Help My Hoo-Ha!

[pbbth]

I'm in a bit of a medical pickle and I'm not sure how to de-picklize myself. I'm hoping someone here will have a suggestion.

WARNING: GIRLY MEDICAL DISCUSSION ABOUT VAGINAS AND WHATNOT. THOSE WHO ARE BOTHERED BY THAT KIND OF THING SHOULD NOT CONTINUE READING.

About a month ago I made a horrid decision. I noticed that occasionally I could smell my vagina when bending down or changing clothes. Nothing crazy unpleasant but a bit stronger than normal. I recalled a friend mentioning a few years ago that when that kind of thing happened to her (I don't remember why we were discussing it) she would douche and be completely fine. I figured, "Why not?" and gave it a whirl.

I quickly learned why not, actually. I developed a fairly intense infection with incredibly heavy discharge and a smell much, much less pleasant than my normal scent. Unfortunately I had a falling out with my old OB/GYN and hadn't found another yet and I was going out of the country for more than a week a few days later. I did a bit of research and determined that this sounded like bacterial vaginosis and hauled my husband down to the doc-in-a-box with me. We went in and I explained the situation and my symptoms to the doctor there and that I wasn't going to be able to see a gynecologist for a few weeks even if I could find one that would be able to see me right away. He prescribed antibiotics for both my husband and I and the infection went away almost immediately.

Unfortunately, it also returned with a vengance about 4 days after we finished the medication. By this time I was in Middle of Nowhere, Finland so I couldn't have found a doctor within 50 miles of where I was staying if I wanted to and I wasn't able to address the problem while I was there. I'm back in the states now and I have found another problem with the situation.

My health insurance is switching from one company to another on 12/1. It took about 3 days worth of research to find a doctor who accepts both plans and got positive reviews on Yelp. I'm trying to set an appointment right away because this is incredibly unpleasant but it looks like she may not be able to see me for a few months! I'm working with her office to find an open spot before the first but I don't know if that will happen. Once my insurance switches over I will be stuck on an HMO plan and require a referral to see her which will cost me another $50 copay and I'd like to avoid that if I can and, to be honest, I don't want to deal with this for another two weeks or more.

If I can't get an appointment right away what can I do to get rid of this horribleness or at least make it less horrible? Am I just stuck with this miserable infection unless I can find a 24 hour vag repair shop? Also, what does it mean that anti-biotics killed it and then it came right back?

[severe delays]

This probably doesn't help much but the NHS website has information on most conditions. The treatments will obviously vary from country to country so consider the info on drugs in that light. Unfortunately having checked out the treatments page for Bacterial Vaginosis I'd say there's not much else you can be doing right now other than seeing a doctor.

[severe delays]

Oh, and apparently about 25% of women can experience BV coming back within a month so you are not unusual.

[mlerose]

Some things that might help during the interim while you're waiting for more antibiotics:

Switch to all-cotton underpants
Don't take baths, take showers
Use only unscented products to clean with, or even better, just use water for your girl bits
Are you sure it's still BV and not a yeast infection? You can easily develop a yeast infection as a result of taking antibiotics. Have you tried OTC yeast infection meds, or diflucan? (I think you can get diflucan at a doc-in-a-box.) I think some other folk remedies for yeast infections include both consumption of and, uh, insertion of plain yogurt. Don't use any that has sugar or gelatin; spring for the good stuff.

[severe delays]

I agree with the rest but I would probably advise against inserting anything until she establishes if it's BV or a yeast infection!

[mlerose]

Originally Posted by severe delays

I agree with the rest but I would probably advise against inserting anything until she establishes if it's BV or a yeast infection!

Yes, good idea!

Also, switch to an unscented laundry detergent if you haven't already done so. The nicest cotton undies in the world won't help if you wash them in something that has irritating perfumes and stuff.

[pbbth]

Originally Posted by mlerose

Are you sure it's still BV and not a yeast infection? You can easily develop a yeast infection as a result of taking antibiotics.

It doesn't seem like a yeast infection. I've had a few of those and that isn't what this feels like, though I might be wrong about that.

I wasn't 100% sure it was bacterial vaginosis when I went to the doc-in-a-box in the first place. I had done some research and told him that is what I thought it could be because of the symptoms and then I told him all the symptoms I have and he said that is what it sounded like before he wrote us the prescription. I didn't get a full exam or anything but the antibiotics worked so I assumed it was bacterial in nature. Of course all the doctor did was bitch at me because insurance doesn't pay him anything and talk about how he can't afford to be a doctor any more so he wasn't paying tons of attention.

