Condoms and HBC

[stillicides.livejournal.com]

I've looked through the memories and tags, and I've found loads of info on the safety of HBC and condoms, but not on their effectiveness combined. I'm on the Pill (Yasmin), and until recently my fuck buddy and I were also using condoms. The last time we hooked up we didn't. We're both fine with this decision, as we're both STD free and not sleeping with anyone else, but I was wondering if my level of protection against pregnancy is significantly less on the Pill alone vs the Pill + condoms? I know it'll be a bit less, but I'm not sure how much. I s'pose the question is, is it stupid of me to rely only on the Pill, or should I really be using condoms, too?

antibiotics

[wirelamp.livejournal.com]

For the past two years, I've taken antibiotics to clear up my skin. Of course, this has caused me constant yeast infections. :(
Diflucan hasn't really done much for me.
I was talking to someone recently, and she said that it would take years to flush antibiotics out of my system. Is this true? I want these babies out ASAP.

Any help is appreciated.

Strange Underbreast Issue....

[tenchikoi-76.livejournal.com]

For the past couple of months or so, I've been experiencing this weird sort of itchy/skin shedding thing going on under my breasts. Like where the bra line is. I'll rub it there because it itches and it's like I'm shedding skin cells like crazy. I've been exfoliating every day and applying a very good moisturizing lotion. But it hasn't helped at all. I'm not allergic to our laundry detergent because I switched to a different brand and it still continued. It's gotten to the point where I'm all red under there and I don't even want to put on a bra anymore. Any idea what's going on or what I could possibly do to fix it? Thanks.:)

Inducing menstruation--Vit. C + Black Cohosh?

[freakin-lj.livejournal.com]

Hi all,

I am a sexually active 20 year old female. I'm on the pill and me and my boyfriend use condoms every time. However, about a month ago, I finished a pill pack but, thanks to circumstances, wasn't able to start a new one until about a week and a half later. And then I was on antibiotics (only amoxicilin, but still).

Fast forward to today, when my period is exactly 5 days late. Yikes. It's usually a day or two "late," sure, and I have been stressed from finals--but I've been stressed before, and it's never taken this long. Usually I can tell when I'm going to get it, too, thanks to a bit of cramping and a different feel to the whole area, but everything feels non-crampy and closed up. Not a good sign.

So I decided to arm myself with some emmenagogues (ginger tea, vitamin C supplements, and black cohosh) and try to induce this stupid period myself. If anything, I'm going to England in a week and I don't want to be all bleeding everywhere as I travel 'cross the pond.

Questions:
- How much Vitamin C should I take a day? And how much black cohosh?
- There wouldn't be any interaction with taking C and cohosh, right? Or cohosh and birth control? I'm quite loath to start pills again before I get my period, but I just want to be sure.
- What are some other good emmenagogues? I know parsley (tea was *disgusting*), ginger (have some tea of that, and it tastes much better), vitamin C (just got some supplements, with asorbic acid), and black cohosh (just got some of that as well).

Thanks!

non-hormonal BC options? Canadian info pls!

[tornattheelbo.livejournal.com]

Hey everyone

so to preface, i have PCOS. Right now i'm on Demulen and haven't had a period in 4 months. I'm not pregnant, tested as recently as this morning.

I don't feel the pill is working for me at this point. During my PMS week i get so anxious that i feel like i'm being stung by jellyfish. Like i'm being poked with cattle prods. You get the picture.

So, right now I do have a male partner, we're both tested and free of sti's and we're fluid bonded. He has two kids and I have one, so at the moment i'm really REALLY anxious to avoid getting pregnant. He and I don't typically have PIV sex, and I think that the main reason for this is that he is anxious about getting me pregnant. We explore lots of other sexual options, but i mean, i'd like to have intercourse and not have that fear and responsibility looming over our heads.

SO, i'm here to discuss other options, and if people could help me out with pricing that'd be fab.

i'm thinking, IUD, Cervical caps, maybe diaphragm? I only have provincial insurance at the moment, and it really only covers the bare minimum, i know that IUD's aren't covered - she quoted me 400 for it, but one of my friends was saying that if i go to a hassle-free clinic that perhaps i could get one for cheaper?

And are cervical caps removable? how do they work?

