2006-08-14

Birth Control/ Missing pills/ Panic!

Okay so I am in a bit of a panic right now, and panic is an understatement. I am usually very very good at taking my BC pills and it is very rare that I ever miss one.

Well I missed 2 in a row. I missed Friday's and Saturday's pill and I had sex Friday but not yesterday. My friend just can home from being gone all summer so we've been partying and staying at her house and I guess I left my pills at home and was too stupid to remember to take them. Anyway I am supposed to stary my period this week comming up, my period usually does not start until wednesday usually.

So long story short my question is: asside from being completely stupid, do I have to be worried? I only noticed tonight so taking the morning after pill is out of the question anyway.

Thank you so much

Current Mood: scared

Vaginal lump (cyst/tumor?!?)!!

So, my fiance Shawn noticed a small bump on the entrance of my vaginal opening about a month ago but then he didnt see it again and I couldnt feel it... I figured it was a calcium deposit or something...no biggie...

I went to put in a tampon today and noticed a BIG lump the size of a cranberry (it feels more like the size of a grape to me, but he says it LOOKS the size of a cranberry) right at the opening to my vaginal canal... It kinda got in the way of the tampon and it hurts to squeeze it (I wanted to make sure it wasnt some wierd pimple or something that would just pop)... It feels like a big grape encased in skin, and I can move it a little... It doesnt feel like it's attached at the base of the "grape" to the rest of my tissue down there...

I'm going to make a gyn appt but I dont think I can get to the Drs till Tuesday.. We're out of tow right now and I'm not sure what time we'll get home tomorrow... We were supposed to get home tonight from his grandmothers 6 hours from home (we went out yesterday cuz she had a heart attack), but we couldnt handle driving anymore tonight...

I pretty much just need reassurance that I'm not going to die or be unable to have kids or something because my brain is spazzing right now... I think mostly due to the fact that something "girl related" (aka Ovarian Cancer) killed my mom...

So yeah, make me believe that I'm not gonna die!! Has anyone else experianced something like this??

Should I be concerned...

I'm on the 4th month of taking Loestrin 24Fe, and only once did my boyfriend and I have sex without a condom (2 thursdays ago). I had really light spotting yesterday, and a little more today, I'm wondering if that's any kind of sign that I could be pregnant or something. I take the pills everyday at 9am, so I never miss one. Whenever I'm under extreme stress, I naturally get spotting, and the first day with this spotting I thought my boyfriend and I were going to break up, and the next day wasn't any better, so is it from stress or should I start to freak out...

Switching from Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo to Micronor- problem

During my first month of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo (combination pill), I lost one last week three dark blue pill. I had a spare month with me, however, and so I just replaced the last dark blue pill with the spare pack. And I did the same thing for the second month, replacing the dark blue pill with another pack. However, this is my third month and my doctor is taking me off of Tri-Cyclen Lo and putting me on Micronor (mini-pill) because of high blood pressure.

I asked her if I should start taking Micronor after I totally finish this month, placebo (green pills) and all, and she said yes. This conflicts with Micronor's pamphlet, however, which I found out after my appointment with her. Furthermore, she told me that it would be okay to skip my dark blue pill since I won't have a replacement. I forgot to tell her it was the last dark blue pill, though.

So now, I plan on starting Micronor right after my last active week (dark blue pills) just like the pamphlet says.... however, what about that last dark blue pill? Should I skip it somewhere else within my week, not the last day? Should I skip the first day of dark blue pills? I only have six dark blue pills and now I'm unsure of what to do... if I had seven I would just take my seven pills and then start Micronor instead of starting my placebos.

And if I were to skip a dark blue pill anywhere, would I still have continuous protection against pregnancy? Would I have continuous protection anyway?

Would it be better to take six dark blue pills and then take my first Micronor pill on what would be my 7th day of dark blue pills? Is that better continuous protection?

I am going to call my gyno tomorrow, but advice is definitely still wanted. Thanks. =)

No Period No Pregnancy No clue.

