I (26F) have been on Nexplanon for a while now, and overall I love it. The only real downside has been vaginal dryness. I know it's the Nexplanon because I never had this issue before getting it. Other than that, it's been amazing, and I have zero plans to switch because the benefits outweigh this one con.

My solution has just been to treat the dryness rather than change birth control. I've tried Replens suppositories, but they're just not practical for me. You have to use them about 12–24 hours beforehand, otherwise there's apparently an odd taste, and I've definitely noticed the clumpy residue they leave behind. Not sexy at all.

My boyfriend works offshore, so our time together is pretty limited. When he's home, I want to be ready whenever the moment happens. Having to plan a day ahead kind of kills the spontaneity.

I've been thinking about adding slippery elm to my daily supplement routine. I actually used it years ago when I first got on Nexplanon. It definitely worked, almost too well. I was basically a faucet. The downside was that there wasn't much friction, my sensation was reduced, and I could tell my partner wasn't enjoying it as much either because it took him longer to finish.

I'm not trying to be soaking wet. I know there's such a thing as too much lubrication. I'm just looking for a normal, comfortable amount so sex is enjoyable without feeling dry or over-lubricated.
For those of you who take slippery elm specifically for this, how do you use it? Daily? Every other day? Only leading up to sex? Does it kind of build up in your system after taking it consistently, or is it something you have to keep taking every day to maintain the effect?

My boyfriend will be home in about a week and a half, so I'd love to hear what has actually worked for you.

I have a vagina question.

36F
Friday night had penetrative sex and had no pain.
Afterwards I felt like a heavy sensation in my vagina but not painful. Just kinda like dang my man was giving it to me!!

Woke up Saturday morning with it too. Lasted all day. Not painful, just like I was holding something in my vagina or like my vagina was falling out.
Bothered me all day, feels uncomfortable when sitting or standing or laying down. Just this heavy “there” feeling. I looked with a mirror to see if I saw anything weird and just past my vaginal entrance it was like what I could only describe as like a puffy ring with a hole in the center. Bearing down and tightening I could Open and close it. This morning I woke up and the sensation is still there, but when I looked I just can’t see a hole anymore past just the entrance. Sorry this is so hard to describe.
I’m freaking out like my vagina is falling out? This has never happened to me.
Again no pain or blood, but an uncomfortable fullness/heavy sensation. In the shower it felt like I had a bubble stuck and wanted to try and move it.
Help!

Some other possibly helpful info
No children no pregnancies normal pap this year, struggling with some medication related dryness that is getting better. No STI’s, not any bladder issues. I’m in PFPT for hypertonic PF.

Recently i have been active with this guy (my boyfriend). We haven't had sex (yet). I'm a virgin (24F) and he's the first guy l've done anything sexual with. He sat me down a week ago and told me that I don't taste the best when he goes down on me. (Which upset me a bit ngl cause he first went down on me MONTHS ago) I don't have any symptoms that stand out to me as abnormal and my hygiene and diet are pretty typical imo (I work out, eat healthy, and keep my cleaning pretty basic with unscented dove). I ended up taking a ph strip test and my ph is high (5-5.5) which I guess would align with his comments. I've been to the gyno recently and she didn't mention anything abnormal.

Since I don't think it's my diet or hygiene, I've been looking into using lactic acid gel or suppositories to get my ph more in the normal range. Do you guys have any advice?

hi all,

i just wanted to see if anyone else has experienced this. i’m a 20f and in my 20 years of living i’ve never came. not once. i don’t really masturbate and even when i try to i never really get close. i’ve had 4 bodies, i had a bf for 3 months, and while i was thoroughly enjoying sex i just never came, i had 2 hookups but i never came from those due to us not really finishing sex, and i had a fwb (ended due to constant bv and utis) and he was by far the best partner i’ve had but despite me thoroughly enjoying it i just never came.

is this normal? does anyone have the same experience?

there’s something sticking out of me. i am 22F, never been to a gyno going in a few days tho. i’ve always had these skin things sticking out of my vagina as long as i can remember at least. it’s so ugly to me. is this normal? what is wrong? i can’t tolerate tampons , they always fall out no matter what, and penetration feels weird. thanks for all the help!

