endometriosis and diagnosis

[ex-moksha367.livejournal.com]

Alright so I had an interesting first visit to a gyno today. Aside from waiting 20 minutes after my appointment was scheduled to be brought to an exam room, then another 20 to be seen by the doctor, then 10 minutes to take my jeans off, have the gyno feel around on my tummy a bit, then another 10 minutes were given for me to put my jeans back on, then the gyno came back and told me she suspects I have endometriosis.

I have painful periods. I don't consider them to be very heavy (on days 1+2 I change a pad maybe every 4 hours? Is that considered heavy?), but they are extremely painful, no painkillers work, and I don't seem to have any other symptoms. I will also mention that I've tried hormonal BC and that made the pain significantly worse and my periods heavier than they were prior. Since going off BC the pain has still been worse than pre-BC.

I just wondered if poking my tummy was enough to justify her recommending I have a laparoscopy (sp?). I had no pain when she pressed around on my lower abdomen/pelvic region.

Also, should I not have a pap done as well, before going into any surgery?

Any advice/support would be great. I was kinda floored when she suggested surgery. I'm thinking of getting a second opinion.

EDIT: I'd just like to add that hormonal BC is not a treatment option for me.

Pregnancy discharge?

[cryptic-tear.livejournal.com]

I'm not even sexually active, but I've been curious about this for a while and then I realized I could ask you guys. :)

Is vaginal discharge different when one is pregnant? A few years ago I was reading about pregnancy, and I read somebody talk about the "obvious pregnancy discharge" she was having.

Ever since then I've wondered if there really is a different kind of discharge while pregnant?

Thanks in advance for helping my curiosity. :)

What is going on? Allergic reaction/yeast infection/inflammation?

[broke-her-wings.livejournal.com]

I posted the other day about how i had an allergic reaction to lubrication and now i have a yeas infection and my vagina is doing some weird stuff its very itchy and there's tiny little bumps that kinda hurt and my vagina is all swollen and it hurts, I've been suspecting that i have BV but i mean i'm not a doctor so i cant just be like "oh yep i have BV' and i ha vent had the chance to go to the doctor.
so i don't know is this BV? or is this worse?
i used a monistat last night to rid the yeast infection but this morning it just feels the same, maybe a little better.
:(

(no subject)

[x--heart--x.livejournal.com]

so I've been getting UTIs since I was very very young... about 5 and I just thought this would be a little tid bit I found out from my doctor...



in order for you to prevent or treat a UTI you would have to drink 3 oz. glasses of PURE cranberry juice a day for it to have ANY effect on you.

What puts the vroom in your zoom?

[viellen]

Last night I was in the throws of vibrator passion, about to round that third O in a row, when my vibe went from ZZZZZZOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM to ZZZZZZZOOOOOO-ooo-ooo, and then zzz-zzz-zt-zt-*poof*. Way to kill the mood.

The question is--which batteries do you find put the longest pep in your vibes? Specifically, I'm looking for AA's.

I normally use Duracell, and they last a good four or five sessions without slowing down. I recently bought a large pack of Energizer's (because they are donating a small percentage of their sales to breast cancer--and the batteries are pink, hehe). But lemme tell you, that bunny does not keep going and going. I've only gotten two vibe sessions per battery--TWO! Granted, the battery still works, but it's not strong enough to power my vibe at a decent speed. So, what works for you? Anyone out there use rechargeable batteries?

It's one thing for my partner to get tired and poop out--but my vibe? C'mon, that's unacceptable ;)

pap smears

[harm1020.livejournal.com]

Is is normal for a healthy woman to experience bleeding during a pap smear? I know it can happen afterwards.

Also, what would be the reasons that this could happen? Does it in anyway indicate a lack of expertice from the doctor?

