NY times article: A New Vaccine for Girls, but Should It Be Compulsory?

[spankmeraw.livejournal.com]

The New York Times


July 18, 2006
Essay
A New Vaccine for Girls, but Should It Be Compulsory?
By RONI RABIN

Around the time report cards came home this spring, federal health officials approved another new vaccine to add to the ever-growing list of recommended childhood shots — this one for girls and women only, from 9 to 26, to protect them from genital warts and cervical cancer.

One of my own daughters, who just turned 9, would be a candidate for this vaccine, so I’ve been mulling this over. A shot that protects against cancer sounds like a great idea, at first. States may choose to make it mandatory, though the cost for them to do so would be prohibitive.

( Read more... )

I usually don't disagree with articles in the health section, but this one rubs me the wrong way.

Possibility of Latex Reaction?

[rachelyn.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm new here but I have a question. I looked through the FAQs and didnt find anything pertaining so I'm hoping someone can help me. I've got a few of the symptoms of a yeast infection but I don't really think that is what is going on. I recently had sex and used latex condoms and ever since that night my vagina has been very sore and also a bit itchy. I havent used this kind of condom before and in previous sexual encounters (with manogomous partners) I havent used condoms much at all. I'm wondering if it is possible to have  a reaction to a latex condom, what the symptoms could be (if there are any) and how to make it go away.... I'm hoping to get some help before I have to decide if I'm going to go to the doctor or not. Thanks in advance!

hymen inquiry

[imnotyourstarx.livejournal.com]

greetings! i was just looking at a picture posted by malantha in a comment to another post, which prompted me to break out a mirror and take a look at myself. in the picture they show what a broken hymen looks like. i look like i have NO hymen. which would be fine (i know some girls are born without one at all) but i know i did at one point have one, because i remember breaking it in 5th grade during gym class.(at least i think thats what it was - i went to the bathroom after class and there was a dot of blood in my panties. there wasnt anymore, not even a drop, until two years later when i started my period.) i know for sure i had no hymen by the time i lost my virginity, because that didnt hurt at all. any ideas? is it possible mine just ripped more than the girls in the picture did? can you rip so it looks like theres nothing there at all?

just wondering.
thanks.

(no subject)

[foreverdiva.livejournal.com]

Last night I went out and got really really drunk. It was ridiculous. And when I came home around 2AM and took my pill (MonoNessa, if it matters), I started puking half an hour later because of all the alcohol. I doubt the pill got fully absorbed into my body in that half an hour, so should I consider it a skipped pill because I threw up so quickly after taking it and use condoms for the rest of the month, or was that half hour enough?

Thanks!

(no subject)

[shmeho.livejournal.com]

so i posted earlier on some problems, and I am convinced there is something wrong. My vulva is still itchy, and it's still very red. It doesn't smell bad, but it does smell different. And there is some thicker discharge...but not that thick. So this is probably a yeast infection? I still don't know.

I have my physical in 2 days, though. So I'm going to talk to her about it. I just had some questions...
1. Will she have to look at me? (not really a big deal...although kinda weird)
2. Can she give me something to help it, without having to order something? which leads to the next one...
3. will my mom have to know? It wouldn't be the end of the world or anything...but she would probably get really worried about me, and i'm leaving soon...idk i just don't want to worry her. 
4. Should I ask if I need to go to the gyno? I've never been, im almost 18, not sexually active.  
5. can i use tampons?
6. Can it go away on its own?

thanks for any of your help.
i'm kinda scared...making myself a bit sick over this : /

Urinary Tract Infection

[frog-martini.livejournal.com]

I've heard its a good idea (esp. for girls) to go to the bathroom after having sex to prevent urinary tract infection. Does this apply if you use a condom?

Nipple tenderness

[kitsune-dakota.livejournal.com]

So... I'm not really sure what's going on. My left nipple is sore to the touch, and swollen on the bottom. When I feel around it, it sort of feels like there's a lump there. I had this happen probably about a month before, but the soreness had gone away, so I didn't think much else of it, and I didn't check to see if the lump was still there. This time my right nipple is a little sore to the touch, too, but there's no swelling and it wasn't sore the last time. I'm obviously concerned, and I don't really want to talk to my doctor about it because I'm extremely uncomfortable with people touching my breasts. Any ideas as to what it might be?

Masturbation Limits

[beachgurl122.livejournal.com]

Hey Girls! I was just wondering about your thoughts/ opinions about mastubation during your period.... Is it safe..do you notice any change in your flow? For some reason I am really horny this month and was curiuos about all your experiences with it? I love this community!!

White, clumpy discharge: ALWAYS yeast, or something harmless?

[loonylupinlover.livejournal.com]

A little bit of background: From January to mid-May, it seemed like I was yeasty every week of the month except my period. I did yogurt, Monistat, Diflucan, acidophilus, and boric acid capsules. Sometimes it seemed to keep the yeast at bay temporarily, sometimes it seemed I just got yeastier and yeastier. I switched from the Patch to the Ring hoping that lower estrogen would help, but I continued to get them. In the middle of May I found out that lubes with glycerin can contribute to yeast overgrowth, so my partner and I switched to Liquid Silk and I haven't had a problem with yeast since. Also, my doctor told me that what I'd been mistaking for external yeast was most likely just smegma. She said if I wasn't itching, then it wasn't yeast. And I haven't had a problem for two months.

