Only three periods this year...

[ipodsr2big.livejournal.com]

I'm 19, and have had regular cycles since I was 13. But since January I have had only my period in May, June, and I think July. So it may only be two...

I have gone to the doctor, and she first believed it was my body producing too much estrogen, but with a blood test, this wasn't the case- and they didn't find anything "wrong".

I honestly believe at this point it is stress from school, since in the spring/summer I had my period.

Any advice/recommendations? I'm thinking about getting on the pill just to have a regular flow. Is this a good idea?

Thanks everyone. I'm new.

Irritated Vagina!!! :(

[youmakemerise.livejournal.com]

The other night I  had sex with my bf and I was on my period, but I was barely bleeding. I was on top the whole top and I got a little bit sore, but that's not unusual. Yesterday  I put a tampon in before work even though there was hardly any blood because I didn't want to have to worry about it while I was working. The entire time I was working the tampon was very uncomfortable, and  I can never notice tampons usually. After I took it out my vagina felt very irritated, like the inside was swollen. It doesn't look swollen, but I'm gunna back off on sex for a while because it does hurt  a little when anything goes inside.

Am i irritated because I put a tampon in when I wasn't really bleeding and I wasn't  very lubricated?
Is there anything at a drugstore that I can get to lessen the irritation? It's not really that irritated, nothing that I can't deal with at least, but the sooner I can have sex the better! haha :)


PS- I posted a pregnancy post the other week, but it was for a friend NOT for me. I just put it in first person cause I thought it would be easier.

gynecologists in the chicago area

[nobodys-baby.livejournal.com]

Dear VP,

Could you please recommend some good gynecologists in the downtown Chicago and Oak Park areas? Friendly, nonjudgmental, won't give me shit about my weight, and all that other nice stuff?

Thanks in advance!

(no subject)

[http://users.livejournal.com/______7ate9/]

Hi, my name's Elise and I'm new here.
I've been on Ortho-Lo for roughly seven months, and my boyfriend and I have stopped using condoms.
But my question issss since about (last) Wednesday-Thursday I've been getting brown/bloody discharge. It wasn't like regular discharge and it was like, half blood. I'm supposed to get my period today, I'm not really worried about that, but the discharge seemed to have stopped. I was wondering if THAT could have been my period? I don't mean to sound ignorant about this but I was curious since this hasn't really happened before. It started before I started taking the placebo pills so.. I don't really know unless it's JUST discharge.
Any ideas?
Thanks. :}

Birthcontrol Question

[lacrimose.livejournal.com]

I recently just moved and quit my job that was supplying me my health insurance. Because of that I have had to quit taking my birthcontrol. I'm low on funds currenly and have been considering going to the Planned Parenthood downtown to see about getting birthcontrol. Though I have no idea what they charge or if at all, is there anyone here who has more experiance that can tell me what I should expect to pay for a clinic visit/birthcontrol pills? Any help would be wonderful, thank you lovely ladies in advance. =)

Period cramps after orgasm?

[sullen-criminal.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure exactly how long it has been happening, I'm going to guess at least 2 months.  Every time I orgasm, immediately afterward I get cramps that feel exactly like menstrual cramping.  The cramps last anywhere from 2-10 minutes and are quite strong.  It's getting to the point where I'm worried and a little apprehensive about achieving orgasm.

Some background info:

-I'm on Nuvaring and have been stacking for the past 15 months as part of a medical study which ends in November.
-I have not had a period since June, 2006.
-The cramps happen after every orgasm, but not after penetration without orgasm.

Any insight?  I'm really not sure what's going on.

hi first time posting...

[cherry-punked.livejournal.com]

Im so glad i've found this website. I'm really hoping someone can help. its a bit of a long story sorry if i ramble! Not sure how to cut either :s