I looked through the FAQ's and I could'nt find anything on this so here goes.
I am not on any form of Hormonal BC I went through a miserable time from Sept - Jan where my Doctor tried a low dose Pill and then the Ring and my body could not tolerate the side effects of either.
In Jan. after taking out the Ring I had a normal period - then a second period in the same month.
After that I was regular for about two months then I went ten days late. Even though we use condoms religiously I though there is that three percent chance so I took what ended up being six tests total four home tests spread out over the course of the ten days it was MIA and then a blood and Urine at the Doctors every single one came back negative my Doctor chalked it up to being a fluke. I had no changes in diet , exercise, medication basically nothing that should have effected it.
Since then my cycle has gone from a clockwork 28 days to 30-32.
Here is my current dilemma my period is at the very least sixteen days late. I took one pregnancy test at I believe 9 days and it came back negative ( granted it was a dollar store test but I have been told a negatives a negative and they are just as reliable - when I was ten days I think we spent about 60 bucks on tests ) I have NO pregnancy symptoms. When I had my daughter my breasts where so sore after my period was late it hurt to touch them . I have not been on any meds antibiotics etc. no excessive exercise or weight loss stress nothing there is just nothing I can point to and say yeah thats even maybe why its so late. Not only is it that late I have no signs of it coming either.
I am so confused and alittle scared.
I have never been sixteen days late and not pregnant. My fiancee and I had agreed when the BC did'nt work out for me that we would use condoms and if it should happen that I got pregnant great but we still use condoms EVERY time.
After the last time I mean all those negative pregnancy tests it broke my heart because I do want another baby - not planning on one now but if it happens it happens.
I just feel that having taken that test and it be negative that and the fact that I have no symptoms (granted not every woman does) of being so.
any suggestions or help of any kind would be greatly appreciated.
I am just so confused..

Current Mood: nervous

(no subject)

hi..i'm new..i live in vegas, i'm 19, and i love being a girl due to the fact that our bodies can do such amazing things..

but i've been having a problem lately that's been bothering me..i had a son three months ago and i'm currently on a mini pill..recently i've been losing hair a whole lot more than i normally do..along with that..the two past periods have been within two weeks of each other..a few days a go i thought i started another one, but it was just spotting..

i am going to be calling to make an appointment around 9..but i wanted to see if anyone else had the same problem or if anyone had any thoughts about it first..

i hate getting checked so yeah..

Current Mood: embarrassed

late pills every day...

Eek so I know there have been posts about this/similar to this, and I know I should check my pill info, but I have before and it basically says I have to take it the same time every day... I'm on Yasmin, I've been taking two pills a day for the past month to "stabilize my uterine lining" as my gyno put it, so I'm less likely to have spotting/breakthrough bleeding when I'm skipping periods. I hate being redundant, but I'm just a little bit curious/worried, so I thought I'd see if there could be an issue.
I guess it's pointless because there's nothing I'd be able to do now anyway, and I wouldn't know if my period's late or not because I don't know when it's supposed to come anymore; my body is too out of whack nowadays.

( Cut because, well, I feel dumb. )

Sorry if this was already covered and beat into the ground...

Current Mood: sleepy

re-starting birth control

i started on ortho tri-cyclen lo about six months ago. before that i had been on yasmin and it hadn't worked for me, so i switched. but two months ago i decided that i wasn't going to take birth control anymore - mostly because of the cost and the nausea that went along with it for me. i still have a pack of ortho tri-cyclen lo in my drawer that i never finished. i took the first three pills out of the 28 pill pack and then decided not to take it anymore. my question is this: can i start taking them from the third day, or will that just not work? also, do they lose any potency after sitting for that long?

oh, also, about the expense. does anyone know of any way that i can get birth control without suffering subsequent bankruptcy? would planned parenthood be a way to go? (i hate that my insurance won't cover it...)

thanks so much in advance to everyone :)

[edit] as a final side note, can anyone tell me if ortho is one of those pills that can be used as emergency contraception? and, if so, how that is done? i looked on the faq and i couldn't find it.

Yasmin + dizziness?

I read somewhere that anywhere in the span of 3 hours is acceptable for daily HBC pill taking. Is this true? I have been on Yasmin for about a week and have been taking it between 8:30 and 10:30 every morning. Is this okay? Also, I have been extremely light-headed and nauseated this entire time, since I began taking it. Is there a correlation? Or am I just starting to get sick?v

Early Period Caused by Antibiotics?

I've been on HBC for 8 months now. Ever since starting my periods have come on Wednesday and ends on Monday. This month, however, is different.
Yesterday I took the first inactive pill and when I went to bed around 12 I noticed a few drops of blood on my panties. I thought this was rather odd, but popped in my Diva Cup. But when I checked it this morning while I was showering there wasn't any blood in it. Just discharge. But the discharge wasn't normal period discarge it was... Dirty looking. Like, instead of the rusty dark brown discharge I'm used to, this was more of a tanish color. It doesn't smell or feel weird. I'm not itchy or rashy anwyere. Now, my Diva is still in because I don't want funky stains or anything, and I'm guessing I'll have a normal-ish period this week.
But I'm curious. Why was I spotting yesterday? Why is the discharge odd? I did have my wisdom teeth taken out on the 27th of July (about a week after my previous period) and I finished taking my antibiotics two weeks after the surgury. That's the only thing I can think of that is different.
Is it safe to assume that next month my period will be back to it's Wed-Mon schedule?

