Endometrial cells on Pap

[in-thegreenroom.livejournal.com]

Hi VP,

I need some input and hopefully some reassurance. I'm a 28 year-old cis woman, never been pregnant, not currently using any type of birth control. My periods are very regular and I don't have any issues with weird bleeding, pain, discharge etc.

My most recent Pap was last week, and I just learned that the result was abnormal (ASC-US). I tested positive for high-risk HPV, so I'm scheduled for a colposcopy in 2 weeks. Although I'm not super stoked about that (it's the first time I've ever had an abnormal Pap), I'm more concerned about something else.

My nurse practitioner told me the lab found endometrial cells on my smear. She said it's not something that they typically see until a woman is over 40, so my results apparently aren't super common. However, I was on day 7 of my cycle when I had my smear, and I was still spotting a bit. She remarked on the presence of blood while she was doing the smear, and I spotted a good amount of brown blood after my Pap.

I did a bit of Googling and found that most labs don't report endometrial cells unless they're abnormal. So now I'm flipping out. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? I spoke at length to my NP, but she said the lab didn't specify whether the cells were abnormal - only that they were there. Please help!

Getting pregnant on Depo?

[disturbedme.livejournal.com]

Hey, everyone.

I know it's possible to get pregnant while on Depo (the injection), but how possible? I've always been paranoid, so that doesn't help. But I've also been on antibiotics (Minocycline) for quite a while and was wondering if that could cause any issues with the protection of the Depo. I read that most antibiotics don't have the same action on Depo that it does to other BC (do any antibiotics mess with Depo in that way?). But I've been having cramps most of the day (and I haven't had a period while on Depo for a long time; I have spotting from time to time but that's all), so it's just making the paranoia worse. Implantation cramps? But then we just had sex on Wednesday at midnight, so is that too soon for implantation? I have no idea how my cycle works anymore now that I've been on Depo for a couple of years. I used to keep track of my cycle, know when I ovulated, etc. Now, I have no idea when would be the right time to even pee on a stick to check for pregnancy. I assume it's too early for that as well?

Thanks so much for any thoughts/help!

Condoms, coconut oil, and compatibility with toys.

[elialshadowpine.livejournal.com]

Also, apparently, alliteration. (Oops, I did it again?)

Anyway, I have a couple partners I'm involved with who are interested in anal play. I have both silicone lube, and coconut oil. I'm asking here vs. googling because I know folks here have talked about this and have a bit more personal experience. As it's anal play, I'd prefer to slide a condom on in order to avoid the need to boil anything, for a couple reasons. One, my fiancee would probably kill me if I used her stock pot to boil toys after anal play, and it's the only pot we have that's large enough (theoretically, I could buy another pot for that only but it seems a bit silly). Two, I'm lazy. :P

So! I know that you can't use silicone lube with silicone toys, which is what I have. I seem to recall that you can't use coconut oil with latex condoms. What I can't remember is, can you use coconut oil with silicone toys? Do polyisoprene condoms count as being too close to latex? They're what is on hand because of my latex sensitivity (which I do not want to turn into a full-blown allergy), and because my soon-to-be ex-partner was large enough that polyurethane resulted in the coinage of the lovely term "lobster dick". Would polyisoprene not work, and I'd need to look at polyurethane to use with coconut oil?

Also, for others with more experience, is it possible to use silicone lube just on the condom, or do things get messy enough that it would probably get on the toy anyway? Can I use coconut oil directly on the toy? (This, I ask more because I have toys intended more for vaginal use, and I'm not as concerned about using condoms on them for that.)

Is there anything I forgot to ask that also is important?

Thanks! Much <3 to the folks here, y'all are consistently awesome. :D

Should I be taking antibiotics for my UTI?

[hypdaydream.livejournal.com]

Hi VP-ers!

I started having a UTI about a week ago. It came on very suddenly, with painful urination, and frequent urges to pee, and general pain/soreness in my urethra/vulva. After I started taking cranberry pills, probiotics, gently washing my vulva with tea tree oil and ACV, it seemed to be getting better, and I was pain-free for a couple of days.

However, I've masturbated a couple of times since then and it probably added to the irritation? :(

So I'm still experiencing pain when I urinate now... and I'm wondering if it might be time for me to try antibiotics?

I usually have free healthcare at my school but we're on winter break now so it is closed BUT I do have a prescription for 10 days worth of amoxicillin and metronidazole waiting for me at my pharmacy for a stomach (H.pylori) infection that I was supposed to take (but I wanted to try a herbal, drug-free method first.)

Should I just give in and take the antibiotics? Will it work such that the antibiotics will be effective for both my stomach and UTI? I looked it up and both antibiotics are used in treating UTIs.

TIA for your advice!