Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Hey girls,

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or under postoperative life. Soz if I'm in the wrong.

I don't know about y'all, but for me, one of th biggest issues with dilation is that no matter what I usd as lube, it effed up my vaginal flora and made me smell off. I'm sensitive to everything in general, so it's no wonder that my vagina is too. A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a brand called YES, that make feminine care products. Their lube called YES WB is certified organic and certified pure & natural, but my FAVE part is that it has a PH balance of 4, which is right in the middle of what is considered normal for a healthy vagina. It is free of glycerin (whic cause yeast infections in many women), it's isotonic to intimate tissues, and it relieves and treats vaginal dryness if that's sinething you struggle with.

I received mine yesterday and have only used it once. The difference was immediate. This was the easiest dilation I have had in so, so, so long, but the best part is that so far I have had no weird smell. None. It is usually immediate or within a few hours, 12 at the very most. It's been nearly 24 and nothing. I am honestly so happy, dilation has never, ever felt like this before. If you're like me and have issues with lube being terrible for you, even coconut oil that so many rave about, give this a try. I'll let you know if I develop that god awful smell, but so far I am thrilled. A lube with a 4.0 PH level (and the main ingredients after water being Aloe Vera and then flax extract), I'm so happyyyyyy.. obviously this may be super premature, but I'm so excited about this product, I couldn't wait

OK, so I have been using this product for about 10 days now, and it has changed my life. I have had no odor except healthy vagina, and I almost can't believe it. Any form of outside lube has always effed up my flora, which has always made me hate dilation even more. Now, every dilation basically feels like a beneficial vaginal treatment. I am so happy I could cry.

This sounds promising. Maybe I'll try it too. Where did you buy this product?

It's called YES WB, I think the company is called Yes Yes Yes. Can I post links here?

YES sounds great but its soooooo expensive. . . . I'd go thru a tube in 2 days. . .

Looks promising. I found it on Amazon and going to try it out.

Yeeees, I still highly recommend it! I'm never going back to anything else!

Good thing to try. The only thing not working right with my vagina is my pH -- I'm glad to have no experience yet of BV and it seems clear my microflora are lactobacillus, however since my pH remains neutral and I have to introduce lubrication with every dilation anyway, may as well try this one.

As to expense, yes it's a bit pricier than what I've been using, however I figure my vaginal health is worth a small increase -- I make lube go a long way anyway.

What do you do to make this happen?

Isabella, to make what happen?

Oh lord, sorry for being so vague! What do you do to ensure your microflora is lactobacillus?

Quote from: SadieBlake on January 31, 2018, 02:38:42 PM
-- I make lube go a long way anyway.

And do you have some advice on how you do this. . . .I'm using the Green and Orange ones and would like to use a bit less. . . .

Quote from: IsabellaSwan on February 01, 2018, 02:32:01 PM
Oh lord, sorry for being so vague! What do you do to ensure your microflora is lactobacillus?

Isabella, then usual advice is to eat foods with probiotic cultures, basically yogurt and I do that fairly religiously. Post op I also bought and took lactobacillus capsules for an extra boost and presumably more varieties. During the time my surgeon had me using a 10% vinegar douche (every 1-2 weeks for the first couple of months) I often broke open one of the capsules putting the powder into the douche and shaking well in the bulb syringe before douching. Call it an extra measure, I don't know as I needed it but it certainly didn't hurt.

Gail, I apply a thin line of lubricant about 1" long onto each dilator and then use a finger to spread that evenly over the part that will be inserted. I've never had a problem with insertion that way and even when I was dilating 3x daily with 2 dilators, each 4 oz tube of surgilube lasted me a whole month. That suggests I was using a bit over 1ml per use or ½ ml spread on each dilator.

I use about the same amount of lube now, sometimes a homemade version with polyethylene oxide (same stuff that's in J-lube) or with my favorite sex lube which right now I think is slippery stuff gel.

I like using the minimum necessary to do the job mostly because I'm cheap, also I don't like having to clean up any more than necessary or add more lube than I need to. I can self lube for dilation with just a little saliva to make sliding last the outer labia easier but I have to be really aroused for that and take a bit more time to get that way.

I received mine yesterday and I have to agree, it's the best lube I've tried for dilation and I'm feeling like it may also be really good for sex.

