Atomic! Balance Activ?

[atomic sagebrush]

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.

I still think RepHresh is best for a pink sway because it keeps lowering pH. I really don't think it's great for sperm, regardless of what they're claiming on the site.

[atomic sagebrush]

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!!!

The RepHresh is similar to Replens, but RepHresh is designed to react with everything it touches to bring pH down. So it will react with your DH's semen to lower its pH and it works for 3 days after application.

[atomic sagebrush]

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.

That is much what I have read as well. Only Preseed was found to truly be sperm-friendly.

PS - the URL is only because it was posted on the Preseed website...it was an independent study and not done by or funded by Preseed (as far as I know.)

[atomic sagebrush]

or you could just get him to release outside for the first 3-4 in the week, and then finish inside on the last few days around OV perhaps using the balance activ or rephresh then?
I don't think lots of EWCM necessarily matters providing the pH of the EWCM is low. The only reason it sways blue is because the pH is higher, but if that's not an issue in the first place because your body pH is lower due to the diet/supps then maybe having some low pH EWCM can help you get your pink BFP instead

I don't think that's the ONLY reason it sways blue though. I think EWCM means more sperm can physically swim to the egg.

I do agree that low pH EWCM might be better for pink than high pH/

[atomic sagebrush]

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

Hmmm...good point. Glycogen is a sugar molecule and the uterus does use it to nourish embryos. I'm not sure it matters in lotion form, it's probably jsut what they use to hold it all together.

PS - not a silly question at all and in fact it led me to some new info that I didn't know.

[atomic sagebrush]

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!!

Well, a lot of that is based on history and the order in which we found some of those things out.

1) Yes, IG is extremely hung up on the acetic acid but it's because of some studies somewhere that found acetic acid, aka VINEGAR, was linked to girl conceptions. PreShettles, but Shettles co-opted that in the early editions of his book. To my way of thinking, acid is acid, ya know??

2)The original IG info claimed that RepHresh HAD acetic acid and in fact that is in the FAQ (I have the copy of that FAQ printed out so I know this for a fact, but it may have been removed at this point.) Once I came to this site I went around swearing to everyone that it had acetic acid in it, then someone found out that it didn't. Boy was my face red haha.

3)Most of these things didn't use to be on the market, it was just Acijel, Replens, RepHresh at first. So most of the sway stuff is based around those three. Someone can and may already have invented something better at any point (sylk??)

4)At first we didn't even know about Acijel, we only HAD R and R (plus douching of course) to use.

5)For awhile a few years ago, Acijel was recalled and totally impossible to find. So people began to use R and R as replacements, not because they didn't prefer or want Acijel, but because we couldn't get it.

6)pH is such an intrenched part of swaying (due to the whole vinegar douche thing) that I think people have elevated Acijel to a pedestal, now whether it is worthy of being there or not is open to debate.

[atomic sagebrush]

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

Yes, I read this one before, I think there was a link to it on IG??? Interesting stuff but of course SO OLD.

Doubling up here because I"ve been on this thread for like 2 hours now!!!

"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)."

I COMPLETELY agree with you on this. First and foremost we must remember that of all the baby girls who have ever been conceived or ever will be, only the tiniest fraction were with benefit of acetic acid, RepHresh, or anything. It's MUCH more likely that the low pH of the vaginal secretions coupled with less/drier/more acidic CM and low sperm count/less semen is what REALLY does the swaying in Mother Nature's system. And these things are controlled entirely by diet, overall fertility, and BD patterns (abstinence vs. frequent release).

[atomic sagebrush]

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.

Can I just toss out the obsession/testosterone idea again???

Pick something. Anything. They're all probably pretty close to the same thing anyway. And then put it totally out of your mind and forget about it. You're not doing your sway a lick of good by doing this to yourself and in fact you're running the risk of HURTING your sway a lot more than the difference between any of these jellies.

I hope I'm not sounding bitchy, I just don't want you to wreck your sway over something that really is of so little consequence, KWIM???

[atomic sagebrush]

thank you for your reply! what about Replens then? is that quite slippery too? why can't you use Replens and RepHresh together if they're made by the same company?

so you think Balance Activ is definitely out nearer O time then? your plan now does seem very solid. I like that theory of not J&D if it's an only attempt too

if you aren't DTD unprotected earlier in the cycle perhaps you might not even need to spend that money on the RepHresh? It's not cheap is it...

I have tried using Replens as a lube and I found it to be not very effective.

You CAN use RepHresh and Replens together if you like...we've tested it enough now so we know that the concern that Replens might make the pH of RepHresh go up is unfounded.

I do think using RepHresh every three days might be a good idea even if you're not DTD because your body will be sorta used to it and won't be all like, "intruder alert, intruder alert !!!"

[rainbowflower]

thank you for all of those replies atomic, it's always fascinating to read your perspective on things


oh, and zanacal I REALLY hope you get your girl because then that will give me more hope I think we are both enthusiastic researchers and personally don't think stress is the same thing as obsession! lol