PCOS?

[estrellafugaz85.livejournal.com]

I finally got my pelvic scan today after months of worrying and misdiagnosis and tests. I was initially diagnosed with PID in January and have had recurrent BV ever since then, but the scan showed no evidence of PID or fluid in my pelvis. The tech did say my ovaries looked polycystic. I've always worried about having PCOS but doctors told me I had none of the symptoms - I'm not overweight and my periods are like clockwork. They stopped while I was on Cerazette but came right back 4 weeks after I stopped taking it. I went to the doctor thinking about PCOS or hormonal issues as my acne came back (the pill had almost totally cured it) and the doctor basically brushed me off saying I wasn't that spotty or hairy and that there was absolutely no reason to think I have PCOS. In fact when she was telling me about how I should have the ultrasound scan, she said 'some women just like to be reassured they don't have cysts on their ovaries', as if that were the worst thing in the world and she was sure I wouldn't have them :(

So apparently my GP needs to run more tests to confirm which will take another week or two. Does anyone else have any experiences with this? Is PCOS related at all to pelvic pain (this is the reason I went for the scan)? Is it possible to have lots of little cysts without actually having PCOS? Does anyone have PCOS without being overweight, really spotty and hairy? Any answers appreciated!

EDIT - how significant are skin tags? I've been getting them on my chest and near my armpits for years now. I see they can be a sign of PCOS, but googling 'skin tags chest', it seems that they are very common among the general population as well.

Leg hair!

[purple-solle.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone,

I think I want to stop shaving my legs, but continue shaving everything else weekly. I don't really see a point in shaving my legs anymore - they get stubbly again after a day anyway, and I don't wear skirts or dresses at all, so I won't be "putting them on display" so to speak. Is this a completely wild and unconventional idea, or is it secretly pretty common to shave armpits and pubes but not legs?

I haven't shaved them for at least three weeks now, and the hairs are a lot less coarse and visible than I thought they'd be. (I'm blonde, which helps, I guess.) I really feel pretty comfortable with it, and I'm already enjoying not feeling the constant pressure to have smooth legs all the time. How long would it normally take before the hairs are completely back to "normal" (i.e. for new hairs to grow that aren't cut off at the tip by shaving)? Are there any disadvantages I could have overlooked?

I'd love to hear experiences, advice, reactions, anything. :)

broken blood vessels on breasts?

[misssockpuppet.livejournal.com]

hey everyone, for the last two nights ive gotten a few dark blood vessels, no bigger than the head of a pin, on my breasts and i am freaking out because i have no idea if this means pregnancy or breast cancer or something. i doubt i'm pregnant because my boyfriend has the inability to cum around me and im also on birth control. my skin has been pretty dry and i do sleep on my stomach with my arms wrapped near my breasts, so maybe thats all. but i just wanted to know if someone knows whats up?!
here's a picture, it shows 4, but theres probably about 3 or 4 more, very faint coloured ones.


NSFW:

http://pics.livejournal.com/misssockpuppet/pic/000044q8/

"Wouldn't you have that figured out by now?"

[frolicnaked.livejournal.com]

This is what a security monitor at school asked about a teenage student darting across the hall to the bathroom, plastic crinkly pad in hand. What she didn't know is that I was standing there wearing 3 different menstrual products and wishing I'd bought another pack of Depends, simultaneously sympathetic to my student's need for and intensely jealous of her ability to get a bathroom pass.

Here's the thing: I'm 28. At this point, I've been menstruating for over half my life ( not continuously, with the exception of the months I was on Depo and mid-2006 through mid-2009). Though I've not yet crocheted my own tampons, I have tried mostly every category of menstrual product available. And I've been hearing the "figure it out" mindset for a number of years and from a number of people. (And I'm reacting as much to that decade and a half of buildup as much as -- probably even more than -- the one sentence I heard spoken today.)

I still don't have that figured out -- so why would I expect an 18-year-old to? Not that some 18-year-olds or younger people don't have blood management figured out, but I also think there's a distinction between what individuals do and what society can or should expect.

