ingrown hair or something worse?

[kelseyraex.livejournal.com]

okay, im a little worried.

so, on one side of my bikini line, just about where the fold is from pubic area to thigh, i got this really aggravated bump after shaving. this was a few weeks ago.. it immediately puffed up and was hardish to the touch. i put a small amount of bikini zone on, like always, and called it good. so last night, i was groomin' myself up and i felt that bump, only it was now under the skin. the only physical detail about it was that the spot was a bit purple, like it was filled with blood. so, i took a sterile pin and poked it. the needle went in without any problem and i couldnt feel it at all, like it was going into a little pocket. after removing the pin, a BUNCH of blood came out. i left it alone and then checked this morning and again, blood. not nearly as much but there was some when i pressed around the bump. it did sting a little this time, but it wasnt painful by any means. also, i can still feel a slightly hard little bump under my skin there.

so whats going on? i feel like i had this happen on my thigh once because of an ingrown hair, but i cant remember well enough to compare the two. the reason im so nervous is because a few years ago i had to deal with something called a pilodonial cyst or something like that, on my tailbone, and it pretty much starts out as a little blood (and pus) filled pocket.

basically, ive got myself all sorts of terrified. :{

low sex drive

[chipie.livejournal.com]

Hello!
Sorry, this post is a bit long and disjointed.

I made a post about this on sextips a while ago, and people recommended that I see a counsellor.  I went to see my school counsellor, who said she couldn't help me and referred me to another counsellors, who all charge 100 dollars an hour, which I definitely cannot afford.  So I was hoping some of you had some other suggestions for me!

My boyfriend and I have been together for 5 years, and have been living together for 2.  I basically never want to have sex, he wants to have sex at least once a day.  We compromised and aimed to have sex 3 to 4 times a week.  This compromise worked okay for a while, especially when sex was new for me.  Even then, I didn't have a very high sex drive, but I found sex fun.  But now, most of the time, it just feels like an obligation.  If my boyfriend never initated, I would probably want to have sex maybe once every week or two.  But since we have sex so often, it's never enough time for me to start to want to have sex.  So basically, I'm always having sex when I don't particularly want to.  (When I really don't want to have sex, we don't do it.  But when I don't really care, I try to force myself.  Usually I end up enjoying it, but lately I just can't get into it.)

I do go through phases of liking sex more than usual, and it's usually because we're trying something new.  The problem is that, since I don't really care about sex, I don't really fantasize about anything, so I don't have ideas of new things to try.  Also, I have vulvodynia and I can't have intercourse, which limits what we can do.

Right now I'm even more resentful because sex-related problems have basically taken over my life:
- First I had a copper IUD put it, then I got pregnant, then I had an abortion, and I still think about it all the time (though I don't really regret it).
- Then I got a Mirena IUD, which gave me a bunch of yeast infections which turned into constant itching of the vulva (which I am still dealing with even though I got the IUD taken out months ago). 
- I just got diagnosed with vulvodynia, and I'm about to start a treatment program. 

And I don't even particularly care about sex!  I just want my boyfriend and I to have a happier sex life.  We're both trying so hard but we can't figure it out.

(I should be clear though, that I really want to have a higher sex drive.  I want to solve this for my own sake too, not just my boyfriend's!)

What do you think I can do to increase my sex drive? 

I am not on hormonal birth control.

Thanks so much!

Newly chronic yeast infections

[fushigi-na-chou.livejournal.com]

Hello everyone; hope the day finds you well. I did a search through the tags and comments and wasn't really able to find anything that answered my question. So, here's the situation.

I've had two sexual partners in my life. The first one gave me no problems at all where my vagina was related -- no UTI's, no yeast infections, no random itchies, nothing. We were sexually active with one another for about 4 or 5 months, and we used a combination of condoms and me being on the pill during the time. Now, my most recent sexual partner/boyfriend and I have been sexually active together for about three months. I'm on my third (or second, since the second one might have been leftover from the first) yeast infection, when I've never ever had them before. He has no symptoms of a yeast infection, but is it still possible he has one? I'm just confused as to why I seem to be getting them constantly with him now. Neither of us is having sex with anyone else, and we're both fairly hygienic so far as I can tell. I'm not on antibiotics or hormonal birth control, and we rarely use condoms (we use a combination of FAM/withdrawal). The only thing that I can think of that's different is that he performs oral sex on me (which did not happen with my previous partner), and I've started shaving all my hair down there as opposed to just keeping it trim and tidy.

At the moment I'm treating with Monistat 7, and plan on waiting a couple days after I complete treatment just to make sure both the medication and the infection are out of my system. Do you recommend he get tested/treated for a yeast infection just to rule out that possibility? And what can I do to prevent these stupid things from coming back, because I would really love to continue enjoying sex with my boyfriend without worrying about itchy after effects a day later. Thanks so much in advance for any suggestions and advice. Stay excellent! :D

HBC and diarrhea

[violetstar124.livejournal.com]

Is there any risk to the pills effectiveness if one has diarrhea a couple of hours before the pill is taken (assuming the diarrhea doesn't happen again after)?

