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Kerfuffle posted:My yearly pap smears+the works checks are $25 copay, 1 Nuvaring is $10 with coupon. But this is on my parent's insurance, which I'll no longer have in a few years. At least I can use the coupons basically forever.  My BC is $5 right now.... But I'm also on several other medications and you'd be amazed at how fast those all add up. Between doctors visits and prescription co-pays, I'm going broke trying to afford my health problems. I'm glad it's going to be free because I know that if I ever DID get to the point where I had to choose what medication to cut out for financial reasons (and I've been close), my Yaz would have to be first on the list.
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Aug 2, 2011 01:54
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I only pay 1.55$/ring with the Nuva Ring. I work as a pharmacy technician, and pay something like 30$/mth for insurance (dental/vision/medication) and only pay 10% of the actual drug cost - no markup/professional fee. So yeah, 1.55$ I'm glad to hear that Obama is finally getting some things done for you guys 
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Aug 2, 2011 03:16
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Oh my god I hate you low cost birth control people so much right now (no I don't I hate my insurance you all are lovely ladies  )
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Aug 2, 2011 03:28
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Does PP not offer it at a lower price Triangulum? Many people have just gone in and lied about not having insurance. And at the rate you're paying you may as well not have it. :/
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Aug 2, 2011 03:33
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I honestly haven't tried PP yet but I'm thinking for Mirena I'm going to go to both Kaiser and PP and go with whoever is cheaper. Honestly I trust basically anyone over Kaiser at this point.
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Aug 2, 2011 03:36
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Is loss of desire a common side effect with Depo-Provera? I've noticed a big change in my girlfriend that syncs up with when she first started using it.
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Aug 2, 2011 05:47
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Sadly, loss of libido is a fairly common side effect of hormonal birth control.(It can have the reserve effect as well. ) Talk to her about it though, if you guys think it's enough that it's interfering with your relationship, look into another method.
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Aug 2, 2011 06:01
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So, I'm going on prophylactic antibiotics because of recurrent UTIs. (They didn't find any sugar when testing my urine so I probably don't have diabetes, which is good.) I know that a course of antibiotics will gently caress up the bacteria in your gut that help you absorb the pill, but has anyone had experience with needing to pop a Cipro before sex? I think the answer is probably 'get the nuvaring/patch/IUD', but just curious. I like my pill and don't really feel like playing hormone roulette again, but the UTI party in my pants rules out spermicide-based methods and I'm not comfortable with condoms alone. (I use them with the pill because not having babies is awesome and being overweight makes the pill less effective.)
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Aug 2, 2011 14:09
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My girlfriend tried ortho trycyclen lo about 9 months ago and had some pretty serious side affects. She was incredibly moody, crying at one moment and very angry the next and she stopped taking it after about a week because she thought she had gone so insane I might break up with her. Now she's scared to try anything else and is having a hard time even going to a doctor to ask about other medications because she thinks she'll go crazy on all of them. Her GYN wasn't very helpful when she got the ortho trycyclen lo so that didn't help either although now she could go to PP or our university's clinic. Are there any pills or maybe the injection that won't mess with her mood? If I could give her a real suggestion on something that wouldn't make her crazy I think she'd go back to the doctor's and try again. She really wants to be on birth control but that week made her pretty scared of it.
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Aug 2, 2011 17:43
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Her feelings are understandable. I -really- wouldn't recommend the shot for her at this time, because if she responds badly to it, she's in for 3 months of side effects she can do nothing about. That's not to say it should be ruled out entirely, but given her current fears it's not something I'd suggest right now. Each pill is different, that's why there are so many. So side effects she had on one birth control, won't necessarily happen on another. Have her bring up her concerns about mood swings to the next doctor she visits, and they can go from there. There's a lot of options out there Here's a site that lists off pills that are better for specific things to get you guys started: http://www.wdxcyber.com/ncontr13.htm I'll give my vouch for giving Nuvaring a try though. It gives hormones in even low doses, which helps with a lot of side effects. Also, do keep in mind that having annoying side effects the first 3 months on birth control is very common. If they're not bad enough to be interfering with her life, then just stick with it until the 3 months is up, they tend to go away on their own.
