UTI

[eatswithfork.livejournal.com]

I'm nearly positive that I have an upper UTI - aka kidney infection. I had one about three months ago and it feels exactly the same. I'll see a doctor but I also want to get going on cranberry juice asap. I was wondering if cranberry juice remains effective at helping with a UTI if it has been cooked into a sauce or something because I can't stand drinking it. Thanks in advance :)

(no subject)

[happydragons.livejournal.com]

I am on the pill, but I need to change my scheduling a bit as at the moment I'm predicted a period that is going to clash pretty horribly. Even if I run two packs together it still falls on awkward dates.

I was thinking therefore of stopping the pill for two weeks rather than one, then continuing again as normal. Could anyone advise me on what (if anything) is likely to happen if I go this route? Is my period likely to just settle back in as it should? Alternatively, perhaps I could take the pill for two weeks instead of three, then continue as normal?

I realise it's probably a case that neither are particuarly great, but is one less likely to cause problems than the other?

pregnancy, trying to conceive, irregular periods, the pill....

[smokeswirls.livejournal.com]

I'm currently 25 (will be 26 in June), and I think I'm definitely at that baby-crazy stage.

In the past week, I've watched two documentaries about babies and childbirth. I melt every time I see a baby, I get secretly excited when I walk by baby clothing shops and daydream about how I would dress my kids, etc, etc. I definitely want to have children in the future, and it would be ideal for me to have my first by age 29 or so (of course, given that I'm married by 27/28).

This is my concern:

Before I went on the Pill about 5 years ago, my periods were very irregular. I remember one year, I didn't get a period for 4 months. And then when I did get my period, I often had terrible cramps. So, my gyno naturally prescribed birth control pills.

I was on BC for the past 5 years, and then I went off of it 4 months ago because 1. it was just way too expensive 2. my boyfriend and I are currently long distance, so I won't be having sex for months at a time and 3. I thought I'd try life without it.

Ever since I got off the Pill 4 months ago, my periods have come pretty much on the dot with very little cramping and discomfort. I hope it stays this way!

I'm just concerned that since my periods were so irregular before, will it take a while for me to conceive when I actually do want to get pregnant? Or does irregularity have no correlation with this? Have any of you had irregular periods but got pregnant relatively quickly?

Questions about dildos aka electric bananas.

[whimaway.livejournal.com]

So I figure this is as good a place as any to post for advice about buying a sex toy.

( Read more... )

Concerns about pregnancy.

[onlygoodbook.livejournal.com]

I had sex last month on days 6 and 8 of my cycle (used condoms with no issues, but no hormonal birth control). I believe I ovulated on or around day 13, so even if there had been a mishap, the sperm would have needed to hang out for a few days before the egg showed up to the party. Period came on time (usually comes between days 29 and 34 and showed up on day 29, not unusual). Period was a little lighter than usual, though still enough blood to fill a few super tampons in the first few days. Cramps were not as intense as usual (usually killer) but had very bad cramps overnight on the first day of my period. So there was significant bleeding over several days and some definite strong cramps, though my period was milder than usual on both counts. The past week or so, I've been nauseous and the past three days, my chest has been very tight and I've had trouble drawing full breaths. I read that shortness of breath is a fairly common early pregnancy symptom, and the nausea - while it could be partially blamed on mucus drainage from a cold I've had - is worrying, too.

I'm really concerned with the slightly gentler period (though they have been gradually becoming milder over the past few months) and now nausea and shortness of breath that won't go away.


I've also just been very stressed the past month and a half. It's very cold. I've had a mild cold the past week. My boyfriend is sure I'm anemic - there's a family history and I've been feeling fatigued, headachy, short of breath. I've very very rarely felt short of breath for short periods of time (a few hours at a stretch) seemingly randomly in the past but never for most of three days.

Looking through Everyday Bodies

[totheminute.livejournal.com]

Hi there!

I could have sworn that at one time I saw a gallery (was it Everyday Bodies?) that featured vagina lips. I looked in the Everyday Bodies gallery and there's a section for vulvas, which is great, but I'm looking for a gallery featuring specifically vagina lips. I could have sworn that I saw it last year. I can't find it anywhere.