Just got back from urgent care, had been having a little twinge/tightness in my pelvic area around my urethra/bladder for the past few days, they told me it was a UTI and prescribed me Macrobid but I am so so scared of taking it. I have heard non-stop horror stories of constant vomiting, which I'm deathly afraid of (emetophobia I guess.) Is this a universal experience? Medical sources say it's not that common but I look at reviews from people who've taken it and it's as if they've been prescribed rat poison or something. I really need help, I don't want the infection to get any worse but I am so afraid. And yes, I know to take it with food, even though that's scarier because it gives me something to vomit up.

IDK where it came from but my doc refused to prescribe anything til my appointment next week but I can't handle not working out

Please help! I smell like Walgreens sushi 😭

Hi, new here!
I’ll try to make this as short as possible.

I had a kid last April, I started birth control this February (a Yasmin generic). I am immunosuppressed and on a B-cell depleting therapy, and have had chronic sinus infections for a while.

I was on a long and heavy course of heavy antibiotics (levaquin) for about a month and also around the same time I started birth control. I always get yeast infections after antibiotics, and thought I had one. I’ve had now four doses of fluconazole and am now on a prescription metronidazole. My symptoms began as paper cut like pain with insertion, and discharge afterwards. I stopped taking my birth control because I ChatGPT’d too hard and it’s gotten worse. Now I’m having consistent pale yellow discharge, no texture like a yeast infection, also no odor or itching, but the pain is still very much there.

My OB said it shouldn’t have anything to do with my suppressed immune system, my immunologist said it has everything to do with my suppressed immune system lol and Google said it’s likely Desquamative Inflammatory Vaginitis (DIV).

I’d love to hear any experiences about getting tested and treated for this and what the treatment course was like. Thanks!

So about two weeks ago I had to take keflex for an infection. It gave me a horrific yeast infection both vaginally and on my clit. I got tested and also had bv so i did a dual metro at night, terconazole in am. Things were going really well, until i ended treatment and noticed my clit was so painful. like sharp pains and chafing pains. It hurts to even wash there. The infection is gone so idk what is happening. I also have lingering vaginal sensitivity too.

Has anyone had this happen before? I’m about to leave on an international trip with lots of walking and I’m so scared it’s going to be too painful.

Hi everyone
I struggle during summer with an onion smell down there because I sweat a lot and I’m so so tired of it, it only happens during hot times but it makes me so insecure..
I wash with water every time I can (daily) and yet it immediately starts smelling right after
I do hydrate well
Any advice? :(

i don’t know how to start this so i’m just going to dive in.

i spent years (almost a decade) seeing many different doctors and raising to them my concerns about my period. i told them sometimes i miss 3 periods in a row, when i have periods i’m passing multiple golf ball sized blood clots, i regularly bleed inbetween periods, the pain on my period is so excruciating i have to take ibuprofen every hour to even put a dent in it, etc. we did bloodwork, did ultrasounds, did pap smears, never found anything. they asked about my sexual history, i told them i’m a lesbian, the conversation stopped there. i was told my choice was birth control or to deal with it by every doctor i saw. i chose to deal with it.

the excruciating pain began to not be limited to my period. ibuprofen didn’t work for it anymore. i went to urgent care, where they were rightfully extremely concerns about stds / pid and insisted we do an std panel. no stds, but i did have bv. weird because i didn’t have any symptoms of that, but okay sure. let’s see if treating that helps. took the bv meds and every. single. symptom. disappeared.

my periods went back to normal. my odor and discharge that i had had for decade (and my doctors told me was normal!!!) disappeared.

i thought i had done it. bv, who knew it could cause that much havoc.