Odds of ovulation when missing pills

[tarzie.livejournal.com]

If you did not take the last 2 pills of your 21 day combination birth control pill pack (Yasmin), causing your period to come a couple days early, and then did not start your next pack until 9 days later (instead of the proper 7 days) in order to get back on the original pill taking schedule), how honestly likely is it that you would have ovulated? I am under the impression that ovulation wouldn't occur right then, but COULD occur later on in the cycle, because the process of ovulation may have started.

Just wondering if (unexpected, drunken) unprotected sex during that time period would have been THAT risky. Withdrawal was practiced during the sex. I do not intend to have sex during the rest of this cycle as a precaution.

(And yes, I know pre-cum can have sperm in it, and I know the pill taking was irresponsible. Please don't lecture or inquire about that, as I already touched on some of these things here previously. All I want to know is the odds regarding the above scenario. I believe they're pretty low, but I'm wondering what you ladies think anyway. I'm mostly just curious, overall.)

weight loss

[-naughty-nice-.livejournal.com]

I dont know if this is a good community for this question, if not, I'll delete no problem.

Right now I weigh around 160ish, and I would like to lose about 15-20 pounds by summer [June]. I try to exercise as often as I can but there isnt always a lot of time because of classes and work. Does any body have any safe, healthy, non anorexia/non bulemia diet ideas or tips? There are so many different diets out there its hard to know which one is better. Please share your stories or anything. Thanks a bunch

Blood Clots

[elcorazonde.livejournal.com]

I tried looking for past posts on blood clots & found nothing..

I am currently on my period. I have noticed heavy gel like clots (half dollar sized clots).

I'm not sure if this is normal or not. Since in the past they have never been this large til few months ago.

The clots don't hurt when I pass them. It's just a little scary to why they are so large.

Is this normal???

Thanks!

xoxox

Looking for London based women to help with vulva research!

[bluecassandra.livejournal.com]

Hi,

Are you a woman who would participate in counselling psychology research?

Do you have an hour to spend helping us understand how women feel
about female genitalia? It would involve an hour long interview in a
private room.

Your participation would help counsellors work more effectively with
women – and there may well be some chocolate in it for you!

I'm based in London so if you'd like to take part or know someone who does, it would be helpful if they were near there :)
Because it's a small study I am trying to get women from various groups who may represent different points of veiw. I'm particularly searching for women aged between 16 and 18, or over 40, or coming from statistically less frequent cultural or religious groups, or who don't have a degree/aren't HE students (students/ex students are always the first group you can get to take part in research).

If you think you can help with finding anyone in those groups, please do contact me at research at clav.org, and I'll send you a poster and some information about the study.

many thanks!

Extreame vaginal pain during sex

[aimeera.livejournal.com]

I was reading through your community tags and I have a similar problem as described in this post:

http://community.livejournal.com/vaginapagina/5456724.html

The only thing is I'm 20 years old. I've been sexually active for a few years now, I've been raped, and prior to about 9-10 months ago I had no problems having sex in any position or anything. I could go long periods or short, depending on what my partner felt up to as well as what I wanted...well about 9-10 months ago it became extreamly difficult for him to get it in. Then after a while, it hurt for him to even finger me. This is the first partner I've had who has given me an orgasm. I've been with him for 2 and a half years, and no dr can figure out what it is. I found out 6 months ago that I was pregnant, which is not big deal as we wanted a baby, but about 2 months before we found out, up to now, if we have sex it feels so horrid and painful I can't enjoy it. I always end up crying, and it's worse if I can get an orgasm in the midst of the pain. After sex I literally curl up in a ball because it hurts that bad. I've been checked by 3 dr's and no one can figure out what's wrong... I was just wondering if anyone else had experienced issues like this or had any ideas or opinions. I have my hood pierced, have for about 2 years, I've never had any issues with it and the dr said that that isn't the cause. I've researched it myself and I've heard of the vagina muscles being too tight and was wondering if that may be something to look at? And if so, is there anything that can be done to relax them?