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Aug 2, 2011 18:08
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So, as if I wasn't already in love with my patch enough for keeping me happily fetus-free, I realized today that it's making my periods drastically shorter. As in, 1 and a half days as opposed to 5+. I am a happy camper right now.
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Aug 2, 2011 18:29
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Peggy Lee posted:So, I'm going on prophylactic antibiotics because of recurrent UTIs. (They didn't find any sugar when testing my urine so I probably don't have diabetes, which is good.) I know that a course of antibiotics will gently caress up the bacteria in your gut that help you absorb the pill, but has anyone had experience with needing to pop a Cipro before sex? Unless you get severe diarrhea, or throw up within a few hours of taking the birth control, antibiotics shouldn't reduce the effectiveness of your birth control pill. Which pill are you on? Being overweight really only affects the effectiveness of the patch. A greater concern is your increased risk of heart disease with being overweight while taking estrogen.
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Aug 2, 2011 19:11
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DRP Solved! posted:Unless you get severe diarrhea, or throw up within a few hours of taking the birth control, antibiotics shouldn't reduce the effectiveness of your birth control pill. The Cochrane review I could find on this has a nearly double relative risk for pregnancy on oral contraceptives for women with BMI >=25, but other source I've seen say 1.5 times the risk for overweight, double for obese. Currently I'm rocking the generic for Loestrin 24 Fe (Junel), with1 mg norethindrone acetate and 20 mcg ethinyl estradiol. And for the record, I'm a BMI of 27.5 (about 20 pounds overweight), not like I need a scooter to get around.
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Aug 2, 2011 21:05
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I asked this of you guys a couple of months ago, but since no one knew then what to do about it, I'll ask again. I have been on the ring for about 10 months now. I love it (though I'm saving up for an IUD). The only problem I have is the cramps. Many times a day (and night) I'm experiencing quick, sharp, (what I believe are) uterine cramps. Say 10-30 times a day. They last about 20 seconds each and are worse the week before I take out the ring. I know they are from the ring since they stop while the ring is out. The little cramps stop during the week it's out, though of course they could just be morphing into the regular ole big menstrual cramps. Which by the way are still terrible. Though the bleeding is a lot less. Once, about six months ago I kept thinking "Man, it's nice my body is getting used to this thing! The cramps are gone!" Turns out it'd fallen out about three days before Anyway, my question is this: is this ok? I asked my dr. and she said she hadn't heard of this symptom (though it's listed on the box as a mild effect) and that I should be fine. Will I be fine? The ring works, as I am still without babies. I just would rather not have to take an IB Profrin (just one) every six or so hours.
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Aug 2, 2011 21:25
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Peggy Lee posted:The Cochrane review I could find on this has a nearly double relative risk for pregnancy on oral contraceptives for women with BMI >=25, but other source I've seen say 1.5 times the risk for overweight, double for obese. Yeah that Cochrane review analyzes some fairly weak and inconsistent studies. For example in one of the studies on COCs, there is an increase in pregnancy in women with a BMI > 25 but not in women > 70 kg. All of these analyses are done "post-hoc" on studies that didn't initially stratify women based on weight or BMI. interestingly, there was a study done last year that showed that a low-dose COC (20 mcg of EE) lead to a similar level of ovulation suppression in both obese and "normal-weight" women. Ramblings aside, you can always play it safe for pregnancy and go with a medium-dose COC (30-35 mcg of EE), the Nuvaring or Depo.
