did it break?

[gamuzadma.livejournal.com]

So I lost my virginity yesterday. He was inside me all the way, and there was no pain or blood like I said before. But today I looked down there, and it looks exactly the same. It still feels tight where two fingers is all I can fit. SO my question to you is, my hymen did break when we had sex, right? (I also had a partial hymenectomy in october, if it means anything)

male yeast infection!

[speshal-kay.livejournal.com]

hey everyone!
i read the YI page and tried a little search but can't exactly find what i'm looking for!

so about 3 months ago i had a YI and passed it onto my boyfriend before i knew i had it.. he only gets home every 2 weeks so he it's really hard for him to see a doctor! but he's tried two creams so far and they're not working.  the one he's trying now is a prescription cream that says vaginal cream on it.. ? i dunno, but either way, it doesn't seem to be going away. is there anything he can try for an at-home remedy that might work better/faster? he said it's still a little bit red but not as bad as it used to be. i'm going to see a dr on dec 1 for a pap/testing/ask a million questions.. i'm going to call to see if he can come with me so he can get it looked at again! 
but yeah! i was wondering if any of these yogourt, garlic, or tea tree oil things work on males? would oral aphidophilus work? any suggestions would be greattttt! 

ps: i read the YI page, and it said on there that condoms don't protect against YI's? we've been using condoms since and i haven't gotten it back.. but we were both checked prior to each other and have no sti's.. also when i had the YI, it went away with canesoral (or how ever you spell that single oral pill you buy OTC now..)  Thanks in advance!

Bad emotional side effects on contraceptive pill

[begintohope.livejournal.com]

Forgive me if this has already been discussed, which it probably has; I had a look through the PMS tag & didn't find anything about this particular issue.

I've been on Aviane (a generic version of Alesse) for about 7 months now. For the first few months, I didn't experience any side effects, but for the past 3 or 4 months, I've noticed that the week before my placebo pills is pretty hellish in terms of my mood. I cry at the drop of a hat & often get irritable with people who I love very much.

In looking over my journal, I noticed that my major emotional meltdowns of the past two cycles both happened on day 14 of the pill cycle (i.e. 8 days before starting the week of placebos).

I see in VP's HBC FAQ that switching to a formulation with less progestin might help. Right now I've got a few months of Aviane left, though, so I plan on staying on it for at least a while longer.

So I guess my questions are:
1. Any other folks experiencing bad emotional side effects on HBC?
2. Other than switching pills or switching contraceptive methods altogether, what can I do to manage these mood swings?

probiotics while travelling

[chipie.livejournal.com]

Hello!

I'm going to be travelling and I want to bring some probiotics with me (because I've been getting yeast infections all the time).  I won't be able to refrigerate them.  I know it's better to refrigerate them, but apparently some are okay without refrigeration?

Someone here recommended the Jarrow probiotics, but their website doesn't say anything about them being available in Canada (I will look though).

Does any one have any recommendations of probiotics that don't have to be refrigerated and that I can buy in Canada?

Thanks so much!

Can you identify this contraption I saw in my gyno's exam room?

[plasticpepper.livejournal.com]

Hi all!

My former gynecologist's practice recently closed down so I had to switch to a new place, and I had my first appointment there a while back. The exam room I was in contained some sort of...apparatus...that I didn't recognize and I'm super curious, so I thought I'd see if you guys could identify it!

At the time I memorized every detail of it so I could describe it well, and of course I've forgotten it all, but the two main things I remember were a sort of shallow dish and a curved strip with three balls on top.

( My crappy attempt at a drawing of the curved piece under here... )

I no longer remember the exact layout of this thing or how those two pieces related to each other spatially, but the entire contraption was probably about the height of the exam table/bed/thing. It was made of wood and black metal rather than stainless steel or anything else I would usually associate with medical facilities, so I'm almost wondering if it could be some old-fashioned thing they just had around for decor the same way my dentist has an old-fashioned dentist's chair on display. But who knows, it could be some very common thing that everyone but me knows about and I'm just making myself look dumb right now. :P

Anyway, I was so curious about this thing while I was waiting for the PA, so I thought I'd see if any of you guys could satisfy my curiosity!