Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional. I cannot diagnose, cure, or prescribe any treatment plans or options. I am not trying to encourage anyone to do exactly what I did, just recounting my experiences with yeast infections and what helped me. Please always consult medical professionals.
I unfortunately have dealt with a lot of vaginal yeast infections. And I mean A LOT. That’s not the sort of thing I want to be able to say, or for anyone else to have to say about themselves, either. Yeast infections come with a lot of social stigma, as I’m sure you’re aware of, about being nasty, and happening because you’re not clean, or you’re having sex with too many people, or any other absurd reason. The truth is, a lot of people are really uneducated about yeast infections and why they happen. Vaginal yeast infections can happen for so many reasons, such as pH change, immune system issues, hormone issues, antibiotics, birth control, diabetes, pregnancy, using certain products, and more. For some people, like myself, vaginal yeast infections are also a recurrent issue, without a known concrete cause. So I want to write about how I went from having one or two yeast infections every single month, to only one or two a year.
Most folks with a vagina (or your preferred term) will experience at least one yeast infection in their lifetime, but if you’re reading this, chances are you’ve dealt with more than one. If your experience is anything like mine you’ve combed through the internet, looking for some way to just get relief and end the terrible cycle of repeating yeast infections. If you’re like me, you’ve been to the doctor, you’ve gotten medicine after medicine, and you keep ending up in the same boat, with another infection. That’s the first thing everyone tells you to do when over-the-counter stuff hasn’t helped. They say, “Oh just see your doctor. They’ll give you a little pill and it’ll clear it right up and you won’t have that problem anymore”. I know that is the case for many, many people, but it’s also not the case for many people.
Then there’s the other advice that everyone gives: wear cotton underwear, eat yogurt, don’t wear wet clothes/swimsuits, take a probiotic pill, stop eating sugar, don’t use bad lube, shower more, don’t douche. On and on. Now a lot of this is very good advice, but when you’re doing ALL THE RIGHT THINGS, and you STILL are getting infections you seriously start to feel like a curse has been placed upon you. You begin to question if something is just wrong with you, if you’re somehow doing this to yourself, and you just become very defeated feeling.
One step that some people do miss that can contribute to recurrent infections is having your partner get tested, or taking treatment even if they don’t come back positive for a yeast infection. My partner was also treated during the years I kept getting infections, but it unfortunately wasn’t the answer, as I continued to get infections. However, I highly suggest not to skip this step because it has been the solution for some people.
So let me say right off the bat, if you haven’t been to a doctor for your yeast infections yet, I do suggest going. Many infections genuinely are cleared up with just a pill or two. Also, many people think they’re experiencing yeast infections and really it’s a different infection. I am not a medical professional, and I cannot diagnose or cure anyone. I can simply recount my experiences, and give you the information I found that worked for me. I trust that you, my readers, are smart enough to do your own research, and reach out to professionals when needed. Now, with all of that out of the way, if you’re like me and you’ve done all those steps, and the doctor’s route just isn’t working, let’s discuss what finally helped me.
The first thing I suggest is boric acid. Chances are if you’ve been researching ways to get rid of vaginal yeast infections you’ve already come across this advice, so I am here to add to that collective, and tell you boric acid was a big piece of solving the puzzle, for me. You want pure boric acid, no extra additives. I will link to the exact one I’ve been using for five years (I do not receive any commission for this product, I just use it). Then you get empty pill capsules, in 00 size. I have used 0 size but they are a bit smaller, and 00 size is usually cheaper and easier to find anyway. To fill the capsules I put on gloves, and just scoop the powder directly from the bag with the big side of the pill, and then cap it with the small end. When I first started using boric acid capsules I made it a lot more complicated than necessary and was trying to use a tiny paper funnel to fill the capsules and press as much powder as possible into the capsules, but all I was doing was wasting time. The easy method of scoop directly with the capsule works just as good. Then you insert the capsule into your vaginal canal before you lay down to sleep. Do NOT take boric acid by mouth. You will have a watery discharge, when you get up to pee in the middle of sleep, or the next day, but it’s not a massive amount.
Most medical advice says do not use boric acid suppositories if you have tears/cuts or are bleeding (non-menstrual bleeding). Many doctors will prescribe boric acid suppositories so even if you’re not getting a prescription from them, they can answer safety questions. There are people who also report having side effects from using boric acid, and suspecting allergic reactions to it. Allergies to it are considered rare, but if you do not know if you’re allergic ask a doctor, or a pharmacist how you can go about testing for that.