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Aug 2, 2011 22:06
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DRP Solved! posted:Yeah that Cochrane review analyzes some fairly weak and inconsistent studies. For example in one of the studies on COCs, there is an increase in pregnancy in women with a BMI > 25 but not in women > 70 kg. All of these analyses are done "post-hoc" on studies that didn't initially stratify women based on weight or BMI. Thanks for input. Studies with BMI are difficult, because unless you get up on the scale, people will underreport weight and overreport height all the time. (Shoot, I'm always rounding my 5-foot-8.75-inches up to 5'9".) The other issues I had heard were that fat women have a higher blood volume which dilutes the hormone concentration; a higher metabolic rate that metabolizes the hormone faster; and that adipose tissue takes up progestin so your uterus isn't getting it. My understanding was that the Nuvaring, being right up against your cervix pretty much, avoided most of that since it's not metabolized the same way.
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Aug 2, 2011 22:30
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Maed posted:My girlfriend tried ortho trycyclen lo about 9 months ago and had some pretty serious side affects. She was incredibly moody, crying at one moment and very angry the next and she stopped taking it after about a week because she thought she had gone so insane I might break up with her. Now she's scared to try anything else and is having a hard time even going to a doctor to ask about other medications because she thinks she'll go crazy on all of them. Her GYN wasn't very helpful when she got the ortho trycyclen lo so that didn't help either although now she could go to PP or our university's clinic. When I was on it, my regular family doctor put me on it. I later went to a regular gyno, and he gave me something else...I'd been having terrible side effects, weird stuff like breast pain and I was having lots of breakthrough bleeding. He told me that OTC-Lo is for women that are under 150 lbs. and need less hormones. If your gf weighs more than that, it could very well be the case, in which case she just needs something with more hormones. Maybe even regular Ortho Tri-Cyclen. There's also the patch (if she's less than 180 lbs), IUD's, the implant, the ring (omg I love my ring), and dozens of different BC pills. Definitely have her go to a new gyno and get set up with something else.
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Aug 2, 2011 22:34
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Peggy Lee posted:Thanks for input. Studies with BMI are difficult, because unless you get up on the scale, people will underreport weight and overreport height all the time. (Shoot, I'm always rounding my 5-foot-8.75-inches up to 5'9".) Both estrogen and progestins are highly bound to plasma protein in your blood, which means the majority is floating around in your blood rather than accumulating into your fat tissue (or any other tissue). The study that I discussed earlier on ovulation suppression in obese vs non-obese women taking the same doses of COCs actually showed that blood concentrations of estrogen and progestins were not significantly different between the two weight groups (from: Westhoff CL, et al. Ovarian suppression in normal-weight and obese women during oral contraceptive use). I'm thinking that if there really is an increased risk of pregnancy with obese women using COCs, it's probably not related to the drug itself and possibly related to other factors more common in obese women, such as ability to take the pill appropriately. It's just speculation though!
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Aug 2, 2011 23:22
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DRP Solved! posted:Unless you get severe diarrhea, or throw up within a few hours of taking the birth control, antibiotics shouldn't reduce the effectiveness of your birth control pill. I worked with a pharmacist who was adament that women be told of the risk of getting pregnant while taking antibiotics, and that they always be advised to use a backup method. Her reasoning? Her son, a constant reminder. Either way, some pharmacists are absolutely strict about reminding patients of the risk, and some don't seem to bother at all. I play it on the safe side, and put that little pink sticker on OCPs as well as the antibiotics that may possibly cause reduced effectiveness. DRP Solved! posted:I'm thinking that if there really is an increased risk of pregnancy with obese women using COCs, it's probably not related to the drug itself and possibly related to other factors more common in obese women, such as ability to take the pill appropriately. It's just speculation though! Metabolism with OCP has to play a big part. As someone with a heightened metabolism, OCP was burning through my system and so I'd get a burst of hormones and then god knows what, because I'd be spotting for most of the month on anything I tried. No problem with the Nuva Ring, however. rainbow kittens fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Aug 3, 2011 |
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Aug 3, 2011 03:25
