Pap smear while spotting?

[chaton-de-neige.livejournal.com]

My periods are irregular, and even more so when I'm stressed out. My last period ended March 4, 5 weeks ago, and since it's been five weeks I just figured I was skipping this month. Three weeks ago, when I didn't know I was going to skip/be late this month, I made my appointment for my pap smear this Thursday. This afternoon, I started spotting. Now, this is probably just spotting - a panty liner a would survive all day without being filled. I know I shouldn't get a pap if I'm on my period, because the blood can make the results difficult to read, but if it's light spotting, should I call and reschedule?
I'll call the office and ask in the morning, but for now I'd love to hear the opinion of anyone who's had experience with this. Thanks!

Oral Herpes - prescription meds worth it?

[archangelbeth]

So, I've got cold sores. I also have a miserable cold right now, and my immune system is apparently shot enough to let the one on my upper lip show up again. (It may be attempting to expand its territory along my upper lip, too, the blighted bastich.) Normally, I do pretty well just slathering the blighters with Blistex ointment all the time.

But I didn't even start slathering this one in time to hope it'd stall it long enough for my immune system to take care of it. (The thing started coming up while I was sleeping.)

So, for those of y'all who also suffer from HSV (or who know lots about it by now)... Would it be worth calling up my doctor and asking for a prescription for something anti-viral? Would that lessen the severity of this outbreak (which isn't going to get that severe, really) and/or shorten the duration (which is probably going to be 1-2 weeks before I feel "safe" to kiss or do other stuff with these lips)? And, er, got any suggestions as to what I might want to ask for besides "anti-cold-sore stuff"? O:>

Much thanks.

Edit: So I have 8 Valtrex pills (I've taken two of them), at a $45 co-pay. (If it was even a co-pay, at that!) I also have a tube of Super Lysine +, which claims the active ingredient is Zinc Oxide 1.2%, and the Inactive ingredients are: L-lysine, Aitamins A, D, and E in a natural base of Olive Oil, Yellow Beeswax, Goldenseal Extract (Hydrastis Canadensis), Propolis Extract, Calendula Officinalis Extract, Echinacea Angustifolia Extract, Cajeput Oil, Tea Tree Oil, Gum Benzoin Tincture, Honey. (www.quantumhealth.com is the brand's URL, heh!) The Valtrex claims dizziness is a potential side effect, and I can't tell, now, if I'm dizzy out of psychosomatic reaction, actual reaction to the pill's coating (I just took the silly things!), or because I need to eat lunch... >_>

And I have my eye on pure tea tree oil when I have the cash for it.

Sound like a plan? O:D

Edit (4.17.09): the Valtrex + Lysine goop combo bumped the cold sore from "rising blisters" to "pink, sensitive, and healing" in about a day! It never passed through the scabby stage at all. Excellent. I think I cut 2-3 days off the heal-time, minimum.

Period help!

[quest-question.livejournal.com]

Hello dear VPers! I have a pesky little problem. Aunt Flo has come visiting after 2 and a half months, and she is showing some extra love this time around. My period has been super-heavy, so much so that my blood pressure just goes very low. It has been over 10 days now and the flow is not decreasing at all. I don't want to visit the doctor and get any medication to help with this, because I am darned sure she will just give me hormones again. Seeing as hormones are what triggered this whole nightmare (PCOS) in the first place, I don't want to play around with it any more.

So my question is: Is there any non-hormonal, non-medicinal thing that I can take to stop the flow? Like some herbal tea or something? Please help, because I am tired of changing every few minutes and I am sore with all the blood I need to wash out from my stained clothes. :( 

Help, help, help!

Edited to add: Things are pretty much under control now. I talked to a naturopath and he gave me some tablets. He also advised sleeping with 2 pillows under my butt. From one napkin every couple hours, I am down to one napkin every 6 hours. And according to the doctor, the fall in blood pressure was related to blood loss - evidently I was *this* close to hemorrhaging. I've also been asked to drink lots of juice with extra salt in it. Tastes disgusting, but keeps that blood pressure high. *sigh*

Thank you for all your help! :) 

The bump/pimple/ingrown hair that won't die. Remedies?