[GoSmoke]

Wear cotton underwear at all times. The nylon pretties look sexy but they aren't always good for sensitive areas.

[Falcon]

A general practitioner should be able to treat an infection like this--shouldn't have to wait for an ob/gyn. I'd think an urgent care place should be able to deal with it if you can't get in with a GP before the first.

[Auntbeast]

Check a women's clinic, some place like Planned Parenthood. They should get you in much faster. No clue if they take insurance or whatnot, but I'm not sure I'd like that part of me to fester.

[Random Precision]

I'm no expert on hoo-ha's, at least not on diseases they're prone to, but I've had too much experience with bacterial infections and antibiotics. It's likely that the antibiotic you were prescribed isn't particularly effective for your particular infection. As long as you were taking it, it kept the infection at bay, but as soon as you stopped, it came roaring back, possibly stronger than before since you'd killed off the weaker members of the horde.

Get to another clinic, a doc-in-the-box or your GP or Planned Parenthood (great suggestion, Auntbeast), and tell them the history. If the doctor is up on current antibiotic resistant infections, or if she/he will spend 5 minutes looking it up, you'll get a new prescription for something that will actually work.

And good luck.

[elbows]

Not everything, works for everyone, but don't let that stop you from trying different suggestions. Different women swear by different things because, well, we're each a little different, have a slightly different balance in our bodies etc. If you can stumble upon the one that your body responds to you'll never have issues again that you can't simply and easily address yourself.

For me, it proved to be salt water. That's right, think a vacation on a tropical beach. Warm salty water to swim around in a few times a day, and bingo, everything cleared right up. As predicted by the Dr who had be prescribing, expensive, messy and ineffective creams for 8 wks.

Run a hot bath (as hot as you can stand) mix in some salt (table salt is fine, enough to make the water taste quite salty). Now don't just lie there, squirm around a bit, like you're swimming so the warm salty water gets in and out of everywhere. Stay in the bath as long as you can stand it, adding more hot water if necessary. Never had to do it more than twice in one week.

If you're having an issue switch to a long skirt and no skivvies, as soon as you get home!

When I figured it out, for myself, I told all my friends that the cure, they were purposely keeping from us all, was 2 weeks beach vacation! Way, way better than pharmaceuticals and messy creams! The Bastards!

Good Luck!

[LorieSmurf]

I'm curious if your hoohah got better. If so, what did the trick?

[pbbth]

Originally Posted by LorieSmurf

I'm curious if your hoohah got better. If so, what did the trick?

Not yet. I wasn't able to get an appointment at the OB/GYN. They said they would call me back to set an appointment and never did, despite my constant calls. Now that my insurance has switched over I am not covered for any urgent care clinics at all. I am now trying to contact my GP (which I've never had before because none of my plans have ever required a GP until I ended up on this stupid HMO) and set an appointment. Here's hoping things are not quite so difficult getting in to see him. If that doesn't work I'm just going to start writing letters to people in Mexico and Canada requesting that they send me antibiotics with a promise to pay them back later.

[Mako]

ETA: Sorry - I didn't notice this was a thread resurrection.

Originally Posted by elbows

For me, it proved to be salt water. That's right, think a vacation on a tropical beach. Warm salty water to swim around in a few times a day, and bingo, everything cleared right up. As predicted by the Dr who had be prescribing, expensive, messy and ineffective creams for 8 wks.

Run a hot bath (as hot as you can stand) mix in some salt (table salt is fine, enough to make the water taste quite salty). Now don't just lie there, squirm around a bit, like you're swimming so the warm salty water gets in and out of everywhere. Stay in the bath as long as you can stand it, adding more hot water if necessary. Never had to do it more than twice in one week.

Nice. If you hadn't have posted this, I would have done, because it's far and away the best thing you can do to deal with most of these kind of situations.

I'll add that you want;

1) Plenty of fresh air to the affected area.

2) Not just cotton panties as mlerose and GoSmoke suggest, but white cotton ones that can be reliably washed over 60 degrees centigrade. Most proteins denature over that temperature, which makes sure that anything bacterial is dead and gone.

3) If you're using Canesten/Clotrimazole, be sparing with it. If you slather it on, you will cause the flesh wrinkle up like it does in the bath, which actually makes it worse.

Hope this helps your hoo-ha.

