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BlueOccamy posted:I'm actually incredibly happy about the possibility of not having periods anymore. For the longest time I thought that pantyliners were the only kind of menstrual pad and I was paranoid about leaving a tampon in too long/forgetting it was in there, so I'd just shove a bunch of toilet paper in my underwear and waddle around whenever I was on my period. I've since been convinced by my boyfriend (now husband) that tampons are okay, but I still hate having to carry them around/make sure I don't run out, and I still have the urge to rush to the bathroom every time I stand up while on my period because I used the toilet paper for so long- it wouldn't soak it all up if it gushed when I stood up, so... Hon, get to the menstrual cup thread. Those things will change your life. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3365134
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May 9, 2012 23:32
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Die Schafe posted:Hon, get to the menstrual cup thread. Those things will change your life. I've read through the OP and first several pages of that, yeah  I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping for the "no periods" with the Mirena ;PYou guys can't imagine how excited I am to have fun with my husband again 
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May 10, 2012 00:44
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Nope. It's normal to have weirdness after taking the morning after pill. Hopefully it'll settle down once you've gotten into your next cycle. Awesome! I'll just wait until things go back to normal. It is annoying, but well, thankfully there are no babies to be had.
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May 10, 2012 03:15
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NaturalLow posted:The only problem here is that the one hormone in Implanon is the same as what's in Depo, unless there's some difference I'm unaware of. It's true that they're the same hormone (progestin), but Implanon delivers a smaller dose at a highly regulated time, unlike Depo (which is a large dose that tapers off over time). I love my Implanon, and find I have a good sex drive with it, but obviously YMMV. Good luck!
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May 10, 2012 03:28
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NaturalLow posted:The only problem here is that the one hormone in Implanon is the same as what's in Depo, unless there's some difference I'm unaware of. Sorry if you already know this, Caterpillar, but there are two types of hormonal birth control: estrogen and a progestin combined, and progestin-only. Unsurprisingly, the kind with just one hormone, progestin, generally causes fewer side effects than the kind that also has estrogen. In terms of sex drive, everyone's going to respond differently, but anecdotally, Implanon increased mine and it wasn't low to start with. You can click on the ? under my name for more about my experiences with Implanon (tl;dr I love it), but obviously there are no guarantees.
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May 10, 2012 03:28
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i like nice words
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CaterpillarTheHun posted:Nope, not lost interest in anything else that I can think of, just sex. If you were willing to get Implanon (which could be a three year commitment if you like it), you should seriously consider the copper IUD and get rid of the hormones all together.
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May 10, 2012 04:50
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CaterpillarTheHun posted:Nope, not lost interest in anything else that I can think of, just sex. I find that whole thing weird, because - of all the hormonal methods - Depo comes most frequently with the most noticeable hormonal side effects. It's the combination of the generally large hormone dose and the roller coaster of hormone levels. This is the first time I've heard of a patient going to a doctor about unwanted hormonal side effects on a pill, and being given Depo. We had a short discussion about why hormonal BC causes loss of sex drive s few pages ago. It's basically, progestins can lower the sex drive, while estrogen will often stimulate it. However, some women are also more sensitive to a certain type of progestin, and other women are sensitive to certain types of synthetic estrogens. While methods that contain high estrogen and low progestin will generally help sex drive, it's not guaranteed, and you're back to "trial and error." Lots of women have success just switching pill brand, or going to a low-dose method like the implant or the hormonal IUD. (I went with a copper IUD)
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May 10, 2012 15:52
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Thanks for all the replies! It’s definitely helped me think about what I’m going to do next, which will be to see how I get on with the pills over the course of the next few weeks and then go for the Implanon if nothing changes.fork bomb posted:If you were willing to get Implanon (which could be a three year commitment if you like it), you should seriously consider the copper IUD and get rid of the hormones all together. I think I'm far too squeamish for the Copper IUD, which is probably very silly. 
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May 10, 2012 17:07
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CaterpillarTheHun posted:Thanks for all the replies! It’s definitely helped me think about what I’m going to do next, which will be to see how I get on with the pills over the course of the next few weeks and then go for the Implanon if nothing changes. I was TOTALLY going through the same thing - a declining sex drive while I was on the pill. I've had my paragaurd in for about a month. I thought about it for a long time, and was pretty freaked out by it. On the day I got it put in, I was FLIPPING out. I'm pretty proud of myself, actually for going through with it. It honestly wasn't that bad. There was one big cramp when the Dr. inserted it and some mild cramping afterword. It wasn't anything I haden't already felt before as a teenager. Think about it for a while, you may come to get used to the idea.