New and with questions!

Hi everyone! I'm new... 18 from Colorado.

I figured that it was a good place to ask a few questions I have.

*Can you tell if you're pregnant from a pap smear?
*Can birth control give you yeast infections (on a person-to-person basis, of course)?

I had my first yeast infection about five or six days before my last period, and I've got about a week to go before my next period starts and I just got another yeast infection. I have NO IDEA why I keep getting them; the last time, I used Monistat 3 and it cleared up pretty fast, but it's back again a month later... my mom brought up that I might be allergic to something in the oral contraceptive I'm taking (Yasmin) but I'm not allergic to any sort of medication stuff that I know of. Could it be just because of the hormones I get from the Pill, or would switching to a different type of Pill make a difference?

Just thought I'd try and get some feedback before making an appointment with my doctor... I'm moving up to college on Thursday and want to get some sort of plan in action before then if possible! Yeast infections suck!!

Long periods - "Normal"?

I know a girl who consistently has 11 - 16 day, very heavy periods.

Her doctor has said this is just normal for her and she should just go on HBC.

I've urged her to seek a second opinion, but I don't know necessarily that it's anything other than normal. So, really, just normal for her? Doctor's a quack? Anything other than "just normal" it could be?

Thanks!

amoxicillin for uti?

Just a quick question.

I started feeling like I was getting a UTI about 3-4 days ago. I've been drinking lots of cranberry and water and peeing a lot and I thought I was getting better. I woke up today though and I feel worse. It's nothing like my usual UTI where it's like someone presses a button and I need to get to a doctor immediately because it's so painful. I'm just having some pressure and burning and more frequent urination. I don't want to go to a doctor becase I've been to the doctor so much this summer that I can't really afford the visit or the prescription. So here's my question.

In February, my clinic at school gave me Amoxicillin for a sinus infection. I took 2 pills and then decided I didn't want to go on antibiotics so I didn't take anymore but saved them anyway. I still have them. The bottle says 500 mg and to take them 3 times a day every 8 hours. There's enough left for 9 days so do you think I could just take these instead of paying for another doctor visit?

Thank you so much!

rash while on yasmin

hi ladies

i started on yasmin 10 days ago, on the first day of my period as instructed by my doctor. everything seemed to be going okay and i've been pretty good about taking the pill within one or two hours of the same time every day. however, within the past week or so some sort of rash has developed on my legs. it's really only on one spot, right above my right knee, but there are also smaller patches on both shins. it's only slightly red and it's more like a few small raised/swollen patches that are really dry rather than a ton of tiny red bumps. it's super itchy and the itchiness gets worse when i take a hot shower/shave my legs, so i've been avoiding that. it seems to be getting better but it's still aggravating. i've been moisturizing like crazy thinking it was just a bout of dry skin and it's been helping a bit.

i just read on the yasmin website that a rash/"a spotty darkening of the skin" (i've noticed just one or two tiny purple/brown spots around where the rash is, also) can be side effects of this brand of the pill. i've also experienced a fair amount of spotting since my period ended, although as of this morning it seems to have stopped. so my question is, should i continue to take the pill as directed and hope it clears up? my doctor gave me 3 months worth and said to come back and see her in october or november for a check up/exam to see how this pill's been working for me. should i wait till then or should i switch brands right away? i haven't been experiencing any other side effects at all.

thanks!

Threesome + Cranberry Juice Affecting Taste

Tomorrow I'm going to have my very first threesome. I've been partners with the boy involved for quite some time now, but I've never been sexual with the other girl. So, does anyone have any tips to make it extra-enjoyable?

I also currently have a UTI. (What a sucky time to get one, considering I can't bail out of the threesome now.) Therefore I'm on my way to the store to buy lots of cranberry juice, but I'm wondering how that's going to affect my vaginal taste? Also, if I drink plenty of pineapple juice, how is that going to affect the taste when combined with cranberry juice?

Thank you. :-)

Clarification: It's not that the other two partners are making me do it (they don't even know about the UTI), it's that I still want to do it, especially considering we've been planning this for nearly 2 months now and it's the only day for the next couple of months that our schedules will allow us to get together.

Getting torn up during sex.

I'm not sure if there are similar posts, I took a look around but couldn't find anything specific about a problem like this, so here goes...