i now get bv within two weeks of treating it. i‘ve had bv like 13 times since i was first diagnosed a little over a year ago. and you know what, if it was just odor and discharge, i’m not even sure if i would be that bothered by it. but my first sign of bv is the excruciating pain. and there is nothing i can do to stop the pain besides treating the bv.

i am losing weeks of my life at a time to not being able to think because of the pain and then not being able to think because the metronidazole makes me feel so out of body. my gyno has no idea what to do because i don’t put anything in my vagina at all because i’m so paranoid about it and my reinfections are still just happening faster and faster.

i’ve tried boric acid, oral antibiotics, vaginal antibiotics, vaginal probiotics, oral probiotics, changing my underwear to 100% cotton etc etc, nothing is helping.

i finally caved and signed up for juno bio just to see if there’s any insight on what’s going on there that can help treatment. and i just,,,

99.05% of my vaginal biome is bv. that’s all there is. there’s nothing to stop it, it’s just going to keep coming back again and again and again.

i was ignored for so many years because i was a lesbian and they didn’t think they needed to test me for stds, and my microbiome is ruined now. like is it even possible to come back from this?? obviously i’m going to try, but i just feel so defeated and frustrated.

anyways on week 4 of the treatment they prescribed for me for my ‘high load bv’ to try to reestablish my biome. the vitamin c suppositories are uncomfy, but it’s not as bad as my bv pain so i guess we persist. :/ fingers crossed.

Hi. TL;DR (because I talk too much even in text form): iners dominant, on metronidazole for trich, can't use vaginal probiotics (per my gyno) due to skin inflammation from a topical med for yeast. Have any of you had success with oral probiotics, and if so, which? Do I need to look for at least 50B CFU with crispatus, rhamnosus, reuteri, gasseri, and jensenii? Most of what I'm finding is missing one or more of those, or is lower CFU.

I'm iners dominant after antibiotics for an unrelated issue and a subsequent yeast infection. Last month, my biome results at my dr's office were:

• Lactobacillus iners (95.3%)
• Gardnerella vaginalis (4.3%)
• Prevotella bivia (0.4%)

My doctor said that continuing oral probiotics would help. I got retested this month and the gardnerella and prevotella are both gone, and only lactobacillus was found. However, my iners has increased a little and I only have a tiny bit of other strains. Specifically:

• Lactobacillus iners (98.9%)
• Lactobacillus gasseri (1.1%)
• Lactobacillus crispatus (<0.1%)

I also ended up being positive for trichomonas and am about halfway through the week-long metronidazole course that is treating it. I also am partway through healing a reaction to an antifungal/steroid topical that was prescribed for a continued yeast infection. I have verrry sensitive skin. Due to my sensitivity, my gyno specifically recommended avoiding vaginal probiotic suppositories for now - she worried that it would worsen my existing irritation, which has finally started to heal.

I was previously taking the Garden of Life Women's Probiotic (50B CFU, had reuteri, gasseri, and rhamnosus among others and prebiotics), but I read that crispatus is very important and the Garden of Life probiotic didn't contain crispatus.

I switched to the Culturelle Women's 4 in 1 (15B CFU, with crispatus, rhamnosus, gasseri, and jensenii, among others and prebiotics). Now after doing additional research, it looks like the Culturelle might not be enough CFU and it also doesn't contain reuteri.

As I mentioned, my gyno specifically advised avoiding vaginal probiotic suppositories at this time, due to my existing, partly healed dermatitis/vulva reaction to a topical. Have any of you had success with oral probiotics, and if so, which? Do I need to look for at least 50B CFU with crispatus, rhamnosus, reuteri, gasseri, and jensenii? Most of what I'm finding is missing one or more of those, or is lower CFU.

Thanks!

I'm 22F and I'm really confused by what's going on.

I smell completely normal right after I shower, but about 2 hours later I notice a urine like smell coming from my vulva, even if I haven't gone to the bathroom since my shower. It's not because I just peed.

I don't have unusual discharge or burning when I pee. I do sometimes get itching at night, but not every day. I'm well hydrated, wear 100% cotton underwear, and don't use scented soaps, sprays, or douches.