P.S I was wondering if size would be an issue all of a sudden? He's pretty big size wise, but wouldn't that have affected me prior to 9-10 months ago if that was the case? Also could having orgasms cause anything? I can use a vibrator just fine, but not my husband...

pain; post-d&c

[ohsmokingbuddha.livejournal.com]

I had a threatened miscarriage on 20th December 2005 &had to go fer evacuation of the womb surgery on the 21st. I was 15 weeks pregnant then. My first fetus child &I'm still pretty much traumatized by the ordeal. I had a follow-up checkup at the hospital on January 2006 where it only consisted of poking/pressing the tummy area. Afterwards the doctor brushed me off with Meliane BC tablets (the pharmacist advised taking the pills on the 2nd day of resumed period). I was then told to come fer another checkup this late February/early March.

Throughout the recovery time, I had spotting, on/off sharp abdominal pain, backaches, nauseousness &extreme mood swings. I've also had occasional unprotected sex - gasp. Yesterday the sharp abdominal pain escalated &I started bleeding more than usual. It's heavy &painful by the minute. I'm still pretty much freaked out seeing blood after that one time. Could this be the normal period (resumed menses)?

Today, I'm feeling a lil' giddy &the sharp abdominal pain's still bothering me. I often have to clutch my tummy while walking. Also, since today's the 2nd day of my 'period' I'm 'supposed' to take those pills. But I'm a bit sceptical cause I've never had taken any form of contraception pills before &it might aggravate my depression. Any thoughts (before I charge into ER)?

Can you get pregnant when your on your period...

[absolutely.livejournal.com]

I havnt found a topic like this one yet and I looked a few pages back.
My husband and I were having sex on my 2nd day of my period, without birth control and I noticed my period pretty much stopped after.
Is it possible to become pregnant while menstruating? We're trying to get pregnant right now with our 2nd child and we heard it is also possible to get pregnant while on your period.
Lastly. How long will I have to wait to take a pregnancy test since my period just ended?

weird smelling urine and vaginal fluids

[meekly.livejournal.com]

This is becoming a big hassle... I mean to the point, I wish I didn't have a nose to smell whatever the problem is down there. I used to think the smell was from 1.) A Nasty UTI that didn't give up. 2.)Iron pills 3.)Multivitamins I was taking because I have fucking mono 4.) Fucking mono.

I'm sorry girlies for the harsh language but this is getting utterly frustrating because this god awful smell WON'T go away. My urine smells like a cross between fish and pure stink. And, I don't have any pain when I pee or the urge to pee all the time, but my discharge doesnt have a funky smell, but when I have my g-spot orgasm (lucky me right), it smells AWFUL i mean, last night we couldn't even sleep in the room it smelled so bad.

I looked on webmd, it points to a bladder infection (which I've had before, this same time last year matter-a-fact). If anybody has had similar sympotoms/problems. Please tell me what you did or what was the issue.

I'm trying to schedule an appointment with my gyno for my annual pap-smear, but I know I prolly won't get in until maybe early Feb... somebody send me a prayer and a cure for this please

First pack of birth control, will my period start the same time as usual?

[shes--atiger.livejournal.com]

I started my first pack of Yasmin on January 10th. [blahblah gyno was stupid, took out 2 pills, you might know the story].

Anywho, I normally get my period on the 1st of the month. February 1st comes right smack dab in the middle of my placebo week. Can I expect it to start on the 1st like normal, or will it jump around?

I'm excited to see if it makes it shorter/lighter/less crampy. I sure hope so.

Thanks.

Antibiotics and BC

[misplaced-nyer.livejournal.com]

So, I understand that taking antibiotics can interfere with the effectiveness of birth control. But the thing I'm curious about is why it effects it. Also, would it effect how it helps with cramps and lighter periods?

Just PMS...or more?

[summer-breeze14.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone, I was curious about something.

When I was in my teen years, I had slight physical symptoms right before my period. Nothing excruciating. However, ever since I turned 20 (I'm 21 right now), I've gotten some newer symptoms....

