As a woman, knowing that there is a multitude of bacteria inhabiting my vagina used to make me feel squeamish. However, upon learning that the majority of the bacteria typically found “down there” are health-promoting rather than disease causing, I have learned to appreciate them. Good vaginal bacteria help to keep us disease free. Bad vaginal bacteria cause infections. And, probiotics can provide relief.
The human vagina is inhabited by over 50 species of bacteria. Although this sounds like an awful lot, compare this to over 400 species of bacteria found in our digestive tract. Moreover, the vagina has its own, unique microbiome (the micro-organisms found in a particular place) which is fundamentally distinctive from its digestive tract “neighbor.”
Microbial Infections
The Lactobacillus species1 of bacteria are the predominate inhabitants of a healthy vagina and they tend to keep other unhealthy bacteria away. However, the composition of vaginal bacteria can change pretty quickly. Bacterial changes can lead to an increase in the number of microbes with the potential to cause disease and ultimately result in unpleasant vaginal infections such as Bacterial Vaginosis (BV) or the so-called, dreaded “yeast infection.”
Sometimes changes to the vaginal microbiome are caused when the vagina’s Ph (the measure of acidity or alkalinity) is altered. Changes in Ph can make it harder for the Lactobacillus bacteria to stick to the vaginal wall where they colonize in healthy vaginas. Changes to the vaginal microbiome are sometimes caused by changing hormones, such as those found with the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, birth control pills, menopause and Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). Probiotics have been found to be helpful in treating unhealthy vaginal conditions caused by altered microbial composition.
The Lactobacillus bacteria, which dominate a healthy vagina, are the species of bacteria most closely tied to vaginal health. Lactobacillus bacteria have been shown to bind to and disable disease causing bacteria, produce antibacterial compounds that can kill pathogens and outcompete pathogenic bacteria for resources. A change to the mix of microbes in the vagina can lead to bacterial or yeast infections as the numbers of the healthy, Lactobacillus numbers are reduced and/or the numbers of microbes with the ability to cause harm increase from normal levels.
Such changes can be triggered by changes to the acidity of the vagina (the Ph) that affects the ability of the Lactobacillus bacteria to adhere to the vaginal walls. Hormonal changes can also impact the vaginal bacterial mix. Even the menstrual cycle has been shown to impact the microbiome of the vagina. When estrogen levels are high, more Lactobacillus bacteria seem to adhere to the vaginal walls, where they provide protection against other harm-causing microbes.
Bacterial Vaginosis (BV)
BV is the most common type of vaginal infection in pre-menopausal women. If you’ve ever experienced this unpleasant condition, you might recall its distinctive, frequently unpleasant, fishy odor. Typical symptoms include:
- Thin, grayish vaginal discharge
- Unpleasant-smelling “fishy” vaginal odor
- Vaginal itching
- Burning sensation during urination
The Ph of the vagina in patients with BV is higher than normal (>4.5) and the vagina contains lower than normal numbers of the beneficial Lactobacillus bacteria. It has been shown that the bacterial diversity found in the vagina of women suffering from BV shows a wider range of bacterial species diversity than what would typically be seen in a disease-free vagina. BV patients often show an increase in these potentially harmful bacteria: Atopobium vaginae, Bacteroides spp., Gardnerella vaginalis, Mobiluncus, Megasphera, Mycoplasma hominis, Peptostreptococcus, and Prevotella.
Yeast Infections
Three out of four women have gotten at least one yeast infection in their lives. But some women suffer with frequent yeast infections, which can interfere with quality of life. Unbearable itching between our legs is something we’d all like to avoid. Yeast infections can be caused by antibiotics, an impaired immune system, a dip in estrogen levels (which can be related to menstrual hormonal fluctuations), douching or wearing tight clothes in fabric that doesn’t “breathe.” Eating a high-sugar diet can also be a trigger.
Yeast vaginitis, otherwise known as a “yeast infection” has symptoms that include:
- White discharge
- Extreme itching of the vagina
- Irritation
The majority of yeast infections are caused by Candida albicans, but C. glabrata, C. krusei, and C. tropicalis can also commonly cause infections.