[life-as-a-sock.livejournal.com]

Hey all! I've got a bump "thing" in my pubic hair, on the pubic mound, and it appears to be either A) a "blind" pimple that does not want to come to a head or B) a deep ingrown hair, which I'm prone to getting. My skin is very acne-prone and bump-prone everywhere, alas. The little bugger appeared on Monday; I'd both shaved the area and had a good amount of sex the day before, so okay, some irritation is to be expected.

Problem is, none of my at-home remedies are working on this sucker. Soaking in a bath and applying warm compresses brought out a bit of pus, but it's obviously not bringing out the whole mess. Trying to pop it (bad, I know!) has only served to make it tender and angry. My skin has recently become very sensitive to tea tree oil so I'm holding off on applying that to try and shrink it.

Does anyone have any other ideas for home remedies that might encourage this thing to run its course? Just keep hot-compressing it till it pops? It feels like there is a core (or whatever it might be) about the size of a pea under there, much like what happens when I get a blind pimple on my face.

I'm just no good at patiently letting things heal up! Sigh. Thanks in advance for any ideas!!!

Painful sex update #13

[elides.livejournal.com]

[Back story: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]

Bad news first. Okay we're still not having sex. We tried a bunch of times and thought it was just a question of "breaking her in", but she's still pretty sore. The difference now is she doesn't feel like she's tearing open or anyhing, just like a constant rugburn feeling. It hurts her enough that she's not into it no matter how much lube we use.
So she called the physical therapist again for more help. The PT suggested she get a new medical workup at tihs point before any more PT, and so my gf made an appointment with another office that specializes in pelvic floor problems. (She was going to go to Eleanor again but would have had to wait anohter month for an appt. It's better to see more doctors too though, more opinions, more experienece.) She was kind of "downgraded" from the main doctor she was told to see to the Nurse Practitioner, but she's had good experiences with NPs before so she went for it.
Shelly, the NP, did an exam and said she was VERY happy with my GF's muscle tone and how far the PT brought her, but saw some clear issues. Shelly found very very red tissue in three main places (a lot of red, like 60% of the circle) at the opening (vestubule?) of my GF's vagina and when she pressed with a q-tip on these spots, it proved that's exactly where it hurt. It's kind of surprising no one spotted this bright red tissue before, but there was so much else going on, who knows if they were even able to get a little bit of light in there TO see.
So my GF was diagnosed with Vaginismus originally, made worse by having excessively tight muscle tone and a small vagina, but now she's diagnosed with the very scary Vulvar Vestibulitis.
But that's the good news - apparently my gf's google research was kind of out of date on this, because there are steroid treatments and new options to pursue here! So now she has a shiny new steroid prescription to rub into the affected areas twice a day, and Shelly says this will hopefully un-inflame the tissue over the next 1-4 months. My GF has a followup appointment set for 1 month. (I can get the name of the steroid when I get home from work if anyone wants to know.)
If this doesn't work Shelly said there are several other options to pursue, including some strange anti-depressant that actually works on the inflamed tissue in situations like this. My GF doesn't do drugs so that's a kind of last resort, but whatever it takes to be "normal" in a situation like this is worth it...
Anyway that's the update, thanks all for your continuing support as always:)
Edit, it's Desoximetasone 0.25%

Mow That Lawn, Trim That Bush!

[kuradi8.livejournal.com]

It ain't about yard care...

Here's an advertisement that we would definitely NOT see on American TV!  http://creativity-online.com/work/view?seed=5284d9f5

Ooh-la-la!  Risque humor!

Mirena IUD Insertion Questions

[randomtrend.livejournal.com]

So I had my consult appointment at PP for the Mirena today. It went well, the doctor is super nice, and she gave me some misoprostol for me to take before I come in.
I do have a few questions though:

Has anyone here from Wisconsin qualified for the family planning waiver? I'm just looking for experience because the whole process freaked me out. I'm a nanny, so I don't get real official looking payment stubs (even though my employers do take out for taxes and whatnot) and PP told me that the case manager who will be in charge of me will probably hassle me about this. Any tips on how to handle that?