[eleanorigby]

Avoid a lot of sugar in your diet while you're having this issue, and by all means up your yogurt (with live cultures) intake. It may not help, but it can't hurt. You need to restore the normal flora (but even doing that may not end the infection. It sounds like you need antibiotics and an exam--reverse that order, please).


Left untreated, BV can get worse--a lot worse. Don't delay too long. But PP is a good way to go.

[Shot From Guns]

Originally Posted by Auntbeast

Check a women's clinic, some place like Planned Parenthood. They should get you in much faster. No clue if they take insurance or whatnot, but I'm not sure I'd like that part of me to fester.

When I was going to PP for my birth control, they asked for your insurance info (I didn't have any at the time 'cause I was a poor broke student), so I'd assume that they do. They were also always really good about seeing me in a timely fashion, so bonus there.

Originally Posted by Random Precision

I'm no expert on hoo-ha's, at least not on diseases they're prone to, but I've had too much experience with bacterial infections and antibiotics. It's likely that the antibiotic you were prescribed isn't particularly effective for your particular infection. As long as you were taking it, it kept the infection at bay, but as soon as you stopped, it came roaring back, possibly stronger than before since you'd killed off the weaker members of the horde.

This is exactly what it sounded like to me, too.

[LorieSmurf]

If you can afford it, it could be worth it to try Femdophilus (I may not have spelled that right). It is supposedly the strains of Lactobacillus found in healthy vaginas. I bought some at an organic/health food store, and had success with it when I had BV (antibiotics weren't much help for me. The infection came back). I promise I'm not a shill for Femdophilus! You'll find it in the refrigerated section. I think it's about $30 bucks though. It was worth it for me.

[pbbth]

Originally Posted by LorieSmurf

If you can afford it, it could be worth it to try Femdophilus (I may not have spelled that right). It is supposedly the strains of Lactobacillus found in healthy vaginas. I bought some at an organic/health food store, and had success with it when I had BV (antibiotics weren't much help for me. The infection came back). I promise I'm not a shill for Femdophilus! You'll find it in the refrigerated section. I think it's about $30 bucks though. It was worth it for me.

Do you eat it or apply it vaginally?

I spent a good half hour in a salty bathtub today. Hopefully that will help while I am getting in to see a doctor.

[LorieSmurf]

They're little capsules you swallow, but I've heard of women inserting them. On a women's board I used to read, some of the women did do it vaginally. I can't remember if I did or not. I can't imagine there would be anything in the gelcap material that would irritate you. Swallow one, insert one... lol

[Dragonlady]

Maybe insert the contents - I doubt the gelatin will be anything short of a sticky, nasty mess.

[LorieSmurf]

Ooh ooh, I just thought of something else, and it sounds CRAZY. Boric acid vaginal inserts. Google it, really. It sounds nuts, but some gynos and docs recommend it to kill the bad bacteria. Some women will do the boric acid to kill the bad bacteria, then take Femdophilus to colonize the good bacteria. You can make your own boric acid capsules, but I know I saw some in Walgreens with the feminine hygiene stuff. It all sounds very woo, I know, but when I had this problem, I googled the hell out of it and found out all sorts of stuff about BV I didn't know.

[pbbth]

Originally Posted by LorieSmurf

Ooh ooh, I just thought of something else, and it sounds CRAZY. Boric acid vaginal inserts. Google it, really. It sounds nuts, but some gynos and docs recommend it to kill the bad bacteria. Some women will do the boric acid to kill the bad bacteria, then take Femdophilus to colonize the good bacteria. You can make your own boric acid capsules, but I know I saw some in Walgreens with the feminine hygiene stuff. It all sounds very woo, I know, but when I had this problem, I googled the hell out of it and found out all sorts of stuff about BV I didn't know.

Yeah, that does sound a bit crazy. "This thing that kills roaches around your home? Stick it up your cooter!" I will look into it though. Anything that works would be welcome at this point!

[pbbth]

I was at the drugstore today and found a hoo-ha screening kit. It is a swab that reads your pH with a little chart that tells you what that particular reading might mean. Yellow is normal and dark blue is way off. I figured it would be worth a swab and did a quick test on my lunch break. According to the test kit my hoo-ha is perfect. It says it thinks this might be a yeast infection but it doesn't think it is anything more than that. That's good because it means that my vag is probably not going to spontaneously combust or anything but then what the hell is going on with it? This doesn't feel like a yeast issue.

