Life after unwanted body hair from birth control?

[luxuria.livejournal.com]

I've only been taking Alesse for a month and it's been great for past problems that make me reluctant about taking HBC (mood disturbances, fatigue, weight gain, reduced libido) and it would be my perfect pill, except it's made my skin and hair go wild. It's even improved genital sensation for me, which is the opposite of the other pills I've tried. The acne I'm getting under control, but at the rate I'm getting new, dark body hair over the course of this month, I'm going to look like a caveman in 6 if I keep taking it. I'm already on 100mg of spironolactone from my dermatologist which is an antiandrogen so I'd hate to see what Alesse would have done to me *without* it. I could tough out the greasies on my face, but as soon as I saw the dark hair on the back of my thighs and started picking neck hairs I was done. I'm on my placebo week now and seeing my GP about switching brands but my question is whether this new body hair is here to stay. Is not taking the Alesse any more enough to make the hair go away or is it one of those things where once it's triggered in your body, you're stuck with it? Higher spiro doses and the very antiandrogenic bcps are what make me depressed/fatigued/etc so that's not a very pleasant option for me if so :(
I don't know whether switching to a similar pill like Loestrin would keep me down the same path of getting visibly worse over little time, but it's frustrating that Alesse still ticks so many of the right boxes - it's just that one huge, screaming dealbreaker.

Featured content: International Day Against Homphobia and Transphobia

[kaberett]

... but first of all, some links! This week including: abstinence education and rape survivors, adoptees finding birth parents, sperm cells created from a female embryo, survivors and masturbation, and the pursuit of thinness.

Years ago, as a quite new teacher, I referred a student to my administrators for calling another a "faggot." Prior to this event, I'd tried other disciplinary steps for the student and had observed a pattern of harassment. Still, I was worried, simply because of the conservative area and the nature of the referral, that admin would write it off.

To my surprise, they didn't.

To my greater surprise, the parent came to school to contest the punishment. "Why shouldn't my kid get to call a faggot a faggot?"

---

About a month or so ago, while brainstorming topics for my state's Planned Parenthood Advocates blog, I learned about the existence of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, which happens to be this Friday. My first thought was that confronting anti-gay and anti-trans prejudices shouldn't need its own day because it's something we should be doing every day.

Because there are plenty of people energetically doing the opposite.

I know that VP isn't a space for politics, but I'm going to go there for a bit -- because I think treating all people respectfully shouldn't be a politically controversial act.

You may have heard about Arizona's proposed "bathroom bill"? It would have made it illegal for someone to use a restroom if the sex designation of the restroom did not match the sex designation on that person's birth certificate. It could well have made it tricky, triggering, or outright dangerous for trans or genderqueer people to enter a public restroom. After receiving some negative national attention, the bill's sponsor decided to pursue a different angle. Unfortunately, that legislation is even worse as it would actually make it illegal for municipalities to enact certain anti-discrimination ordinances or policies based on gender identity or expression.

People shouldn't have to be afraid to pee. People shouldn't have to fear being legislatively barred from using a locker room, particularly when there's already so much social baggage tied up in locker rooms -- especially for anyone whose appearance doesn't fit current standards for what is acceptable and normal. In that vein, both proposals have the potential to harm people who have non-normative gender expressions -- women who appear "too masculine," men who appear "too feminine," not coincidentally some of the same people who are likely to be bullied with words like "dyke" and "faggot" -- regardless of whether those folks are trans.

What makes me fearful is that this isn't just one school student; this isn't just one student's parent. These are multiple people -- the bill's sponsor and the committee members who approved the first version, at least -- in positions of power. As I'm sure at least some members of their constituencies are trans, these are legislators who -- as part of their professional actions -- are actively seeking to harm a portion of the people they're supposed to represent.


And I don't know what to do with that. I mean, yes -- I've contacted the legislators who've supported the bill, my own legislators, and any other legislators I think will listen. But I also fear that -- if these are the public words and official acts of people we've elected to help and safeguard -- this is just the tip of a very big iceberg.

---

How have you, or people you know, worked to confront anti-gay and anti-trans prejudices? What suggestions do you, or they, have for others looking to do so?

What causes false positive urinary pregnancy tests?

[poppy-shampoo.livejournal.com]

Several months ago I posted in here an "am I pregnant" type post. The short story is I became temporarily abstinent, went off oral birth control a day after having unprotected sex (oops?), then took a pregnancy test after not getting a period for 6 weeks. It was faintly positive after about 30 seconds (well within the time limit of the test). In the week after that test I took two more and they were both negative. A week after my first positive and subsequent negatives, I had a transvaginal ultrasound that showed an empty uterus. The gynecologist offered to give me a shot that would start my period, but I decided that my period would come naturally.

I didn't have a period until 5 months after ceasing the pill, and finally getting so frustrated that I went to a GP who prescribed an oral dose of progesterone for 10 days. That did the trick, which according to internet sleuthing, meant that I hadn't been ovulating.

I've heard false positives are incredibly rare in HPTs and are usually either evaporation lines if read after the time window of an accurate result, or caused by something going on in your body that causes hCG production. Because I had two negative results following my positive, I doubt the latter could have happened. So my question is, does anyone have information regarding faulty tests? Could I have been pregnant and my body absorbed the embryo?

It was a really emotional week and I feel like I've never really gotten closure... I apologize if this is not the right forum but I have found the community members here very knowledgeable and supportive!