Concerning the misoprostol, she told me to take it vaginally 5 hours before my appointment. She gave me two tablets but told me I should only take one. They'll give me two more to take if it doesn't go in very easily. How bad would it be just to take both right away? I got lucky, and the first appointment they have open is also the week I will have my period so that should help right? Also, anyone who has taken miso. vaginally... what were your side effects?

How many of you needed a hand to hold during the process? I was told I can't bring my boyfriend in with me, so I told her I would need a nurse or someone there to comfort me and she just laughed. I was totally serious though, I don't know how I'll get through it without something to squeeze!

x-posted to iud_divas

Unwanted Period

[ticklemepiink.livejournal.com]

So tomorrow night is my anniversary. Today I started spotting and feeling crampy. I'm not on the pill anymore but my periods been ranging from 32-38 days a cycle. I didn't expect it til next week... yet, it seems it's rearing it's ugly head. I have left over pills. Is there a safe way to take a few of them and make my period disappear without fully going back in the pill?

I don't want to hurt my body and I know this isn't the best idea I've ever had but I really wanted to have a lot of sex and oral sex tomorrow night, as we're staying at a really nice hotel.

Anyone have any suggestions for me on making this blasted thing disappear?

Much thanks!

Using urine to rinse menstrual cup. Mercury in urine.

[carmensandra.livejournal.com]

I have heard that some people use urine to rinse off their cups when they don't have anything else. 
Do you? Why or why not?

If you have amalgam( siliver/mercury) fillings, you might be peeing away the mercury that you swallow. I guess you would also be peeing away some of the mercury in the foods you eat. So it just doesn't seem safe to me to use urine.

Any thoughts?

Causes of BV.

[reddreams.livejournal.com]

Okay, so. I have recently come to the conclusion that I have chronic BV. I can keep the symptoms at bay using hydrogen peroxide douches and the antibiotics that are prescribed to me. But as soon as I finish a treatment cycle, BAM, I'm right back where I started. I can curb the symptoms, but it seems to me that the infection is never actually leaving my body. So at the latest clinic trip, I asked WHY this is happening! What is causing this over and over and over again? The clinician and I walked through all the most probable causes of BV: wiping the wrong direction after using the toilet, wearing thong underwear, engaging in anal sex, poor personal hygiene (including not changing underwear often enough), having a partner with poor personal hygiene, using OTC douches, any sort of scented soap/feminine hygiene products, etc. We determined that I am guilty of NONE of these things. I asked if it were possible that my partner was infected and transferring the infection back to me during sex (as we don't use a barrier method), and she said that wasn't possible being that he is circumsized, and even in non circumsized men it is very rare. Then she said, "well, it must just be stress, then."

Um, what? Okay. I'm not a medical professional, and I don't have a complete understanding of the bacteria in question and how it works. And I know that stress (physical and mental) can play a big toll on your body. But.. it just doesn't seem to me like stress would be causing a constant infection like this. I can't tell if she was serious, or if she was just trying to come up with anything to get me to shut up, because I am very exasperated about this and was being very persistent. Also, she told me to hop in the shower and soap up my girly bits EVERY time I use the toilet, to get rid of any remaining bacteria after wiping. ... riiiiight. I guess I'll just have to find a full time job where I can WORK FROM HOME, or find a job with shower access!

So, I guess my question is, has anyone else been told that stress is a cause of BV? I'm really worried about this and hoping to pinpoint the problem so I can solve it, because I've been thinking lately that being on a CONSTANT regimen of metronidazole is probably not the greatest thing for me.

Any thoughts?

[princessdsf.livejournal.com]

So a couple of nights ago while watching porn, I decided to conduct a little "experiment".  I think I remember reading somewhere about a study that was conducted recently regarding if humans can pick up on the smells of arousal the way animals can. I decided to attempt to stay in a complete state of arousal the following day to see if anyone picked up my "scent"........ and the results were surprising!
During class, I had 3 different guys (which I hardly ever talk to) come up to me. One asked for my number, the other told me he loved me, and the third commented on how cute my toes were.
While at work, a guy that used to be a FWB (but we ended things like a year ago) told me for some reason he couldn't stop staring at my hiney.  I told him about the experiment I was trying, and he admitted that he hadn't had any type of sexual feelings toward me for quite a while until that day. He said it must work!
So, do you guys think this is all just a coincidence or can humans really pick up the scent of arousal?

prolonged yeast problems :(

[aerocowgirl.livejournal.com]

Hi all,

I'm having some major yeastie issues :(

I've basically had an on-again off-again yeast infection for over a year. I've never had any problems with this in the past but ever since I took antibiotics a year ago for dental work I've been completely messed up!

