Alright ladies, let me start off by apologizing for taking so long to get this update posted. Over the last 20 months I have been absolutely BV free!
A quick recap for those of you who haven't read my first two blogs -
I had been suffering from bacterial vaginosis for over 8 years. It was controlling my life. My husband and only partner during this time had been treated for BV repeatedly. Both of us had done everything we could think of. Nothing worked. I have had a nurse practitioner that has been with me through most of this. She has tried everything as well. My last blog left off with a referral to an internal medicine specialist. I had hoped this would be my answer, my saving grace, from this terrible, debilitating infection. Now, lets go back to 21 months ago...
My husband and I were actively trying to get pregnant, so lots of sex and lot's of BV. I made an appointment with the Internal medicine specialist and was looking forward to that appointment when I found out I was pregnant. Because I was pregnant they would not see me. I had one bout of bacterial vaginosis very early in my pregnancy and was treated with Flagyl. That was the last time I have had a single occurrence of BV! I'm sure you all are on the edge of your seats wanting to know the name of the magic pill that I took. Unfortunately it wasn't (and i knew it would never be) that simple.
Because of a prior miscarriage my husband did not want to have sex during my pregnancy and that was FINE by me. As sad as this is to say I'm positive the only reason I wasn't having BV symptoms was because my husband and I weren't having sex. When I brought this up to my doctor she said "maybe pregnancy just agrees with you." Uh, no, it doesn't, and if that was the case what was going to happen when I was no longer pregnant?! Shortly after I had my son via c-section (not BV related) my husband was complaining of lot's of stomach pain and suffering from fatigue. He had to get a endoscopy and have other tests done. His doctors found that he had lots of bad bacteria in his stomach and colitis. He was told that he would need to take a series of medications for the next 6 months. When I realized he had bacteria looming in his gut and was then prescribed one of the medications we had both been prescribed for BV I was sure there was a connection.
Now after 9 months of pregnancy, recovery from a c-section and a husband who was also felling very ill, it was more than 12 months before my husband and i had sex again. During this entire time I was BV free. We are back to a very healthy sex life, thank God. But we didn't begin having sex until after he had begun his treatment. He also recently had tests done that showed a huge improvement in his bad bacteria levels. I'm going to get all of the scientific names for you, I promise. But I've done my research and I'm positive he was transferring his bad bacteria to me.
I look back on these blogs that I've written and I have forgotten how sad and hopeless I had felt from the constant bouts with BV. I have a doctors appointment on Oct. 22nd with the nurse practitioner that has taken this journey with me. I'm going to tell her all of this and see what she says.
I know that not all of you who are suffering from this have been with one constant partner and because of that I don't have an answer for you, yet. But I'm determined to bring attention to this because it is something that is absolutely debilitating. For those of you who have been with the same partner while suffering with this I suggest bringing it up to your healthcare professional. Could there be a correlation with bad bacteria in yours or your partners intestines that could be causing this? Something is causing this.
Well ladies, I hope that I haven't jinxed myself by writing this. I still can't believe I have gone so long without a single episode. I will continue to share my story and take you with me on this journey. Hey, what if I'm on to something amazing :)