Thanks ever so much for the tip!!

S

I just ordered a trial size.  Too many good reviews in this thread not to! :)

Quote from: SadieBlake on February 06, 2018, 10:55:38 AM
I received mine yesterday and I have to agree, it's the best lube I've tried for dilation and I'm feeling like it may also be really good for sex.

Thanks ever so much for the tip!!

S

Aw yaaay, I'm so glad you like it too! I wish I had found this years ago!

Also, thank you for the tips regarding vaginal balance!

Off to Amazon :)

I am using another gel product which isn't a lube but is intended to adjust the PH of your vagina.

At my one one year postop checkup I had only one problem.  I had a raging yeast infection which was so bad she gave me a double dose of the medication. After taking the medication, the nurse had also recommended a week of monostat 7 which I did. A few weeks later I again started noticing the same musty smell as before. So I did another round of the monostat 7. 

I was also using a vinegar douche intermittently which took generally care of the musty smell for a few days.

Pretty much I would clean it out only to have it come back after a few days.

I read an article about vaginal ph and ordered some testing strips. These found my vagina was in a neutral state when it should have been on the acidic side of things. I started doing some digging and found the following product.

https://www.amazon.com/IsoFresh-Vaginal-Balanced-Applications-Paraben-Free/dp/B01M0U9MU0

It works amazing, it also changed totally changed the texture of the vagina, and has kept things nice and moist. The goal is to make the vagina more acidic which helps your bacterial culture get established and thrive.

I combined it with this product

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007BF7JNS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Which is intended to provide the initial bacterial culture. Along with a capsule.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NALKHDL/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So far I am extremely happy with it!

I have been using this regimen for about a week.

So far I haven't had any further problem with the musty smell.

I have no affiliation, with any of these products in any way nor do I get any commission from Amazon for you checking them out.

Quote from: Susan on May 31, 2018, 11:41:31 PM
I am using another gel product which isn't a lube but is intended to adjust the PH of your vagina.

At my one one year postop checkup I had only one problem.  I had a raging yeast infection which was so bad she gave me a double dose of the medication. After taking the medication, the nurse had also recommended a week of monostat 7 which I did. A few weeks later I again started noticing the same musty smell as before. So I did another round of the monostat 7. 

I was also using a vinegar douche intermittently which took generally care of the musty smell for a few days.

Pretty much I would clean it out only to have it come back after a few days.

I read an article about vaginal ph and ordered some testing strips. These found my vagina was in a neutral state when it should have been on the acidic side of things. I started doing some digging and found the following product.

https://www.amazon.com/IsoFresh-Vaginal-Balanced-Applications-Paraben-Free/dp/B01M0U9MU0

It works amazing, it also changed totally changed the texture of the vagina, and has kept things nice and moist. The goal is to make the vagina more acidic which helps your bacterial culture get established and thrive.

I combined it with this product

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007BF7JNS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Which is intended to provide the initial bacterial culture. Along with a capsule.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NALKHDL/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So far I am extremely happy with it!

I have been using this regimen for about a week.

So far I haven't had any further problem with the musty smell.

I have no affiliation, with any of these products in any way nor do I get any commission from Amazon for you checking them out.

Hey Susan how is that treatment going ? Is it worth while ?

X bella x

Things are balanced nicely on a day to day basis, I occasionally have to re-adjust things after sex, but a lot of women have to do that. I no longer use the capsule.

Some useful info, thank you Susan. Care and maintenance of our equipment is something we often lack instruction in. [emoji846]

Sent from my MI 5s using Tapatalk

That's a fact. "now jam these things in there according to this schedule and hose it out now and again, have fun" is about it.

That said, I tried that lube and it's not bad. I don't think it works quite as nicely as some of the others I've tried but I've only tried it a couple of times so far. I'll give it some more time before passing judgement though. It's definitely not bad, that's for sure.

It's not intended as a lube... These are the primary benefits in my opinion.

• ELIMINATES UNWANTED FEMININE ODORS that can result from monthly periods, sweat, semen, tight clothes and/or vaginal infections
• PROMOTES OPTIMAL pH WITH AN ADVANCED pH BUFFERING SYSTEM of lactic acid, sodium lactate, and sodium hydroxide
• WON'T KILL FRIENDLY LACTOBACILLUS BACTERIA* WHICH PRODUCE LACTIC ACID and keep the vagina in the optimal acidic range
• BALANCED TO THE SALT CONCENTRATION INSIDE YOUR CELLS - IsoFresh is 100% Isotonic and Iso-Osmotic
• STAYS PUT! According to 90% of users, IsoFresh isn't messy and won't leak out*

The YES WB as mentioned in the original post is supposed to be isn't it? 