UTIs
Urinary Tract Infections or UTIs are caused when bacteria from the digestive tract (often E. coli, but also Enterococcus faecalis, and Staphylococcus saprophyticus) migrate from the anus into the urinary tract and cause infection in the urethra, bladder or even kidneys. These infections are extremely common and it is estimated that approximately 50% of all women will experience one at least once in their lives. Although they can be symptomless, symptoms of UTIs in women commonly include:
- Strong, persistent urge to urinate, even when there is little urine to pass
- Painful, burning sensation during urination
- Frequent, low-volume urination
- Cloudy appearing urine
- Red, pink or brown colored urine
- Strong-smelling urine
- Pelvic pain
Probiotics for Treatment of Vaginal Infections
The usual treatment for the microbial urogenital infections such as BV, yeast infections or UTIs is antimicrobial treatment. Antibiotics are typically prescribed to treat BV (particularly metronidazole or clindamycinare) and UTIs, and antifungals are typically prescribed for yeast infections.
Antimicrobial treatment often is not fully effective, however, because of antibiotic resistance in the bacteria and/or yeasts or because of re-infection. Scientists have come to believe that one major reason that women continue to get re-infected following treatment for BV, UTIs, or yeast infections is that the antimicrobials (antibiotics or antifungals) merely kill the disease causing microbes, but do nothing to restore to the vagina the levels of Lactobacillus and other friendly bacteria that are necessary for optimal health. Recurrence may occur because the antimicrobials fail to kill all pathogenic bacteria or because the disease-causing microbes return from their original source – e.g. the gut or a sexual partner. Recurrence may also occur because the antimicrobials further kill-off beneficial bacteria, permitting the unhealthy ones to move in and colonize the vagina anew.
In addition to being only partially effective, antimicrobials can cause side-effects. This has made research into the use of probiotics a medical priority.
Prevention and treatment of urogenital infections with probiotics, either with or without concurrent anti-microbial treatment (antibiotics or antifungals), focuses on returning healthy bacteria to the vagina. There have been multiple studies showing significant improvements in treating vaginal infections with probiotics versus traditional treatments, but results are bacterial strain specific – meaning only certain probiotic bacteria seem to have effects against certain vaginal infections.
Urinary Tract Infection
UTIs recur within six months for 30-40% of patients who get one. Probiotic treatment has been shown to reduce the recurrence of UTIs. Administering the probiotics Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus fermentum B-54 (now known as L. reuteri RC-14) directly into the vagina in test subjects showed that they could colonize the vagina and reduce the recurrence of UTIs from an average of 6 times per year to 1.6 times per year2. That is a huge improvement – especially when considering how uncomfortable UTIs can be.
Daily supplementation with probiotics (including Lactobacillus acidophilus) is often recommended by the medical community to prevent UTIs.
Bacterial Vaginosis
In patients with BV, the vaginal microbiome changes and Lactobacillus numbers are reduced from normal levels. In a study on BV, orally administered probiotics were able to restore women’s vagina to the normal, Lactobacillus-dominated state from the abnormal, BV bacteria mix. After the probiotic treated patients swallowed capsules containing Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14, healthy Lactobacillus bacteria recolonized the vaginal microbiome, and once again made up the dominant species in 64% of the probiotic group as compared to only 13% in the placebo group3.
In another randomized, controlled study on pregnant women in their first-trimester with BV, researchers assigned subjects into one of three groups. One group received a tampon soaked in acetic acid, one group received a vaginal douche containing yoghurt with colony-forming levels of Lactobacillus acidophilus and the control group received nothing. After 30 days, there was a significant reduction of BV for the probiotic group (BV symptoms absent in 88%), but not the other two groups (BV symptoms absent in 38% of acetic acid group and 15% of placebo group)4
Probiotic treatment, in additional to antibiotic treatment, has been shown to be much more effective than antibiotic treatment alone for BV. One double-blind, placebo-controlled study looked at the effectiveness of a probiotic and antimicrobial together to cure BV. All patients were treated with a seven day, oral course of the antibiotic metronidazole. Participants were then randomized into one of two groups. The placebo group received a placebo capsule for thirty days. The treatment group took capsules containing L. rhamnosus GR-1 and L. reuteri RC for 30 days. At the end of the study, BV had been cured in only 40% of the placebo group (antibiotic only) and an astonishing 88% of the probiotic treatment group5 (antibiotic plus probiotic).