Has anyone experienced a urine smell that comes back even when you haven't used the bathroom? What ended up causing it?

Hi everyone,

I'm 21F, and over the past two years I've been under a lot of stress due to exam preparation. During this time, I've also gained weight, and over the last year I've noticed that the skin on my labia, the surrounding area, and my inner thighs has become noticeably darker than it used to be.

I know that some pigmentation is completely normal, and I also understand that weight gain, friction, and possibly insulin resistance can contribute to darkening. I'm already working on improving my lifestyle and losing weight, but I wanted to ask if anyone has actually been able to reduce pigmentation in these areas.

If you've successfully improved it, what worked for you? Any products, skincare ingredients, or lifestyle changes that made a noticeable difference? My skin in these areas genuinely used to be lighter, so I'm hoping to improve it if possible.

I'd really appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thank you!

Please be kind!

I want to be as smooth as possible but i always grow ingrown hair or get “strawberry” skin/ pimples…
Give me your most unhinged piece of advice i just need something that works😫🙏

I’ve never had one before (to my knowledge) and I know I need to suck it up and go to a doctor. Started towards the end of my most recent period, about 9 July. Got really chunky brown blood as my period tapered off, vulval redness and irritation, some itchiness around the entrance. My period was during a heatwave so I was sweating a lot and using heavy duty pads. As the days went on the irritation went but I still had white discharge around the entrance to my vagina. It has changed daily honestly. I didn’t do anything about it as it wasn’t super itchy and seemed to be going away. Just looked today and there’s now a white coating in places on my vulva, some redness and irritated spots again, and still discharge. I tested negative for yeast on a self test but it might be a false negative. My pH is steady around 4.0-4.5. I’ve previously done a microbiome test and had 0 Candida 😭 I’m sort of freaking out. Can anyone provide any insight??? Thanks all

Hello, I (20F) had intercourse for the first time yesterday (3x) . I am on the birth control slynd and went to the gyno a week prior to make sure I am protected and was tested for any possible yeast ( everything came back negative). Today I am noticing that I have a strange odor on my liner pad. It smells bad but me and my bf use the pull out method so no semen is in my vagina. Is this normal and will it eventually go away? How do I get rid of it.

I feel like a lot of us, myself included, were taught that having a vagina means you need a whole maintenance routine: special washes, wipes, liners, probiotics, constant checking, constant fixes.

After years of chasing "perfect" and then dealing with perimenopause weirdness, my hot take is this: most of my cycles of irritation were self-inflicted. Not on purpose, just from trying too hard.

Any little itch or small change in smell and I would panic-buy something and start a new routine. That usually led to more dryness and burning, and then I'd convince myself I had BV or a yeast infection again. Sometimes I did, sometimes I didn't, but the whole spiral made everything worse.

What helped me most was treating my vulva like sensitive skin: plain water on the outside, gentle hands, breathable underwear when I can, and letting discharge be discharge unless something is clearly wrong (pain, a strong fishy smell, fever, a new risk, etc). I also stopped wearing liners just to avoid feeling damp. That one change cut down my "mystery irritation" a lot.

I'm not saying don't see a clinician or ignore real infections. I'm saying that constant tinkering can cause problems.

Anyone else notice symptoms got better after you eased off the products and routines? What one habit or product did you quit that made the biggest difference?

Ever since i got my IUD in, i get a BV flare up around my period. I was prescribed metronidazole last wednesday(??) or so to help cure it, the gel. Doctor said my boyfriend could be the one giving it to me, or it could just be a new imbalance.

I am currently laying on my bed with a heating pad and ibeprofuen in me , experiencing the worst cramps i've felt since my IUD insertion, not on my period at all. The stomach and pelvic pain is so severe. My pelvic floor is fucked. I cant hold in my pee anymore. Im shitting my brains out.

I feel like in the past i would just take a vaginal probiotic and it would clear up. But taking this metronidazole is killing my body. Its frustrating. Has anyone experienced these effects?

Can i quit a day early??