r/VaginalMicrobiome

hi, i need (professional) help administering a self-test microbiome vaginal kit from Juno and don’t know who to turn to. i’m in my 30s and i’m asexual (truly ace, never had sex or any interest in it) and i have never been able to insert anything down there (not tampons, not fingers, not toys- especially not a long swab stick thing) without pain and nausea. my obgyn know all of this and called it Vaginismus. (she had recommended a pelvic floor specialist if i ever want to be sexually active, but that’s sort of besides the point.)

anyway, my vulva has been frequently, frustratingly, and embarrassingly itchy for about a year now. my obgyn did a “wet smear” for yeast infection & BV and that wasn’t it - but she noted visible redness/irritation and gave me a Triamcinolone Acetonide ointment to heal it, but after a few weeks, that still didn’t help. (there was relief but only temporary, it keeps coming back.)

so i still don’t know what’s wrong, and now my obgyn is backed up and i can’t see her for at least a month. so i ordered a thorough self-test vaginal microbiome kit that tests for all sorts of bacteria and and yeast, thinking i might be able to do it myself but surprise surprise! i was wrong. so now i have this kit and cant do it myself but still want the answers it could give.

my question is, if i schedule an appointment with my obgyn for a month or two from now, is that something she could possibly do for me? like, is that a thing a gynecologist could do?? her receptionist wont answer me or pass on the question for me; instead she insisted on scheduling a phone appointment (over a week away from now) just so i can ask the dr this question myself.

and follow up question, if not her, then who? is there some kind of (professional) vaginal guru wizard who will stick a swab in me for 20 seconds?? (i’d ask a close friend for help if i had one, but i don’t, so that’s not an option either - and no i’m not looking for someone random to volunteer either). for context purposes only, i’m in california (so hoping that works in my favor of there being a wider variety of specialists - i just don’t know what kind could help with something like this)

please be kind in the replies i already feel like sh*t and am so embarrassed to have to ask about this stuff especially at my age, but im desperate for help and answers. thank you!

*rewritten to clarify im not looking for an individual person, im looking for an answer on what type of specialist can help me, and i will look for an individual myself from there… thanks

Hi everyone it’s just as the title says, would like some help interpreting these results. For context i’ve been suffering with a suspected yeast infection for months now with little relief using both oral and insertable anti fungal medications.

A doctor suspected that I had a UTI as well and prescribed me Flagyl as well, still no relief. Went to another doc and she recommended I do a high vaginal swab.

But when i looked at it I was kinda surprised to see no mention of yeast or anything, because she said that some strains can be harder to treat so you have to test to find out the specific strain.

Honestly the burning when urinating/discharge isn’t as bad as when it first started but still I would love to be rid of this. Any input would be appreciated.

High Vaginal swab
Pus cells:
2-3

Epithelial cells:
1-2

Bacteria:
1+

Culture
No Bacterial Growth

Organism Isolated
Colony Count
Antibiotic Sensitivity test
Amikacin
Gentamycin
Tobramycin
Piperacillin/Tazobactum
Fosfomycin
Cefoperazone
Cefotaxime
CeRtazidime
Ampicillin/ Sulbactam
Tetracycline
Ciprofloxacin
Levofloxacin
Amoxicillin/ Clavulanie acid

Thank GOD it usually is gone/asymptomatic but it always comes and goes 😭 I went to the doctor again and they gave me a prescription cream and some antibiotics. I’m taking vag probiotics several hours after the antibiotics. And I think I’ll start boric acid again. Kms I hate it here

So my periods just finished 3 days ago nd since yesterday my both labia are itching a lot, they are so dry and they are swollen nd kinda became bigger than before. I sometimes have discharge which makes my labia stick to my underwear nd it hurts as hell. I don’t use any soaps, any medications, and I wear cotton underwear. It hurts to sit or walk as they rub into each other😭

I want to preface this by saying I am sorry for the super long post but I wanna be thorough.

Hi everyone. I’m a 24-year-old woman and I’m hoping someone has experienced something similar because I’m getting really discouraged. I’ve never had any vaginal problems up until this year. I had one yeast infection in the beginning of the year after taking a course of antibiotics and then a few weeks after that I had BV. I treated the BV and I’ve been fine for the last four months.

