Pain during intercourse?

[x0x-whisper-x0x.livejournal.com]

So, I've had a bunch of UTI's and yeast infections over the past couple months. Just me being stupid and not careful with the whole peeing after sex thing and not wearing cotton underwear. Poor vagina. = [ Well, I cleared up my last yeast infection with Monistat 7. I waited a week after my treatment before I had sex again and I thought it would be okay. When I started to have sex it was painful. Mainly near the bottom of my vagina opening. Why is this happening? This isn't the first time i've felt this pain during sex. It's only during sex, I don't understand. All advice is deeply appreciated.

Thank you! You girls are the best! =]

questions about UTI, antidepressants, insomnia

[ohathena.livejournal.com]

Hi VPers!
This has kind of been the week from hell, and I really need some help. There's a bit of a back-story, so please bear with me!

My long-term boyfriend and I broke up a week and a half ago... I have been diagnosed with clinical depression but never needed medication for it, but the breakup really caused me to hit a wall. It has kind of been a downward spiral... The ex asked me to crash at his place on Monday and Tuesday because things are amicable and he has been concerned about me. On Tuesday, despite my stupid, fragile state, we had sex. I tried talking myself into thinking it could be something purely physical, and that we should just enjoy it one last time without feeling guilty. As he said that evening, "well, we always did have amazing sex."

Right. Well, the ex-sex was amazing, but I think I may have added another concern to my heaping pile of issues, in addition to the emotional ramifications of sleeping with the guy who so recently broke my heart and sent me tumbling into a nervous breakdown that is causing me to go on antidepressants and drop classes mid-semester.

So here's the skinny: my psychiatrist prescribed prozac yesterday, and my body is completely freaked out by the medication. I started alesse a few weeks ago (after six days of having a terrible reaction to the nuva ring, I decided to switch to something low-dose) and am having my third period in five weeks... I managed to get 3 hours of sleep before waking up at 5:30 AM going "OMG THIS FEELS LIKE A UTI" tonight, what with the constant burning and running to the bathroom to pee every 15 minutes. I had a really terrible UTI that moved to my kidneys last month when I had still been sleeping regularly with the ex (before he was the ex), which landed me in the ER... and now I'm pretty worried that I'm in for a repeat. I have been really good about peeing after sex, including the incident on Tuesday, but I guess that didn't do the trick?

My questions:

1.) Am I ever going to sleep again? This medication makes me feel completely loopy, and I'm taking it with melatonin at night, but mostly I feel completely sketched out and sleepy but unable to stop feeling gross for long enough to fall asleep. It's bad enough to be completely melting down and watching my life fall apart without worrying about insomnia.
2.) Are there any miracle tips for fixing this UTI before it gets any worse, other than drinking tons and tons of cranberry juice?
3.) In my side-effects pamphlet for prozac it said that it may cause problems with urination, but didn't elaborate. Could this be a reaction to the medication instead of some cosmic joke on me for being stupid enough to sleep with my ex?
4.) Can pads/tampons irritate a UTI, and are there certain types or brands I should avoid?

Sorry for the long ramble! I really hope that you fine readers of VP will be able to lend me a hand.

EDIT: Thanks so much for all of the amazing advice and support; I went to the clinic, and it is a UTI... The doc  prescribed Cipro XL (three 500mg horse pills)... He said that it sounds like my brain/body are just adjusting to the levels of serotonin in the prozac, so I need to give it a couple of weeks to work (unless things take a decided turn for the worst). I called in sick for work so that I'm not running to the bathroom all the time, and have made sleeping arrangements if I end up crashing in the city tonight. Hooray!

Also, I totally didn't mean to villanize the ex; I just spent an hour and a half on the phone with him while he talked me down from the crazies, so it's pretty tough to be mad at the guy for being every bit as confused as I am when it comes to dealing with the breakup.

Alcohol and periods?

[bloody-kisser.livejournal.com]

This might sound stupid, but I just have a quick question.

