2008-09-17

Current Mood: horny

STD Testing Questions

After a couple of years of deliberate celibacy, I am now ready to re-enter the world of being a sexually active adult. I have been dating someone for a few months now, and recently things have gotten a little hot and heavy with kissing , petting etc. I believe I'm ready to take the next step and re-enter the world of the sexually active, but I desire to do this in a responsible and adult fashion.

So I know that the sexually responsible, adult thing to do next is to have a conversation about past sexual history and STD testing. Here is the part where I am looking for opinions & advice within the vaginapagina community. Myself and the man that I am dating do not currently have health insurance. Both he and I work, but like many folks in the USA right now, we work and don't have any benefits.

Where are we going to be able to receive a full and comprehensive sexual health screening? I've been to Planned Parenthood in the last few years for pap smears but I am wondering if PP will do STD screenings for obviously older, not teenage, clients. By the way, the gentlemen in question and myself are in our late 30's, not the usual demographic for Planned Parenthood which usually takes care of very young women and possibly their male sex partners.

I've always wondered about this process of meeting someone, deciding you wanted to have sex, and doing the responsible thing and getting tested for STD's. Like how does that conversation go with the man? What are other womens experience out there with this process, this conversation?

What is the proper full gamut of STD's that I should be looking to get tested for, and what are the potential costs involved with this? If we go to a public health clinic for these tests, what is the "industry name" for this testing? When I say "industry name" I mean within the community of people who work within sexual public health work.

Any and all input, especially from folks who have been thru this process with no insurance is welcome.

Thanks

pre ejaculate

Hello Ladies, gentlemen, dogs, cats and other wonderful types,

How possible is it, exactly, to become pregnant from pre-cum?

Planned Parenthood?

So, we're basically 99.9% sure that I'm pregnant, and we're going to end the pregnancy.
My boyfriend and I are going to the PP in York, PA. I was looking on their website and it says that you have to have a birth certificate and all that jazz. Do you need this to get looked at, or would a drivers license be good enough?
My sweetheart is being amazing and is paying for it, so would he be the one who needs his birth certificate and paystub and stuff like that?
Sorry, I'm 200 miles from home, scared, and well, confused. Thanks ladies (and gents)!!

Why am I throwing up in the morning?!

That's the panicked sort of question going on in my head. I take my HBC within 5 minutes of scheduled time every night, and I've never missed a pill. My period was on time last month. Last night was my last active pill of my current pack, and I took it on time as well.

My boyfriend and I frequently have sex with no condom, and he usually doesn't pull out.

This morning, I threw up within an hour of waking up, and a little nagging voice in my head is going "Hmm... morning sickness?"

The only thing that's keeping me from full blown panic is that this morning, right before I got nauseated and sick, I chugged cool water and took a rather large multivitamin on an empty stomach. Last time I got nauseated in the morning, probably a week and a half to two weeks ago, was on a morning where I had done the exact same thing.

So um... I guess my long winded question is, it's far more likely that I have a weak stomach than likely that I'm preggers, right?

Current Mood: amused

Warning Dream

something unusual happened last night. it was actually kind of neat, though.

i was due for my period (it was running a little late due to my recent exercise regemin, i think), and i just went to sleep. sometime in the middle of the night i had a really graphic (and kind of gross) dream about pipes bursting and blood coming out of them. it woke me up.
so i went to the bathroom... and my period had just started.

so... psychic connection or coincidence? haha.

Placebo week falls on honeymoon. Is there a way around this?

I just started taking OTC-LO this past Sunday (first time BC user). After going through my calendar and mapping out which days to start new packs and which days the withdrawal bleeding should start, I came to realize that I'd be starting the placebo pills on December 28 which is the day I leave for my honeymoon. Obviously I am not happy about having the withdrawal bleeding for the duration of my honeymoon and I am trying to find a way around this. My mother told me to simply stop taking the pills and try again in January after the wedding and honeymoon are over (before starting the pills my period came in the second week of the month which would make me period free for the honeymoon).

A friend of my mom's suggested something that she's done in the past which is to take the rest of my week 1 pills and then all of the week 2 pills and then going straight to the placebo pills in order to move my withdrawal bleeding up a week. Then after the placebo pills start a new pack and continue as normal. Would this work though on a triphasic pill? Would the withdrawal bleeding start after the second week or would it need the third week of high dose pills?

Then the third option would be to take the pill as normal until Dec 27 and then skip the placebo pills and go straight to the next pack, as I read in the Vulvapedia.

I guess I'm just wondering if it's possible to shift the placebo week or if my best bet is to simply attempt to skip that period altogether? Or should I just stop taking the pill now and try again in January?

And as a side note, pregnancy protection is not really an issue in determining which way to go on this. My finance and I are perfectly fine with using condoms or even abstaining from sex until this is all worked out. More than anything we just want a nice period-free honeymoon.

Edit: Another question that came to mind... If I were to simply stop the pills after less than a week of taking them, would I have been exposed to enough hormones to make my system off for next month? Or could I expect a rather normal period around the same time I would normally get it? I suppose it varies from person to person but I thought I'd ask.

ARGH! itchyness!