I am also not a fan of the messages this may send about menstruation. I'm seeing "figuring that out" as involving a couple of different things:

One should manage bleeding in such a way that it doesn't alter (or appear to alter) your daily activities or commitments in any way.

Again, while I think a lot of people do have this goal, I wouldn't totally mind just being able to go to the bathroom more often to take care of menorrhaging. (Fuck you, Firefox spell check, it is so a word.) Well, I should clarify. I'd like not to have to live on the toilet, but I'd also very much enjoy having more frequent bathroom breaks as an option on par with, "Use a number of blood collecting devices in and around your crotchal region. Also wear dark pants, cross your legs, and hope."

The second implication of "figuring that out":

One should manage bleeding in such a way that no one else will know about it if they don't want to.

Because, you know, sometimes people tell me that they need to change their tampon/pad/whatever, and sometimes I tell the same to other people. I've received -- and I imagine others have received -- some shocked and disgusted reactions from approaching it in a matter-of-fact, conversational manner. Like what I should have "figured out" is not to talk about my period. Ever. Or if I must, only to do in in a shamed whisper where the words "pad" and/or "tampon" are spoken so quietly as to be inaudible and where I also do not make eye contact with the person to whom I am speaking.

I am (or I would, theoretically, as applied to me) be all for a way to bleed where no one else would know about it if I didn't want them to. However, I'm not so thrilled with the thought that the focus should be on someone else's convenience. Blood happens, you know?


PS -- For any cup-a-philes, my large Yuuki cup arrived today. It holds 50% more than my small UK Mooncup; I have hopes that it alone will help me "figure out" blood management for 45-60 minutes at a pop. :D

I hate to add another "I can't orgasm" but....

[neyaae.livejournal.com]

I like sex. A lot. And masturbating. But, I don't feel like I'm getting the full experience. I have orgasms, at least I'm pretty sure they're orgasms, but they're not that exciting. I don't know how to explain it. But I'm always jealous of the guys I've slept with because it's so easy for them, and seems so amazing. I've never had an amazing orgasm. I really want to. I think that's part of the problem - that I want it so I think about it, and am trying to hard. I'm 22, had sex for the first time at 17. I've never felt anything good from manual stimulation of any of my parts, and I've never gotten anything out of oral sex. I seriously masturbated for the first time about six months ago, I got a vibrator. I think it's really weird that growing up I never masturbated, or even thought of it. I tried once and a while but could never get anything out of it. I bought the vibe after several months of no sex, it was hard to use at first but I've been working at it...the only way I can orgasm is by laying the vib on the bed and then sitting on top of it and moving my hips. Sometimes I insert it partially in my vagina and keep moving. Laying down doesn't do anything for me, even with the vib. Also I only orgasm from sex when I'm on top. So I'm thinking I get off from the rubbing on my clitoris, but when I or anyone else touches there I don't feel anything, even when I'm super turned on. I've tried lots of different things, different pressures and such, but no luck. I'm worried because I've been on antidepressants since I was 13, and I know that low sex drive can be a side effect - but I don't have a problem getting turned on. I'm worried though that maybe the chemicals eff'd up something in my brain while I was developing or something. I get excited very easily, but just can't seem to figure out how to have an orgasm that's more than just a light sensation. ALSO, every time I have these tiny orgasms, I have to pee like crazy - so even if I want to keep going I have to get up and pee, and by the time i come back i've lost interest and have to start all over again, and then pee again...vicious cycle. The best sex I've ever had was when the guy was wearing a vibrating ring and I was on top. But even then the orgasm didn't impress me much. I'm hoping to start experimenting more with partner toys, I've been away from home for a couple of months and am going back in a little over a week, and I'll be with my boyfriend again. I've been thinking about sex a lot lately. I don't have a vib here and have had some success with using...ehm....a bottle of spray hair gel (the only think I can think of), riding it like i do the vibrator. Me and my boyfriend even had phone sex the other day, I used my bottle - it helped a lot to hear him breathing, but still wasn't that great. I think I need to get to know what I like better, with toys and masturbating and stuff. But i don't have access to anything where I am now. And, the only thing that seems to make me come is "riding" something. It's definitely better with a vibrator than with my bottle, and sometimes sex with a guy is as good as using the vib.