I'm on my period (It's my second day, and it's a pretty mild flow), I have some cramps, a bit of nausea, but I plan on drinking tonight at a Halloween party I've having. Do you think alcohol + period could cause any problems? I don't plan on being unsafe about my drinking, but I'm just curious if anything like stomach pains/nausea could be made worse, or bleeding, etc?

Thank you in advance. =)

Edit: I would also like to put in here, since I forgot to mention it, I'm not drinking beer tonight, just Hard Alcohol.

Spotting... for a week!

[boltedshut.livejournal.com]

Hi VPer's

So just trying to figure out what's going on with my fabulous reproductive system...
I've been spotting for a week, I've been pretty crampy but with no flow... I'm on day 28 of my cycle right now...
I'm 27, have a paragard IUD for way over a year, have only one ovary (had an oopherectomy 10/06), and last time my gyno checked my pathetic excuse for an ovary in July, she did see some follicles hanging out on my ovary... Also my tummy doctor sent me for a cat scan and saw an cyst on my ovary but said it wasn't anything to worry abt (i scoffed at him and told him he was a gastrointerologist not a gyno... he thought it was funny)
I have not had sex in way over a month, which now that i see in writing... is sad, lol...

any thoughts?

asking for someone else

[tintaglia30.livejournal.com]

Okay, I am asking this on behalf of my 70-odd year old mother (I shit you not) she THINKS she has vaginal thrush - but she has open sores on the out side, around the vaginal area... so my question is; IS it usual to get actual open sores with plain old thrush (god knows I've never had open sores with it) and is it okay to use over the counter treatments with open sores?
I swear I have googled but again, my google-fu is broken :(
Being old she is reluctant to speak to the doctor about it, though she is going in to get her flu jab later and if it is better to ask at the surgery I will tell her to do so.

I got my period, but I'm still worried.

[lleeeesshhhh.livejournal.com]

I posted an entry a little while ago, about being a week late and panicking about being pregnant, when I've really only had oral sex. On the 27th I had a lot discharge which turned brown later on in the night. I put on a pad just to be safe and when I woke up it was full and it seemed I had started my period. For the first couple of days it was pretty heavy and I had to change pads multiple times. I'm now on the fourth day and it seems mostly brownish. I've been looking up a lot of stuff and worrying that maybe this isn't a period after all. Yesterday I felt extremely hungry but when I tried to eat I felt like I was going to gag. I barely managed to swallow anything down for lunch and dinner. I talked with my mom about my anxiety and everything and she told me I just needed to calm down. After the conversation I felt better and even gained my appetite back, but now that I've just woken up for the day I feel like I've repeated the cycle all over again. I feel starved but feel like gagging whenever I think about food. I want to blame this all on stress becase this has happened to me before and on the days when I had other stuff to do and think about I didn't have this problem, but I can't stop myself from worrying that it could be something else.


I guess I don't really know why I'm writing. Everyone in this community is really nice and intelligent and made me feel extremely comfortable last time around. If this is anxiety, I'm really tired of constantly thinking about pregnancy and making myself feel sick. I miss the constant eating I used to participate in. :( I really was going to buy a pregnancy test yesterday but they were locked in a glass case and they were all around 20 dollars. I don't want to spend that kind of money if I'm just being silly. I do have an appointment with my new gynecologist a couple days after I'm supposed to finish this "period", so I guess I'll know for sure by then. In the mean time, every day kind of feels like hell.

Does this sound like morning sickness or any other kind of "baby induced" nausea? If it's just anxiety is there anyone else who has been through something similar and can offer some advice on how to block this out and get back to eating normally?

This probably isn't really what this community is for, so I apologize and will direct my question somewhere else if you like.

how long after a colposcopy..

[villagetheatre.livejournal.com]

Do you have to wait until you can have sex* again? Thanks!

*sorry!