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rainbow kittens posted:Either way, some pharmacists are absolutely strict about reminding patients of the risk, and some don't seem to bother at all. I play it on the safe side, and put that little pink sticker on OCPs as well as the antibiotics that may possibly cause reduced effectiveness. Yeah many of my classmates and colleagues always mention it when counseling in order to cover their asses. The Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare in England actually put out a position statement this year actively stating that there's no evidence that antibiotics which are not liver inducers gently caress up hormone levels. Their recommendation actually reads as follows: "What advice should be given to women using hormonal contraception and antibacterial drugs that are not enzyme inducers? - Additional contraceptive precautions are not required during or after courses of antibiotics that do not induce enzymes. - Women should be advised about the importance of correct contraceptive practice during periods of illness." fake edit: This is also mentioned in the document - "In 2009/2010, the World Health Organization produced updated Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (WHOMEC)3 which included evidence-based guidance on contraceptive use and drug interactions. WHOMEC states that there is intermediate level evidence that the contraceptive effectiveness of COCs is not affected by co-administration of most broad- spectrum antibiotics, and advises no restriction on use (WHOMEC Category 1) of CHC with antibiotics. The U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use (USMEC)4 2010 has also adopted these recommendations. For the following reasons the CEU supports this statement and now advises that additional precautions are not required even for short courses of antibiotics that are not enzyme inducers." quote:Metabolism with OCP has to play a big part. As someone with a heightened metabolism, OCP was burning through my system and so I'd get a burst of hormones and then god knows what, because I'd be spotting for most of the month on anything I tried. No problem with the Nuva Ring, however. This sounds like less about metabolism than it does about finding the appropriate estrogen and progestin dose. Metabolism in your liver is not the same thing as your "metabolism" that people usually refer to when they say that they can eat whatever they want without gaining any weight.
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Aug 3, 2011 03:44
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Peggy Lee posted:So, I'm going on prophylactic antibiotics because of recurrent UTIs. (They didn't find any sugar when testing my urine so I probably don't have diabetes, which is good.) I know that a course of antibiotics will gently caress up the bacteria in your gut that help you absorb the pill, but has anyone had experience with needing to pop a Cipro before sex? Peggy Lee, I also take prophylactic antibiotics...they're starting you with Cipro? Why? Was macrobid/nitrofurantoin ever mentioned? Cipro is great, but if you're getting recurring UTIs, it's probably better to save Cipro for when the infections actually occur, rather than as a preventive measure. At least that's what I've always been told. I've never had it interact, but then again, that could be luck. *knocks on wood* Have you been doing all of the other hygiene stuff to help with the reduction of UTIs, too? Sucks, doesn't it?
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Aug 3, 2011 05:14
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I just decided to start taking cranberry extract daily after my last UTI. Not in insanely high doses or anything (450mg iirc), but god drat I really don't want to hurt that badly ever again.
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Aug 3, 2011 05:43
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Skywriter posted:Peggy Lee, I also take prophylactic antibiotics...they're starting you with Cipro? Why? Was macrobid/nitrofurantoin ever mentioned? Cipro is great, but if you're getting recurring UTIs, it's probably better to save Cipro for when the infections actually occur, rather than as a preventive measure. At least that's what I've always been told. I think we're actually doing Macrobid rather than Cipro - it was just something that sprang to mind. (I've been on Cipro for them before; my doctor actually likes it better than Macrobid as a treatment.) I'm not really sure what I else I can do to prevent. I'm not wiping back to front (who DOES that?), rinsing with water only, drinking 100%, oh-God-its-bitter cranberry juice twice a day, no thongs. The only thing I can think of is maybe my underwear's too big? I lost about 20 pounds over the past couple months, and while it's not like my underwear is falling off, maybe it's moving rear end bacteria around? (Christ, this makes me sound like a disgusting human being.)
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Aug 3, 2011 07:04
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The single best thing you can do to help prevent UTI's is to go pee before and after sex.
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Aug 3, 2011 14:05
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 Meant to write that down. I pee before, I pee after - I guess the only thing I haven't tried is during and that's not really my thing.Edit (so I don't turn this thread into Peggy Lee's Urination Irritation Station): Tigntink, they do run in my family, but I was hoping maybe I'd dodge the genetic bullet.