About a week and a half ago I developed soreness down there, redness, irritation, it looks very different/swollen and a lot of white discharge. I’m very nervous because I no longer have insurance or a GYN. So I went to see my primary care provider (who is a NP) as a walk-in and they did a swab.

They tested me for BV, Yeast infection, Trichomonas, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and then did another test for Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma.

Everything was “not detected/negative” except for Yeast (Candida species) and Ureaplasma Parvum and Ureaplasma Urealyticum.

My doctor explained to me that many people have colonization of Ureaplasma and it’s normal for it to be detected. They also said my symptoms can be explained by the yeast infection and that it’s not typical to have symptoms from Ureaplasma.

I was prescribed fluconazole for the yeast infection, and I’ve taken four doses of it so far with no relief. I thought I was feeling better at first but now I’m not so sure. I contacted my doctor. They’re gonna do another swab, but they said I need to see a gynecologist if I’m not getting relief.

I’m just sooo worried. I feel like if it’s not yeast then there’s something horribly wrong with me or that I’m broken. Does anyone have any advice? I’m afraid to try any over-the-counter remedies and I think I need to see a GYN asap.

Okay October 2025 I treated a ureaplasma parvum infection and ever since it’s been a literal nightmare.

My latest evvy showed 88% lacto crisp 8% iners and the rest was little bits of BV associated bacteria.

My symptoms seem to follow my hormone cycle. The week before my period I’ll feel a little itchy and then I will have full blown UTI symptoms. Burning redness urethra discomfort bladder pain and pressure. It’s always worse after peeing. It’s also worse after anything sexual too. It’s unbearable.

I’m also in pelvic floor therapy. She does say that I’m really tight internally.

I’ll go months with little or no issues and then all of the sudden I’ll have a terrible awful flare. I’m debating like MCAS??

I’m on hydroxyzine 25mg, amitrypiline 25mg HRT estrogen patch and progesterone 10 days a month.

What the fuck guys someone help me please.

Please share how you got rid of PREVOTELLA Bivia

Long story!

So over this I’ve literally never had ANY health issues until recently.

I’m a 35 F . So my SO got an infection of some sort ( we think it was from unprotected anal sex cause they’re was some material tmi sorry) he got tested for UTIs & STDs and negative . We think it was prostistatis so did his doctor so he took antibiotics . Anyways we had sex without protection, and a week later I had a truly horrible yeast infection and UTI (coagulase-negative Staphylococcus) its a skin one I guess. So I had antibiotics and diflucan x 3 it was stubborn , and my symptoms were finally gone 1.5 weeks later. We had sex again 2 times and everything was fine and the third time 2 hours later I was burning down there. I waited a day or two it didn’t subside so I went to the doctor and they tested me incase the yeast came back. I was negative for yeast and UTIs. Went to Gyno this time it was her PA and they said maybe it external so prescribed me a antifungal/steriod which didn’t work and I felt burned me worse. So I went back to Gyno and she said you have some discoloration (it’s not patchy or raised and looks underneath the skin and just when stretched and I think it’s always been there to be honest) she said she thinks it’s L/S here is Clotbeta cream if it doesn’t help in 2 weeks we will do a biopsy. I feel like the events or symptoms just don’t make sence for LS. Also my fiance and I were doing bug spray cause of a ant infestation and he developed a rash in his groin area which we contributed it to but now he said he got little bumps on his legs too like follicitus. So I don’t know what the hell is what. Could his semen just been irritating my already irritated post yeast infection skin I do remeber him rubbing all over the area after and that is bothering me upper vulva and above my urethra area or AV ? Or is it L/S and all this is just coincidence! ? It’s been 2 weeks since it started 1 month after yeast infection.

Only symptoms before and after yeast infection I’ve had is burning sensation. I’ve maybe had itch but never to the point I had felt it necessary to itch

Help :(

I’ve been dealing with this problem for a while now about a month ago, I had went to the doctors to get tested for ongoing problem. I’ve had not knowing what it was, a UTI or STDs.