Another study looked at the effectiveness of treating BV by inserting capsules into the vagina containing probiotics (L. rhamnosus GR-1 and L. reuteri RC-14 ) as compared to treatment with antibiotic metronidazole gel. The probiotic capsules were administered nightly and the metronidazole gel was administered two times per day, for the study duration of thirty days. In this small study, the BV was considered cured in 88% of the probiotic treatment group as compared to a cure rate of 50% in the metronidazole treated group6.
Treatment of BV with probiotics, either alone or in conjunction with antibiotic treatment, appears to be a very promising area for further study. Since probiotics are widely thought to be well-tolerated and safe, except for people with impaired immune systems, people with BV might discuss with their doctor the possibility of taking a probiotic supplement containing high levels of L. rhamnosus GR-1 and L. reuteri in addition to other medicines provided for treatment of BV.
Yeast Infections
Probiotics have long been used as a home remedy to prevent and treat vaginal yeast (fungal) infections. As a young woman, I remember hearing that inserting live-culture yoghurt into the vagina could cure a yeast infection without the need to take antimicrobials. I tried yoghurt soaked tampons a few times and was able to stave off a yeast infection without a trip to the doctor on more than one occasion. In discussing this with friends, they too had success with this home remedy.
Eating foods rich in probiotics and prebiotics (foods for the probiotics) and taking probiotic supplements can support a healthy mix of internal bacteria. This can assist in keep disease causing yeasts in check in the body. These same tips apply to preventing vaginal yeast infections and maintaining urogenital health generally.
Some women also find that inserting probiotic Lactobacilli capsules directly into their vaginas before bed to treat a vaginal yeast infection can help restore health to the vagina, but others find that they can cause irritation. A study is currently underway looking at the effectiveness of treating vaginal yeast infections with probiotics inserted into the vagina. Preliminary results study the probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Lactobacillus paracasei have been promising.
The science done to date provides only mixed support to the claim that probiotics can prevent yeast infections.
Post-Menopausal
It has been shown that the composition of bacteria in the vagina change following menopause, with levels of healthy Lactobacillus generally decreasing.
With this decrease in health-promoting bacteria, post-menopausal women are more likely to get urogenital infections (such as BV, yeast infections or UTIs).
A particular microbial composition that is sometimes observed in post-menopausal women is associated with a condition called vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA). VVA can cause vaginal dryness and pain during sexual intercourse. Traditionally, it is treated with estrogen creams, but there is concern about the health risks of hormonal supplementation following menopause.
In a 2003 study performed at Johns Hopkins University, medical researchers, testing the theory that the bacterial changes in the vagina actually play a role in causing VVA, examined whether probiotics could prevent or treat the condition7. They recommend further study to find out what mixes of bacteria are healthy. The authors of the study advised that in their opinion, personalized probiotics would be helpful to treat the condition and advised that supplementing with Lactobacillus species that aren’t native to a particular woman’s vagina could have unintended side-effects.
Maintaining the health of your body’s microbiome is especially important during the hormonal shifts of menopause. This will support the health of the vagina and entire urogenital tract. Avoid unnecessary antibiotics and stress. Eat to nourish your healthy microbes, with plenty of probiotic and prebiotic containing foods, and avoid excessive sugar and alcohol.
Vaginal Microbes and Baby’s Immune System
The bacteria that inhabit the vagina are not just incidental dwellers, but actually have an evolutionary purpose – helping infants to thrive.
During the course of a woman’s pregnancy, the composition of vaginal bacteria change to include the optimal mix of healthy microbes required for colonization of her baby’s intestinal tract. In the womb, babies are essentially free of bacteria and yeasts, and receive their primary exposure to during vaginal birth. As the baby passes through the mother’s birth canal and vagina, they become immersed in (and even swallow) these strategically placed bacteria which colonize the baby’s gut and help the infant’s immune system begin its development.
However, if the mix of microbes found in a pregnant woman’s vagina are unhealthy, those too can be passed along to the infant during birth. Therefore, it is important for pregnant women planning on having a vaginal birth to promote the health of their vaginal microbiome by avoiding unnecessary antibiotics (which can kill healthy as well as unhealthy bacteria), avoiding altering the vaginal Ph by douching, eating prebiotic containing foods and taking probiotic supplements, if approved by the obstetrician.
