Editor's Note: Christine is a multifaceted real estate aficionado, experienced in everything from property development to management. An adventurous free-spirit, Christine was about to embark on an around-the-world backpacking trip when we spoke to her about her Evvy experience,
You might find her story interesting if you've also dealt with:
- Chronic vaginal symptoms
- Yeast infections
- Bacterial vaginosis
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When Christine stumbled upon Evvy in an Instagram ad, she had been dealing with what she’d been led to believe were “chronic yeast infections” for 13 years.
Exhausted by countless interactions with the healthcare system yet little to no relief from her symptoms, Christine’s decision to try Evvy was almost instinctual.
She explains, “I don't even think I thought about it. I was like yeah, this is what I've been waiting for.”
Shortly after Christine completed her split-second checkout, she took her first vaginal microbiome test, marking the start of her ongoing Evvy membership.
Since getting her results, Christine has not only identified the root cause of her discomfort (spoiler alert: it wasn’t yeast infections) but, by incorporating the recommendations in her Evvy plan into her routine, found relief from her symptoms.
Read on to learn how Evvy gave Christine the functional tools and emotional support to start healing her vaginal pain.
She tried everything, but it always came back
Christine’s vaginal symptoms started in her late teens—and they didn’t stop until she found Evvy.
“I had something like a yeast infection when I was younger. Or so we thought based on the symptoms” she recalls. “It was when I became sexually active, that everything sped up and became much more noticeable. And so it was basically every month, I would get these supposed yeast infections.”
Naturally, Christine turned to her doctor for guidance and painstakingly tried all the first-line treatments available to her.
“I would take lots of Fluconazole. They would have me on it for weeks, taking it to get rid of Candida and it would seem to help,” Christine explains. “But it would always come back every single month, this yeast problem would come back.”
Vaginal health is mental health
Like many people who suffer from chronic vaginal infections, Christine’s recurrent mystery symptoms began to take a toll on her mental health, intimate relationships, and sex life.
Despite taking every measure of caution imaginable to prevent sex from triggering her “yeast problem,” she couldn’t have it without the symptoms returning.
“It just became this really sore subject for me,” she remarks. “It was depressing, it was frustrating, it was isolating.”
“Some partners would understand,” Christine elaborates, “But with other partners, I felt like I couldn't tell them what my experience felt like for me because it felt embarrassing.”
“Some partners would understand. But with other partners, I felt like I couldn't tell them what my experience felt like for me because it felt embarrassing.”
Without knowing the root cause, Christine focused on band-aid solutions for her symptoms to live as close to a normal life as possible.
“I would do things that I knew would take away the discharge and the yeast and make it so that I could at least enjoy sex,” she remarks.
“Even knowing that if I stopped doing those things that manage my symptoms, all the symptoms would come back, I just had to put a cap on it at a certain point. And that's what I did from probably age 20 up until the Evvy test.”
But even when Christine was in “management mode,” she had a gut feeling that something else was going on entirely.
It only took one Evvy test to prove that she was right.
Not every itch is a yeast infection
“When the results from my Evvy test came in, I had no yeast,” Christine exclaims. “Like none!”
She continues, “I don’t have a yeast problem. And I probably never had a yeast problem. But no one ever tested me properly.”
“I don’t have a yeast problem. And I probably never had a yeast problem. But no one ever tested me properly.”
“A potpourri of bacterial vaginosis”
“What I did have in my Evvy results was 42% Lactobacillus iners, and then a whole bunch of bacteria that aren't supposed to be down there at all,” Christine shares. So like basically a potpourri of bacterial vaginosis. And that is so crazy.”
Despite being part of the typically beneficial Lactobacillus genus of bacteria, Lactobacillus iners have a few defining characteristics that make them less protective than other lactobacilli.
To begin with, L.iners doesn’t produce as much lactic acid as other lactobacilli, meaning that if your microbiome is dominated by L.iners it may be less prepared to ward off disruptive microbes like Gardnerella.
Lactobacillus iners is also shape-shifting in nature, which means that it acts “protective” when its around other protective microbes and “disruptive” when its surrounded by disruptive microbes.
So, it makes sense that Christine was experiencing chronic symptoms, even though her microbiome was dominated by a ‘protective’ bacteria. And, because L.iners is hard to detect under a microscope and not usually looked for in a culture or PCR test, it also makes sense that no one had picked up on it.
Accessible testing and holistic support
After getting her Evvy results back, Christine scheduled an appointment to review them with her OB-GYN. Though she felt some apprehension about throwing herself back into the healthcare system to get help for her vaginal symptoms, the science-backed information and support Evvy provided her with renewed her confidence.
“I finally was able to advocate for that when I had the emotional resources, and when I felt old enough and wise enough to do so,” Christine shares.
She continues,“I still had my doubts, because of all of the experiences I had with doctors telling me, they would help me and then not actually helping me.”
“But the thing I knew that I could rely on, was that that type of analysis Evvy does is scientifically solid. And that's exactly what I needed. I needed someone to complete an actual accurate study of the community down there. With percentages, airtight identification of strains. With science, good science, I knew I was gonna get that, at the very least, from this test. So I was hopeful. “
“But the thing I knew that I could rely on, was that that type of analysis Evvy does is scientifically solid. And that's exactly what I needed. I needed someone to complete an actual accurate study of the community down there. With percentages, airtight identification of strains. With science, good science, I knew I was gonna get that, at the very least, from this test. So I was hopeful. “
Empowered with a newfound understanding of her vaginal microbiome, Christine actually asked her OB-GYN to repeat the testing she had previously gotten so she could compare results.
Christine explains, “My OB-GYN’s testing just showed whether something was present or not. And it wasn't all of the strains. And it costs me like $400. Because I have a high deductible health insurance plan.”
A metagenomic sequencing test like Evvy is part of what’s recognized as a larger democratization of data in the healthcare system with the rise of at-home testing and tracking.
The road to recovery
For Christine, it was both the Evvy coaching conversation and the care plan she received with her test results that helped her start shifting her microbiome to a more protective state.
“The Evvy coaching session was really helpful,” shares Christine. “Hearing her communicate how I'm not alone in this and how I'm not crazy, and how my results validated my intuition and my instincts about something being off with my prior diagnosis. It was so validating.”
“The Evvy coaching session was really helpful,” shares Christine. “Hearing her communicate how I'm not alone in this and how I'm not crazy, and how my results validated my intuition and my instincts about something being off with my prior diagnosis. It was so validating.”
She adds, “The suggestions that I received for how to move forward after identifying the different strains that were in my vaginal microbiome, I have implemented them, and I haven't had symptoms since then. I haven't had a single issue at all,” Christine says.
What’s next for Christine and her vaginal health journey? Using the compare feature in her Evvy membership to see if the changes she’s made are working on a microbial level.
“I'll see with my next Evvy test, like what the proportions are in the community, and I'll be really interested,” she remarks. “But at the very least my symptoms are gone.”
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