Peggy Lee fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Aug 3, 2011 |
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Aug 3, 2011 19:22
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Peggy Lee posted:
You just might have a poor shape. Women in my family get them like mad and my doctor said it was because the way our urethras are shaped in invites some amount of urine to sit and not get discharged? something like that. it's been a while since i've had one.
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Aug 3, 2011 21:25
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Peggy Lee posted:
Do you regularly drink water? TMI time, but your pee should be light yellow, not dark yellow & smelly. If you're not drinking enough, it'll be dark. If that's the case, up your water intake. It'll make things easier on your system. I do not really know why this should be, but I'm telling you what I was told by the doctor when I had a little UTI.
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Aug 3, 2011 22:14
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Do you regularly drink water? TMI time, but your pee should be light yellow, not dark yellow & smelly. If you're not drinking enough, it'll be dark. If that's the case, up your water intake. It'll make things easier on your system. I appreciate it. UTIs suck a lot and any more tools in my arsenal are useful. I do drink a lot of water - that poo poo is drat near clear sometimes. My guess on the science behind it would be that the more volume of liquid you have going through there, the more flushing going on so the bacteria can't grab a foothold as easy.
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Aug 4, 2011 03:01
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Peggy Lee posted:I appreciate it. UTIs suck a lot and any more tools in my arsenal are useful. I do drink a lot of water - that poo poo is drat near clear sometimes. Take showers; don't take baths. This was the advice of my doctor when I was a child. I had constant UTIs, and a really bad bladder infection that went to my kidneys. I was on sulfatrim for years, and should probably still be on it. Anytime I decide to take a bath instead of a shower? UTI! So I just don't do that. I know of other women who get UTIs a lot as well. One lady had never made the link between bathing vs showering and UTIs, and once I told her that I couldn't take baths, she stopped taking them as well, and her incidence of UTIs went way down. Hope this helps!
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Aug 4, 2011 04:58
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I would really like to get Mirena, but I have low grade cervical lesions which are, according to my doctor, a sure sign of past if not current HPV infection. My first Pap test to come up abnormal was in November 2009. I was trying to get back on the pill after getting a new boyfriend. I'm not proud to say we had unprotected sex without getting tested beforehand and used the pull out method to boot. However, and correct me if I'm wrong, I'm pretty sure those lesions don't develop in 2 months (the amount of time me and the guy had infrequent unprotected sex between the start of our relationship and the abnormal Pap test). If that is indeed impossible, I'm pretty sure I might have gotten it from my previous ex in a way that involves either cheating or terribly irresponsible behavior on his part (we had a 5-month break during our 4 year relationship and he was a virgin when we started dating). Yay  !One of my colposcopy doctor said having an IUD should be no problem, but I still want to make sure...
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Aug 4, 2011 21:44
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Bloody Mayhem posted:One of my colposcopy doctor said having an IUD should be no problem, but I still want to make sure... If your Dr says you're fine, then you probably are. I had a coneization done after my Dr found adenocarcinoma in situ. I asked like three times "Are you sure the paragard will be ok?" when I became interested in getting and IUD and she said it was no problem at all.
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Aug 4, 2011 22:01
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I've got a question. I'm taking Sronyx and I didn't realize I wasn't supposed to drink with it. Can I still have a beer or two once in a while? I'd normally ask the nurse when I go to Planned Parenthood pick up my birth control, but when they prescribed my birth control they actually gave me incorrect instructions on how to use it so I don't trust a drat thing they say. They also never mentioned anything about not drinking. I'm so glad I read the instructions on the packaging (6 months have passed and no baby, yay). I checked Drugs.com and it listed alcohol as a "minor" interaction but other places say "do not consume alcohol while taking Sronyx" in a sort of not-under-any-circumstances way. I just don't know if this is because drinking while taking it is bad bad bad from a medical standpoint, or if this is influenced by negative attitudes toward women (drinking and having sex) in general. Anyway, is it ok to have a beer once in a while and are my liver/ovaries going to explode because I have in the past without knowing I shouldn't? I miss beer.
