Nitty Gritty of Yeast Infections

For quite some time I've been dealing with yeast infections. This is probably due to me being lactose intolerant because I don't get the benefit of good bacteria from yogurt-- one serving a day, at least around the the time of a period, is best for preventing such an infection.
Yeast exists naturally in the downstairs of every woman. During your period, the PH can go out of wack. PH is simply the level of acidity-- in case you didn't already know, the vaginal is a naturally acidic environment. When the balance of PH is thrown off, it allows the yeast naturally present in the hot moist environment to grow.
What can a gal do to keep the balance? There's yogurt but, because that would just create another problem for me, I started taking probiotic supplements everyday. That seemed to help for a long time, but sometimes it wasn't enough.
I started using a different strand of probiotic specified to promoting a healthy level of PH. I also added in unsweetened cranberry juice. For those of you who don't like cranberry juice there is also a pill supplement.
Supplements can add up when it comes to price so shop around and keep the focused probiotic for when you are about to start your period and the couple days after it ends. Use a basic probiotic for all the other days of the month and it should help keep your downstairs balanced.
In the event that you still get a yeast infection, there is nothing wrong with using over the counter antifungals. I prefer doing the alternative medicine route but in events like these it's best to take care of it asap. Also, there is nothing wrong with using generic-- it saves you some money and works the same as brand names. Walgreens is my go-to pharmacy but Walmart is best for price.