Rephresh

Hi

I'm new here :happy: :happy: I have 3 beautiful little boys and am hoping to try for another this summer and will be swaying for a girl.

I've spent hours pouring over the posts here and on other swaying sites and they're so helpful - I can't believe I didn't know about any of this stuff before!

I've been particularly interested in the posts here on acijel/replens/rephresh/lime because this sounds like quite a stressful part of the process to me - checking so often after BDing, even during the night etc. and all that prodding and checking and obsessing (I am very obsessive by nature!) sounds like something which might send me over the edge!

What I've read about Rephresh really appeals to me - that you need only use it every 3 days and needn't check constantly after DTD, but I understand that I'd need to do some experimentation first to check how I get on with it.

Firstly, I currently have a Mirena IUD fitted. Do you think it's worth experimenting with Rephresh before I get it removed and start doing all the other things? I do ovulate and have periods with Mirena. I thought it might help to see how Rephresh works in isolation, without any of the other swaying factors.

When I do experiment, when should I check my pH? I read that checking straight after you use it may mean you're just checking the pH of the product and that makes sense - so how long after applying would it make sense to check and how often over the following days?

How soon after BDing should I check my pH? If pH is an important factor in a sway (and I've read that it may or may not be) how important is it to bring pH down after BDing with a cutoff? Are the 4 hours after BDing still crucial even though the egg isn't there yet?

I've read that half an applicator might be a good amount of Rephresh to use - I was wondering why this is, if the product is designed to keep pH at around 4.5 and a full applicator is the advised dosage. If too much would lower the chances of conception, why is that?

Finally (for now - I have so many questions going round my head every day!) where exactly should I be 'collecting' the CM from when testing for pH?

Anybody who's used or experimented with Rephresh, I'd love to hear from you :happy:

Thank you!
K x

What also be interested in the reply to this!

atomic replied on one of my repHresh threads saying to use half an applicator because you "don't want to kill off all the sperm", but then again if most sperm don't die in pH 4.5 I wouldn't have thought it would matter too much if you use a whole applicator

AFAIK you should collect CM from near the cervix as the CM becomes more alkaline (?) the closer to the entrance you get!

I'm unsure about checking after adding repHresh and also after BDing - I'd have thought if you test after BDing a lot of the sample that you test will be semen so you'll be testing the semen pH from an internal sample...
Also, surely you'd also need to know what that pH rises to after you BD anyway to know whether repHresh is working or not?

personally if I use repHresh, which I probably will, I think I'll just use it and then trust that it will work to lower the pH because I don't see any way to accurately test it!

I totally agree about the checking pH and obsessiveness. I really do think that obsessiveness raising testosterone levels is the number one reason why pink sways fail and I think it's AWESOME that you recognize that tendency.

I have never thought that it is in any way necessary to check your pH every 30 minutes and I also think that a lot of the pH "checking" that goes on is only people checking the pH of the stuff they just stuck up there and in no way indicative of anything going on in the Fallopian tubes where the egg is going to be fertilized.

Absolutely it's well worth your time to check now even before you have the Mirena removed. This thread may help answer most of your Q's about how anbd where to test. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/show...-for-DH-and-DW

If you plan on using RepHresh with a cutoff, for testing I would test it once a day in the circumstances you would be using it in. So for a cutoff, test around ovulation. Use the RepHresh the morning of your attempt or the night before if you will attempt in the morning (and I would also use it the 3 days prior to your attempt) and then test after your attempt just for the sake of your own curiosity. You will probably not get an accurate reading though - it will be lower or even higher for awhile afterwards (due to the semen) so don't panic. This is actually a great benefit to testing with your Mirena because you'll be able to DTD without any other birth control method - please report back and tell us what happened!! Then you can test again the next morning, but I wouldn't go overboard with testing, I would just test once a day from your attempt through O and see if the pH stays down for you.

I personally am not convinced about keeping the pH super low every second of a cutoff and in fact I suspect people render themselves infertile by strictly adhering to the guidelines on some of the other sites. I don't think it's megaimportant BUT I do think it helps by lowering overall sperm numbers. I do not think there is any magic to the 4 hour number - if memory serves (and I have a screaming baby on my hands here and just got home from a trip and can't find my notes, so this may be wrong) the 4 hours was the amount of time it takes for the sperm to make it to the egg - with a cutoff, 4 hours wouldn't make any difference because the sperm will just hang out in the crypts until the egg arrives anyway. I think the 4 hours is only applicable with O+12 (and even then I think it's just an approximation).