I had got tested for chlamydia, gonorrhea bv and yeast had a Pap smear also

Bv and yeast is the only thing that came back positive I also had Fordyce spots pop up on lips and vaginal area

After I had gotten a treatment for the bacterial vaginosis and yeast, the bacterial vaginosis symptoms went away with the discharge smell and that’s pretty much all I had mostly at that time no itching no skin patches or dryness or irritation just the spots

About a week or so goes by and the yeast gets worse, even though they prescribed yeast medication, but only one dose

I had got a rash under my breast, rash around my mouth and on my vaginal area that itched
The rash under my breast look like red dots small spread out along the line under my breast and itchy
My mouth got dry, corners, dry lips, and some cracking and also itchy

My vaginal area, The most irritated spot of my vaginal area is on the side of my labia where the Fordyce spots are/were the spots had become more visible and more raised and patched like almost a little swollen also

ITS NOT WHITE RAISED single BUMPS JUST TO CLARIFY it looks eczema if you ever seen it on somebody’s arm just very dry and scaly grainy and white

but NOTHING that resembled a single bump or bumps that hurt bleed leaked or anything, it’s almost like you could see your skin in 4K. That’s how irritated the skin is.

I go again to get checked up on. They prescribed me powder from yeast on my skin and yeast medication three dose now.

Time has gone by and my lips have gone down with the dryness in the corners. I do have a grainy texture in my cheeks. The breast rash had went away, but the vaginal area is still very irritated

I go back again because I had severe itching at night mostly at night and still visible skin irritation

and they do vaginal exam swabs lab tests while I’m at the doctors. They prescribe me another round of BV medication gel to insert vaginally
THE ITCHING AT NIGHT DID GO AWAY BUT
By the time the test come back I tested negative for bv and yeast I’m already on my third day of the gel medication, but now I have white clumpy yeast LIKE SUBSTANCE and EVEN MORE IRRITATION

even when I had tested positive for yeast, I never had a white clumpy substance

WHAT IS THISSSSS

NO I DONT BURN when I pee NO I DONT HAVE SORES OR NEVER GOTTEN ONE ON MY LIPS OR GENITALS

And when I started this whole process, my skin was nothing like it is now I went in for a whole different issue. Yes, I had Fordyce spots that had popped up on my lips and down there Which I thought was very strange and
I thought we’re being triggered by something but they also had told me they weren’t dangerous

And yes I asked to check for herpes and asked for a test
doctor lady said there was no reason to give me a test because I have no symptoms of that which is probably true. I’ve never had an open sore or anything, but given the case of having a vaginal rash or something I would at least like to know. Lol

Skin just looks very grainy dry and irritated. That’s how I could explain it simply

I am at a loss. I have been experiencing this for about 2 years where a couple days after sex, I develop internal itching and burning in what feels like my vagina but who the fuck knows at this point. It’s never yeast, BV, any STIs, I’ve been tested for mycoplasma, anarobic and aerobic bacteria, and my dr has looked at a swab of my vagina under a microscope and saw nothing abnormal. I wear cotton underwear and don’t use anything scented, including any condoms or toys. My gyno prescribed me estradiol cream to use after sex and estradiol tablet insert things to use twice a week for 3 months back in December. I did that and it did seem to work, but now I’m trying the estradiol again and it’s not working, and no one can tell me why that would have even worked in the first place because I’m 30 years old, healthy, not menopausal, I’m on birth control so that’s also providing estrogen, and all my pelvic exams look normal and I don’t experience any dryness.

WTF IS WRONG WITH ME?? I asked the NP the other day if I’m a medical anomaly and she was like tbh yeah…she referred me to a urogynocologist just because I asked to see another specialist. I haven’t seen them yet. However, I did see a urologist a few years ago and I was normal.

I posted on here probably like 2 weeks ago but here is my back story.

Im 28f, I have been experiencing what seems to be recurring thrush for 5 months now.

I had unprotected sex end of Jan, yes I know very dumb. Got strep throat mid February and went on antibiotics for that. My symptoms started at the end of my antibiotic course, cottage cheese like discharge and itching. I thought it was thrush so did 3 day over the counter treatment. Symptoms went away for like 1 week but came back. Did a 7 day over the counter treatment, again helped for like a week but symptoms came back. Went to the doctors start of June to get an STI, STD, yeast and BV testing. STI test came back negative, yeast swab negative, BV negative, STD negative but did find out I have HPV. My doctor still prescribed me 2 rounds of oral thrush treatment. Worked for like 2 weeks but symptoms have come back. I went back to the doctors this week and asked to get tested for trich, mycoplasma and ureaplasma but she has told me they don't do that testing and I have to be referred to someone who can( which she didnt do). I live in NZ. She did another yeast and BV swab as she said it definitely looks like a yeast infection. Got called today and was told both yeast and BV are negative again and I have to go back and get a STI test. I haven't had sex since that time in January.

