my boyfriend causes my bacterial vaginosis!?
Ever since I met my current partner 9 months ago I have continuously been plagued with bacterial vaginosis! Every month was the same – a course of antibiotics followed by a week of a ‘normal’ vagina, followed by a gradual increase of that horrible fishy smell as soon as I stopped my treatment and we continued to have sex !!
This really started to cause problems with me and my boyfriend – i didn’t want to have sex because I was embarrassed about the smell and we started arguing. This was extremely difficult for me and made me cry alot and contemplate whether or not the relationship was worth all this anxiety on my part.
After about the 7th time of having BV, my nurse told me that we had ‘incompatible’ fluids and that when his semen came into contact with my vagina it caused my PH balance to be disturbed – thus resulting in BV!!
So whats the cure for this? Will my vagina eventually become accustomed to his semen? Do I have to just keep going through this for ever? I don’t want to split up with my boyfriend – but sex shouldn’t cause this much misery!! Its supposed to be something to enjoy – not dread !!
Of corse there are condoms, but I really dont want to have to take such precausions with my boyfriend – we should be able to enjoy unprotected sex as much as any other loving serious couple.
Id like to hear from anyone who has ever had a similar problem and also if anyone has ever heard of any sort of male treatment for BV??
btw…we have both had a full sexual screening and are both totally free from STD’s. And I know my boyfriend is faithful to me ..cheating is out of the question. There are loyal guys in this world you know !! I would simply like to know if theres any treatment for him.
It frustrates me how ignorant everyone seems to be about bacterial vaginosis when its such a common problem!!
Filed under: Bacterial Vaginosis Causes
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You need to start wearing a condom anyway just to protect each other from STD’s etc.
All semen has an alkaline pH to protect the sperm from acidic fluids of the vagina. You may be raising the pH of your vagina and allowing for bacterial overgrowth. You can try eating yogurt to help with it, but if this continues, you may want to consider having him wear a condom. Another method that I have not tried but my friend swears by is a vinegar wash after sex because the pH of vinegar is about the same as the vagina. The idea is that it raises the pH of your vagina back close to normal and you will be less inviting to his bacteria (and your own).
go here, this is for yeast, but the suggestion is the same:
http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/47/139.cfm
Have you thought of the possibility that he may be a silent carrier of the bacteria that is causing your infections? Has he been on a course of the antibiotics himself? If this continues and condom use every other time and/or vinegar does not work, there is the very real possibility that he is the carrier and his sperm pH is messing with your natural acidity and ergo ability to fight it off.
Talk to your doc!
p.s. a full std screening at the beginning of your relationship would not cover this situation. He lowers your pH, you get a bacterial infection, he gets innoculated himself. Then you get treated, he does not. He remains infected yet asymptomatic. You go off antibiotics, your pH returns to normal, you all have sex, he re-infects you, his semen lowers your pH, and the cycle begins again.
Go here:
http://www.vaginosis.com/
scroll down to the bottom, there are 9 points… please read them.
1. yogurt: "Alternative medical therapies, in particular probiotic products, should be considered to aid in restoring the normal healthy Lactobacillus species within the vagina. Another recent study found that women who combined taking metronidazole orally for 7 days with a Lactobacillus-containing capsules twice a day for 30 days had twice the cure rate of the control group of women who only received the 7-day course of oral metronidazole.9One commercially-available product is the plain variety of Dannon’s DanActive Probiotic Dairy Drink, which women should discuss with their doctors whether this product might be tried as a douche. "
2. condom wearing:"Once treatment is begun, the woman patient should be strongly encouraged to require any current or reason sexual partner to faithfully wear a condom during vaginal intercourse. This precaution should be continued for a minimum of one month, and optimally for three months, while the woman continues to check herself for vaginosis recurrence. This precaution is long-overdue in view of the strong epidemiological evidence linking bacterial vaginosis to sexual transmission. "
no sex is the cure.
