brosso

Let me start by saying that you are not alone in dealing with this. I am so sympathetic. I have a similar story, but mine has been going on for a little over a year and a half. I have constant white discharge that sometimes smells sour, but as of late, has not had any smell. I've been to 6 or 7 doctors. At first they said yeast+BV, gave me pills, nothing worked. 15 medications later and numerous doctor appointments, still no relief. My boyfriend and I have abstained from sex since this began and it has put one heck of a strain on the relationship.

Have your doctors sent out swabs of your discharge for culture? They should be doing this if they are not to figure out what is causing it. BV usually has an odor, but I find that I am also atypical of the norm with this. My discharge never smelled like fish, it was sometimes a bit 'sour' smelling, but it's not so strong that other people would be able to notice, as seems to be the case with many others. What about under the microscope, are the doctors telling you anything that they see aside from WBC? Any clue cells? Is your pH normal, high, low? Someone recently told me to ask for a PCR test, which will test the DNA of any possible bacteria, if nothing is showing up on cultures. If it's a bacterial problem, sometimes certain strains are resistant to the usual drugs, i.e. clindamycin+flagyl.

Also, have they looked at your cervix? Sometimes doctors mistake BV for Cervictis and vice versa. Do you take birth control pills or any other medication on a daily basis? Multivitamin? Every little thing you put into your body can have an effect on its pH.

Do you use any scented soaps or douches? I'd switch to all hypoallergenic products, wear cotton underwear, avoid tight fitting clothes, etc. All the usual precautions, in case it is just some kind of irritant vaginitis. Also, watch your diet and see if you can find any triggers. Food allergies can do weird things to the body. I find that when I have dairy products, cheese particularly, that my discharge becomes 10x worse, though sadly that doesn't seem to be the root of my problem.

If you aren't taking one already, I suggest by starting with a probiotic to help re-balance the vaginal flora, particularly Femdophilus by Jarrow's. It has acidophilus (good bacteria) strains that are meant to colonize in the vaginal tract as opposed to the g.i. tract. Although it has not helped a tremendous amount in the few months I've been taking it, I really believe it is doing something. Any time I don't take a pill, I get a yeast infection, so I believe it's helping to keep things in balance, at least a little bit.

As far as treatments, it kind of depends on your answers to the above questions. Some people swear by some very odd remedies. I've read things about inserting plain unsweetened yogurt in the vagina, douching with hydrogen peroxide, taking a bunch of folic acid + vitamin d, using apple cider vinegar, tea tree oil, the list goes on. I've personally not tried anything outside of medications yet, so I can't really give an opinion on it. I'm at the point though, where I just don't think medication is the route to go since I've been on so many and not had any relief. My doctor even tried putting me on boric acid suppositories, but it was way too harsh and made me bleed. Some people recommend that because it just wipes out everything, but I don't know how successful it really is.

Anyway, I have been doing a lot of researching lately, and I see my specialist at the beginning of September. I'll be sure to keep you updated and hopefully between all of us on this board we can seriously figure this out. Going years without relief is just way too long! We know our own bodies better than anyone else and if something doesn't feel right, then something isn't right.