How I Stopped Recurring Yeast Infections

I started this blog because, well, I have a lot of vagina problems to deal with! And deal with them I do, at least to the best of my ability—which often involves a lot of researching on my own after consulting with a doctor who tells me there’s nothing they can do to help me.

Case in point: After my mom died last October, I was obviously very stressed for a while. I flew back to the East Coast by myself so I could help my dad for a few weeks, and my husband stayed in California to take care of our dog and, like, keep earning a living. It was hard being there without my husband for support, I had horrible insomnia and was barely sleeping at all, and I wasn’t eating well (a lot of pasta and baked goods, which is what people bring to your house when somebody dies… it’s very nice, but next time someone you love is grieving, maybe consider bringing them a vegetable). And because the universe sometimes feels like it just fucking hates you… I started getting constant, recurring yeast infections.

A wise woman on the internet once said, You’re either a yeast infection girly or a UTI girly, and I think that’s true. (If you don’t know what I mean… you’re a fucking lucky girly, or you’re a man.) I’ve never had a UTI, but I’ve unfortunately gotten well-acquainted with the antibiotic-to-yeast-infection-pipeline, as well as the rough-sex-to-yeast-infection-pipeline, over the course of my adult life. However, getting yeast infections when I’m not even having sex was a new and deeply unwelcome development. But since I was on the opposite coast from my gyno, I bit the bullet and ordered fluconazole (a.k.a. Diflucan, the yeast infection pill) through some ridiculously overpriced concierge service and hoped for the best.

But even after I returned home and life sort of started going back to normal, I kept getting yeast infections. Have sex once? Yeast infection. Drink a Starbucks coffee with sugar in it? Yeast infection. Eat a meal with bread? Yeah, you get the idea. It was torture, not to mention hell on my wallet to keep scheduling doctor’s appointments. The worst part was that after my doctor prescribed fluconazole several times and it wasn’t working, he really had no recourse to offer me except more fluconazole. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: So what’s the next step?
Doctor: I would probably recommend putting you on a six-month course of fluconazole, where you take a pill once every week and don’t have sex.
Me: No sex for six months?
Doctor: That’s right.
Me: And it still might not work?
Doctor: That’s… right.
Me: …Right.

So, yeah, I was not interested in doing that, for obvious reasons. And let me just say, as I so often do, that it is ridiculously unacceptable that doctors don’t have more viable solutions to incredibly common problems like these for women.

But I digress.

During past bouts of recurrent infections, I’d fallen down the rabbit hole of alternative solutions and stumbled upon boric acid as a possibility. (Yes, that’s the exact same stuff they use in roach killer, which makes it sound pretty terrifying… but it’s safe to use vaginally. Go figure.) I’d even gone so far as to buy some, but I’d always chickened out when it came to actually using the stuff, and my recurrent infections had always gone away before I really needed to.

Not this time, though!

Boric acid kills off all the bacteria—both good and bad—that’s in the your vagina, and so it can be very effective when you have a strain of candida that just won’t go away. I got the okay to try using it from my gyno—who basically told me that it wouldn’t hurt me and I could give it a go, but that (for whatever reason, he didn’t really have an explanation) it’s not something doctors generally prescribe. But whatever, man, I was desperate and trying this for a week sounded a lot better to me than six months without sex. After doing some research on Reddit (truly, thank you to the women who have come before and posted advice on Reddit, y’all are doing the work of angels), I came up with a game plan.

Here’s what I did in a nutshell…

Step One: Salve.

Momotaro Apotheca’s Soothe & Restore Salve was instrumental for me in stopping the cycle of recurring infections (and this is not a sponsored post!). Most of my flare-ups began with dry or irritated skin near the entrance of my vagina, my inner labia, etc. This salve has a ton of all-natural ingredients that moisturize and soothe the skin without contributing to flare-ups, and it also has ingredients designed to fight bacteria growth, like tea tree oil. You can use it as often as needed to address irritation of the vulva. It’s a somewhat expensive product at $37, but I’ve had the same container of it for over six months now and I’ve barely made a dent in it, so it should definitely last a very long time. I still use it now whenever I feel irritated, especially after rougher sex, and it has always been soothing and helpful.

Step Two: Boric acid suppositories.

I bought a bottle of “pH-D Feminine Health Boric Acid Vaginal Suppositories,” which is the brand a lot of women recommended. Then I inserted one suppository every night before bed (you should try to lie down and go to sleep pretty much immediately after inserting, otherwise the suppository can leak out) for about a week, until my symptoms had subsided completely and my vadge started to feel a little bit dry. Some people recommend doing a suppository every night for two weeks, but that can increase dryness and irritation, which can in turn cause more infections or other problems… so you kind of have to feel things out for yourself. I have really sensitive, dry skin in general, so I always err on the side of caution with any medication.

Pro tip: The suppositories don’t come with an applicator, and since the infection made me really sore, I used a plastic tampon applicator (Tampax Pearl, to be exact) for insertion for the first few nights.

The great thing about boric acid is that you can use it on an as-needed basis. Feel dry one day? Don’t use it. Feel a little itchy and weird after having sex? Use it! In my experience, there are not many drawbacks to boric acid, as long as you err on the less-is-more side. I haven’t gotten an infection since using it for a week straight, but I would definitely use it again if I needed to, rather than fluconazole. With fluconazole, you have to take it and then wait at least a week, if not two, to see if it worked or not. With boric acid, the results are almost immediate (though see my caveat below; you should wait a day or two after using boric acid to have sex just to ensure it’s not still hanging around in your vagina).

Caveats: Boric acid is poisonous if ingested, so please do not eat it! It’s also best not to have sex with your partner, or let them go down on you, for at least 24 hours after inserting a boric acid suppository. Your partner could end up ingesting it, and it can also burn skin and can cause rashes and other irritation (yes, on your boyfriend’s dick; don’t do it, girl).

Step Three: Manage your blood sugar.

Another factor in my recurrent infections was my constantly spiking blood sugar. From a combination of eating poorly, extreme stress, and getting very little sleep, my blood sugar was constantly spiking high, which contributes to getting yeast infections (people with diabetes, for example, often have problems because of this). Thus, I focused hard on eating better—tons of vegetables, salads, and lean protein, and as little sugar or carbs as possible (and absolutely no alcohol). After a couple months of this, I could feel my body getting back to normal, and I slowly began reintroducing a more normal way of eating.

You could also eat more probiotic-rich and gut-healthy foods, which will help replenish the good bacteria in your vagina. Things like yogurt, kimchi, and apple cider vinegar.

Step Four: Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

I cannot emphasize how helpful water is… to everything. I got myself a GIANT water bottle and set alarms for drinking/refilling it throughout the day. At least four times a day, I would chug a bottle to make sure I was fully hydrated at all times. It made a huge difference, and I still have my little alarms to remind me to drink to this day. I also make sure to drink water throughout all of my meals, which helps stabilize blood sugar.

And that’s it! I know that using boric acid can seem really intimidating and scary, especially because doctors are so inexplicably hesitant to prescribe it, but in my experience it is absolutely the way to go if you’re having recurrent infections and your doctor has nothing to offer you but more Diflucan. As always, though, I’m not a doctor and this is not meant to be taken as expert medical advice, it’s just what’s worked for me. And I hope it might work for you if you’re stuck in this predicament, too, you poor thing. Sending love.

Header image via Unsplash.