I wish my doctor(s) would call me back so I can set an appointment.

[Mako]

Originally Posted by pbbth

I was at the drugstore today and found a hoo-ha screening kit. It is a swab that reads your pH with a little chart that tells you what that particular reading might mean.

Color me skeptical, but that sounds like a recipe for a false sense of security , (or the reverse). I presume the box is covered in dire lawyer-dodging warnings that the product is intended as a guideline only?

Originally Posted by pbbth

I wish my doctor(s) would call me back so I can set an appointment.

That's shocking. Actually it's vile. No-one should have to be expected to live with a problem like that (untreated) for any length of time. Do you have any recourse to a higher authority? Seems like you've been putting up with this for a while now.

[bufftabby]

Can you go to the health department? Mine does same-day PCP appointments, and takes insurance.

[Knee]

Originally Posted by mlerose

Are you sure it's still BV and not a yeast infection?

Double check this for sure. Antibiotics kill good germs that keep the peace down there as well as bad germs that start the riots. Found this out the hard way heh.

[mlerose]

Yeah, I'm dealing with that right now. Glad I don't have cat scratch disease, but damn, I wish there was a way to kill the bad bacteria without killing the good ones.

[pbbth]

Originally Posted by Mako

Color me skeptical, but that sounds like a recipe for a false sense of security , (or the reverse). I presume the box is covered in dire lawyer-dodging warnings that the product is intended as a guideline only?

That's shocking. Actually it's vile. No-one should have to be expected to live with a problem like that (untreated) for any length of time. Do you have any recourse to a higher authority? Seems like you've been putting up with this for a while now.

It does state that it is a general guideline only and that you should see your doctor and all that. I just figured I'd give it a shot and see if it said, "Go to the emergency room now!" or something. I'm still going to go to the doctor if I can get someone to actually see me.

Originally Posted by bufftabby

Can you go to the health department? Mine does same-day PCP appointments, and takes insurance.

I can't. My health insurance is an HMO. I contacted my PCP and he advised he can't do anything and that I have to be seen by an OB/GYN. I have a primary OB/GYN that I chose based on the rave reviews she got on Yelp. I've been calling for over a week and can't get an appointment. Today I was given 7 different numbers to call before I eventually was put through to a voicemail (again) where I was instructed to leave my name, number, birth date, and problem so they could call me back and set up an appointment. They were supposed to do that last week but it never happened. I had to go back and forth with my insurance company to get doctors selected before I could see anybody for any reason which is why I couldn't set an appointment earlier this month. And the best part of all of this is that my plan doesn't cover urgent care clinics so I can't even walk in somewhere to be seen same day by a random doctor if need be.

Fucking HMO bastards. Fucking insurance costs going up 45% in a year forcing me to downgrade my insurance.

[bufftabby]

If it was my vag, I'd consider just paying out of pocket anywhere that could see me.

[Mako]

Originally Posted by bufftabby

If it was my vag, I'd consider just paying out of pocket anywhere that could see me.

No comedy here at all - If I was seriously concerned in that area, I would be doing the same, given the scope to do so.

[pbbth]

Originally Posted by bufftabby

If it was my vag, I'd consider just paying out of pocket anywhere that could see me.

I'm trying that too. So far two places have told me that they can't see me if my insurance doesn't cover them even if I pay in cash. I swear I am this close* to moving to Europe where the health system is sane.

*Holds fingers up to show a tiny, tiny gap.

[Shot From Guns]

Originally Posted by pbbth

I've been calling for over a week and can't get an appointment. Today I was given 7 different numbers to call before I eventually was put through to a voicemail (again) where I was instructed to leave my name, number, birth date, and problem so they could call me back and set up an appointment. They were supposed to do that last week but it never happened.

Is the office open any time that you're not working, that you could go in person to set up an appointment? Simply physically being there and politely but firmly refusing to leave until you have an appointment, explaining that they've completely failed in their previous obligations to return your calls, will make you very hard to ignore.

[Beadalin]

Originally Posted by pbbth

I'm trying that too. So far two places have told me that they can't see me if my insurance doesn't cover them even if I pay in cash.

Including Planned Parenthood? I've never seen them turn anyone away for any reason.

[pbbth]

Originally Posted by Beadalin

Including Planned Parenthood? I've never seen them turn anyone away for any reason.

No, I hadn't contacted planned parenthood yet.

Luckily my doctor called me back and set up an appointment so soon I will be rid of this horribleness. Yay!