u/Free-Rabbit7552

I just saw a post with a lot of back and forth in another group, so I thought I’d ask here what ladies thought.
Obviously we know feminine soap (or soap in general) is not meant to be used inside the vagina. BUT what are they classifying as the vagina when specifying that? Should you like spread open and put soap on the inside of your lips (around the clit and whatnot) and just avoid the actual vaginal opening, or is it STRICTLY for the mound area only?
I saw a LOT of women going back and forth in the comments about correct soaps/processes, so I’d love to hear what your thoughts are or what you do that may be different!

Tried posting before but didn’t get any comments, so thought I’d try again a bit shorter.
Got diagnosed with BV beginning of February after symptoms started towards the end of January. It seems like all the treatments have been ineffective.
-antibiotics (4 rounds at this point)
-boric acid
-probiotics (I use two)
-femiclear
They mentioned my IUD (Liletta) possibly causing irritation at my first appointment. Had me do an ultrasound and it was in place. I’ve done 4 STD/STI screenings and have come back negative for everything (including ureaplasma, mycoplasma, and AV) I’m also not sexually active.
So has anyone had experience with an IUD causing chronic BV, and if so, how did they fix it? I wanted to avoid removing it if possible but I’ll do anything at this point because it’s severely affecting my mental health.
I have pictures of the discharge as well as my bacterial panel results, but wasn’t sure if I was allowed to post them.

For context, I’m 26F and not currently sexually active (as of December). I have the Liletta IUD as BC, and have for around 3 or so years with no issues besides occasional pain during intercourse (depending on position), and occasional spotting after the deed was done. I hadn’t had a period since my IUD insertion.
At the end of January, I started having lower abdominal pain. Like period cramps. But this pain came with excessive urination. Like just my pants being pulled up would make me immediately have to urinate. Not like a UTI where barely/none comes out. Every time it’s been a normal or even high amount of urine. No pain. Immediately have to pee again right after. Then the discharge started. No weird smell, but it was bright yellow, thick, and pretty decent amounts of it. Looked like I blew my nose with a sinus infection or something. Then surprise, had my first period in years. Even after it stopped, the symptoms were there. 2 days after it ended, I had my annual (2nd week of February) where I explained everything to my doctor. They tested me for everything STD wise, as well as BV, yeast, and UTI. They said my cervix was inflamed, so they were going to treat me for cervicitis as well as BV. Since they did not know the cause of a cervical infection, they went ahead and used the antibiotics prescribed for the common STIs (chlamydia, gonorrhea, trich) just in case one of those came back positive I wouldn’t have to wait for another appointment for treatment. It was a shot and two antibiotics. Results came back in a couple days negative for everything, but I went ahead and finished both antibiotics given to me to be safe for my cervix. Go back for follow up, cervix is fine, still have bv. Still negative for everything else. Another round of antibiotics. They think maybe my IUD isn’t sitting right, causing irritation which in turn would cause the infection. Schedule me an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed it was in place, and confirmed I have several cysts on my ovaries. They suggested I look into a bacterial panel test. So I got Evvy, did the panel since it was the only one I saw that tested for AV, ureaplasma, and mycoplasma. Again, confirmed I have no STD/STI. Also confirmed all the others were negative. Result? Shocker. BV. Said it was a mild case, and I only have 1% of one of the bacterias that causes it. The treatment plan they offered was over $200. I’ve paid for all of this out of pocket because I didn’t have insurance, and couldn’t afford that. As a last effort, I used Femiclear otc. I completed the treatment over the weekend, and it said it can take a week for symptoms to fully be gone. But nothing has changed, as usual. Still crazy discharge, frequent urination…I feel so gross and idk what to do. I haven’t been sexually active in almost half a year. I’ve done 5 or 6 rounds of oral antibiotics. Boric acid. Femiclear. Two different oral probiotics. Unscented feminine washes that say they’re ph balancing and contain boric acid. No soap at all. No underwear. Monistat just to see if it did SOMETHING.
I’m exhausted. My mental health has gotten so bad I literally don’t want anyone near me. I’ve spent all my money I worked so hard to save on this. Does anyone have any advice? Suggestions on something I haven’t tried? All I can think of that’s left that could be causing the issues is my IUD, and I’ve asked about removal but they don’t seem to want to do that for some reason.
I can’t keep doing this.