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Whew, that’s a whole lot of discussion of female genitalia. If you’ve read this far, you are either (1) a woman who is clearly interested in vaginal health, or (2) you’re a teenage boy and landed on the wrong page from your Google search. If you are the former (not the latter), it would be great to hear your comments below on your own experiences with these or related topics.
- The most common Lactobacillus bacteria found in the vaginas of healthy, pre-menopausal women are: L. iners, L. crispatus, L. gasseri, L. jenesenii, followed by L. acidophilus, L. fermentum, L. plantarum, L. brevis, L. casei, L. vaginalis, L. delbrueckii, L. salivarius, L. reuteri, and L. rhamnosus. [↩]
- Reid G, Bruce AW, Taylor M. Instillation of Lactobacillus and stimulation of indigenous organisms to prevent recurrence of urinary tract infections. Microecology and Therapy. 1995;23:32–45. [↩]
- Reid G, Beuerman D, Heinemann C, Bruce AW, Probiotic Lactobacillus dose required to restore and maintain a normal vaginal flora. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 2001 Dec; 32(1):37-41. [↩]
- Neri A, Sabah G, Samra Z, Bacterial vaginosis in pregnancy treated with yoghurt. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1993 Jan; 72(1):17-9. [↩]
- Anukam K, Osazuwa E, Ahonkhai I, Ngwu M, Osemene G, Bruce AW, Reid G, Augmentation of antimicrobial metronidazole therapy of bacterial vaginosis with oral probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14: randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial. Microbes Infect. 2006 May; 8(6):1450-4. [↩]
- Anukam KC, Osazuwa E, Osemene GI, Ehigiagbe F, Bruce AW, Reid G, Clinical study comparing probiotic Lactobacillus GR-1 and RC-14 with metronidazole vaginal gel to treat symptomatic bacterial vaginosis. Microbes Infect. 2006 Oct; 8(12-13):2772-6. [↩]
- Rebecca M. Brotman, Michelle D. Shardell, Pawel Gajer, Doug Fadrosh, Kathryn Chang, Michelle I. Silver, Raphael P. Viscidi, Anne E. Burke, Jacques Ravel, Patti E. Gravitt. Association between the vaginal microbiota, menopause status, and signs of vulvovaginal atrophy. Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society, 2013 [↩]
I think if you are ever told you have BV never use an antibiotic vaginally! Once the good bacteria are killed off it just repeatedly comes back! Treat it with probiotics and healthy diet first!
When people post things that they buy or use why don’t they post the name or brand of the items; instead of just saying I use vitamin C not the ones you chew or lactobacillus probiotics. It would help to know the brand name of the product. I’ve been suffering for 4 years of recurrent yeast infections; it seems like anything triggers it. I’ve tried the prescribed cream and it clears it up but then if I have intercourse it sometimes comes back. I’ve tried douching with plain yogurt per another website but that just made me more irritated. I am so tired of this. Doctors did testing to determine the strain of yeast but nothing grows out. Any suggestions?
What kind of probiotic is recommended for oral and vaginal use?
I just wanna ask if is it safe to apply vaginal suppository every month to prevent infection?
Anonymous
Great question! (Also, this was an excellently well-written article, btw)
I actually carefully designed a prebiotic vaginal suppository that helps support the Lactobacillus population, called NeuEve, so I know a little bit about this area. Our vaginal suppositories help resolve and prevent BV, and also help with dyspareunia and atrophy as well.
I just started inserting probiotics vaginally and let me tell you about the results! Woohoo! Finally I am free from the nuisance of bv. I’m 23 and just got my first case of bv about 1 month ago. Doctor put me on antibiotics which cured me within a week but right after I got a nasty case of yeast infection which lasted about two days and vanished on its own (thank goodness). A day later though, bv symptoms showed its ugly face again. No odor, just the thin discharge I had before. I researched and came across probiotics. I had been taking them orally, but nothing changed. Then I read about inserting them. I noticed that within the hour all the nasty discharge came flooding out. Just wondering if anyone else has had this happen?? thanks for this wonderful post!
