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http://www.balanceactiv.com/pdf/Brochure.pdf
What do you think of this for a girl sway? It seems to be a buffered gel like Rephresh but has lactic acid in it. In the FAQ it says not to use if trying to get pregnant because the pH is so low and it might prevent pregnancy!
Ingredients and pH:
Lactic Acid Glycogen Propylene Glycol Methylhydroxypropyl Cellulose Sodium Lactate Water pH3.8
it does sound like it does much the same.,.. but RepHresh has the benefit that it stays in there for 3 days and that one doesn't?
I'm not sure because it says to only use once or twice a week for maintenance of vaginal pH (as opposed to treatment of an infection).
I think it looks fine but I do feel like I have more info about the RepHresh.
That is what Replens says too though and that doesn't keep working the way RepHresh does.Quote:
Originally Posted by zanacal
In the interests of experimentation I bought some today to try out. I think it's probably thinner than Rephresh because there has been a little leakage and it doesn't leave me 'claggy' like Rephresh - so perhaps it would be a little easier to get pregnant with the Balance Activ because there's only the pH to slow the sperm down and not the pH/consistency combination. Complete supposition of course!
As you know, my pH is always around 5 on the strips, so I don't think I can provide too much information on that front! I did check an hour or so after I used it and the strip was orange (it's always green!) but I suspect I was just checking the gel. I'll try again later after some time has passed. I guess it's not much different to using a whole tube of Aci-jel? Perhaps it's more comparable to that than Rephresh, but better for us UK ladies because it's much cheaper and you can buy it in Boots!
that's an interesting theory about the consistency... :)
might be worth trying some for lube for OV day BDing!
Nice! Thanks!!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by zanacal
D'you know what, I'm seriously thinking of using this!
My pH strip was orange (a first!) for 3 or 4 hours afterwards. Although it's a gel, it's quite watery and I'm slightly worried that having DTD every day for 10 days then showered the sperm in acid and dumped half of them in the toilet - it might be a bit much to expect them to swim through a whole bunch of claggy gel too iykwim? I compared the consistency to Aci-jel and it's much thinner (Aci-jel is pretty thick). Presumably that's why only a finger tip of Aci-jel is used, along with the fact that it's very low in pH and possibly doesn't contain any buffers. I'm thinking that using the Balance Activ, which is much thinner will mean it's more likely to get into all the nooks and crannies when used with the applicator. I know there's a belief on IG that Acetic Acid is the one we need and no other type of acid will do - but why is that? It doesn't make much sense to me if we're just trying to kill off a few sperm at the offset to lower count.
I do get that Rephresh is good for its 'keeps working' element, but we're only DTD unprotected a couple of times (I hope!) so it's not a big deal to me to use something each day a few hours beforehand. Of course I wouldn't want to add something every single day for ten days though (in which case I'd use Rephresh). I'm also not concerned with lowering my pH once the sperm have left the scene. Whenever I've tested Rephresh I've pulled out that horrible thick white stuff others have spoken about - and I think that's just how the gel is rather than cells shedding or anything like that - which is a bit ick and may be unpleasant for DH too. I keep thinking how it seems that some of the spermicide products potentially work by being incredibly thick gels rather than containing lots of spermicide (although the Rephresh website does say that it is sperm friendly!).
It just seems that this might be a good compromise between the gels and a douche - with a consistency which seems more akin to a lubricant and isn't too thick and can get everywhere in the vajay but without the potentially testosterone increasing palaver of mixing up a douche, which surely doesn't 'stick around' like a gel (albeit a watery gel!) can. It's also more hygenic than a douche (not that I'm considering one of these!) with the applicator.
As you can see, I'm VERY open to changing my mind if anybody else has any thoughts on this!
would you use it before or after DTD then?
I'm thinking an hour or two before, I won't use anything afterwards (but I will JAD). I compared the consistency to Sylk and it's pretty similar, Sylk probably just a little more watery. You even have me wondering about BDing through O now rainbow!
