BV and the taste of semen

So it does not hurt you to "taste" semen?

BV and the taste of semen
by badfish12, Nov 30, 2001 12:00AM
Tags: semen, Health, Wellness, family, Medicine, Family Medicine, Health and Wellness, antibiotic, antibiotics, bacteria, bacterial, infection, vaginal, vaginosis
Every so often (3-4 times in 6 months)when my girlfriend and I would have sex, an extremely fishy odor would eminate from her vagina. It freaked us out the first time and she said it had never happened before. Sometimes (not always) when the smell occured, we would have had sex the previous night, and she wasn't able to wash her area before we had sex again the next morning. She seemed to think it had something to with me or my semen. She said she asked her doctor about it and he told her it was a product of our individual bacteria mixing to make that smell. I have never heard of that before, so I think she was too embarrased to ask. I did however read about Bacterial Vaginosis, and the smell seems to fit that condition. If she does have BV, could the bacteria transfer/reside inside my penis and give my semen a really bad taste? I ask because after having vaginal sex, she finished me orally and said the taste was horrible (even for semen). Past girlfriends have said my taste was normal. I have been tested for STD's and am negative. If it can affect me, how do I get rid of the bacteria? We are no longer together, so if it sounds like she has BV, do I tell her?

[Enoch Choi, MD]

no, it's not usually harmful to taste semen.  The risk is to catch a sexually transmitted disease, like herpes type 2, chlamydia, gonorrhea (or very very unlikely HIV)

to badfish12, yes BV causes fishy odor.

[sarahhabermehl]

Of course you should tell her. You would have wanted someone to tell you right?
I don't know anything about BV, but I do think you should tell her.

[horsecamperdancer]

A related discussion, vaginal smell was started.