Hey! I had bv for almost a year and just now coming across inserting probotics.I didnt notic that orally it wasn’t affective at all. I spend so much money on doctors visits and pills,vitamins,douches to get this away. So far my capsules inserts were the best i never seen all the stuff come out like that that i thought something was wrong for a second. Omg, what a relieve. Im going continue this for a month since i had it for so long. Thanks for your comment.
Hi!! did you continue to insert the probiotics for a couple more days or just once was enough? inserting one made me feel amazing! but I just wanted to be sure so I inserted another one to gain healthy new bacteria and it seemed to cause a bit of irritation! so I was wondering if you continued to do so or just one was enough!! 🙂
I have been suffering with various bacterial problems for years. No matter what I try I seem to be ridden with them and get them recurrently. I use to suffer with thrush every time time id take an antibiotic for an infection elsewhere in the the body.
I get repeated episodes of tonsillitis which the doctors refuse to take out. Which of course means more antibiotics. I spend a fortune every couple of months it seems going backwards and forwards to walk-ins, to the doctors. Because after one thing clears up i get something else, thrush or BV. BV iv have had numerous times now. I no longer use bubble bath, i limit how many times im able to go in the bath a week, wear cotton underwear, do all the things they tell you too. I dare not even use shaving foam in the bath resorted to fragrance free shaving foam and shave outside of the bath! one doctor told me not even to wash my hair to wash it separately, i do not use soap…
I think all this constant flushing out my body with antibiotics removing all the good and bad bacteria seems obvious to me, its a constant circle of events and cost.
So i now have a packet of antibiotics sitting here and just ordered some of these probiotics which i have been researching into a lot recently. I may try them both at the same time, or i could try the probiotics alone then all eles fails go back to the antibiotics. What is a women to do? im quite positive going round with wet pants isnt an option. iv tried balance active gels in the past, waste of time.
I feel your pain. I soak in braggs vinegar about 2 oz and alternate with hydrogen peroxide 4oz in a dish pan with warm water for 10 min then I wash my it with waterworks. That keeps the discharge away. Folic acid keeps you from smelling FISHY or strong. But it seems like it goes away when it wants. ????
What I do is buy a bulb of organic garlic. Break off a clove cut off the ends and peel. With a knife stab the garlic clove all over like 10 times. Insert the garlic as far in your vagina as you can and leave it there for 10 hours. Repeat when necessary. I don’t have any infections anymore and if I get an itch of a yeast infection I stick another garlic clove and it goes away.
I have Gardnerella for over a year now. I was given Flagyl and the Gardnerella came back. I went into the doc again and I was prescribed Flagyl again which I took but had no success. I was so frustrated and depressed that nothing was working until I started doing some research. I heard a lot about women using Vitamin C pills and hydrogen peroxide but I was afraid of using all those. I paid for this article online which suggested the use of vitamin C but again I wasn’t satisfied and was hesitant in inserting a pill up my vag. One day I came across an article about getting rid of Gardnerella and I was willing to pay whatever amount just to find a solution to this terrible problem. I bought the article online and it’s by a holistic doctor who is studying BV and how to get rid of it. Anyway so basically it all has to do with eliminating all sugars, carbs and the unhealthy foods out of your diet and replacing it with healthy natural foods and adding fermented foods to your diet. She suggested to make fresh keefir and insert 20 ml keefir into the vag using a medicine dropper for 3 weeks. Use a tampon to hold the keefir in and a pad if necessary. Do this every night but alternate between the keefir and a garlic clove. So one night keefir and one night garlic clove. The garlic will kill the bacteria good or bad and the keefir will spread the good bacteria. I’ve tried this for 3 days and all I can say is I’ve never been so happy in months. I also drink a cup of keefir in the morning and a cup at night and I’ve eliminated all the unhealthy foods out of my diet. I drink a glass of water with two tablespoons of raw apple cider vinegar every morning. I’ve also started meditation and I will continue to do this for 3 weeks and make clean eating a part of my lifestyle. The goal is to kill this darn bad bacteria. If we can infest our gut with good bacteria, perhaps we can get rid of the bad bacteria for good. Good luck to all you ladies. I hope you will give this a try. It really works and it’s the most healthy way of getting rid of BV.
Did this end up working?