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Aug 5, 2011 07:03
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Theoretically posted:I've got a question. The hormones in the pill are metabolized by the liver so I guess interesting things could happen there. If it makes you feel any better, they have the same interaction listed for my birth control pills and I've never noticed any ill effects from drinking. Of course I don't really drink a lot - maybe a few beers every 3 or 4 months. The alcohol doesn't seem to have any different effect on me, which seems to be what Drugs.com is warning about anyway. I'm not a medical expert though, that's purely my experience.
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Aug 5, 2011 07:42
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Bloody Mayhem posted:One of my colposcopy doctor said having an IUD should be no problem, but I still want to make sure... I'm glad you asked this, because I was wondering about this myself. I guess my latest pap was abnormal and showed LSIL /mild dysplasia in June, but my colposcopy biopsy in July was completely normal. However, I have to get pap smears every 6 months now and I'm worried about if I ever need a LEEP or cone stuff done. It's good to hear that an IUD doesn't get in the way. I've had abnormal paps before with HPV, but my body always clears them with a year so I'm hoping that's the case this time. Also, HPV isn't stopped by condoms so you don't need to beat yourself up about it. If it were, then I wouldn't be having it. It's only preventable through not having any sex at all.
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Aug 5, 2011 08:36
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Theoretically posted:I've got a question. It's not an issue unless it causes you to throw up within an hour or two of taking your pill, or if you're a chronic alcoholic.
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Aug 5, 2011 11:28
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Man, this whole thread is making me feel less and less certain about potentially getting the Paragard IUD implanted. I talked about it to my gyno and she seemed to think it was a great option and is willing to implant it. facts: I'm 24, no kids, in a monogamous relationship but not married, not really the type to sleep around so i'm generally not worried about STDs. I want kids eventually but definitely not right now, but ever since my older sister had a stroke while on the pill, I had some blood tests run on me and every doctor I've been to agrees I cannot be put on hormonal birth control at all. And of course I've always disliked condoms but it hasn't been until my current boyfriend where it just doesn't seem to work very well if there's a condom involved. We've halfheartedly used condoms on and off, otherwise have been pulling-out with what I believe is "perfect use"--however, it obviously doesn't offer the peace of mind other birth control methods do. So i was tentatively hopeful about the copper IUD, and felt like I could deal with some heavy periods for a while if it meant the end of baby/blood clot/stroke anxieties. And money isn't an issue here either. But after reading so many people in this thread saying things like "THANK GOD i'm getting that poo poo taken out of me, it was awful" and "Man, I'm sick of bleeding constantly" that i started to get really worried! I mean, does anyone have a normal happy account of using a copper IUD?? I was under the impression that "heavier periods" meant "using heavier tampons and dealing with more cramps," not "bleed all day every day" which is what it's sounding like.  AND I was shocked to hear about that nickel thing. I called Paragard about this and the lady on the line just sort of snappishly told me that the doctor was supposed to give me that information--but why wouldn't they have that on their website?? Nickel allergies are extremely common! I don't know if i have a nickel allergy, but after a few itchy run-ins with cheap earrings I'm sure as hell going to go to an allergist to make absolutely sure before I make a $750+ 10 year commitment.