You might try eating yogurt every day, or drinking buttermilk. Both contain friendly bacteria that will colonize your body and prevent the growth of "un-friendly" bacteria. There are acidophilus pills you can buy at the health food store and they are very effective in normalizing your vaginal bacterial balance also.
shouldn’t you be asking a professional?
instead of telling the whole world about your problems.
I have had this problem before and I would never let my husband cum inside of me because every single time he would do so I would just start itching or just right after i would have to take the shower nozzle and clean myself out with it. He does not cum in me any more. because I am not going to sit around scratching until my stuff falls off. I hope that your man is not sleeping with other people because you know that can cause it too. Take care and if you do not want to keep getting a BV i would tell you to one protect your self or Two tell your man to pull out and cum some where else. not trying to sound nasty but it is true
this sounds stupid, but it just might work, have your boyfriend take the antibiotics. he can see his doctor and explain or go with you to your doctor.
be aware that not all inflammation and discomfort is due to bacterial infection, the most common causes of inflammation and discomfort are yeast, and quite easily treated by monistat or any of the other multidude of generic versions. keep some of that on hand. whenever you have a course of antibiotics, a yeast infection usually follows. so often people will go pick up the monistat at the same time as they get the antibiotics from the pharmacy. typically a few days into the antibiotic therapy, you will have vaginitis caused by an overgrowth of naturally occurring yeast as the balance between good bacteria and yeast is disrupted.
once you are off the antibiotics and finish the monistat you should be good to go. you can ask your partner to clean himself throroughly with antibiotic soap, and if he’s really brave, some of that hand santizing gel (being careful not to let it touch any mucosal surfaces).
throw out all your bars of soap and switch to shower gel. throw your panties and his boxers into the washer with a good dose of bleach or lysol. or go buy new ones. don’t wear them until you’ve finshed all your treatment, or use disposable panty liners until all your treatment is finished.
although allergy may be an issue, from the sound of it, i don’t think you are dealing with an allergy. i think you are dealing with an imbalance of the natural "flora" that thrives in the vaginal tract.
soap, washclothes, sponges all harbor colonies of bacteria and possibly yeast along with underwear that is worn by you and your mate. you need to get rid of all that stuff, buy new things and live happily ever after.
if you truly are allergic, a days worth of benadryl should determine whether or not it’s allergy or something else. for instance, if you have no symptoms while on the benadryl for 24 hours at the recommended dosage, then perhaps it truly is an allergy.
latex is a huge allergen, if you are using condoms, STOP and switch to vinyl or the natural one (can’t remember what it’s called), also the lubricant on condoms (if it’s spermicidal) wreaks havok with your "insides".
birth control pills also affect the hormonal and pH balance of the vagina. do some research on the birth control methods available, and try to find one that does not involve any sort of chemicals or hormones, or if so, a very low dose of them.
eat yogurt. it promotes the normal ph within your entire body.
please ditch the soap (messes with pH and harbors bacteria), ditch the knickers & boxers (harbor pathogens), ditch the washclothes and shower sponges. use shower gel and try disposable baby wipes or disposable washcloths for a little while and see if things improve.
and monistat wont hurt you, it’s over the counter and it’s worth a try in combination with getting rid of the knickers and bar of soap.
(shower gel is not liquid soap, it’s completely different. your shower gel should be transparent, color doesn’t matter as long as it’s transparent. if it looks like liquid soap, put it back on the shelf and keep looking.). bath and body works has 100s to choose from.
good luck to you.
Hi Helly awh i really feel for you, I think maybe it would be a good idea to get your boyfriend to take antibiotics at the same time as you to try and get rid of it in both of yee.
In the mean time as long as its not causing you physical discomfort, its a smell and its not caused by you!!!! You cant control it its your boyfriend too reassure your self ur boyfriend loves you he is aware of the situation and a smell wont put him off
Also maybe if you both go to a doctor and discuss the problem and what can be done, you dont have to do it all on your own unfortuntly men feel like its no up to them when it comes to stuff like this but it is so drag him along with you!!!
Hope all goes well!!!