Daylight Savings Fun with HBC

[frolicnaked.livejournal.com]

Hello, takers of HBC and anyone else interested in these kinds of things. :)

In most areas of the United States and Canada, Daylight Savings Time ends at 2:00am this Sunday, November 2.

In VP, this is often a time when we see quite a few posts by people using HBC (primarily pills), wondering how this affects their protection as well as when they should take their pills due to the time change.

We actually do address this question in this section of our Vulvapedia entry on hormonal birth control. However, because of the number of folks who tend to wonder about this thing twice a year or so, we thought it was worth posting a reminder to the community main page. (And since the question is answered in our HBC Vulvapedia entry, it's also worth noting that it's deletable as a frequently asked question according to VP policy.)

The bottom line: in terms of pill-taking, Daylight Savings Time is not a big deal:

"...if you have otherwise been taking your pills at the same time, changing the time for one pill should not measurably compromise its effectiveness. For people having concerns about Daylight Savings Time changes, you can continue to take your pill at the same clock time since the one-time one hour difference is not likely to alter the pill's overall effectiveness."

You can continue taking your pills at your regular clock time.

If you'd prefer to be extra cautious, there's no harm in using a back up method for 7 days. However, the credible sources we've been able to find -- primarily, the folks over at the Managing Contraception website -- suggest that back-up protection isn't actually necessary as DST shouldn't measurably reduce your protection.

So do what works best for you, and enjoy any Halloween candy you might be eating today or extra hours you might be having this weekend. :)

-- Tori
For the VP Team
contact_vp

no period yet

[llama4u448.livejournal.com]

Is it normal for your period to come late in the placebo week on a low dose pill? I am a sunday starter and have yet to get it. I was on the mini pill and just switched to combined. Also does the time a day when you take your pill affect when you get your period? I take mine at 10:30 at night.  If I don't bleed what do I do? If I take a test and it comes out negative do I just keep taking it till I can get in contact with a doctor?

UTI Pain - Help!

[xxcacoethes.livejournal.com]

I was diagnosed with a UTI three days ago. I've been on Cipro (1000 mg once per day) for the past three days. I was feeling fine after taking the meds on the first and second days of treatment, but today (my last day of antibiotics) the itching and pain has come back in a MAJOR way.

I cannot get into any walk-in clinics tonight, and I really don't want to go to the emergency room and wait many hours to be seen just for more UTI antibiotics... But it hurts. It isn't kidney pain or even bladder pain, just itching and pain in my urethra. I know that I don't have a major complication or anything, just this pain.

Does anyone have any suggestions for pain/discomfort relief until tomorrow morning when I can see a doctor? I've tried some ibuprofen (Advil), but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Please help!

ingrown hair prevention

[iguanasdefuego.livejournal.com]

Question about ingrown hairs and overweight people...
(This is really about my boyfriend, but I'd imagine a woman with his weight (330 lbs) could have the same issues)

My boyfriend will shave the hair where his legs join his torso every once in a while, otherwise they get kinda tangley and annoying.

The problem is, he gets what I think are massively ingrown hairs. We're talking hard sores, 1/2" or so in diameter with puss in them. It's only where he shaves and never on his actual genitals. We've been monogamous for 3 years so I'm not worried about STDs.

I think the friction from walking is irritating the hair and causing it to be ingrown. Is there anything we can do to fix this? They are really painful for him :(

red and itchy

[hollysucks.livejournal.com]

i've tried searching here to see if anyone else has posted something similar but i havent seen anything (maybe i didnt go back far enough?)

i'm from mississippi, but i've lived else where for the past 6 years. i moved back a year ago and we all know how hot and humid mississippi is. i sweat .. ALOT. lately, i've gotten red, itchy skin. nothing else, just an itch and im pretty sure it's probably red bc i find it hard not to scratch sometimes and its way irritated. i know its from sweating, but does anyone have any suggestion as how to prevent sweating so bad .. there? or something that will help clear this up and not itch as bad?

Thanks!