instead softcups usage problems

[burntbuffalo.livejournal.com]

I just recently bought a box of instead softcups after reading something about them here on VP. I did a lot of research before I actually bought them, and I got my first chance to use them yesterday. I'm having some problems though, and wanted to know if anyone who has tried them has had similar issues, and what you did

( My softcup questions )

(no subject)

[strawberryoxyge.livejournal.com]

are most men ok with queefing ?

virginty

[my-gun-yer-face.livejournal.com]

ive lost my virginty against my will...

n i always hear how much it hurts and i thought you always bled and FELT your hymn break.
but i didnt feel that, i didnt feel anything break, and I didnt bleed.
would i absolutely know if my hymen was broken, how do you tell if your still a virgin?!!
+this guy didnt wear a condom, didnt pull out. i would really really hate to take emergency contraception if i didnt need to.
the ingredients in the pill are so unnatural, so horrible for your body, that i want to avoid taking it. help?

THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.
I cant think straight. Your saying everything I would say If I could. thanks.

Expired Pills?

[erinray7.livejournal.com]

Hey all....I didn't see this in the memories so I thought I'd ask. I have a few packs of Estrostep BC that expire in October 2006. Will they be safe to use past the expiration date?

HPV and The Sex Talk in a New Relationship

[mis-translation.livejournal.com]

This is a part vagina, part relationship question.
I am a 20-year-old college lesbian college student who this past August got an abnormal pap result and a positive HPV result. I have a colposcopy scheduled near my school (with not my normal gyno - she didn't want me to wait) in a few weeks. I have always been relatively careful (looking at my peers, especially) with my partners. I am STI-tested in-between relationships (as is whomever I am going to get involved with), and with few exceptions I have used latex gloves and condoms on sex toys. I have never had sex with a male, though my past partners have.
I am aware that HPV is a common virus (CDC quoting 80% of all sexually active women will get it some time in their lives), but it is still an STI and I still do not know what kind mine is, only that it is not one of the kinds that produces warts, which means that if I am bringing up an abnormal pap (from what I have read, someone please correct me), it is probably the kind that could cause cancer. I have a few questions.

1.) What happens next after they clarify it with a colposcopy? I know that is extremely vague, but in general terms. I am young, my immune system is pretty decent, but I'm supposed to go abroad next term (Feb - June) and I'm worried that this will interfere with that.
2.) While this is probably the worst possible time for me to be getting involved with someone, in the past few weeks I have found myself doing just that. It has not gone sexual yet for many reasons, this being one of them. She's younger than I am, and relatively less experienced. I know I am going to have to initiate The Sex Talk (I practice safe sex - let's go to the free clinic - and my last pap came up abnormal, this is what is going on with me gynecologic-ally) soon, but I am absolutely terrified of it. I would love to be able to say “I have HPV, but this is what we can do about it.” but all the readings I’ve done say that gloves and condoms are not doing nearly as much as they should, so any time she had sex with me she would be risking exposing herself to the virus (To make lemonade from lemons, if it is the cancer-causing strain, she could always get vaccinated from me). Anyway. My question is this: What sort of options can I give her to protect her as much as possible from HPV?

Any other sort of advice?
I really wish that I didn't live so far away from my gyno right now, and that they weren't so damned vauge on the phone. I can't even pry more specific information from the nurses over the phone because all they do is offer to send me pamphlets, which does not help me in the least.

Cramps

[meltorany.livejournal.com]

Sometimes when my boyfriend and I have sex, i get really bad cramps... and i don't know why! I have the Paraguard IUD and i donno if that really effects anything or not... like i said in my previous entry, i am going to the gyno soon so i'll probably end up asking about that... but does anyone have any ideas???

Welcome emmagfunk16 to the VP Team!

[glasspumpkin.livejournal.com]

My Dearest Vulva-Loving Superstars,

As of today, the VP Team now boasts a new member: emmagfunk16! We are thrilled to have her. Watch out for her bio, which should appear here quite soon, and feel free to check out her contact info (and everyone else's, for that matter).

The current VP Team is:

rockstarbob, jennifer0246, mangofandango, viellen, frolicnaked, queensugar, geminigirl, free_me07, 3_black_cats, glasspumpkin, psycheknot, and emmagfunk16.

See VP's profile page for detailed info on how to get in touch with us!

As always, let us know if you have any questions or concerns. We love hearing from you!

Viva la vulva!
The VP Team
contact_vp

Hello/Does ocean waters kill sperm/help you not get pregnant?

[viperpaktu.livejournal.com]

Hello all! A friend told me to come here and ask this question that me and my girlfriend have. (Well, more-so my girlfriend.)

She seems to think that if you have sex in the water (specificly the water off the coast of california) it will kill off the sperm and she wouldn't get pregnant.

Can any of you shed some light on this for us? Thanks in advance, if you can. :) (I tried googling it, but I kept getting websites for "sperm whale" o_O; )

nervous about sex

[bloody-words.livejournal.com]

I have been dating my boyfriend almost a year now, and we both enjoy having sex with each other but within the last 4 months or so I have become very paranoid about getting pregnant. Because of this I haven't been enjoying sex as much, and don't want to at all sometimes just because I am so afraid of getting pregnant.

We use condoms every time and he's very careful with using them, but I still can't seem to shake the thought in the back of my mind. I spoke with my doctor and because of some past health problems in my family she said I shouldn't be on hormonal birth control.

Also, I normally weigh about 115-120 and anytime my weight fluctuates or I think something has changed about my body, I automatically think I'm pregnant and start to freak out. Lately I've been feeling kind of sick, and I freak myself out even more then.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any pointers on how I can keep my mind off this and start enjoying sex again. Or if anyone has had similar experiences and what you do about it?

gyno exam

[worthlesscoward.livejournal.com]

im going to my first gyno exam and im terified. im only going because my period is screwed up, but they will check and know that im sexually active but my mom doesnt know.

im really scared she'll find out by a doctor instead of me... should i just tell my mom, even though im scared sh!tless. or hope the doctor doesnt tell her...?



please help... and any like prep advice... please!!

pap smear :-)

[im4ft12.livejournal.com]

It's that time of year again ladies! Ok so somehow I manage every year to forget how long you're supposed to abstain from sex before your pap smear. I've looked up some stuff on the trusty old internet here and I've found answers ranging from 24 hrs. to 72 hrs! My pap is scheduled for 10:30am this friday, have I already missed my window for doin' it!? Not that it's that big a deal I just get cranky :-) I was going to ask the woman I was making the appointment with, but my mom was present and despite the fact that I'm 22 and have been having sex for nearly four years, my dear mother and I just like to pretend that the other doesn't have a clue. So any expert info you ladies have would be great. Thanks!