SINCE 2021 — recurring BV that ran my entire life. every single month, almost always right after my period, like my body had a calendar reminder set for it. the smell. the itch. the 6am wake-up where i'd do the check and my stomach would just drop because i already knew.
my gyno prescribed flagyl so many times the pharmacist started recognizing my voice on the phone. it'd work for maybe ten days. then it'd come right back. rinse, repeat, for years. i stopped wearing certain clothes. i'd cancel plans around my cycle. i started to feel like something was just permanently wrong with me.
nobody ever once looked past the prescription pad and asked WHY it kept coming back.
i almost didn't try the patch. i'd done every probiotic, every boric acid suppository, every 'feminine' wash on the shelf — and honestly a thing you stick on your stomach sounded like a gimmick. but i was exhausted and i figured what's one more thing.
started in november. you put it on your lower belly in the morning and just forget about it. december — nothing happened. and i mean literally nothing. no smell. no itch. no 6am panic. january — same. february — same.
i actually went back through my period tracker to confirm, because after three years i didn't trust my own memory. three clean months. after three YEARS of monthly flares.
i told my sister and she said 'so you're telling me it was your gut the whole time?'
yeah. apparently it was my gut the whole time. and apparently i didn't have to swallow a single pill to fix it.