Am I making things up? Perhaps it wasn't in the Everyday Bodies galleries? If someone can point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it!

Hormones Going Nuts - BHC Related/skipping periods?

[uberpiratewench.livejournal.com]

I hope this isn't too un-vagina related, but I'm a little astonished at my body/hormones these days and was wondering if anyone else had experienced the same or may have insight.

So, I'm 24. Over the past few days I've just been hormonal as a teenager: incredibly horny (and I mean to distraction and not in a nice way - I can SMELL every man around me. Very creepy), breaking out like I haven't since my preteens and moody as all get out.

So, here's my thoughts on what could be going on: I've been on HBC for years, and this particular brand for about 5 months and this has never happened before. I was recently battling some kidney/UTI problems and have been on and off anti-biotics for close to a month. My GP advised that I use a back-up method and then skip over the 7 off-days. Check and check, however.... since, I was ill for so long, this essentially means that I skipped two menstrual cycles.

So, my thoughts are, is this a delayed disagreement with my newest form of HBC? Or might this have something to do with changing around my pill cycle/skipping a number of consecutive periods? Conversely, is it possible that antibiotics caused the HBC to fail such that I've ovulated and am experiencing one of my first "real" cycles for close to a decade?

Period Shame?

[kuradi8.livejournal.com]

I'm a menstrual cup user but my friend is not.  We were talking about gross things that dogs do and she said that her dogs will eat her used tampons out of the bathroom trash if she doesn't keep the door shut during that time.

Our husbands happened to have over-heard that part of our conversation and while her husband shrugged it off, my husband was a bit horrified at the thought.  (Which I found amusing...)  Thinking back to nature programs I've seen on TV, it seems to be part of nature for female animals to hide any evidence of either being in heat (and not ready to mate) or placenta from a birth to protect their newborns -- often by eating it.

Most of us consider having our periods as "private" and might even change the subject or deny it if asked -- but reactions can range to and beyond "shameful."

I wonder if we humans don't still have some of that same animal instinct to hide our periods.

What are your thoughts on this?  Nature versus nurture?  Instinctual versus societal?

Or am I way off base?

EDITED TO ADD:
I'm pleasantly surprised at how much discussion this generated.
THANK YOU for so many thoughtful and insightful replies!
And there are so many INTERESTING tangents, it's like a flower with beautiful petals.  :o)

Colour of menses and anemia?

[ascentintochaos.livejournal.com]

If you had iron-deficient anemia, would the colour of your period blood change? I'm hypothesizing that it would be less red and more brownish.

Put another way, can you tell if you have anemia by the colour of your blood? (Of course you'd go to the doc to diagnose you with anemia, but I'm wondering if the colour of your period blood can at least give you some indication.)

BV that simply will not go away?!

[b1ack-bile.livejournal.com]

I've had BV non-stop for almost a full year now. I've gone to my gynecologist and every single time, I test with BV. To add insult to injury, it's accompanied with a terrible metallic smell that makes me feel extremely self-conscious and is seriously affecting my self-image. I've tried several rounds of Metronidazole as well as some odd gel inserted vaginally that we tried. I'm not testing positive for anything else, and I can't figure out why this won't go away!! I also feel very embarrassed coming back over and over again because of this. I was researching this and I found this post:
http://community.livejournal.com/vaginapagina/18727299.html#cutid1

Does anyone know how long the hydrogen peroxide method takes? Also, in the event that doesn't work either... is there anything you knowledgeable ladies think it might be that I should run past my gynecologist? D:

Breast tenderness; low libido

[electricdruid.livejournal.com]

Hello, all. I've gone through the tags and I don't see anything that really answers my questions, so here we go! My apologies for neither question being strictly vagina-related, but there were precedents in the tags for both. They are a bit rambly so I've put them behind cuts.

( 1. The Boobs )

( 2. My ailing libido )

Any help would be greatly appreciated.