Sorry this is so long im just so lost. I have also looked into the at home microbiome testing from like evvy etc but I really can't afford that.

Im taking probiotics and Flora pills. I also have the Mirena IUD which im thinking of taking out to see if it helps.

Everything here in NZ is so expensive and it seems like our testing is shit compared to other countries.

I have brought some boric acid suppositories but wondering if its even worth doing as im negative for everything. Anymore insight would be amazing

Test results in comment.

Quick background:
I’ve suffered from reoccurring bv over many years. This past year I believe I was treated for it twice. I also had candida glabrata for over a year that was highly treatment resistant. Finally tested negative for that in April but I’m still having burning and general irritation symptoms, smell not quite right, can’t get pH below a 5. This was my recent results from about two weeks ago. The obgyn office says I’m fine and no treatment is necessary. They suggested maybe it’s a dermatological issue. I got the same cream from the dermo I’ve used in the past for irritation and it’s not helping.

Shouldn’t I be treated for the enterococcus faecalis if I’m having symptoms? I’m at my wits end having a vagina that hasn’t felt right for two years. I don’t even have a partner so nothing external is messing me up. This is the second practice I’ve been to and neither seem to be taking me seriously. The first one told me to go to an expensive out of pocket vagina clinic. I’m about to see a functional medicine doctor or something since regular obgyn’s aren’t helping. Any advice you can give me is appreciated. I just want to feel normal again 😔

Recently down there has been smelling.. beer like? It doesn't smell bad but rather warm and good in a beer/bread sort of way. I suspect it to be a yeast infection however, I have zero symptoms of anything else.

No itching, no thick discharge, no burning, no pain, nothing.

Does anyone have any insight on this? Should I get this checked out or is this normal? Again, I have no symptoms whatsoever and then only thing off is the odor, but it doesn't even smell bad or anything.

This sucks because i feel like treating it and not having sex it shouldnt come back yet i cant get rid of it

I’ve been having reoccurring BV and yeast infections for eight months. My symptoms also have started after eight months as far as un refreshing sleep, no energy, being housebound and bedbound losing a ton of hair and just overall exhausted. I also am having issues with my cognitive, but I think it’s because I’m so exhausted. I have no energy. I can sleep 10 to 12 hours and still wake up on unrested. I’m wondering if this could be the cause of reoccurring BV yeast infections that aren’t fully going away?

I’ve had all other testing done and everything’s come back negative except for this. Does anybody else with reoccurring BV and yeast infections? Have these horrible debilitating symptoms?

Ever since I was 18, I've been dealing with weird bacterial growth where my labia is. It's this greyish-brownish stuff that accumulates slowly throughout the day. It shows up a lot faster when my vag is lubricated or after I experience diarrhea. Sometimes it gets pretty bad and I have experience associated yellowish / greyish discharge. It doesn't smell fishy, but it does smell off. Sometimes I experience yeast infections along with it. I've been to multiple doctors to get evaluated for this issue and they've never given me any answers. During a lighter episode of this, my gynecologist checked inside of my vag and there wasn't any bacterial growth. During a really bad episode, my primary care physician noted whitish discharge and said it almost seemed like I had an STD (and she made me get a gonorrhea / Chlamydia test, but didn't test the bacterial growth itself). I've never had sex or any sort of sexual contact ever. I don't put things up my vag. I wash daily. I've noticed sometimes this issue improves after my period. I eat the same diet I did prior to this issue occurring and I regularly eat lots of probiotic foods. This issue is primarily concentrated at the labia, not inside my vag usually. Does anyone know what's up / how to fix it. I've tried using hibiclens and antifungal shampoo before and it didn't help.

hi i am a female 19 F and recently about 3 weeks ago i went to the gyno because i was experiencing an irritation down there after i went pee. Last time i had intercourse was around december (unprotected). When i went in my gyno looked down there she told me i had a yeast infection and thats what was causing the irritation. she also did a sti panel just in case and they all came back negative. well i was still experiencing irritation down there for about a week after but i was just waiting for my medication to kick in. I also started taking probiotics and all was well. until about yesterday i am experiencing irritation down there once again. Honestly i think it's the soap im using, i've never had this problem up until i started using this one soap. I look down there and everytime i do it looks normal so im not sure what it is. i have a gyno appointment in 2 days to see what it is but can you guys please tell me what i can do in the meantime because at this point im desperate

I am at my wits end with this.