Rephresh is sperm friendly? Do they mean somewhat sperm friendly or totally sperm friendly?
Lol - from the Rephresh website:
We are trying to become pregnant—is it OK to use RepHresh?
Yes. Unlike some lubricants, RepHresh’s patented formula will not interfere with sperm motility.
Ah ha! So this is the new gel you were referring to? :) sounds like it'll be great, Z! Low in ph, hostile and thinner/less gunky than Rephresh. Good luck with your decision:) xo
now that's interesting as well! I hate having to make decisions :PQuote:
Originally Posted by zanacal
Oh me too! I think I'm almost there though :D
For some reason i thought rephresh was rough on the sperms motility....so the only reason we are using it is to keep our ph at the consistant 5 and prevent it from spiking higher? With the whole debate over if ph even matters im second guessing if i will even use rephresh now.:shrug:
Well, their website says it doesn't affect the sperm's motility but I'm not convinced - it is rather thick imo! I think the benefit of Rephresh is that you only have to use it every 3 days, so with a cut-off or if you're BDing every single day for two weeks then you don't have to think of it any more often than every 3 days which is less stress.
Personally I think pH does help with a pink sway because a low pH will kill off some sperm and lower sperm count does sway girl. Likewise a 'gel' of any sort has got to kill off some sperm.
I think I have decided to use Rephresh every 3 days while we're DTD with a spermicide condom, just in case something about the spermicide makes my pH go up and makes me more prone to an infection (which I really don't want right when I'm about to O!). I think we'll DTD unprotected on the evening of my first +OPK (O-1), the following evening (O) and the following morning (O+several hours) and for those attempts I'll either use Aci-jel or this Balance Activ, just need to decide which!
presumably to make a claim about that (keeping sperm motility) they would have had to do scientific tests on it or it would be illegal to claim that?
Even if it's a thick gel that doesn't mean that the "fibres" within it aren't aligned well for the swimmers to swim through?
... and Stella got pregnant not very many hours after using a whole tube! You're right though, they can't just say without having checked it out, in which case it's working as a pH lowering tool you only have to use every 3 days. It doesn't get my pH particularly low though I don't think - I thought the strips weren't working for me because they always came out the same colour (probably around a 5) but with the Balance Activ yesterday I was getting an orange colour. I'm testing Aci-jel today!
Hmm, the strip is green an hour after using 1/4 applicator of Aci-jel (ie. much more than a finger tip full!). I think I'm going to have to do the Balance Activ again tomorrow to make sure it wasn't a fluke!
I got acijel and my Ph shot up!! Got replens and it did lower ph, but u'll all know of the nasty after effects!! What does rephresh do??? My ph is around 3.5-4, which is fine, but during and after dtd it shoots up to 6 and dh and I had a combined ph of 8 once!!!
GL!! sounds very interesting.... will be good to know how u got on. xQuote:
Originally Posted by zanacal
purplefairy - what are the nasty after effects, I have no idea!!
The Replens website also says it doesn't affect sperm motility but I found this on the web:
One of the mistakes couples often make is to use lubricants that they didn't think were unsafe for sperm. The common notion is that "as long as the lubricant does not contain a spermicide or is water soluble, it safe to use when you want to get pregnant." Wrong! A study published in the International Journal of Fertility and Menopausal Studies found that four popular brands of vaginal lubricants (K-Y Jelly, Touch, Astroglide, and Replens) inhibited sperm motility by as much as 60-100% after an hour of incubation. Exposure to Astroglide and Replens resulted in nonviable and nonmotile sperm after incubation.
I'll have to try and find the study later ....
Hahaha! I have the nasty after effects as well! Chunks of white globby bits coming out of me for 2 days straight! Yummy!
This is a really interesting thread! I'm excited to see what your sway ends up being!
