Atomic - question about the Whole Nine Yards and gels in general

[fignewt74]

So, in The Whole Nine Yards sway, you say "Use Acijel/Replens instead of RepHresh if you are going to do O+12." Can you explain? I am BD-ing through O, but I'm curious about your opinions on the gels.
Also, which gels are more/less hostile to sperm? I am trying to decide if I should use aci-jel or repHresh, and how close to BD. I am also trying to decide if I should drop the vinegar/calcium douche, since I just got another BFN. Do you think aci-jel and repHresh are as effective as the douche? And if so, which one is better? How often do I need to apply, and how close to BD is good?
I have already decided that it is more important for me to get DG than to just get pregnant, so I want to have a really effective sway, but I'm starting to worry that with the aci-jel, repHresh, and vinegar douche I am just killing all the sperm. Or maybe that is good, and I should just keep doing it all and be more patient...
Thoughts?

[carmella_marie]

I'm not atomic but I just read the section on rephresh and replens since I was confused about it. RepHresh lasts for 3 days so that is why it is recommended for a cut off. It has buffers that keep everything it comes into contact with at 4.5. So if your pH is lower than 4.5 it will raise it to 4.5 but if it is higher it will lower it. and 4.5 is a good pH for pink. I have seen people use repHresh with a cut-off and they use a full applicator every 3 days after AF ends, right up to O and do a 3-4 day cut off.

Replens seems to be more hostile to sperm since it starts out at a lower pH but when it comes into contact with another substance it will lower pH, but it doesn't last as long as repHresh. Aci jel is like replens I think, but better in that it was actually designed to sway. But I can't figure out where to get any aci-jel!

Therefore, replens is good for O+12 and repHresh is good for a cutoff if you want to keep your pH girl friendly for 3 days.

You probably are killing off all the sperm, so you could keep trying and be patient or drop one piece (like the douche). I am planning on doing an O+12 and want to use acijel if I can find any. That way I won't have to be as worried (still want it to be low) about my pH leading up to O, only just around that one attempt.

Hope that helps. I hope atomic chimes in since she always has a lot of good info and explains things well.

[pinga]

I found that acijel raised my pH a bit so I never ended up using it. Its from NZ I believe. I pretty sure people have ordered it from NZ/Aus. I'm not 100% sure as I live in Australia and its freely available in chemists...

[atomic sagebrush]

1) because at ovulation/O+12, whenever the egg is in the house, the sperm immediately flee the cervical crypts to fertilize the egg. If the egg isn't there, they sorta wait around in the cervical crypts, now and then some of them head up to take a peek and see what's happening. http://herkules.oulu.fi/isbn9514266641/html/x480.html At ovulation, they aren't exactly hanging out waiting to do much of anything anywhere near where they can even be affected by RepHresh working for 3 days. They "hear" or "smell" the egg and then go after it. I know that IG claims that douches and jellies affect pH all the way up to the ovary but I do not believe this to be physically possible. Whatever we use for pH, it only matters while the sperm are in/near the vagina and cervix, once they're gone, they're gone. And at ovulation/O+12, the only ones that matter, the only ones with a shot at fertilizing the egg, are GONE. To me, in that scenario, seems better to use something that is fast acting and superlow in pH, but doesn't last, like Acijel/Replens/Sylk, rather than RepHresh, which starts out just a hair higher than the others but then keeps working for 3 days afterwards (altho someone tested it and found that RepHresh ~seemed~ to work just as fast as the others). So it works while the swimmers are in the vjj and in the cervix and then they are on their merry way out of reach of anything a jelly can do anyway, so RepHresh working for 3 days at that point is utterly irrelevant.

Nutshell version - Acijel/Sylk/Replens are lower in pH and may be faster acting than RepHresh but do not keep working after one application and may get washed away/diluted over time. RepHresh is slightly higher in pH initially but it will lower pH of anything it contacts for 3 days afterwards. Ergo, I think A/S/R are better for BD at O or O+12 when you can shock sperm with a quick burst of pH on their way through to the egg, while with a cutoff when sperm stay somewhat nearer to the vjj for a few days waiting for the egg to show up, it makes more sense to use RepHresh so you can just relax and know that it will keep working for you for 3 days afterwards rather than obsessively checking pH every hour day and night.

ALL the jels are pretty hostile to sperm. RepHresh has made some claims that it's not too bad for sperm but I'm kinda skeptical. I personally do not like douching, I don't think it works anywhere near as good as the jelly+antihistamine combo because I don't think there is any way it goes all the way up to the ovary, KWIM? A douche is in there for a minute or two and then it's gone, while a jelly is kinda sticky and stays put, maybe even keeping some sperm from getting through, and in the case of RepHresh, keeps reacting for 3 days afterwards. I do not like or support the kind of obsessive, maniacal monitoring of pH every hour for days on end that is recommended on IG and with a douche, you HAVE to do that because otherwise, your EWCM will just return and make your pH go back up again.

Directions for using the jellies are found here in mind numbing detail haha. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/show...s-and-RepHresh You also have the option of using RepHresh every 3 days and Acijel and/or Sylk a short time before (so like 30 min to an hour depending on what feels right to you.)

If it is more important to you to get DG than get pg, I think you need to just be patient, but then again do know that you may go a lifetime and NEVER get pg if you use too much stuff. Even with this though, there are no guarantees and I have seen some people go for months and even years not getting pg, and then one month something went wrong and the barbarians burst through the gates, and they ended up conceiving an opposite. Because the only way they could ever have gotten pg with all that stuff up the wazoo was if they had miscalculated in some way - whether it was a true mistake such as forgetting to use something, their DH got tired of abstaining and took care of business in the shower, a bad month on diet, or if it was a seasonal rise in fertility, who knows. I wonder what exactly might have happened if they had been like half-as-vigilant, rather than doing everything and waiting for the sole mistake that would allow pregnancy to occur, if the outcome might have been different.

[atomic sagebrush]

I'm not atomic but I just read the section on rephresh and replens since I was confused about it. RepHresh lasts for 3 days so that is why it is recommended for a cut off. It has buffers that keep everything it comes into contact with at 4.5. So if your pH is lower than 4.5 it will raise it to 4.5 but if it is higher it will lower it. and 4.5 is a good pH for pink. I have seen people use repHresh with a cut-off and they use a full applicator every 3 days after AF ends, right up to O and do a 3-4 day cut off.

Replens seems to be more hostile to sperm since it starts out at a lower pH but when it comes into contact with another substance it will lower pH, but it doesn't last as long as repHresh. Aci jel is like replens I think, but better in that it was actually designed to sway. But I can't figure out where to get any aci-jel!

Therefore, replens is good for O+12 and repHresh is good for a cutoff if you want to keep your pH girl friendly for 3 days.

You probably are killing off all the sperm, so you could keep trying and be patient or drop one piece (like the douche). I am planning on doing an O+12 and want to use acijel if I can find any. That way I won't have to be as worried (still want it to be low) about my pH leading up to O, only just around that one attempt.

Hope that helps. I hope atomic chimes in since she always has a lot of good info and explains things well.

Brilliant thanks! The only thing I would add is that BOTH Replens and RepHresh have those buffers that keep the pH at 4.5 - I don't believe Acijel has them but I'm not totally sure on that. Acijel has the "acetic acid" which some think is some kind of magic girl-producing chemical but I kinda figure, acid is acid.

You can order Acijel online in several places and someone will have a link for you Carmella.