Hi Anna, it works for as long as you are not eating any form of sugar whether refined or natural. It’s not easy to give up sugar but when you feel desperate, you’re willing to give up anything that is preventing you from getting better. Anytime I eat a tiny amount of fruits (7 blueberries for instance) I get a slight discharge but no odour. But as soon as I stop and clean out my system with keefir and garlic, it goes away. I drink plenty of water 10 glasses to be precise. Take folic acid 400mcg x2 daily along with vitamin D, eat a big bowl of yogurt daily, and my meals consist of proteins and raw vegetables. For snacks I eat celery with almond butter, cucumbers, sunflower seeds and almonds. I drink herbal teas. All this has significantly helped. I no longer get that disgusting discharge/ odour that I was getting before. I went in for a check up and fortunately there was no BV because I got tested when I was doing the keefir/ garlic treatment. However the results came positive with yeast which I’ve never had before. She prescribed me meds but I refuse to take them. I have no symptoms of yeast but as a precaution I’m doing the garlic treatment. I find most of these doctors to be very unhelpful and impersonal. So I will continue doing my own research and do what I feel is right for my body. I have heard a lot of good things about these probiotics “Jarrow Fem -Dophilus. ” You can order them online. Remember anytime you eat good bacteria , you have to feed it through prebiotics. Garlic and onions are excellent prebiotics which I’m eating a lot of in my salads. If you can’t eat the garlic raw, then get the garlic pills. Good luck and I hope you will find a solution to your problem. God bless!
Doctors really need to be more careful with the use of antibiotics to treat any type of infection in their patients . I have suffered with Candida overgrowth since I was 15 years old. I am now 35 and have not lived a day in the last 20 years without a yeast infection. I have never had an enjoyable sex life due to this condition. I think that’s the worst part of it all. Doctors can ruin health with antibiotics if they do not also include the necessary probiotic treatment along with it. I am living proof.
Lotus, I understand where you are coming from. I am in the same boat. I am 31 and have had this problem my entire life starting around the age of 15 as well. I even went to the doctor and after the exam she told me “I don’t know what you are talking about.” So, she couldn’t help. I am married and this affects my sex life still. I haven’t had sex in the past 15 years without showering beforehand. It’s humiliating and I don’t know what to do about it. I’m on expensive therapeutic-grade probiotics and don’t eat bread or sugar. One day I hope to be over this.
I’m in my 50s and pretty much past menopause. I did notice significant changes in myself that match the VVA description. It was pretty miserable and painful, and there were other life stressors that probably didn’t help. Intercourse was really not possible.
A few weeks ago I begin to consume kefir to improve my gut health, because that seems like a good idea. Within a few days, I noticed a positive changes in my vagina that made me feel like my pre-menopausal self – a ‘normal’ discharge and a return to sexual desire.
I experimented by not consuming any kefir and the positive effect waned somewhat.
Back to the kefir! Wow, this is a happy discovery, and your article seems to explain some of what I experienced.
This article is great- this information is so valuable for women who suffer from recurrent infections, for whom treatment with an antibiotic or an antifungal is, at best, a short-term solution. It mentions eating prebiotic foods as one approach to encouraging beneficial bacteria to thrive in the gut, but there are prebiotic products designed for vaginal use, too. VH Essentials suppositories and Ladybits Toiletries Jelly are two examples. Every woman harbors different strains of bacteria in her vagina, so supplementing with probiotics is a guessing game as to which strains will “take”. Prebiotics, on the other hand, feed the good bacteria that are already present (albeit in too few numbers) so that they multiply and overtake the pathogens that are causing trouble. I do take a probiotic supplement, and try to eat lots of probiotic-rich foods, too, because I think they are good for my health generally (and really good for BMs!) But inserting probiotic capsules vaginally didn’t seem to do much to ward off infections, whereas the prebiotic treatments have made a world of difference for me.
Linda,
Thank you very much for your comment. I totally agree with you that given our current, limited knowledge about which bacteria are truly best for any particular woman’s vaginal microbiome, treating vaginal infections with probiotic suppositories is a scattershot approach. You might get lucky and improve the situation, but it might not help, given your individual profile or microbial imbalance.