Ok this is driving me crazy. I am rather itchy down there on my outer lips on both sides but only in one spot of both of the sides not right on the top but just a bit lower any ideas as to why? it seems like I have had this itchy problem in these spots forever as in years I have itched it raw before but it always seems to heal and then I just end up itching it again as it bugs me. It is not a YI or a bacterial infection as I did go to the doctor and the wet mount test came back neg for everything so what the heck. Also is it possible to get a boil on your lower outer lip I have this bump there and its purple almost like its filled with blood. any ideas on what this might be? I know its not herpes as when I went to the doctor she took a swab of a bump I had down there and it also came back neg. Oh yes I swear the smell down there is gross I think it smells nasty is there anything I can do to make the smell better? I am really starting to hate my female parts

To Switch or Discontinue HBC

I've been on a generic of Ortho TriCyclen (TriNessa) for years, but now I'm only sexually active with one guy who has had a vasectomy. I don't need the BC for pregnancy protection, but I used to be very moody with PMS and had irregular periods. For various reasons, I don't want to stay on the BC I'm on (esp, the tri-phasic nature of it seems to make me act differently depending on where I am in my pack.) I'm considering either switching to a monophasic (perhaps seasonale or lybrel) or discontinuing use of BC to see how my body acts without now, since it's been years and has definitely gone through significant changes in that time. I seem to be pretty sensitive to hormones and meds, so either way I anticipate being thrown outta whack for a while.

I'm having trouble deciding which road to take. What are your thoughts on trying a new birth control now vs. going off HBC completely to see how I now am "naturally?"

orgasms

I have never been able to cum during sex. I have been able to make myself and one time i came when i was dry humping but never have i been able to during intercourse. I have come close but never all the way. I think it really bothers my boyfriend when he cant make me and it bothers me even worse that i cant. So i am wondering is this normal and why cant i? Will i ever be able to, and also what can i do to make it happen? Thank you so much.

Current Mood: curious

Birth Control Pill and Home Pregancy tests

I've always been curious about this:

What would a home pregancy test show while you are on the pill?

My thought is, it would show up positive since the pill mimics the hormones your body makes while pregant. Then again, maybe the newer HPT are senstive enough to distigush between the levels of hormone in the pill as compared to natural.

What is anyone else's opinion? Has anyone actually tried a HPT while on the pill, ring, patch or shot?

ectopic pregnancy

Hey everyone!! I have a question on behalf of my cousin.

( Problem is, she doesn't have health care )
Any answers, advice or stories would be appriciated, I really want to help through this difficult time, especially since I am so far away.
THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCHHH!!!

edit: sorry everyone, I meant ectopic pregnancy, I didnt realize what I was typing. The thing is she went to the ER and all they did was give her vicodin and told her to wait until the baby passed like a normal misscarrige.
They also said that the heavy bleeding is normal, which i find somewhat rediculouse beacuse I dont think she should be bleeding that much!!
thanks everyone, sorry I am so ESL'y jajaja

Current Mood: nauseated

ECP and Nausea

So I had to take emergency contraception recently (12 hours ago and then 12 hours before that, 4 pills each time, ortho evra) and I was horribly nauseous today, to the point of having to miss a class because of it. Does ECP really make one this sick to their stomach? I'm feeling better than I was before, but earlier it was terrible. I did not throw up though, thankfully. I've heard nausea is a side effect of taking ECP, but I didn't think it would be this bad. Is this normal?

Current Mood: sore

please don't shoot me;

I know there are always questions about UTI's, but all the info says they pain you experience is a burning sensation when you pee. I am not getting that. What I am experiencing however, is the constant sensation that I REALLY need to pee, peeing feels fine when I do it, right up until the end when there is this weird, painful spasm.
I had it on Saturday and was planning on going to the doctors on Monday, but them it went away. It's back again today and it is really uncomfortable. I now have a sharp pain on the right of my abdomen between my pelvic bone and belly button.
Is that a UTI, or something else? Doc's aren't open until tomorrow morning at 8... in the mean time, I'm off to get a hot water bottle.

tiny bumbs on gums underneath the tongue..

God, you think I'd be able to go a day but I'm a walking nightmare when it comes to health "problems" (I put it in quotes because they're probably only problems because I'm blowing them out of proportion).

My aforementioned canker sore has started to subside, but I noticed tonight that it feels like there are a dozen and a half little, barely raised, bumps underneath my tongue on my gums. What are these?! HSV-1 breaks out on your lips, right? Thanks!

i don't know what to do!?

so i just took my BC pill
and... you know when sometimes you take a pill of sorts and it just kinda feels like its stuck in the back of your throat
like you can feel it there, not like something you can reach but you know its there
well.. it's there
i've been downing water but i can still feel it
should i take another?
will it just dissolve and be good?
will i not be protected?
WHAT DO I DOOO?!

sorry i'm kinda freaking out, there's probably a simple answer here.

period while on bcp

k guys, i have another question. so, i'm on birth control (Yasmin) and this is my first actual period while taking bcp and i take my fourth placebo pill, well, in right now as it's now 11pm. it started this afternoon and the flow is light but I'm also curious whether this is normal- the blood is fairly bright and it's mucousy. My normal period would be a very heavy flow, very dark in color, a lot of little clots, and the consistency is never mucousy and it never looks like there's mucous involved in the discharge as well. so, pretty much, i'm assuming that this is regular, but i'm also curious as to whether the mucous aspect is something i should be concerned about or whether it's common considering the bcp (or just, you know... not a sign of pregnancy or worse?).

thanks!

(no subject)

My hair's been falling out and while it could be a thyroid condition that runs in my family, it started not too long after I started taking Yaz. I stopped taking it a couple days ago (and consequently I have my period a week early, awesome) and will hopefully be able to consult my gyno and primary physician when I go home in a few weeks. Until then, I want to ask some advice from you guys.

My mother says it must be the hormones in the pill making me bald. And I'm gonna go ahead and assume that all pills have hormones in them. Are there any methods of contraception (oral or otherwise) that won't turn me into Captain Picard? Also, will they help with PMS and acne like Yaz did?I should not have to choose between pimples and baldness!