( My problem, in short, is that I get torn during sex. And it hurts like a bitch afterwards. )

Eep! Issues. Advice?

( Cut for TMI )

IUD Problem? Help?

Problem: so as the entire effin universe knows, I got my first non-hormonal IUD put in yesterday and it hurt. and I bled. A lot. The Dr. said that "there should be some spotting but nothing like a period." and here I am stuck at work in white pants and I'm bleeding more than I ever have before and my legs are in intense pain. So far in the past (exactly) 24 hours i've taken 12 ibuprofin and 2 extra-strength advil. Is this normal for the day after? How many days until this starts to become too abnormal. I hate this because I just finished my period and im getting all tired and blah again because of blood loss and cramping.

Current Mood: curious
Current Music: Matthew Good - While We Were Hunting Rabbits

Should I be concerned?

I had a normal period two weeks ago (ended the thursday before last), but when I woke up this morning I was having some pink bleeding. I was heading out, so to be careful I threw in my DivaCup. Now, about 5 hours later, I went to the bathroom and decided to take the cup out. Figuring I'd see a little pink stuff, if anything, I was surprised to see it a quarter full with what looked like molasses. It was so dark brown it was black. I poured a couple of drops in the sink next to the drain to get a better look, and it was still the dark, dark brown, not a single trace of red or pink. It didn't look like normal 'dead blood' to me, it was much darker, and the consistency was different.

Now, I have the cup back in, and I called my husband who is all concerned now and wanting me to see an OB (he overreacts about my girly parts sometimes), but I thought I'd run it by you girls first. I've never had any bleeding between periods, and certainly nothing like this. If it was only a tiny bit, I'd brush it off, but this was a good lot of it. If it helps, I last had sex on saturday, and I had my second baby in December of last year. Thanks in advance!

Tying your tubes after a c-section

Hi Lovely Ladies...
I have a question about having your tubes tied after having a c-section...does anyone have any experience with it? I am currently preggo with number two and am having a c-section and figured I'd just ask them to tie my tubes while they were in there. Any input would be appreciated. TIA.

Intense leg and hip pains.

Hello everyone. I recently started on Ortho Evra on Wednesday. Since then, I have been having pains in my hips and legs, starting off small, and now, they are very intense and painful. It hurts to stand up for long periods of time and I find myself walking slightly bowlegged. Is my body simply adjusting to the hormones, or is this something I should be worried about? Thank you!

Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: silly happy girl sobbing

Some reasurance for other ladies with abnormal paps/dysplasia...

My latest pap smear came back.

NORMAL.

I'm not going to need more surgery, I no longer need paps every three months, I'm not going to get cancer and I'm going to be able to make babbies (knock on wood). Likely some of you know what a relief this is. If I could explain it to others more than the image of me crying tears of joy, I would.

:)

There is wonderful relief sometimes, despite having moderate dysplasia even after a LEEP. If this was an awards acceptance speech, I would thank the eliptical machine at the gym, my local health food store, my amazing ob/gyn (a male by the way, what a champ), for their support of my immune system, which eventuallly pulled through for me.

Yay!

Bumps/Spots

Hi

Is it possible to get an STD without actually having to of had sex?

The thing is... I've noticed tiny spots/bumps around the outside of my vagina, y'know, like around it, near the clitoris sort of thing and basically just all over the 'lips' (not where the hair is, but inside)? They're sort of white in colour I think? They don't hurt or anything, either.

I've never had sex before and don't know whether these spots/bumps have been there all along. I was reading a magazine and there was something about genital warts in it, and it just got me thinking.

I'm really scared and don't want to see the doctor because I'm really too embarassed.

P.s. I'm sorry if this is the wrong place to post this. It was the first community that came to mind.

Please help?

Itchy weird "blisters"

Hey all, I was hoping for some help. Sometime in the past week, I started itching on both sides between my inner and outer labia, and the itching was pretty intense. A day or two later, I looked carefully and saw that there were whitish patches of skin on either side where the itching was, and the skin there was broken, almost like a blister, but not really raised. It still itches, and it didn't hurt until it got rubbed raw (I tried to be good, but it itches so much!).

So, any ideas what this is? Obviously this calls for a trip to PP, but I thought I'd ask here first. I had unprotected oral sex 17 days ago (I went down on him, though he didn't reciprocate), and my last sexual contact before that was months ago. I've never experienced anything like this before.

Questions about ending Depo Provera and starting FAM.

Hi all! A bit of the basics. I'm 21, in a long term monogamous relationship, and I have endometriosis.