The YI that wasn't......folliculitis help!?!

[io2012.livejournal.com]

Ok, so what I thought was maybe an external YI on my mons pubis has turned out to be a case of folliculitis according to my nurse practitioner. Makes sense that it is bacterial rather than fungal, since it has failed to respond to a week of applying miconizole cream.

The problem is: When I went to fill the Bactrim cream prescription she wrote for me, my insurance doesn't cover it (NO generic available) so I would have to spring for serious dough to get a tiny tube of this stuff. I looked to see if there was anything comparable in the OTC section, but didn't find anything.

However, the internets claim that folliculitis can be treated at home. Has anyone else had this problem? How did you treat it at home? Right now I used electric clippers to cut my hair short, placed a hot epsom salts compress on it for 10min, and coated things with triple antibiotic ointment. If it sounds overboard, let me just say this is ITCHIER than poison ivy. Maybe.

Stacking BC/Breakthrough Bleeding/Endo?

[justforapicture.livejournal.com]

 Hi superstars...
I've been stacking pack after pack of BC for about 6 packs now, and am just starting to have some breakthrough bleeding. It happens every few months (before my last withdrawl, I stacked 4 packs, before that, 3, before that, 2, etc...) but it's never been bad because I've been pretty good about easing into the process of stacking.
Well, I'm on pack 6 (ish) now, and got really horrible cramps the other day and had some old blood and some new blood as well. Its been going on for a few days and I'm not concerned about the bleeding, but definitely the cramps. It's this awful weakness from my bellybutton down to my knees and I just have to bite something to get rid of the feeling. It's a very odd pain. Also with it is some awesome nausea (could be the fact that I have severe anxiety, so I get worried, and then nauseous.)
Anyway, who here is on continuous BC pills? Any of these symptoms? I'm scared of endometriosis. I also have von Willebrand Disease which lets me bleed wonderful amounts at times, so breakthrough bleeding isn't just spotting for me, but a bit more (bleeding is why I'm on it continously...severely low iron levels, the whole bit)
BTW, my doctor knows I plan on going continuously...she met with me once and said we'd start at 2, then 3, then 4, so I just did it on my own. I recently went through iron replacement therapy via IV once weekly and don't want to lose the blood, hence why I am continuously taking the pills. No harm in that I guess!
So, does this sound weird? Maybe it's just a thing with the pill? Can the pill CAUSE cramps like this?
Any help would be great. I'm worried!
Thank you <3

Pregnancy

[red-bull89.livejournal.com]

About a week ago I had unprotected sex (dumb, I know). This week, my breasts are really sore and I'm having slight cramping with my usual pms symptoms...I also woke up with a really sore throat, so I have a cold as well which is making me feel really nauseous and freaking me out that it might not be a cold at the same time. If I was pregnant, would I still get this period since it was such a short time in between??? How long should I wait until I take a pregnancy test?

Period pause

[alixyveth.livejournal.com]

The first 4 days of my period are heavy and bright red. Then I have a day where almost nothing comes out - a few drops at most. Then, that night it's like my period starts all over again (I even get another PMS-like headache), bright and heavy, until on the 7th day it dwindles and stops. I've been on the patch for a few years and I seem to have this period pattern for the last few months.

It's not really bothering me; just wondering if anyone else has this experience, don't want to be feeling abnormal, etc. Thanks :)

Is this normal discharge now? It sure doesn't seem normal.

[atomiccake.livejournal.com]

I posted a few weeks back about having abnormal discharge and an upcoming ob/gyn appointment. I finally went to the doctor but aside from a minor yeast infection that she prescribed me Diflucan for, she said everything else looked completely normal. And my test results this week also came back normal. What she described as normal I find absolutely disgusting. I have a LOT of creamy white/slightly yellow discharge leaking out at all times! It makes me feel slimy and dirty. I wear a menstrual cup or junior tampon every day just so I don't have to make constant bathroom trips to wipe. I've tried every kind of pantyliner and they either slide off or bunch up and are just a pain. If I just let it flow out, it would drench my underwear and probably stain my pants. Even though this is what she considers normal, it is ruining my life. I assume it's from taking the Pill. Before I took the Pill, I never noticed any problem with vaginal discharge. It was always clear and smelled like nothing. Now it's thick and white/yellow and smells like vinegar AND THERE'S TONS OF IT. Whenever I read posts about weird discharge that sounds like mine, the responses are usually "you're just ovulating" or something of that nature. I'm on the Pill! I'm never ovulating yet I have what they describe every day, for what seems like forever. Is this just part of the Pill? Is it from lack of fluids? Poor eating habits? Anything?

I just want to go back to what was normal for me. This kind of discharge makes me feel as though there is something wrong.