I've tried OTC creams like Monistat (which have worked the best), I've tried the stronger prescription cream (can't remember the name right now). I've tried Diflucan which had no positive affect whatsoever. My mother picked up some Acidophilus pills for me but she got chewable ones. I have no idea if this makes any difference. Any idea? At any rate, they didn't work either.

I've been to the doctor several times but since it comes and goes I used to not make a big deal about it. The last time I went to complain my doc couldn't look at me because of course I got my period that day..but when I told her I had a YI that wouldn't go away she seemed highly skeptical, surprised, and told me it probably isn't a YI. Fast forward, two weeks later I see someone else, she examines me, and says she sees only a little yeast, irritation and white blood cells but no other problems. She says it could potentially be BV because it can "off-set" things. I didn't really get her reasoning. I've never had any bad smell. Can anyone explain this to me?

I've been thinking about trying garlic next and if that doesn't work than I will try treatment for BV. Can anyone explain to me how to use garlic as treatment? I tried poking around on this site but I think I'm missing it...Anyone have any other ideas? My mother suggesting douching with vinegar but she also thinks vinegar can solve all problems. I have never heard of this treatment so it makes me nervous...

This is all very upsetting :( Even sitting is uncomfortable in certain ways...Sigh. Stupid antiobiotics!!

TIA :)

Rant! (reproductive education)

[atalanta0jess.livejournal.com]

So, I'm a biology grad student, and TA for a general biology class. The prof of the class rubs me wrong in so many ways...but here's another! I have to rant about it here, cause no one else understands. :(

I was tutoring today, and going through the powerpoint presentation that was used for the class. Not surprisingly, in the section about reproductive systems, he included a slide about birth control. Only the slide was titled "effective methods of birth control." Listed, of course, were the normal methods...but he left out withdrawal and FAM. And I just...GAH!!!!

Aren't we supposed to be teaching our students to think for themselves? And who the fuck is he to decide that a 21% failure rate (female condom) is acceptable, but a 27% failure rate (withdrawal) is not?

The slide on plan B also had a small but infuriating detail - it said it was meant for use after non-consensual or unprotected sex. Which is fine. But Plan B is also spectacular for use after protected sex during which the protection failed, and I think that's important to acknowledge. You can do everything right and still need Plan B.

These are little things I guess. Piled on a huge pile of general hatred for the fellow...but seriously. Lets give'em the facts!!

[Anonymous Post] SSRIs and Pregnancy

[rockstarbob.livejournal.com]

Greetings, fellow Superstars! As you probably know, from time to time the VP Team makes posts on behalf of people who wish to remain anonymous or who do not have LJ accounts. This is one such post. Thanks in advance for your helpful comments. :)

P.S. For more info on anonymous posts, see this link.

rockstarbob
For the VP Team
contact_vp

---

I take, and have been taking for many years, an SSRI antidepressant. I know from the leaflet that it's - if not contraindicated, certainly advised against -in pregnancy.

The problem is that, while I'd love to have a baby, I'd be terrified to stop taking these pills. Before I was on them I was suicidal, and had all sorts of violent physical effects.

I can't see how I could get through nine months without these drugs. What is your advice?

Taking medication vaginally

[bylandl.livejournal.com]

Hello fabulous VagPag-ers!
So I know that one can take the birth control pill vaginally if oral administration causes nausea.
Here's the question.
Can other meds be taken vaginally?  Is this just an estrogen-near-your-reproductive-bits-is-effective thing, or does the vaginal wall actually absorb the medication and let it into the bloodstream?

Thanks in advance.  I know it's a silly question, but I'm curious :)