When i first started having sex (at 17, im 21 now) it was pleasurable and although i had difficulty having orgasms the sensation itself was pleasent and i rarely if ever needed additional lubrication (even at this point i was on birth control pills, loestrin),we still used condoms. However, my first relationship ended and about 7 or 8 months into the relationship with my next partner sex became very painful, both being in a commited relationship and both having been checked for std's we sometimes did not use condoms. Basically the pain was like a burning sensation and my labia felt swelled up and very tender up to 4 hours after sex.Sometimes there would also seem to be an uncomfortable pressure in my stomach and on my bladder during intercourse. i also felt i was less naturally lubricated, we started using condoms again and additional lube but nothing helped, naturally sex went on to the back burner and i went to have some std tests at the gyno, these tests were just as painful and i began to find tampons were uncomfortable as well (ive used tampons since i was 14) the dr referred me to the hospital . After having a vaginal ultrasound and tests for some std's they told me they were unsure as to what it was but there was a slight swelling of my bladder lining. The relationship i was in later ended (that was almost a year and a half ago)

Im now with a new partner and although the problem isn't half as bad (the bladder pressure is no longer an issue)the pain is often a problem. Sex its self is good once i have started but penetration itself is uncomfortable and pain afterwards is horrible.

Has anyone else experienced this problem, or have any idea what it might be? I have never heard of B.V before coming on this site, so intruiged by that! Its really getting me down as, whereas i used to be fun and up for new things i feel this problem limits me as sex always requires at least an hour forplay and lube, which make spur of the moment passionate sex difficult. Any help would be much appreciated!! thanks

x

Liquid Latex

[awriterswindow.livejournal.com]

Hi Ladies,
Well, call me uninformed, but I never heard about liquid latex until I heard about it on an episode of CSI just a second ago. What exactly is the point of it? Is it for people with a latex fetish? Why is it fun for people? I'm just curious and wanted to learn about it. Who knows, maybe it'll be something new to try.

Thanks!

HS-1 Reinfection?

[emirinxnya.livejournal.com]

Hello everyone and i hope maybe i can get some help here.I have a question involving Herpes simplex 1
I think somehow both me and my partner managed to contract HS1
Unfortunately we are unsure who contracted it first or where we could have gotten it from. This though doesn't affect our relationship in anyway, thank goodness! But i do have a concern and i am not sure who to address it too or how to go about finding information. We both have HS1 in the genital area, i had just had an outbreak and he had been having one apparently a few days earlier then i was, fortunately my outbreak cleared up faster then his. But last night, we had been fooling around a bit and he had said that he think everything had all cleared up for him, it was dark and we had drank a bit so i just kinda went along with it. Unfortunately after words when we were cleaning up, i think his definition of all better is a difference between mine. It seemed as though he had one or two lesions left that hadn't fully healed. *Also, we decided against changing our sexual habits, i am on HBC and we use the FAM method, this is someone i plan to spend.. the rest of my life with and if we already have the same problem why change or habits now.* Well, my concern now, is that i just recently got over the intial outbreak and i really don't want to go through that again so soon. Is it likely that he managed to reinfect me and that i would have an outbreak again. Or since i already have it it would just be my body accepting something that it already has.
Apologies for being long winded an unable to get my point across well. Just a little worried i guess.
Thanks so much in advance~

weird health symptoms when being sexual..."pink pelvis"?

[neverfinding.livejournal.com]

hola.

so, maybe half the time that i'm being sexual with my boyfriend, i get this weird feeling of pressure and my ears popping in my head.  really unpleasant.  and...when i get really turned on but don't have an orgasm, i feel okay for a while, but then, even if i have a delayed orgasm, i get mad period-like cramps.  i think this is the female equivalent of blue balls..."pink pelvis" as they say.  like, blood flowing into one's genitals, and then not being able to leave.

can anyone relate to the first thing?  and does anyone know how to deal with the second thing?

thank you

Semen Allergy?

[iamsuperjew.livejournal.com]

Okay, there was a post about this recently and it got me thinking, but now for the life of me I can't find it again!

Obviously I'd need to see a doctor to find out for sure, but I just wanted to get your thoughts on this. Whenever I swallow semen I get a sore throat for about half an hour, and whenever I don't use a condom the semen burns. My boyfriend and I have both been tested for STIs, and nothing's going on there. Does this sound like a semen allergy? It's not really a huge issue, it's just a little uncomfortable. If it is a semen allergy, how will this affect my chances of getting pregnant in the future?

Thank you so much for your help!

HBC, nosebleeds

[elanor-g.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm on microgynon and have been for the past month.  Today I had a nosebleed, its the first one I've had in years it lasted a few minutes, not the usual few spots of blood.  I told my dad about it and he said it could be due to high blood pressure, could it be the pill, it doesn't make much sence to be affecting me this quickly tho.  Right?  Its all very confusing.

