Red spots, painful urethra

[bustyarhymes.livejournal.com]

Hi I come with a couple of questions.

First of all, about 2 weeks ago, I had some itching in my genital area, and now I recently shaved and saw that I had some red rash in the perianal area (picture nsfw: http://db.tt/krdjXFbA ) there is no pain but the rare occasional itch, and no fever. I suspect it is genital herpes even though the last time I had sex was the beginning of November 2011. the most annoying thing about it is it had remained like this for 2 weeks, neither healing nor worsening. Would these count as an 'open sore' even though they are not bleeding? For the time being, I am applying coconut oil.

Another concurrent, but longer term issue is that my urethra is painful to the touch (especially the section contained within the vaginal walls) no issue with urination, simply pain upon direct contact. I had std testing in December, negative for all stds, and this only started from the day that I contracted a uti (day before I last had sex). Once the uti was cleared with no bacteria, the urethra was still in pain. Could it possibly be as a result of herpes? There are no blisters as far as I know. I have been on a progestin birth control since October, could it be the cause?

In relation to that, has anyone had experience with topical anesthetics during sex for vulvodynia?

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Late period, spotting & negative test

[descent2madness.livejournal.com]

Hey there superstars, I was wondering if y'all could help me out!

I have had my copper IUD (Flexi-T 300) for eight months now. I have been perfectly regular in terms of my period (with the exception of the first cycle after insertion) but this month things have gone a little wonky. I was due to start my period one week ago today. On that day, I started spotting so I assumed all was well and it would get moving along soon enough. It didn't. It has been one week and I still haven't started a full on bleed, just minimal spotting and very minor cramping. I took a pregnancy test today (my very first one ever...that was terrifying) and it was negative. Now I didn't take the test with the first morning urine, it was midday, since that's when I picked up the test but I figured if I was late by a week, HCG levels should be high enough that it wouldn't matter.

So what do I do? Should I just keep waiting and see if it shows up? Should I take the second test that came in the box a few days from now (with first morning urine) to double check? If it doesn't show up soon, I'm thinking I'll make an appointment with my doc just to check things out since I'm usually so regular. Thanks all!

ETA: I was also under a lot of stress this past month (I had to write my licensing exam to become a nurse) and I have lost 15lbs over the last three months (still a healthy weight and I've lost a pound a week, so not too fast). So those two things might be making me late I guess?

How Long Does It Take To Get Mood Side Effects from Mirena?

[dkwgdk.livejournal.com]

Hey y'all-- I got my Mirena back in April of 2011 and things have been good so far, minus some acne and bloating (boo.)  Over the past couple of months, though, my mood has been in really, really abysmal.  For those of you who experienced mood side effects on the Mirena, how long did it take for them to show up?

Backstory: I've had severe depression for about 12 years.  It was made worse by oral contraceptives, so I stopped taking them.  It got better (finally) with a bunch o' drugs. However, my periods were getting 'dangerously' heavy (my doc's words) and no one could figure out why.  I couldn't take Pill again, so we tried the Mirena.  Two months ago, my mood took a major nose-dive and hasn't improved. I need to talk to my psychiatrist, and I'm pretty sure she's going to ask about the Mirena as a possible cause. However, I think it's not the Mirena because the 'bad mood' is constant -- not tied to my menstrual cycle like it was on the Pill. But, I wanted to get y'all's thoughts, too.

Someone posted a similar question over on IUD-Divas (http://iud-divas.livejournal.com/3031901.html) and I'll follow that thread, but wanted to cross-post here in case there are Mirena users here who have thoughts, too.

An aside--thanks for your reassuring words re: my friend with the breast lump.  It was really helpful.  They found she had a calcified mass in there (!!!) so she's having a needle biopsy on Monday.  But, again, I appreciate all of your support.

Yeast Infection, maybe?

[thenuddpants.livejournal.com]

Hey VagPagers!

So I think I *might* have an external yeast infection (lots of itching, irritation, and redness around my introitus/urethral area inside my inner labia). There is no discharge, though I know it isn't always present, and there is no actual vaginal irritation, it is just external. I had some oral/digital/penetrative sex Friday night, which could also be the source of all my irritation, since some of it was not quite well lubed enough. I have access to Diflucan, but I don't want to take it unless the natural remedies fail to make me feel better.

I've been putting plain unsweetened yogurt on my vulva today, which improves the itching and the irritation, and I plan to do a clove of garlic tonight when I go to sleep. My question is - if it is *not* a yeast infection, could the yogurt and/or garlic further irritate my sensitive mucosal tissues? I figure not, since the yogurt has just been making me feel *better*... but I wanted to double check.

Thanks in advance!

[ Btw, I'm a heterosexual cis-female who is fine with female pronouns :) ]

vaginal bleeding/ discharge

[fakeredbangs.livejournal.com]

I had sex thursday evening for the first time in a very long time, almost 2 years and while i did not tell him to take it easy and turned out he was larger than i thought, i bleed a bit afterwards, Since that night i no longer have fresh red blood but instead seem to be discharging brown blood (similar to the end of period cycle) and sometimes its gummy like snot. I am more worried over the fact that its been 4 days and no matter how many times i wipe with TP, i am still coming away with this brown blood (at least i hope it is).

Can anyone offer thoughts? The usual: is this normal, should i be worried, should i wait until this stops to have sex again?

Honestly i feel like someone who just lost their virginity again, except i do not remember having this issue when i did.