The four-pronged approach is our most advanced treatment, with both oral and vaginal treatment. The point is to break down pathogenic biofilms systemically (throughout your body) and in vaginal tissue, kill the liberated bacteria, and colonise with protective microbes.
There are a few moving parts to this treatment, so please don’t skip anything on this page or the individual treatment pages. The four-pronged treatment comes with extra care and important warnings.
Safety first, kids!
Just because this is the biggest treatment doesn’t mean it is the best for you! If you’ve been struggling for a long time and your issues return no matter what you do, it might be cheaper and more effective to book in with one of our specialist naturopaths for personalised practitioner-only treatments that address system-wide problems, not just biofilms and vaginas.
We also recommend getting a comprehensive vaginal microbiome test to help you choose your antimicrobials.
Lactulose safety
Use of treatments containing lactulose can result in cytolytic vaginosis (CV or lactobacillus overgrowth syndrome), exacerbate aerobic vaginitis, or encourage the growth of UTI pathogens in some people.
Caution in those with chronic UTI. Lactulose can feed some AV or UTI-causing pathogens but not all – get a comprehensive vaginal microbiome test (Juno is a good choice) and check your bacteria with this list of bacteria that love lactulose.
Don’t overdo the probiotics and lactulose. More is not necessarily better.
Enzyme safety
There are warnings for some enzymes. Please read the full enzyme details to ensure it is safe for you to take, particularly nattokinase.
Nattokinase is not advised for anyone undergoing surgery, with bleeding disorders, or anything else that requires fibrin (our blood clotting agent).
Enzymes can cause digestive upset. If this happens to you, back off your dose and start slow. Stop if symptoms persist.
If you have a complex health history, please reconsider using biofilm enzymes or seek an experienced practitioner to guide you.
Biofilms shedding can cause some uncomfortable symptoms as the live bacteria are liberated into your system. Prepare for the unexpected, stop or back off enzymes if needed, and prolong your treatment accordingly. Please read everything provided and listen to your body. Get in touch if you need help.
If you experience an adverse reaction from your treatments, stop immediately, seek medical care where appropriate and please do let us know. Any severe reaction may mean you are allergic to one of the ingredients or you are using an inappropriate treatment for your circumstances.
The Four-Pronged Approach
Order the Four-pronged Approach Fixer Box – everything you need!
- Biofilm enzymes (full 30 days, oral, possibly vaginal, may go beyond 30 days if going slow)
Nattokinase and a biofilm busting enzyme blend (oral, systemic biofilm busting enzymes). Add oral and/or vaginal InterFase Plus as an added extra.
Read about Nattokinase, InterFase Plus vaginally, InterFase Plus orally. - Bovine Lactoferrin – Immune booster (14-30 days depending on dose, oral only)
Lactoferrin – follow directions on label. - Antimicrobial portion (vaginal, choose one)
(See these individual instructions, always starting at day 1)
Fluomizin
Lactulose, BV, AV, Double Whammy, BV-Prevotella, Ureaplasma Vaginal Pessaries, Manuka Honey, Chanel - Oral Probiotic (use orally concurrently with vaginal treatment)
Life-Space Women’s Microflora
__________
The Plan
30-day treatment schedule
Days 1 – 30
- Nattokinase – 1 capsule daily, with or without food
- Biofilm enzymes – 1 capsule twice daily, one hour from food/on an empty stomach
- Lactoferrin – as directed on the label
Days 1 – 7 (for starters, with week-by-week vaginal treatments)
- Vaginal antimicrobial portion – choose your antimicrobial from the list below and start treatments as per the individual treatment schedule.
Antimicrobial portion instructions
Please follow the specific instructions for each antimicrobial, as they may differ in application and safety.
Most options (excluding Fluomizin) call for week-by-week vaginal applications, where you stop every seven days and take a break to see what is happening with your symptoms and pH. If you stop and symptoms return or pH rises past 4.5, recommence treatment for another week.
Your treatments could therefore be spaced out weeks from each other, if for example, symptoms and pH were healthy for 2-3 weeks after treatment. That would mean you continue the oral treatments, but your vaginal treatments are spaced out as needed.
If your symptoms do not abate, the treatment isn’t for you. Try another treatment or talk to us.