I'd like to see that study, and also interested in your findings zanacal. Although incubation might be different to actually being inside - who knows, within an hour maybe the sperm that would have survived would have already swum through the cervix. I wonder if those brands responded to that article.
I can only find the abstract of that study but this one is similar:
http://www.pre-seed.ch/pdf/etude1.pdf
I guess it's a balancing act because for girl sways we are trying to reduce sperm count, but of course we want to get pregnant too!
I'm currently thinking that a JAD might be overkill and I also want to see the furthest away from DTD that I could use this Balance Activ and still experience the pH lowering effect. Might see if I can use less than an applicator full too.
don't have time to read that at the moment, but even the URL makes me think that that one might be biased ;)
Oh yes, pre-seed was the only one that came out as 'good for conception', however I saw the same study in several places and that was just the easiest link. It just backs up the thinking that pre-seed is the only lube/gel to sway boy!!
that and Conceive Plus perhaps!
Atomic - I'm completely lost in science here but I *think* glycogen has something to do with blood sugars? Is this relevant if you're squirting glycogen up your whatsit and you want your blood sugar levels to be low?!
Thanks x
you could always squirt it up there at mealtimes lol
Lol - I'm sure it's a silly question!!
This post has become a bit of a monster! I see there are several vaginal gels designed to help with BV and with a low pH - Balance Activ, Gynofit, Bio-Fem Active Gel (in the UK) .... as well as Rephresh (and Replens to a lesser extent because that's meant as a moisturiser, though there are more of them too!). Rephresh and Replens seem to be the only ones which say they're ok to use when ttc, the others all say not to use either because the gel affects the motility of the sperm or because the pH is too low for the sperm. Is that why Rephresh and Replens are the ones chosen by swayers? Does anybody know whether any of the other products have been considered and, if so, why they were discounted? I saw a thread on IG which said Balance Activ is no good because it's not got acetic acid in it (it has lactic acid), however Aci-jel is the only product which does - Rephresh and Replens don't either and they seem to be acceptable! I wish I hadn't started looking at this so close to my sway. If only I hadn't tried out the Balance Activ and discovered that I can make a pH stick turn orange!!
when's Atomic around next? hope she can answer the questions too
Tomorrow I think, I'm sure she'll help me to decide! I just read this very cool (but rather old!) study about pH - there's some stuff in there about lowering the amount of seminal fluid by DTD lots too:
http://www.reproduction-online.org/c....full.pdf+html
This actually makes me think that so long as my pH is reasonably low (which it may not be if I have EWCM but of course we're trying to limit that) and there isn't very much of DH's 'fluid' (because we've DTD frequently and maybe I've done a JAD) then using a gel with a very low pH might not be the best idea for getting pregnant - and the first scenario is surely how girls are 'usually' conceived (ie. without swaying).
that's a good find - I think you're right. Frequent release with J&D seems like a good plan.... although perhaps RepHresh would further lower pH if you didn't want to J&D or if you hadn't done frequent release
Oh my goodness, somebody shoot me, I'm driving myself crazy with this!! It's so odd because for ages I've had a 'plan' now suddenly I can't decide what to do!
I'm completely throwing the spermicidal condom idea out of the window now I've read so many things about people having allergies to Nonoxyl-9 and it causing yeast infections and UTIs if used more than a couple of times a month. I really don't want to risk that in the month of our attempt. 'Natural' spermicides like Contragel are based on lactic acid - the same as this Balance Activ BV treatment! Soooo, I'm now wondering (at least for the next few hours until I change my mind) about DTD every day without protection but using Balance Activ (as a spermicide after DTD) for the first 7 days. After that I'm thinking no gels so long as I don't have lots of EWCM (which hopefully I won't because I'll be taking an anti-h) and maybe just a touch of the lactic acid gel (as Aci-jel doesn't seem to lower my pH) if I find myself with lots of EWCM. If will probably do a JAD if I'm not using any gel.