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Aug 5, 2011 17:31
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Gutless Wonder posted:Man, this whole thread is making me feel less and less certain about potentially getting the Paragard IUD implanted. I talked about it to my gyno and she seemed to think it was a great option and is willing to implant it. From what I understand estrogen is the hormone you need to worry about if you're at risk for clotting. Which means you still have the progesterone-only options like the Mirena IUD, "mini pills," Depo Provera, Implanon, etc. Obviously check with your doctors first and everything, but you might have more options than just the copper IUD. Kimmalah fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Aug 5, 2011 |
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Aug 5, 2011 18:58
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Bloody Mayhem posted:I would really like to get Mirena, but I have low grade cervical lesions which are, according to my doctor, a sure sign of past if not current HPV infection. I can help with this. I wanted to get the Mirena back in August of 2009 but ended up having an abnormal Pap. I had a colposcopy which showed I had some dyspepsia. So then I had a cervical biopsy done (which hurt way worse than the Mirena insertion...) and eventually had a LEEP procedure done to remove the abnormal cells. The LEEP was and easy outpatient thing. That was in beginning of November 2010. My doc had me wait three months after the procedure and if my Pap results were normal and my cervix looked healed properly I could schedule my Mirena insertion. I ended up having my Mirena put in at the beginning of February 2010. I had my 6th month checkup after the LEEP in May/June 2010 and everything checked out ok so I've been back on once a year since then. As for your HPV concerns the CDC reports that at least 50% of people have some form of HPV but that there are often no symptoms or symptoms develop much later than when you were actually infected. So it could be any of the sexual partners you've ever had and chances are they had no idea they have it. Unless things have changed since I last looked it up, there isn't a test for guys to reveal whether they have any strain of HPV so unless it happens to be the Genital warts kind they might never know. It is also my understanding that HPV isn't curable and that LEEP procedures simply remove the effects of HPV (abnormal cells). The HPV can resurface and cause cell mutation in the future so it's really important to continue to have yearly exams if you know you have HPV. I hope this helps! I <3 my Mirena!
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Aug 5, 2011 20:13
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Sandry posted:I wanted to get the Mirena back in August of 2009 but ended up having an abnormal Pap. I had a colposcopy which showed I had some dyspepsia. So then I had a cervical biopsy done (which hurt way worse than the Mirena insertion...) and eventually had a LEEP procedure done to remove the abnormal cells. The LEEP was and easy outpatient thing. That was in beginning of November 2010. My doc had me wait three months after the procedure and if my Pap results were normal and my cervix looked healed properly I could schedule my Mirena insertion. I ended up having my Mirena put in at the beginning of February 2010. I had my 6th month checkup after the LEEP in May/June 2010 and everything checked out ok so I've been back on once a year since then. I had my first colposcopy 5 months after my first abnormal Pap smear and the doctor took a small sample with a little tweezer. He even told me that he may have gotten all the abnormal cells just by taking that small a sample. I had my official low grade lesion diagnostic 3 months after that, but then the doc died and I had to transfer hospitals. I ended up waiting 1 year and a half (last May) for my second colposcopy even though I was supposed to have a six-month follow-up. This time around, they did a full blown cervical biopsy with those godawful forceps  . Same results and I'm scheduled back in a year. I haven't needed a LEEP yet, thank God.Sandry posted:HPV It just sucks to realize that "poo poo I have an STD". I'm pretty sure the infection can resolve by itself, but if it won't, there's nothing you can do about it except treat the symptoms. I got Gardasil now at least and I'm drat happy about the mass vaccination campain for prepubscent girls in my province.
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Aug 5, 2011 21:38
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| # ? May 8, 2024 22:56 |
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Gutless Wonder posted:So i was tentatively hopeful about the copper IUD, and felt like I could deal with some heavy periods for a while if it meant the end of baby/blood clot/stroke anxieties. And money isn't an issue here either. But after reading so many people in this thread saying things like "THANK GOD i'm getting that poo poo taken out of me, it was awful" and "Man, I'm sick of bleeding constantly" that i started to get really worried! I mean, does anyone have a normal happy account of using a copper IUD?? I was under the impression that "heavier periods" meant "using heavier tampons and dealing with more cramps," not "bleed all day every day" which is what it's sounding like. I can't recall anyone complaining about constant bleeding while on the paragard; are you sure you're not confusing it with the hormonal IUD, the mirena? I have a copper IUD (currently 21, no kids, monogamous relationship, have had it for four years) and I absolutely love it. I only get minor cramps right before my period, my period only lasts about two-three days of moderate/heavy bleeding (and then it turns off like a tap, haha), my boyfriend can't feel the strings... it's been a great experience and I'll definitely re-up in a few years. It definitely gave me bad cramps and heavier bleeds for a while (about a year) but it was totally worth it to me. I 100% prefer those symptoms to hormonal BC symptoms.
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Aug 5, 2011 22:15
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