*Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo and abnormal bleeding

[lucky-duck-hula.livejournal.com]

I apologize in advance if this has been asked/brought up before, but I looked in the archives and I didn't see it.

I've been on Ortho Tri-Cyclen for five years (I changed to Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo almost a year ago). My period has been very regular and not heavy, mostly I don't have cramps, etc.

Recently, in the last two or three months, I've had these random periods of bleeding in the middle of a pill pack. It happened one time at the beginning of the third week, and it just kept going until my period would've normally ended (so I had it for two weeks). It just started up again yesterday, and I'm only just finishing the second week. It's more of a brownish color instead of red, like the end of a period.

Is there something wrong, or is this normal? I know breakthrough bleeding is a side effect of the pill, but I've been on it for five years!

Any help/suggestions/comments are greatly appreciated.

Inducing 'on-time' periods?

[birdrock.livejournal.com]

Is it possible to cause your period to come earlier than it normally does? I read the Archives on vaginapagina.com and also looked at other sources on the 'net for information, but the information I am reading seems to be conflicted from place to place.

I do not use hormonal birth control. Later this summer my s/o is coming to visit for a few days and of course, we want to screw like rabbits! :P However, my period is supposed to come that weekend. Is there any way to make my period come about week earlier?

Has anyone used the parsley tea method successfully for this? I'm familiar with this method as a means to induce a late period, but does it also work to make an 'on-time' period come earlier than normal?

Also, would it be possible for me to delay my period for a week? If so, which method is more reliable? I do not want to start hormonal birth control (my doctor has advised me not to use hormonal BC).

Thanks everyone!

Really heavy sudden bleeding... help?

[grntserendipity.livejournal.com]

I can't find any information on the internet and I don't know who to call as it is 2am here. 

I posted here: http://community.livejournal.com/vaginapagina/8296112.html  about my heavy period.  Well, I thought it had ended, cause there wasn't as heavy bleeding during the day, but I got up to go brush my teeth and the bed spread that I had been sitting on had blood stains on it-- not a lot but it had to soak through my pj pants first.  When I put in a tampon I thought I would be okay, but about ten minutes later I had bled through the tampon.  It looks like it was a big surge of blood, but now it is pretty light... should I be heading to the emergency room now, or can it wait til monday?  I can't afford to go to the emergency room unless it is a *true* emergency... help? 

Period and yeast or BV?

[zellie-bean.livejournal.com]

I've read the FAQ and know I don't have a UTI, know some natural treatments for yeasties, but am still not sure on the difference between YI and BV and how they interact with a period.

-What's the difference between how a YI feels/looks and how BV feels/looks? I feel the same as when I had yeasties before (itchy/irritated/tender labia especially the inner folds and clitoral hood although it's less itching and more tenderness, especially around my clit and the part of the labia closest to there, it hurts just to have my underwear rub against it) but I don't have discharge. What I DO have is vag lube that's been creamy (like melty butter) and white-grey and actually it looks a lot like http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/slm-maa/slides/other/pages/apr08.html but without the bubbles and with more seperation...not really clumpy but not smooth either, more like cookie batter. Honestly, I don't know if my normal discharge is like that or not, I didn't THINK it was but then I've only recently been poking around in there and yanking it out I've had it for at least a couple months, the first time I noticed it I thought it was ovulation but I've noticed that I have it ALL the time. The itching has only started yesterday. I had a pap a couple weeks ago (during the time I've been getting the discharge) and it came back clear--would a BV/yeast test have been included in their testing? --So... how do I tell which it is?

-I start my first placebo pills tonight so I'm guessing I'll get my period very soon, that said.... can I still use a YI treatment? (Or BV treatment if that's what it is, and I'd rather self-diagnose as my doctors have diagnosed by sight rather than test anyway..the one time they were going to use a sample and test there was too much treatment gunk up there for them to be able to see anything so I'd bet that with bleeding it'd be the same)

(the YI treatment would be monistat, with my past YIs I've tried all the natural remedies I've heard of except boric acid, with no luck...I was REALLY hoping tea tree oil would work, it smells so good! ;) nope...it SLIGHTLY decreased itchyness in most but not all of the areas and only for a couple hours)

-I also read something about YIs decreasing during bleeding so could I 'wait it out,' is there any chance it would actually go away? (If it's BV, does that happen with BV as well?)

-I use a divacup, is that a problem if I have a YI (or BV)? How much of a problem? On weekends I could survive on pads, but not at work... I don't have the time to be changing as often as needed and as I'm active all day pads always slide around. I could safety-pin my cloth pads, but I don't have enough of them to last out a period on them alone.

yeast infection, thrush spreading?