Eating probiotic rich foods and eating the prebiotic foods that nourish our health gut bugs is definitely the way to go to improve overall health.
What kind of capsule did you insert into your vagina was it a probiotic pill?
I have been suffering with BV for the past 10 years. Antibiotics have never worked for me, pills or gels. I had just become accustomed to BV being a part of my life along with using baby wipes and changing my underwear twice daily. I’ve recently started doing a baking soda and apple cider vinegar bath. I did that 4 times a week and it improved my vaginal odor. I’ve also been taking acidophilus orally and inserting it vaginally. It has been a miracle! No more smell!
How much baking soda and vinegar? Im over taking meds And I started a vitamin called fortify its a probiotic
If you are suffering with BV I highly recommend vitamin c!! I was SO skeptical at first, but I was also desperate enough to find something that would help after all my failed bouts with antibiotics …….. I bought 1000mg timed release vitamin c tablets with rosehips… Not the chewable kind which contains sugar that can feed the bad bacteria…… Insert one up there …. As far as it’ll go … Then put a tampon in place so it stays – it can burn a little if it touches the outer lips. Anywho just let it dissolve and seriously within 8 hours the smell was gone! I was SO HAPPY and my boyfriend was as well. Vitamin c is acidic and the timed release tablet will steadily decrease the pH and kill off the bad bacteria as well as make it more favourable of an environment for good bacteria 🙂 then follow up with lactobacillus probiotics (orally) and repeat the process once or twice a day , morning and night. It can leave a sticky residue and discharge which is actually both the dissolved bonding agents from the tablets that keep the vitamin c in tablet form, and the bad bacteria that’s been killed off !!! Feel free to remove it using a CLEAN hand/finger or allowing your vagina to naturally remove it, as your vagina is supposed to be able to naturally cleanse itself when healthy 🙂 good luck and I hope it helps you like it’s helped me !!
I’ve been on the ketogenic diet (high-fat, low-carb, moderate-protein) for a few months, and have noticed increasingly unpleasant body odor “down there”. I’ve never had this problem in my entire life. Sprays and suppositories only create an unpleasant combination of scents, not entirely masking the problem. So I’m searching for a way to get rid of the smell from the inside out. This article is interesting. I’m going to do further research to locate an effective probiotic.
I have found that by using Braggs organic apple cider vinegar daily has totally eliminated odors. I lived with this for years and I started using the vinegar almost two years ago. I read the Apple Cider Vinegar Miracle (not sure if that title is correct as I lent the book to a friend). I try to do about 1 Tb/day although in the beginning I did about 3 to get things under control. I don’t mind the taste, but I know I’ve read that you can add honey to it. I know this is absolutely what got rid of mine. Whenever I cut too far back on using it I notice a slight odor and also aches and pains.
Did you just drink 1TB of vinegar a day?
I mix 1 tb in either a cup of water or 100% apple juice, and drink nightly after dinner. Rinse mouth out with water after so as to not damage your tooth enamel. Oddly enough, it helped with acid reflux and cut my hot flashes down 85%.
Hi Kaitlyn,
Your comment is an interesting one. It is well documented that changing your diet can dramatically affect your gut microbiome within a relatively quick time-frame. A low-carb, high protein diet may be fabulous for weight control, but it may not contain enough of the prebiotics that health-promoting gut microbes thrive on. (you can read more about prebiotics here: http://www.healthygutbugs.com/prebiotics-synbiotics-probiotic-food/
I wonder if your diet is also altering your vaginal microbiome (as well as your gut microbiome). If increase your intake of prebiotic foods and notice an improvement, please do let us know.
Jen
I have had lots of enterococccus infections of the vagina and outer skin, I have one now. I used to treat it with augmentin and then things were back to normal. Now I find that my gyno does not want me to take augmentin but flagyl, which i do not understand as the test says enterococcus, and this does not respond to flagyl, I am in a lot of pain and now also taking oestrogel for the menopause which does not seem to help with stopping this. Should I see another doctor to get augmentin?
Augmentin was the cause of my infection enterococcus. Maybe the doctor knows it caused the bacteria in the first place.
I know this was years ago Susan. But I’m now in the exact situation. Wondering if you ever found relief! I been in so much pain with vaginal enterococcus for last 8 months and now menopause.
Tina