So, the story is that a couple of days before my most recent period, I noticed something was a little different down there. Nothing I could put my finger on though... that is until a few days later when I noticed a *really* repulsive smell going on - I know no other way to describe it other than it was like something crawled into my vagina and died. Accompanying this stench was a not-horrendous-but-uncomfortable itch, and slight swelling and soreness in my lips and vagina. I forced my poor mother to smell my cup and after almost throwing up, she promptly made me a doctors appointment.
The doctor diagnosed bacterial vaginosis, just from me describing the symptoms, and prescribed an antibiotic to clear the infection up. Now, my two questions are:
1) How did I get this in the first place?
Because (a) I have not had sexual intercourse and (b) I boiled the cup right before my cycle and am otherwise a fairly clean person. My mother is leery in general about the cup, and is convinced that IT is the problem - she wants me to throw it out. I'm thinking I could just have an imbalance in the normal amounts of bacterial in my lower regions? COULD my cup have caused/promoted this infection? Any hypotheses?
2) Can I still use the cup without re-infecting myself?
Should I just use pads (ick) for the rest of this period? I haven't put it back in since seeing the doctor. And after the infection is cleared up, is it still okay for me to use my cup? The smell on it is still enough to knock you over, although I haven't taken many measures to resolve that issue. I'm guessing I should just boil/rubbing alcohol it because that's what the Diva Cup people recommend, but will that be enough to get the bacteria off of it?
Anyway, I was searching around and could only find one thread about the issue of bacterial vaginosis, so I thought I'd see if there was any more info out there with BV in relation to cups. I adore using my cup... even my poor boyfriend has had to listen to me sing its praises. I'll be really sad if I have to give it up and go back to icky tampons. Thanks again for the advice!
P.S. In case it's pertinent... I'm 18 years old. Technically a virgin (no intercourse). And I JUST went on birth control(YAZ) four days ago for acne, mood swings and other lovely premenstrual stuff, and period regulation (have always been really irregular) - although it hasn't kicked in yet - still have zits and cramps up the wazoo!