Itchy/Burny Vulva; Can I take Diflucan without being officially diagnosed?

[angabel.livejournal.com]

Long story short, my vulva has been itching and burning like mad the past week or so. At first it was just an on-off tingle that I dealt with, but now it's pretty constant. I find myself waking up in the middle of the night because I am scratching myself, which only makes matters worse.

I've only had one yeast infection my life (I'm 22), and that was from taking the master of all antibiotics, Cipro. I didn't even realize I had a yeast infection for about a good week because I had been fairly "out of it" the week before with dysentery and was willing to deal with anything since I was in paradise at the time.

This is ... different. I don't have the discharge, and my pain is just in my left labia major/minor and around my clit. At first I thought maybe my shower gel was irritating, but that doesn't seem to be it.

I've never been to a gyno and I am not able to make an appointment because, due to a lot of miscommunication, I'm not an official student at my university and I would be going to the university health center. First thing I'm going to do when I'm a student again is suck it up and make an appointment because I need to.

I have a Diflucan pill that my mom bought for me as a back-up in case the gel stuff (Monistat or something similar) I used didn't get rid of my yeast infection. Thankfully, it did.

Would it be all right to take it, even if I'm not sure what I have is a yeast infection, to see what it does? Maybe this is a yeast infection, or maybe it's something else.

(I should mention that I just finished a 5-day course of Zithromax, but I had had the burning and itching before starting the drug.)

Also: once you have a yeast infection, are you any more likely to have recurring yeast infections?

So good it hurts?

[keirelle.livejournal.com]

Hey VP-ers. I have a quick concern about how sex is affecting my ladyparts.
See, when me and my guy are doing the deed, he'll find a spot and keep hitting it and it feels awesome, but then it keeps feeling awesome, but also in a hurting kinda way, and I have to make him stop, let me take a breather and start again. I thinking it's hurting because he's penetrating to deep, maybe hitting my cervix? Or is this prelude to orgasm? The hurt kinda spreads throughout the entire area, within, if that helps with description. Any insight is appreciated! =)

Garlic for yeast infection: how long?

[5ampunkrock.livejournal.com]

I looked in the FAQs about YIs but didn't see this info... I've had a pretty bad yeastie for a while: I used garlic for 2 days once before, thought maybe it cleared up but didn't... tried a 7-day OTC treatment, no relief at all... (this is spread out over more than a month, BTW). I've looked everywhere for Tea Tree Oil but can't find any, so I'm back to garlic since it's cheaper than more OTC treatments (my gyno said they're only 50/50 anyway).

My question is: how long should I be using garlic cloves? I've been putting them in just at night b/c the garlic taste would distract me during the day... after how many nights should I expect some relief? It's not so much itching that's my problem, as it only affects me in random, brief waves, but the discharge is driving me crazy! And the garlic seems to make my amount of discharge soar; is that normal?

Help my poor vagina! I'm visiting my boyfriend for the first time in 5 weeks on the 19th and I really want this GONE by then!

Spermicide...ugh

[mellyjc.livejournal.com]

I've got a diaphragm that came with Gynol II. I seem to be allergic to the spermicide...lots of itching mostly, but to the point where I ended up with cuts (I guess from scratching :-/) Not sure if it causes a yeast infection or if it's just allergy..but either way, not good.

The instructions that came with said to contact your health care provider in this case. I did so...medical assistant told me to ask the pharmacist cause she didn't know. (Gee..thanks).

I have yet to talk to a pharmacist but from what I've found online, there are practically no alternatives to nonoxynol 9 in the US. What I did find appears to have been discontinued years ago.

I'm pissed off that insurance won't cover non-hormonal BC, I'm pissed off my doctor won't help me find something other than the stupid chemical mainstream stuff. I never liked the idea of spermicide in the first place, but nobody would tell me how effective my diaphragm would be without it.

So...any US alternatives to nonoxynol spermicide or stats on diaphragm use without it? I'm not really looking to change BC methods at this time..we do use condoms about half the time. I've got the FAM book but haven't had time to read it yet.

Thanks!