It's not so much the physical symptoms that get to me. I get the normal breast tenderness, headache, and slight cramping. I can live with that. My stomach has trouble digesting anything spicy and/or heavy and I get diarrhea for a day or two.

But as much as 2 weeks before my period starts, my hormones seem to go out of control. My heart palpitates at times. I get very irritable and there are times that I feel so depressed that I cry and snap at my boyfriend and family for no reason at all. I get overly tired and I find myself sleeping more. Depending on the month, sometimes I barely sleep at all. Also, I was diagnosed with an eating disorder at the age of 12 and usually, I have it under control...but when I have one of my PMS mood swings, the symptoms of my eating disorder creep on on me again.

Does this sound familiar at all to anybody? I swear, sometimes it gets so bad that I PRAY for my period to come already so that my mood stabilizes. Getting my actual period is nothing to what comes before it.

cramp help?

[abc-124.livejournal.com]

hey,
i'm a first time poster...long time reader looked and couldn't find the answer to a question i have.
first off: i'm 16, virgin, so i'm STD free, have never seen a gyno, and have checked other entries to see if they had answers to my question. If I missed something please let me know

So for about two years I had my period just fine, no pain or cramps or anything. Then around my 16th b-day i started getting HORRIBLE back cramps to the point where I cant even stand up straight. I've tried EVERYTHING I can think of...and won't go on b/c.

I was wondering if there were any methods to get my cramps to get better? Heat works if I just lay down, but I can't do that while i'm at school or work...

Thanks for all the input in advance!

*edit*
I'm allergic to alot of pain medicine and my primary care doctor refuses to let me even try any kind of perscription because of the possible side effects. (Only meds she'll allow me to take is advil or an off-brand of it)

Gyno recommendation..

[http://users.livejournal.com/___meganat0r/]

i checked the recommendations post, but i only saw one for Memphis & that's too far for me. i live in Maryville, TN & if i could get a pretty good recommendation for Knoxville/Maryville area i would really appreciate this. i've never been to a gyno & i'm having a lot of issues with cramps [PMS, during period..] & i think going to a professional instead of having my mom blow it off everytime i'm in pain would be a good thing to do.

any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. thank you!

final update on urine smell

[technotaco.livejournal.com]

I went to the doctor today, and she did a pap, and she said that the smell is being caused by a slight YI and BV. So I took diflucan and she gave me metrogel too. So, I'm excited to get it all over with and treated. :)

Is metrogel supposed to work better then a cream?

Thank you all for all of your help.

Water and discharge

[psychdoc.livejournal.com]

Can increasing my water intake significantly (from probably 20-24 oz per day to about 64 oz per day) increase the amount of discharge I have? I've been drinking a lot more water lately and have noticed a serious increase in discharge during the course of the day. Thanks!

On Birth Control and Have a Few Questions

[happi4you.livejournal.com]

Hi! Long time Lurker, but first time poster... Anyways...

I have been on Birth Control (Mircette/Kariva) since October and am a Monday starter. In November and December, I got my period 4 days later (Friday). However in January, I didn't get my period until Monday, when I started my new pack. It was lighter and was more brown than red.

Yesterday, I started my 4th week ('period week'). However, for about 3 days prior, I have been having a brown discharge. Today I noticed discharge similiar to my usual periods, but it is still brown.

I know that it takes a few months for your body to get used to the pill and whatnot, so I am not THAT concerned. But I was just wondering if this is normal??

Thanks.

Pelvic and period smell?