I've had an IUD for two years now. Year one was great. Year two has been a nightmare.

Recurring BV, Yeast Infections and now Vaginitis.

I want to keep the IUD because I bleed super heavy otherwise and this is the only method that's helped.

I take probiotics, even the fancy expensive ones. Done boric acid, probiotic suppositories, do all the things to prevent this and it keeps happening.

Went to multiple GYN women who said it "just happens". There's no way. I researched and found that a biofilm can form on the IUD.

Also read on a few threads NAC can destroy it. But it isn't giving me much info past that on it.

Anyone tried this? Do you take orally or can you do it as a suppository?

Help :( It's destroying me.

I started having green discharge after some discomfort on my period my pad was irritating my vagina and after my period had ended I started having heavy amounts of green discharge no other symptoms just the discharge at first I had some burning while peeing but it went away and for the past month its discharge everyday and it’s very green. I’m not a virgin but me and my partner are each other first and before the discharge I hadn’t had sex for almost a month and I was positive I didn’t have any STDs and went to a free clinic to get tested after about 3 weeks of it not stopping and i tested negative for hiv chlamydia trich bv syphilis and gonorrhea and even till now about 2 almost 3 weeks later I’m still having discharge I got my period again and it ended and still discharge I’m not sure what to do I am 16 and have tried to speak to my mom and she will not take me to the doctor I need help asap for treatment if there anybody who has had something similar please help I am able to go to the store for any treatment that may get rid of this I just am really struggling and it’s making me feel so nasty with myself because I have no idea what even caused this

I did a vaginal swab at the doctor recently for pelvic pain that has been happening for 3 months. Before the pain, I had 2 months of candida glabrata infection. This was brought on by a D&C for a MMC where I was septic and treated with IV antibiotics. I cleared the glabrata with boric acid suppositories.
The pain started about a week after the boric acid treatment and has been constant since. I have had imaging and all kinds of swabs but this was the first culture. At one point I was given augmentin for group b strep which showed in my urine but that didn't affect my pain.
The only time the pain ever went away was two days into a week long course of being treated "empirically" with doxycycline. The pain returned a week after finishing the course and I have started having yellow discharge.
I have been to 2 different OBGYNs who were not interested in helping me. One was completely stumped and the other said it was my pelvic floor despite fevers, stabbing pain in the front, hip pain to the point it hurts to walk, elevated WBC for several blood draws and a bad smell. Ive been through several pelvic exams where it was so painful they said they couldn't see my cervix. I've been palpated very painfully, but the providers write "no tenderness" in their notes.
My primary doctor did not order the culture, another doctor in the same office did. He heard my story and was appalled when I came in about an injury. There was some confusion about who was supposed to interpret the results. However, upon seeing the results, primary said that everything looks normal. I know that epithelial cells would be present on a vaginal swab and that some of these bacteria are supposed to be there, I am concerned about the gram negative cocci. I do not have any STIs and have done the NUswab about 15 times this year.

Should I be worried? The swab for this culture was on the 19th and the confusion about reporting the test results means that no one called me til Thursday and then the nurse tried to talk me off the phone. She supposedly left a message with my primary, but the doctor didn't get back to me and I called the next day. I was promised the doctor would call before she left for the day by her nurse at 2pm and then once the doc was done with patients for the day by the same nurse at 5:15pm, and she still didn't!

Anyway, does this seem like a cause for concern? I am scared I have a mild case of PID and no one is doing anything about it, especially because the antibiotics made me feel better for 10 days. I'm afraid I will be infertile when this is finally figured out and I am hoping to someday try again after the loss we experienced of our first in January due to triploidy.

4+ (Many) Normal genital flora
Including many Streptococcus Beta Hemolytic Group B.
Gram Stain Result
(A)
No Polymorphonuclear leukocytes per low power field
4+ (Many) Epithelial cells per low power field
4+ (Many) Gram positive cocci
3+ (Moderate) Gram positive bacilli
3+ (Moderate) Gram negative cocci