If you’ve been battling recurrent yeast infections chances are your entire vagina and vulva (or preferred terms) feel like they’ve been rubbed raw with sandpaper though so you’re wondering if it’s safe to use the boric acid. All I can tell you, I did. It did cause a very mild discomfort for me the first day I used a capsule, but it wasn’t near as bad as the yeast infections issues I was already dealing/dealt with.
I used one capsule every single day for 30 days, and then I tapered down to 2 capsules a week (spaced 2-3 days apart) for four months. The exception to this, I used the capsules 2-3 days before my period, depending on how soon it felt like a yeast infection was starting, and used them 1-2 days after my period stopped. For me, my period being close always caused a yeast infection, so using the capsules then was vital. After doing this for four months I was able to taper down to one pill a week, and only needed them occasionally near my period. This was a world of change for me, and I can’t even explain the relief I felt going from 12-24 yeast infections a year, to just 3 or 4. However, they weren’t fully gone because I was occasionally still getting one near my period, and my vulva and vagina skin felt like it was never going to fully heal. Between battling constant infections and frequent boric acid use, my skin was not happy.
This is when I came across Good Clean Love’s moisturizing vaginal gel. The product sounded like pure ecstasy to me, just thinking about my vagina and vulva skin being moisturized and soothed. It sounded too good to be true, and I was also scared because it felt like every little thing I did would cause yeast infections. I was so scared to try it, but I was also so desperate for relief. I read tons of reviews, both good and bad, but in the end decided to just give it a go because I really had nothing to lose at this point.
The first time I put the Good Clean Love moisturizing gel in my vagina it burned for a solid 5 minutes. I was so terrified I made a mistake and had set myself back. However, I noticed it didn’t burn like allergic reactions I had to other creams like Monistat, so I just did some super deep breathing and held out. After 5 minutes all burning subsided and I just started to feel relief. I was still super cautious at this point though and wasn’t ready to declare it a success. Over the next week I used the gel four more times but I did not experience that intense burning again. My skin started to return to a healthy state, where I didn’t feel like it was constantly dry and irritated, very quickly. I declared to my partner that it was a miracle gel and I never wanted to run out.
Over the next year or so, I used a boric acid capsule anytime things felt even a little off, about 3-4 times a month, and then the next day I would use one-fourth, or one-half of the recommended Good Clean Love moisture gel, because the full applicator was just too much and a lot of product was just going to waste. From time to time if my vulva skin gets too dry I will experience some very, very minor stinging when I apply the gel but it lasts less than 30 seconds and it fixes the overall dryness.
During all this, I also took a daily probiotic (by mouth) every single day before going to sleep. You’ve likely seen L. acidophilus suggested for yeast infections over and over, but you may not have seen that L. rhamnosus and L. reuteri are also suggested strains for vaginal health when it comes to dealing with yeast infections. The probiotics didn’t solve the issue alone, but I noticed when I didn’t take them religiously every single day my need for boric acid capsules was higher.
I started experiencing chronic (meaning 4 or more a year) yeast infections in 2015 and they only became more frequent. From 2015 to 2019 I tried over the counter treatment, and doctor treatment, and nothing fully worked. In 2019 I started using boric acid capsules and my yeast infections went from 1-2 a month to only 3-4 a year. Then I started using Good Clean Love moisturizing vaginal gel in 2022 and I only have 1-2 yeast infections a year at most now.
My current routine consists of only using boric acid capsules when I feel like something is off, which is every 2-3 months, and using the moisture gel a couple times a month for dryness issues. Near my period is still the most likely time for issues to try and start. I also still take the same probiotic daily (again, I do not receive commission, I just use the product). I do wish that I had the Good Clean Love moisturizing vaginal gel from the start of my boric acid journey because I know it would’ve helped a lot of the skin dryness and irritation issues faster, and the overall problem would have cleared up faster, too. That is why I’m chronicling my experience here and hopefully it can help someone else.
It’s hard to really put into words how awful it felt dealing with yeast infections for so long, and feeling like no one was offering any real solutions. Not even the medical system. I am still very paranoid and scared that one day it will all start happening again, and I will have to suffer more years of that misery. However, it really does seem like I’ve found the solution to my problem, and hopefully my experiences can help someone else who is struggling.
*Affiliate links were used in this post. All writing and opinions are my own.