[classical-wolf.livejournal.com]

I'm going for a pelvic exam tomorrow and I'm on the tail end of my period (where it smells more rank (I think) than in the beginning) and I was wondering if there was anything I can do to lessen the smell, besides showering before I go. I've never used anything scented and I usually just wash/rinse with water, I know not to use soaps.

sharp pain near/in ovaries

[geeksicle.livejournal.com]

Today I got a very sharp pain (bad enough that I needed to lie down and my eyes were streaming) internally, located near my right hipbone. Googling leads me to believe the pain was in my ovary. It also says that sharp pain in that area can indicate ovulation. I have two worries - the first is that I'm on depo-provera and as such, shouldn't be ovulating, and the second is that I've been getting my period for thirteen years now (started at 10, am now 23) and I've never experienced that before. Has anyone else had that sort of pain just randomly occur? Should I take it as a sign that my contraceptive has failed even though I've never experienced sharp pain related to ovulation before? I also saw that sharp ovarian pain can indicate and ovarian cyst - in that case would it be normal for me to just suddenly get a very intense pain rather than a gradual progression?

How's BCP Work?

[lostboy-tootles.livejournal.com]

Okay, one question. How do BCP and other forms of hormonal contraceptives work? I'm under the impression that they simply supress ovulation. But somewhere in the back of my mind there's this thought that they might prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterin lining. The difference is significant because despite being a total liberal in every other respect, I'm Pro-Life, and a "life begins at conception" one at that. I know my aunt wouldn't take birth control, but I never knew if it was because of how it worked or if she was just into the "birth control is bad because the bible says to 'go forth and multiply.'" She wasn't Catholic, so I just assumed that wasn't it, but I don't know.

Anway, you didn't need all that back story to explain the question. Sorry to have rambled. But any help is muchly appreciated. Thanks!

Update Part 2

[riverslove.livejournal.com]

Posted yesterday about abdominal pain.
New question...
Any of you ladies out there, who have had babies, and then gotten an ovarian cyst notice lactation??
A few months ago, I had my nipple pierced (since removed because I am, apparently, unable to keep ANY piercings in because they irritate me too much, even the hypoallergenic kind) and lactated for a few weeks.
Today, I got out of the shower, and suddenly, I was producing milk! Like, 2 tablespoons. WAY more than when I had gotten pierced. And this milk was sweet, as opposed to the post-piercing salty tasting milk.
(Yeah, I tasted it. I tasted it a year ago when I was breast feeding, and I tasted it now. I'm weird.)

So, I'm asking, do you think hormones involved with a (possible) ovarian cyst could bring on lactation AGAIN?

P.S. Pain is still present (intermittently), but now only on my right side. And a LOT less severe, when I can even feel it.

43+ day menstrual cycle - what's going on? 22 years old

[peppermint-eel.livejournal.com]

I came off of OTC after 3 years the beginning of december 2004. The first 3 months off of the pill my cycle ranged between 30 and 32 days. After those 3 months, my cycle length spiked, and the shortest cycle I have had since april 2005 has been 37 days. Most of them clock in around 42 days. Right now I'm on day 43 and it looks like I might get my period tomorrow. Before I was on the pill my periods were irregular, but never any longer than about 34 days.

I eat well and don't lead a particularly stressful life. I am 5'6 / 110lbs and not in terrible shape. I've read that increased cycle length could be a symptom of PCOS, but I have no other PCOS-related symptoms. I also read that increased cycle lengths are associated with diabetes, which concerns me a bit because I have many symptoms associated with diabetes, including recurring yeast infections, vaginitis, and UTIs, constant thirst/hunger (I'm a bottomless pit!), fatigue, being a skinny runt, and blurred vision/confusion if I do not eat. I was tested for suspected the disease twice between the ages of 14 - 17, but the results did not show diabetes.

Could it be possible that I just have really long cycles? Is this something I should be concerned about? It's great not having a period for 5 weeks, but it's a little odd as well. The earliest appointment I could get with my doctor was for the end of february (getting yearly pap done!), so I am looking for some casual advice/insight from you folks in the meantime.

Does anybody have any clue as to why my cycles might be so long? Does anybody else have an insanely long cycle? Should I be going out to a drop-in clinic ASAP to talk to a doctor about this? Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

P.S. I <3 vaginas!