[superjen.livejournal.com]

i posted a couple weeks ago about the stubborn yeasties i have. i've gotten a referral to the ob/gyn but can't go just yet because of paperwork, and the doctor gave me terconazol nitrate seven day cream to use in the meantime.

i've been at the beach all last week, and a couple days after getting there i noticed a rash all over my body. most of the rash is due to sun exposure-- i generally get this, even when i wear a strong SPF-- but there are some spots on my chest that are very rough and yellowish, and they itch like crazy. sometimes i get spots of eczema, but they don't usually have a color. could these spots be thrush on my chest? if i've had recurring yeast infections for so long-- the past two or three months-- is it possible that the yeast can be jumping to other places on my body? or is thrush a different kind of yeast infection?

i don't really want to go back to the doctor and pay more money to see him, then get told something, then pay more money for the medicine, and then pay more money when i finally get to the gyno. can someone describe to me what thrush looks like? i've just got the three spots on my chest, i've been putting non-scented aveeno on them to help but nothing really seems to change.

:(

edit: also, i had my period last week while having what felt like quite an intense yeast infection. i used the vaginal suppositories-- i wanted to wait to use the strong stuff the doctor gave me til after my period-- to see if that would help. during the whole week my period was very clotty. we're talking about clumps the size of raisins maybe. also, my period lasted much longer than it normally does. as a rule i don't have a period. i'm on birth control, which forces my body to menstruate. without it i don't bleed. so, my periods are very light and short. there are never clots and the cramping is minimal to non-existant. could the changes in my period be due to the medication i was using or the yeast infection itself?

Possible tear inside vagina

[ghettochickn.livejournal.com]

Hey everyone, I've checked out this community for a while and haven't quite needed any advice until now.

Early yesterday morning after my boyfriend and I had sex, we noticed that I had started bleeding. I figured it was my period but after using a tampon and pad later that day and discovering nothing, we weren't sure what it was. Last night we started to have sex again but I had a really sharp pain on the beginning inside-left of my vagina. It was sore for a while after we stopped. And then this morning it still hurts.

I'm guessing we must've tore something, although I've had a yeast infection a few years before and only recently gotten over a UTI. Should I schedule a trip to my gyno or if it is a tear, just wait until it heals?

Thanks for any help!

No applicator tampons

[xback2basics.livejournal.com]

I recently began using tampons and am happy with them. I wish I had learned to use them much earlier because it would have saved me a lot of embarrasing situations, but I'm getting off the subject.

I love applicator tampons, but I decided to try o.b. because of the obvious benefits (less waste, easier to carry, expand widthwise, less leaks, the boxes are so small and cute and easy to store). But they always burn going in for me. I feel like they scratch and scrape the walls of my vagina. But I know that some in some countries, using no applicator tampons is the standard and applicator is less popular. So it has got to be pain free for a lot of people (wish I was one of them).

Any tips on getting o.b. to hurt less going in? Or should I just stick with applicator tampons? (I've tried o.b. silk ease and they burn going in too.)

cervix?

[shmeho.livejournal.com]

if i move my fingers back far enough, i can feel this like, bump or something in my vagina. It doesn't hurt really, although it if i put a lot of pressure on it, and i know it's not my gspot.

also, if i put my vibrator far in, it really hurts. (I'm not really sure if these two things are connected or not?)

does anyone know what this is? is it supposed to be there?

period woes - extended bleeding now PMT

[peachweeks.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone,

I'm having the most awfull time with my period latley and I wondered if any of you had any ideas about what the HELL is going on.

Bit of background, I've always had mildy irregualar periods with a fairly normal amount of cramping, but nothing too drastic. In the last decade or so I've been having a lot of problems with mental illness, anxiety and depression mostly, my period has always been hellish emotionaly when i'm really crazy. I've been on anti depressants (seroxt or Paxil to our American counsins) for about a year and ritalin for the last few months, I also started smoking again after a 5 year break at the same time I started on Ritalin. I wonder if any of the medication or smoking could be impacting me. I take evening primrose oil, which is usually spectacularly helpfull but dosen't seem to be helping at all any more.

The two problems I've got are firstly, my peroids have started lasting for 12-15 days, quite heavy for most of that time, what could be casuing this, it's pretty distressing. I have an IUD that happened to be changed over the month after i first started the extended bleeding and the new one hasn't seemed to have changed anything either way.

Secondly is PMT, I never uesd to get any pre type problems but I have had for the last three months and it's been getting steadily worse till this month I am in the most awfull state, I had to down a load of valium last night, I was totaly hysterical and had a mild (for me) panic attack.

I know this is a huge tombe, but I'm really at a loss and really in a state. Thanks in advance.

Vaginal paper cuts?

[violet-tigress1.livejournal.com]

My vulva & the skin around it are very dry at times. The inner labia are- well, for lack of a better word, delicate. They tend to dry out & crack. Usually down near the perineal region but sometimes farther up. I even stopped riding my tricycle for awhile because of it. Sometimes I use viitamin e oil. Sometimes I use a water based lube.
These cuts & scratches look & feel like paper cuts. They always heal fairly quickly, so that doesn't worry me.
I am more interested in whether this happens to other people & maybe some possible reasons than what to do.

A little background: I was on Predisone for many years for Ulcerativ Colitis. Now I'mm on other medications.