I've spent the past 7 years of my life on some form of birth control or another - from 14 to 19 we were trying to control painful periods/bleeding etc. Finally at 19 a doc was smart enough to listen when I suggested endometriosis. Since then - I've been on Lupron (a drug that throws you into premature menopause to supress endometriosis), Seasonale, OTC-lo, and now I'm just ending a year of Depo. Depo was nice in the fact that it supressed the painful symptoms of endometriosis but bad bad bad in the fact that I've been either bleeding or spotting since August with only about 4 weeks of not (I'd stop spotting right around the time a new shot was due - go figure).

I'm going in to see my GYN in a few weeks - after the hecticness of starting my final semester of college as well as moving into a new house with the boyfriend for the first time settles down. We've discussed that getting a Mirena IUD is my best option but at this point I think I'm just fed up with hormones and the more I read up on the Paraguard the more I don't think it would be best with my current situation. I had a really sucessful surgery for my endo in February and have felt so much better so I really no longer need to take BC to keep it under control and aside from preventing pregnancy - I have no need for it.

( On to the FAM questions and to avoid cluttering up friends pages! )

crossposted to

fam

Itchy, swollen labia

I'm having a very itchy problem! It's not inside my vagina, but it is more around the edges -- my lips, if you will. They're itchy and seem a little redder than usual and somewhat swollen, but there are no visable bumps, etc. Anyone have an idea as to what this could be and how I could get rid of it? It's been hanging around for a while, but sometimes they're not swollen, just itchy.

Labia Pains-- Are those like growing pains?

Has anyone had any experience with one particular area of their vagina being tender and sore?

For the past few days (I'd say about three, maybe), one side of my labia minora has been sore. Not along the whole area, mind you. I've checked it several times, and there are no visible cuts, bumps, lumps or anything out of the norm. I have noticed that the tenderness seems to be around a vein, but that's about it.

Unfortunately, my period should be starting tomorrow, which means I can't just swing by the gyno and get an opinion (although when it's over, if its still hurting, I may).

I've come up with the possibilities:
1. My kitten pounced there while sleeping, maybe bruising the area (Seriously. She's very young and has horrible aim. The other night she knocked me in the eye and it hurt the whole next day).
2. The area is tender from pants/underwear rubbing against the area. I did get new jeans, and they're a bit more snug of a style than I typically wear.

The itch/pain! somebody shoot me!!!

( my poor lil vag... )

Planned Parenthood in Atlanta

Has anyone here had any experiances with the Planned Parenthood in Atlanta as far as getting BC goes? I usually go to the Board of Health, but when I started calling my nearest one after moving, they told me they didn't have any appointments until OCTOBER. I called over a month ago and have been checking back to see if there were any cancelations, but they're telling me they're still full. Well, I am getting down to the wire, so I called PP. They told me basically to just come in and if I wanted to skip getting examined, I'd have to pay $40. But they didn't mention anything else about it.

So here's what I'm especially curious about, but you can tell me anything about your experiances there as well!

- I know it's income based, but what will I need to prove my income? At BoH, they just ask for the most recept paycheck stub to prove income. Will I need to bring anything else with me?

- I figure there will be waiting. Probably 900 years of it (I wish they'd have just let me make an appointment)... On average, how long have you had to wait? Is there a best and/or worst time to try and arrive?

- Is the staff nice and/or helpful? Most BoH's have decent ones, in my experiance.

- Can you give me any idea of how the rates work?

- How many packs can I get at one time? I don't want to have to turn around and do this again any time between now and October, LOL!

Thank you for anything you can all offer!
(x-posted)

(no subject)

so, i usually get minor cramps and whatnot around the time i ovulate( aka Mittelschmerz, and i'm used to that, but lately my cramps have been lasting longer. Now it lasts till i start my period sometimes!
it's not horrible, but it gets pretty irritating.

I can't see a doctor until fall, so i was hoping i could get some info on similar feelings from you all. I'm tempted to go on BC just to stop the ovulation pain!!!

I had a roommate that had ovarian cysts, so i'm worried (although i don't think that could be the case, right?)

hello

Hi! I'm so glad I could join this because I have really been worried about something. I had protected sex about a a week and a half ago and nothign bad happened and about 2 days later i started being really itchy in the reason and it really bothered me. Then I noticed a white clumpy discharge. It wasn't alot but it was there. So i was worried about that. It stopped a few days later and then the time for my period came (my period is very random but this is around the time it comes) but its being very weird! Its not very heavy and all it is is like brown stuff like when you first get your period but its been like this for 2 days already! this ususaly doesnt happen to me. I'm very scared.