3 Questions About Partner Treatment for Recurrent BV

When BV returns, bring the dates of previous episodes and the treatments you used. That gives the clinician a starting point for discussing another treatment plan.

Three questions for the visit

1. Does this recommendation fit my situation? Ask the clinician to confirm the diagnosis and explain how recurrence, symptoms and your partnership affect the recommendation. Evidence is more limited for some groups and partnership arrangements.¹
2. What treatment was studied? A randomized trial in monogamous woman–male partner couples tested the woman’s usual BV treatment alongside oral and topical antibiotics for her male partner. Recurrence over 12 weeks was lower with concurrent partner treatment. That result does not establish the same benefit for every partnership.²
3. How would we coordinate care? Ask who will prescribe each person’s treatment, when it should begin and how the team will handle adverse effects or another episode. The new guidance concerns a clinician-directed concurrent plan; it is not a reason to share leftover prescriptions.¹

Bring a short treatment history

List the medicine names if you have them, whether you completed each course and when symptoms returned. Add the questions you want answered before leaving. Ask for the follow-up plan in writing so both people understand their own instructions.

Down There, Decoded includes a Down-There Log and appointment script. They can help organize that history and your visit questions. See the book.