Diaphragm is an interesting option but i wonder about him feeling it and having spermicidal goo leaking out of me if that would impact our oral sex life

any help is appreciated! thanks in advance!

Brown Spotting

[lostonlost707.livejournal.com]

Ok. I know there's a question similar to this a little ways down, but it wasn't exactly the same and I'm completely freaking out. My bf of 1.5 years and I started having 2 weeks ago. I've been on the pill (Levora) since March, and we've used condoms. Over the last couple days I've gotten stringy, brown discharge. There's not a whole lot, but I haven't had spotting for awhile and I'm not sure what's going on. The reason I'm so worried is that when I googled brown discharge most of what I got related to implantation bleeding. As in, pregnancy. I'm in college. Please, please reassure me that this can be normal. I know you can sometimes get brown discharge right before your period, but does that happen on the pill too? I did take my pill at slightly different times over the last week, since I was traveling, but I was never more than an hour off. I'd really, really appreciate advice....

Update: I got my period! Full blown! Man, I am so relieved. Thanks for all the advice and encouragement, guys. :-)

Oh dear, I'm stumped.

[ldy-shadow.livejournal.com]

I think I have a case of don't-wanna-think-about-it amnesia. I'm pretty up on my body and it's functions. I'm well aware of the how's and why's and *usually* the when's of things.

So, why can't I answer this myself?

Anyway... how soon can fertilization/implantation occur? I know the general answer is 3-5 days for fertilization, 8-10 for implantation.... as averages.

Is it possible for it to be lightening quick, though? As in, intercourse last night, fertilization soon after, implantation this afternoon?

Pregnancy is totally a possibility for me right now due to a number of things (and it's not necessarily a bad outcome,) and I had some bright red, mucousy spotting about 15 hours after intercourse.

I know I'm being silly, we were probably just too rough, but please humor me. I'm absurdly pre-occupied with this.

Unbleached tampons

[sdwellington.livejournal.com]

So, I have been googling this but I'd just like some personal experiences.

I'm looking into switching to unbleached tampons and was just wondering what brands people on VP use.

I really love the shape of the playtex tampons (kind of a bullet I guess, opens on all sides) as opposed to the Tampax brand, which are just to square for me.

Just discuss, I guess. I'm trying to take steps to make my period not only better for me but the environment (and yeah, I know about menstrual cups but I'm taking baby steps right now) so any information would be greatly appreciated!

is it hard to insert a tampon without an applicator?

HBC questions

[karriaina.livejournal.com]

Several questions for all your lovely VPers!

1) So I'm a minor. My reasons for being on HBC are pretty simple, I'd like to have a period a month. Right now, I'm on a very fun "Every couple of months... maybe, oh! And then you can have two in one month!" kind of cycle. And it really annoys me, seeing as being a high school student does not let me have a chance to worry too much about my period. And surprises at school are not fun. But how can I bring this kind of thing up to my father, whom I live with, without him thinking "OMG SHE'S HAVING TONS OF SEX" (Honestly, I've had sex three times.  But that's something I'd rather not remember and I'd rather my dad not know.)

2) What kind of brands are out there, and, specifically, which one brings the most "bang" for the buck? Income is low in this house, so a cheaper, generic brand would be nice to find, but information about that kind of thing is not readily available on the internet.

3) If I do get HBC, what kind of positive and negative side effects can I expect?

Men's Trimmers for Pubic Hair

[frolicnaked.livejournal.com]

So, after some extended wonkiness with my bikini trimmer, mine finally decided to die on me once and for all. My pubic area is approximately 25% trimmed. Joy.

However, a trip to my second-favorite high-end shopping location -- having visited #1 earlier in the day -- revealed a disappointingly narrow selection of trimmers marketed toward women. If I wanted to shave, I could; if I wanted to epilate, I could do that, too -- or spend $80 for its pop-up trimmer. But nothing designed just to trim, and, more importantly, nothing small (narrow) enough for me to use comfortably near my genitals.

I wandered a little further down the aisle and found this. It looked like it would fit my needs nicely -- and I have a pair of Wahl horse clippers that have lasted for ages, so I trusted the brand -- so I went ahead and bought it.

It's charging right now, so I can't test it out on myself, but I can't help noticing two things:

1) The motor on this puppy is way more powerful than my Remington ever was.

