The primary naturopathic practitioner I labored with taught me the connection between hormones and vaginal well being. She examined my ranges of all three kinds of estrogen in addition to different intercourse and adrenal hormones (together with cortisol) and really helpful remedy accordingly. She additionally put me on the vaginal ring, which accommodates localized estrogen and has been proven to lower UTI incidence and lengthen the time between occurrences.
These helped, however my signs weren’t totally resolving, so she referred me to a different practitioner who specialised in figuring out and treating persistent infections.
From our very first session, this supplier’s intuition was that my mycobiome2—the small, fungal element of the microbiome, which interacts with the entire microbiome and impacts vaginal well being—might have been compromised from all the antibiotics I’d taken.
Whereas vaginal mycobiome testing doesn’t exist (to my data) and the vaginal mycobiome3 has not been totally sequenced, I do imagine no matter state my mycobiome was in might have had one thing to do with the recurrent infections.
Collectively, we labored on restoring foundational well being, supporting my immune system by bolstering my intestine well being, and giving my physique natural antimicrobial help.
Guided by the outcomes of a take a look at known as the GI-MAP, which sequences all the microorganisms dwelling in your digestive tract, we labored to rebalance my intestine microbiome with totally different sorts and strains of probiotic micro organism, like phages and yeast, together with Saccharomyces boulardii.
The botanical medication was essentially the most useful. I took a robust natural complement formulated for UTIs each as a prophylactic and once I felt a UTI approaching—and, in my expertise, it helped to maintain them at bay so I didn’t need to take extra antibiotics. Amongst different elements, it contained juniper, which accommodates berberine, a plant alkaloid recognized for its antimicrobial properties4 and talent to handle dysbiosis (within the intestine and urinary tract).
Ultimately, I took a two-week dose of fluconazole. Since then, I haven’t skilled any extra vaginal infections.
Throughout my restoration journey, I used to be testing my vaginal microbiome with Evvy. Based on my outcomes, the Lactobacillus crispatus5—a protecting micro organism for vaginal well being—that when dominated my vaginal microbiome5 was compromised. Proper now, some analysis is underway to develop dwelling medicines for UTIs and reproductive well being, together with vaginally administered L. crispatus probiotics. What’s lacking is a extra full understanding of microbial communities that promote vaginal well being.