Too much RepHresh lowers the odds of conception because EWCM/semen are designed by evolution/God to keep maximum numbers of sperm of both genders alive for as long as possible and EWCM also helps the sperm swim to the egg (and even carries them along). Sperm can't swim through jelly, they just lay there and flop around, and the low pH makes some of them (or all of them) die off. Sperm LIKE pH in the 7's and that is where they survive best and longest.

RepHresh is not designed to help with swaying. It's designed to keep pH low to help people who get flareups of yeast and BV after intercourse. So they advise a full applicator to keep pH low and they don't worry if it kills off sperm, because it's not designed to help people get pg. We're using it for an off-label purpose and we want at least SOME sperm to survive, so we use less.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rainbowflower

atomic replied on one of my repHresh threads saying to use half an applicator because you "don't want to kill off all the sperm", but then again if most sperm don't die in pH 4.5 I wouldn't have thought it would matter too much if you use a whole applicator

AFAIK you should collect CM from near the cervix as the CM becomes more alkaline (?) the closer to the entrance you get!

I'm unsure about checking after adding repHresh and also after BDing - I'd have thought if you test after BDing a lot of the sample that you test will be semen so you'll be testing the semen pH from an internal sample...
Also, surely you'd also need to know what that pH rises to after you BD anyway to know whether repHresh is working or not?

personally if I use repHresh, which I probably will, I think I'll just use it and then trust that it will work to lower the pH because I don't see any way to accurately test it!

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Most sperm DO die in 4.5 pH. In Africa, women use lime juice as spermicide and it's so potent it even kills the AIDS virus.

The RepHresh WILL work. It has to, it's a chemical reaction. When you mix vinegar and baking soda, you don't think "OMG I hope this works!!" You know it will foam and fizz up because it has to, that's what it does.

All those posts that say, "RepHresh might make your pH rise", what those are really saying is, "we didn't use enough RepHresh to make our pH go down" or "We had so much EWCM that it diluted the RepHresh." Some people's bodies don't like anything irritating in their vajayjay and so they start cranking out a lot of EWCM to wash it away. Also, if people are using lime douche with RepHresh, it may backfire because RepHresh is designed to raise things that are very very low in pH as well, so that's why I tell people not to mix lime douche with RepHresh until we can test them together and see how they actually react.

The CM actually becomes more ACIDIC far away from the cervix - your normal vaginal secretions are 4.5 and only rise at ovulation, so a lot of times when people think they have great pH, it's actually that they have no EWCM and are only testing their vaginal pH (which is why you MUST test pH at ovulation for accurate results).

I think you are 100% completely and totally right with the trust factor. When I read directions that involve wrangling a Diva Cup in and out every 30 minutes to check pH for days on end, that raises my testosterone just thinking about it LOL!!!:agree:

Thank you so much Atomic, I find your posts so well researched and put across, they're extremely helpful.

Do you think it worthwhile using Rephresh every 3 days even when I'm not close to DTD? Is it beneficial for my body to be used to it? You suggest using it every day in the 3 days leading up to O - so perhaps half an applicator for 3 days? I'm planning a cutoff so am wondering how often I might use it, if at all, between DTD and O.

I can't, in theory, see any benefit to using another product with Rephresh if it brings pH to around 4.5 no matter what else is introduced - semen, lime, acijel etc. Have I understood that correctly?

I'll report back on my experiment with Rephresh!

K x

Thank you, I'm glad I helped you a little!!

I think it can be worthwhile to use RepHresh every three days because you will be used to it (perhaps mitigating the irritated VJ = more CM factor). Also, if you O earlier than you expect it can help you in that regards because you'll be at least somewhat prepared.

I WOULDN'T use it from DTD through O. That's why I like RepHresh for a cutoff, you don't have to do a thing other than relax and keep your blood sugar on the lower side.

I don't see any benefit to mixing products either. It seems pointless and overcomplicated to me and I am all about the simple sway. BUT Acijel has the acetic acid which is supposedly "best" for swaying and also, Sylk is a lube...RepHresh is said to function as a lube but people have told me it doesn't work very well and Sylk is a much better lubricant.