I know the isofresh stuff you mentioned definitely is not. 

Colleen,

Yes WB is advertised as a personal lubricant with pH balance. I like it better than isofresh because it costs about half as much and is based on ingredients from plant base, Mostly aloe vera.

the principal ingredient in isofresh is called carbomer which is the trade name for poly acrylic acid it's a perfectly good lubricant gel but I like the aloe better. I don't think it's as good as a lubricant as some other things I've used but that's in balance to it's better pH properties.

Quote from: SadieBlake on October 26, 2018, 01:11:48 PM
Yes WB is advertised as a personal lubricant with pH balance. I like it better than isofresh because it costs about half as much and is based on ingredients from plant base, Mostly aloe vera.

If you have never used aloe vera, test it somewhere on your skin before committing to it. Some people are very allergic to it and break out in a rash. Years ago a salesman I worked with bought a can of shaving cream with it in it on a sales trip. The rash was so bad he couldn't shave during the show or for a week afterward.

That said most people can use it safely and when I was a teen the burn center would drop by and remove leaves from a neighbors plants to treat burn victims.

Quote from: Susan on May 31, 2018, 11:41:31 PM
I am using another gel product which isn't a lube but is intended to adjust the PH of your vagina.

At my one one year postop checkup I had only one problem.  I had a raging yeast infection which was so bad she gave me a double dose of the medication. After taking the medication, the nurse had also recommended a week of monostat 7 which I did. A few weeks later I again started noticing the same musty smell as before. So I did another round of the monostat 7. 

I was also using a vinegar douche intermittently which took generally care of the musty smell for a few days.

Pretty much I would clean it out only to have it come back after a few days.

I read an article about vaginal ph and ordered some testing strips. These found my vagina was in a neutral state when it should have been on the acidic side of things. I started doing some digging and found the following product.

https://www.amazon.com/IsoFresh-Vaginal-Balanced-Applications-Paraben-Free/dp/B01M0U9MU0

It works amazing, it also changed totally changed the texture of the vagina, and has kept things nice and moist. The goal is to make the vagina more acidic which helps your bacterial culture get established and thrive.

I combined it with this product

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007BF7JNS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Which is intended to provide the initial bacterial culture. Along with a capsule.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NALKHDL/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So far I am extremely happy with it!

I have been using this regimen for about a week.

So far I haven't had any further problem with the musty smell.

I have no affiliation, with any of these products in any way nor do I get any commission from Amazon for you checking them out.

When did you start using these products, Susan? I'd like to develop a healthy vaginal culture but I wonder is just over three weeks is too soon.

I would wait at least 3 months.

Wynternight, I started introducing lactobacillus at 2 weeks (I waited until it was clear that all was essentially healed in the vaginal cavity (I'd had no bleeding in over a week etc). My surgeon's standard protocol was a douche of 10% vinegar once or twice a week an I simply would open a probiotic capsule and include it in the douche bulb.

I continued to do this for the duration of time that I was directed to continue the vinegar & water douche and then again when I had a post-op staph infection (that was limited to the external vulva however the antibiotic treatment of course kills off the good bacteria so I felt it wouldn't hurt to be sure I stayed properly colonized :-)).

My pH has stayed neutral - in this we are like post-menopausal women, the vaginas of natal females release glycogen which is what the good bacteria thrive on and it's that metabolism that in turn creates the low pH which keeps the bacteria we don't want from thriving, hence avoiding BV or yeast infection. My neutral pH notwithstanding, it's clear my vagina has  had essentially the same odor since about 8 weeks post-op and that for now my lactobacilli friends are here to stay at least for the foreseeable future (I had a vaginal culture done the other day due to some problems with blood coming from my G-spot (aka prostate), a little bit of hangover from having once had male-bits so I'm certain there are no bad actors in my snatch right now :-)).

The person to ask is your surgeon in any case. Mine was fine with what I chose to do, felt it was a good plan.