your immune system. Keep reading articles and I found the girls in Holland and Barrett helpful there are drops available for the bath apparently which are tea tree can't say whether they work as I had already bought Canadian and balance flora along with vit c capsules so I spent enough that day....
As for the gum clinic they gave me two lots of antibiotics and a talking about underwear etc which was nice but not really that helpful. My periods are coming every three weeks have been heavy and painful so that may be where my problems lie. Do you have issues with periods?
Tampons are a no-no
Should I not use tampons for my period? Hate the wet feeling of sanitary towels though Tampax do make me feel sore after a few days
Use them alternatly in that case though my Dr advised against them.