2) It's shaped differently: the handle doesn't curve as much as my previous girlparts trimmer, and the blades actually angle in the opposite direction.

Are these differences likely to trip me up any? If you've used a beard/mustache/other facial hair trimmer before, what were your experiences with it? Any tips or tricks?

Thanks. :)

EDIT: What I have discovered:

1) The more powerful motor does make a big difference, not so much when I'm trimming my mons pubis or bikini line -- but when I'm trimming my labia and the hair around my vaginal opening? Holy jeez, do I have to be careful to use an extra, extra, extra light touch. The vibration from the motor against some very sensitive bits is not something I was prepared for; it's not painful, exactly, but if I'm not careful, it does induce a "move away from the buzzy thing!" involuntary vulva reaction.

2) Parts of my skin -- mostly around the vaginal introitus -- feel a little irritated. I'm not sure how much is a direct result of the trimming and how much has to do with discovery #3, but it's not terribly pleasant. I've checked out the area with some good lighting and a hand mirror. There's no evidence of nickage, and nothing appears to be redder or visibly inflamed in any way. It's just not 100% comfy right now.

3) I am bald. Well, not quite as much as if I'd shaved, but there's definitely substantially less hair than when I used my Remington trimmer. I used the shortest blade guard, which looks very similar to what I used on my previous trimmer, but the results are very different. I'm definitely going to have to try a longer blade guard next time; I miss my girlparts hair. :(

Period + Ocean/Pool

[burning-moon117.livejournal.com]

Okay. So it's okay to wear tampons while you are in a pool or the ocean, right? Like, it won't leak and the water won't make it explode?

What about diva-cup? Pads? Pads probably wouldn't work, I'm guessing.

STDS being associated with sluttiness/dirtyness/etc

[trinity85.livejournal.com]

I don't really have a specific question but there's an issue that has just been on my mind a LOT lately and it's really bothering me and I know some of you can probably relate. For some reason, my mom likes to associate STDs with being promiscuous, being "unclean", and being a druggie, etc. She does not know my number of sex partners but I'm sure she thinks it's like no higher than 3. Anyway, everytime I tell her that I need to make an appointment with the gyno (for anything other than my yearly exam), she's always like reluctant to take me.  She has it in her mind that if I'm not sleeping around (which I'm really not) then nothing should be wrong with my sexual parts. For example, I've been complaining of pelvic pain and nasty discharge, etc. and she's practically ignoring the whole thing.  Even when the campus health folks told me to go to the ER, she was like "no way!" Luckily one of my good friends will be able to take me to the gyno on Monday. I dunno, it just sucks not being able to talk to her about my reproductive health. Does anyone else have parents (or even friends) like this? 

Stacking Limit?

[011286.livejournal.com]

I checked the memories out but I couldn't find what I was looking for; unless I completely missed it somehow =(


I've been on Aviane 28 (off-brand of Allesse) for three months now. When I finished my first pack, I thought I'd try stacking my second pack to see how that would go. Being that everything went OK, I decided to start right on my third pack - Stacking my pills for three months and skipping my period for them. During this time, toward the last week of my active pills, I'd get slight "spotting". It'd be nothing but a very light, light brown discharge, and I'd only notice it when I'd go to the bathroom and wipe - It was never enough to get on my panties. Then, yesterday (I started my last pack - of the three months - and am on my last week of active pills) I had only minor (light pink/red) spotting, that was hardly anything and only noticed it once, along with some minor cramping.

So, my question would be this; Is there a limit to how much you can stack pills? I would really like to try stacking another three packs (three months) but I wasn't sure how great of an idea that would be. Or if I should just finish up this week of active pills, then go to my off week. I know that if the spotting were to get any worse, I'd just stop taking my active pills and go on my off week. But, if I were to continue taking my active pills, would that harm anything/hurt me in any way? Also, when I do decide to go on my off week, and stop taking the pills, would my period be more normal? Or would it be heavier since I've skipped it for three months? I was on the patch, for, roughly, five years before going on the pill, and I never stacked my patches before so I'm not really sure if there's anything to expect when I stop stacking, to get my period. Just curious!

Thanks to any help that any one might be able to supply!!