Individual treatment instructions
- Aunt Vadge’s BV Herbal Blend
- Aunt Vadge’s AV Herbal Blend
- Aunt Vadge’s Double Whammy Herbal Blend
- Aunt Vadge’s Ureaplasma Herbal Blend
- BV-Prevotella Vaginal Pessary
- Lactoferrin, lactulose + probiotic (Three L’s)
- Fluomizin
- Manuka honey
- Calendula pessary blend
Probiotic – Take 1 probiotic at some stage during the day with food unless using vaginally. Use vaginally as per individual treatments. Do not use more than one probiotic per day total.
When to start your treatments
Plan the four-pronged approach ahead of time, when you have all the ingredients on hand. If you get periods, know vaguely when you’ll get it and plan around it.
It’s best to start treatment immediately after bleeding stops to get the most period-free treatment days. Avoid heavy bleeding days for vaginal treatments for practicality’s sake.
Where to order your supplies
Order the Four-pronged Approach Fixer Box – everything you need!
What to expect during treatments
Biofilm enzymes
The enzymes break down biofilms throughout your body, which liberates the biofilm matrix along with microbes and other debris trapped or hiding in biofilms. This influx of ‘stuff’ can cause an immune response.
Anyone who has a complex health history should carefully consider using this treatment. If you deem it is appropriate for you, please start off slow and expect this treatment to produce effects. Seek the assistance of a health practitioner who understands biofilm treatments.
You may experience old infections again or a flare-up of symptoms. These effects will pass, but are a necessary part of the biofilm shedding process. It means it’s working. These effects are why we do the treatment slowly over 30 days, though for some of you this will need to be extended over another month or so due to these shedding effects.
You may not feel anything.
Listen to your body and take it easy if you need to. Remember, any funny sensations in your body will pass in a few days. Think of it like peeling the onion – layers of biofilm are shedding, and what each layer reveals is a mystery. Surprise!
Eat well, sleep well, and take care of yourself. You may feel a little off your game during this treatment. What exactly to expect will vary considerably between you all.
Do not continue to take any enzymes past the doses recommended. This is NOT an ongoing management strategy.
Vaginal treatment
You can expect that your discharge will change, so don’t worry about weird colours or consistencies or amounts. You won’t be able to tell if the treatment has worked until you stop treatments, which is why you need to stop every seven days (except for the Fluomizin, which is 12 days regardless).
If your symptoms become worse, for example, odour or irritation, your treatment may not be appropriate for your microbiome or body. Talk to us.
What to do if your vaginal pessary burns
How to work out when to stop vaginal treatments
Sometimes it’s clear when your vagina is fine, and sometimes it’s not – you may have had problems for a long time and don’t know what is normal anymore.
Abnormal discharge can be tricky to spot – just having white discharge might be normal, so we would always avoid putting too much stock in discharge. Signs your discharge is abnormal include if it is watery, yellow or sticky, or you know it’s not normal from your other life where you weren’t plagued by vagina problems.
Taking pH readings
You can take your pH during treatments, but you may find the pH is in the healthy range of 3.8 – 4.5 due to the lactobacilli increase. Test anyway – it’s good to know where you’re at so you can see if the pH changes.
Learn how to test vaginal pH at home.
You need to be taking regular pH readings before, during and after your treatments to help gauge where you’re at, so find some pH strips online that are in 0.5 increments and have at least the range 4.0 to 5.0.
You want your pH to be between 4.0 and 4.5. Anything higher than 4.5 is indicative of vaginal dysbiosis unless you’re in menopause (then about 5.0 or 5.5 is considered normal, though you can still have other symptoms).
- Order pH strips
- Learn how to test your vaginal pH – don’t worry, it’s easy!
Sex and treatments
The general gist is to avoid any chance of reinfection during and after treatments.
Successfully treating yourself and avoiding reinfection should be top of your list. That means you can have sex, but use a barrier or be picky with your sports or use treatments that can be used with sex. Avoid semen in your vagina.
You can have bareback sex when using most treatments except Fluomizin. Not all treatments are going to be nice to have sex with, so that’s up to you.
You know where we are if you need anything!
Getting support
If you’re not getting the results you’re after, please book with a My Vagina vulvovaginal specialist practitioner for effective, personalised 100% holistic treatments. We understand what is happening to you and can help.
Specially formulated probiotic for vaginal application to promote a healthy vaginal microbiome.
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