The lure of Lubes!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Could you use lime douche before attempt and rephresh after?

IF you were doing a cutoff and 100% sure that you wouldn't O for three days, that would probably be ok (because the RepHresh would raise pH of the lime to 4.5 but then lower the pH of the semen/CM for three days afterwards) I think it's better to never mix lime with RepHresh though - we don't know how high the bump in pH will be, how long it will last, and what if you O early?? If you're sold on lime then do lime with Acijel, Replens, or Sylk.

[crystal-light]

IF you were doing a cutoff and 100% sure that you wouldn't O for three days, that would probably be ok (because the RepHresh would raise pH of the lime to 4.5 but then lower the pH of the semen/CM for three days afterwards) I think it's better to never mix lime with RepHresh though - we don't know how high the bump in pH will be, how long it will last, and what if you O early?? If you're sold on lime then do lime with Acijel, Replens, or Sylk.

Not particularly sold on the lime b/c we'll probably going for O+12. I want to get acijel and see what it does for my ph. Would it do any good to use anything after dtd if you're doing O+12?

[atomic sagebrush]

It might be good to use something IMMEDIATELY after but any longer than that and the sperm are already gone on the hunt for the egg. Some sperm do stay behind in the cervical crypts and wait for some reason scientists don't understand, but with an O+12 that is irrelevant because the egg is already on the scene and will be fertilized by the sperm that head up first.

If it makes you feel better, safer, more thorough to keep your pH low for hours on end, it doesn't hurt anything. But I don't think it's necessary.

[babydust]

hey! So just a quick question about replens and rephresh.

Ok, so with a cut off, the 4 hours after O, I think for some it's good to get pH low and keep it low asap. I know for me, a combo of replens and a small amount of lime douche works great. So that's probably what I would do.

Now, since lime douche was used, when is would one be able to use some rephresh? Could it be used the next day after using lime douche the night before? Or is it better to stay away from rephresh all together if you use any lime douche during the cut off attempt?

Thanks!

[atomic sagebrush]

Do you mean, 4 hours after BD? If it's 4 hours after O, the sperm are already on the way to the egg.

I do think it would be safe to use RepHresh the next day, like 12 hours later. WITH a cutoff, not with O+12, because with O+12 the sperm will be long gone by the next day.

[babydust]

oh good to know. And I mean from the time you dtd until 4 hours. So lets say you dtd at 8 pm...from 8-12 pm would be the crucial time to keep pH low. Then you want to continue keeping pH low, but it's good to know that by around 12 pm the next day (roughly 12 hours after the lime douche) you can start using the rephresh. That might raise pH a bit, but then will keep it between 4 and 4.5 through O which is nice, especially since it's really hard to check pH in the middle of the night. When using rephresh finger, that solves that problem. But of course, only with cut off.

How long is the rephresh supposed to last and buffer pH to 4-4.5? Around 2-3 days? Just wondering roughly, how many applications of rephresh one would have to use from cut off until O. And I guess each time you use the rephresh finger pH has the potential to go as high as 5.0? I wonder, would it make pH even higher than that at first? How long should it take for the pH to get buffered to 4.0-4.5?

It seems like a fantastic solution when used with a cut off, and it has the acetic acid which is awesome.

The only thing is that if the rephresh isn't working, you can't just go and do a lime douche to get pH down, kwim? 'cause that could cause the pH to go up like crazy. So if the rephresh isn't working, you really can't do much to help the situation. That is the only thing that scares me about using the rephresh.

Still awesome research and I think it sounds very promising!!

[atomic sagebrush]

RepHresh is supposed to keep pH down for 3 days. I haven't tested this personally but it's what the website claims.

I feel like if you use a half-applicator of RepHresh the morning after DTD it would work for the entire cutoff. I can't speculate about RepHresh finger vs. applicator because I haven't tested it personally but I hope people give themselves a lot of time to play around with it.

I agree, if the RepHresh doesn't seem to be working, it would prob. be a bad idea to do a lime douche and if pH rises, I would try to use Sylk instead.

[babydust]

oooh, a 1/2 applicator of rephresh is what's needed. I agree, I think the best way to know how it works is with experimentation . Sounds really promising though!

[atomic sagebrush]

oooh, a 1/2 applicator of rephresh is what's needed. I agree, I think the best way to know how it works is with experimentation . Sounds really promising though!

I don't KNOW that for a fact. This is guesswork based on what seems to make sense to me. I don't think a fingertip does much. A fingertip of Replens at your cervix will certainly make it SEEM like your pH is low but I have to wonder if people are just testing the pH of the Replens, KWIM?? I don't see how a fingertip of anything could affect the pH throughout your vagina for three days during a cutoff, if that makes sense. You need it to get into all the nooks and crannies (EW.)

I bought some Replens and the applicators are pretty tiny (assuming the RepHresh applicators are the same size) so I think a half-applicator makes the most sense. If people try it, the worst that can happen is that they won't get pg that month and can try again and use less (and if anyone does this and it's too much, LET ME KNOW!!!)

[babydust]

yeah, that makes sense, come to think of it a 1/2 applicator probably isn't that much at all. And I know what you mean, after using a finger tip amount of replens and testing pH, probably we are just getting the pH of the replens, haha