But last night and today I've had a lot of clumpy white discharge. Some of it resembles smooth plaques (but they aren't attached to anything like plaques would be). Some of it is like tiny white blobs. But most baffling is the discharge that comes out in long thin strings -- one was almost as long as my pinky finger!

Now, since we've started using the Liquid Silk, when my boyfriend and I see each other on the weekends we have sex anywhere from once to four or five times. When we have it, say, twice in one day, the next day or even the day after I've found discharge similar to that described above inside my vagina, and at first it really freaked me out, making me think I was yeasty yet AGAIN... but it never really itched, and it would go away on its own a day or two after I last had sex. So I've started wondering if it's not some combination of leftover semen (I'm on NuvaRing and we're monogamous, so we don't use condoms), lube, my own lube, and white blood cells (from my vagina going "Hey! Something foreign! Eep!").

Today I had slight, occasional itching, but I'm not sure if it's because I'm worried about the discharge or because it's actually yeast. I looked at myself with a hand mirror and my lips/vulva are pink, not red. I've found the discharge both inside my vagina and on my vulva. Last night I wiped my outside with an apple cider vinegar dilution and used a bit of leftover Monistat inside and out, and used some more this morning, but the discharge continues.

So, I have a few questions... first, does it sound like a yeast infection? Second, is it possible to have a lot of clumpy white discharge after sex that isn't yeast that dissipates in a day or two? Third, the only home remedy I have right now is the apple cider vinegar, and does anyone know if it would be safe to douche with it with a NuvaRing in (or could I remove the Ring, douche, and then replace)? Fourth, could having sex 5 times in 4 days (when I hadn't gotten any for almost two weeks before that) and then swimming the day after I last had sex have made this an actual yeast infection this time?

Meh. I'd hoped I was done with the yeasties... but, I do have to say that seeing it once every two months is a lot better than seeing it every week!!!

Edit: Two days after posting, with no further YI prevention on my part, my discharge has pretty much gone back to being all clear and sans clumps. Guess it was just some combo of semen/lube/my own tissue/NuvaRing use after all! Woohoo! I guess there was just more of it than usual due to having sex more frequently than I'm used to. :)

Lack of sexual drive?

[meltorany.livejournal.com]

I'm 19 years old and for some reason, I've just lost my sex drive. I have a bf that i have been going out with for about a year now, and we used to have sex a lot, but now i could care less about it. My boyfriend kind of bitches about how we don't have sex much and i'm sick of it.

Not only that, but when we do have sex, it hurts most of the time (EVEN if i'm turned on!).I'm not sure what i can do about this situation. I just want to have pleasure-able sex and i want to have more of a sex drive but i donno what exactly i should do. I was thinking about getting some lube but i'm afraid that it will cause irratation to my vag. Plus, since i don't have much of a sex drive, is there anything i could take to help out this problem? Something that isn't expensive(like a pill)that i could take possibliy?

Any info i can get, i would really appericate. Thanks :)

YI Treatment from Hell

[kyleann.livejournal.com]

So, I have a YI and I got some medication for it. I got the cream insertion kind. I thought it would be ok and I asked my mom if this was the right stuff and whatnot. It was the 3 day treatment. So last night before I went to bed, I inserted it in me like the instructions said. I went straight to my bed and laid down because that's what the instructions told me to do. So I lie there and try to sleep. A few minutes go by and oh god I couldn't believe how itchy my vagina was. I've never felt an itch like that before in my life. It was also burning wicked badly. So I'm freaking out and moving around trying to see if me moving would make it feel any better. My boyfriend is freaking out because he had no idea what to do. So I run in the bathroom and try to wipe it off and stand up so it will drip out of me. Then my vulva was burning because I was wiping the cream on it. So add that to my pain. So I jump in the shower and move the head to my vagina and just sit there and cry. It finally calmed down and was just slightly burning after awhile. But oh my god what the hell was that?? Why did it hurt and burn and itch so badly? Has anyone else gotten this reaction from YI creams? Are there pills out there to cure them because there is no way in hell I would ever take that stuff again.
Sorry about the long post, I was just ranting and I'm so confused!

Implantable Contraceptive (CNN News Article)

[bei-fiori.livejournal.com]

Hopefully this hasn't been posted before! The FDA just approved a new implantable contraceptive called implanon; it lasts for 3 years.

Article: (http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/07/18/contraceptive.implant.ap/index.html)

Implantable contraceptive receives federal approval

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Choosing a method of birth control is a decision women can now make once a day, week or month. Starting later this summer, add "once every three years" to the list.

( rest of article under cut )

It sounds really appealing to me, but I'd be afraid of having a bad reaction to it and having to get it removed early. Thoughts?

Health Canada approves HPV vaccine in record time!

[ophelia-cat.livejournal.com]

Health Canada has approved the HPV vaccine, which should be available in weeks, and has recommeded it to females aged 9 to 26.... Awesome!



In the Star:
The Toronto Star Article