SO, I guess I'm not sure what I'm trying to do by writing here...I'm afraid that my little orgasms are really the real thing and I just have higher expectations, but I really, really, REALLY hope not. I feel like sometimes I have super tiny orgasms, and other times they're stronger (like with the vibe ring), but they've never been mind-blowing. They last about a second, and immediately afterwards I'm no longer turned on and also have to pee.

Are my expectations just too high?

Why can't I finish/come?

[spiffygirlx.livejournal.com]

No matter how hard I try, or how much time is spent, either with my boyfriend or by myself, I can't seem to finish/come.

I get really close I think, my body shakes and I get hot and sweat, it starts feeling like I'm going to explode, to the point of discomfort....yet...no come. I've varied techniques: speeding up makes it uncomfortable, slowing down just prolongs the excitement; I can't seem to find a happy medium.

Boyfriend takes his time and is really concerned with making me happy, so I'm starting to sense that he feels...not so good...about not getting me to come. In return, I feel bad, though I can't help it.

Anyone else have this problem? What are some tips to help get me to finish?

recurring bleeding during sex? sti? yi? polyp? i don't know what to think!

[speakupxdear.livejournal.com]

( Read more... )

a month ago this past sunday, I was having sex with my girlfriend and afterward I noticed there was a few bloody stains on my sheets- not straight blood, like it was mixed with whatever else usually comes out of your vagina during sex. I got kind of freaked out, but then assumed that maybe I had just broken my hymen, as she's my first sexual partner (I've never slept with a guy.) The next time we had sex, it happened again, but the ratio of blood to discharge was noticeably higher. I decided to go to my schools free all women's clinic a week later, tried to abstain in the meantime, failed, and it was a lot more blood than the last time. I went to the clinic, got a very basic pelvic exam (non pap/sti test) from the nurse practitioner there, and she told me that my inner labia right around my vagina just looked irritated and gave me some monistat. I finished the monistat and then immediately had my period, so it was another week after that when I had sex again. I was really afraid I was happening again and I felt a lot more wet than I usually do so we stopped, turned on the lights, and there was quite a bit of blood. To qualify: my girlfriend had put her hand on my arm and I had a bloody hand print on my arm, and her hands looked like how I would imagine someones hands would look after they stabbed someone. I freaked the fuck out, was immediately convinced I have a sti, and I am seeing the gyno this friday. The only reason I think I have an STI is because though I have had only one sexual partner, my girlfriend has had many, many dubious sexual encounters and is "pretty sure" her last partner was sti-free but my girlfriend hasn't been tested since, and we share the same toys, which we clean, but perhaps not thoroughly enough?

So, my fellow female-bodied folk, my question to you is: has anything remotely similar happened to you before? I'm panicking, I don't want an STI, I have no symptoms of a yeast infection and I feel like the only other possibility is some sort of polyp, but I have no idea if there are symptoms for that I should be looking out for, and in general I guess I'm just looking for ideas of what I should be expecting to hear/ to happen on friday. I'm really hoping for this to be resolved quickly, because I'm afraid it's taking a toll on my relationship- I have no issue with fingering my girlfriend while I'm of commission, but it's been a reallllly long time for me, we used to have a very active sex life and still do, I suppose, but it's killing me that I'm not getting off. I don't like clitoral orgasms with a partner, really, and it's becoming increasingly difficult to maintain any sem( Read more... )

blance of a sex drive or feel close to my girlfriend at all, and it's been showing. I figured that we could just fool around and she could get laid until I got all this figured out, but it's just frustrating for me. My girlfriend is just as frustrated, but I feel super alienated... I guess part II of my question is if any of you have suggestions on how to combat this feeling of sexual isolation other than by having sex.

my apologies, this turned super long, I know, but I can't really talk to anyone about this, as I'm not really out to my family and if I end up having an STI, I'd rather it be confidential. thanks guys,
( Read more... )