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May 10, 2012 21:05
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CaterpillarTheHun posted:Thanks for all the replies! It’s definitely helped me think about what I’m going to do next, which will be to see how I get on with the pills over the course of the next few weeks and then go for the Implanon if nothing changes. It's funny because I was always far more squeamish about Implanon because things being just under the skin freak me the hell out. And even though it's probably not as bad as you think, it's understandable so no need to feel silly. Speaking of, I talked to my doctor today and holy poo poo I think I'm about to get a Mirena for free! They do have to do some qualifying paperwork for it because they get the IUDs from some foundation I think, but my income is so low it shouldn't be a problem. I asked about it just in time too because we were able to get all the tests out of the way and I should be able to get it by the end of the month. I was really surprised because I had no idea they even provided anything other than pills. I've said it a million times, but I'll say it again: if you need cheap birth control check out the local health department. I'm sure it varies place to place, but it's something to look into.
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May 10, 2012 22:10
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Reformed Tomboy posted:They're more trying to get you to be aware that your arm is healing. You can rub, but gently. Your skin came away from the muscle in your arm to have a device shoved in. Rubbing vigorously will not only be painful, but also may slow healing. Go gently, or just let it come off on its own, it's only iodine. Day 4 status: Healing nicely, no bad side effects yet. I thought feeling something under my skin would have been terrifying for me too, but it's totally fine. Weirdly, it's kind of reassuring to know it's still there. Seconding the advice to go to your local health department, getting this thing for free was incredible. If anyone here is in Michigan, look up the state program called Plan First. I still qualified even though I have health insurance, because my health insurance doesn't cover family planning services.
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May 10, 2012 22:30
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Yeah I tend to harp on it so much because they rarely advertise this stuff, you really have to look for it. I didn't even know my health department gave out the pill until my mom mentioned that it was where she used to go when she was young and poor.
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May 10, 2012 22:59
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I keep considering implanon but the idea of endless spotting keeps turning me off to it.  I'm also scared I won't be able to go back to Nuvaring.
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May 10, 2012 23:02
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Got my Paragaurd inserted yesterday. The actual procedure wasn't too bad, but the cramps after the fact were horrible. I was out of commission for the entire evening, which I wasn't expecting, because I have had 2 vaginal childbirths. Day 2 and I feel fantastic! (aside from leaking Betadine) Can't wait to be hormone free! My sex drive was gone with hormonal methods, on top of a million miserable side effects. I'm hoping this works with no complications or horrid cramps. Otherwise, my husband is getting snipped.
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May 10, 2012 23:40
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Also any personal anecdotes or links to posts about experiences with Mirena would be helpful for me. The rest of the internet is really terrible for level-headed info and I'm just going to end up scaring myself. Specifically I'm curious about things like weight gain, acne, headaches, breast swelling/changes, sex drive, etc. I keep seeing stuff like that even on the official website but it's so hard to tell how common it really is and I trust you guys to be honest/calm about it.
Kimmalah fucked around with this message at 00:42 on May 11, 2012 |
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May 11, 2012 00:40
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Personal anecdote, I never had any of those side effects with Mirena. I guess some of my acne came back, but not nearly to the extent that I had it when I was a teenager/pre-pill. The side effects that I did have were pain/discomfort during deep penetration and constant spotting for a few months after insertion. My strings would also uncurl themselves constantly, both poking me and causing cramps if they got tugged somehow (before I had the strings cut they would sometimes hang low enough to poke out of my vagina, and god that was a weird thing to suddenly be aware of in the middle of a lecture hall). They softened up some, but it felt like it took forever. Compared to the pill though, it was amazing.
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May 11, 2012 00:53
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That's good to hear after all the "I gained 50 pounds in a week and my breasts grew to a size G!!  " anecdotes out there. I should add that I am looking back through the thread for info too, but that's 66 pages worth of stuff so anything new is welcome.
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May 11, 2012 01:19
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NaturalLow posted:That's good to hear after all the "I gained 50 pounds in a week and my breasts grew to a size G!! You can click the ? under my name and find my posts about Mirena. I used it for 6.5 years (had two of them!) and it was amazing. Best birth control I ever used. I had a bit of acne from it, but I'm prone to acne anyway and only some of it cleared up after I got the second one removed. My breasts would sometimes be a bit larger than normal for a couple of weeks at a time (like...1/2 a cup size). I sometimes cramped a little when I really needed to pee. I got no periods for 6 years of the 6.5 I had the Mirena in (this was amazing). My migraines were more controlled with the Mirena than they were without it and my sister has experienced the same. I stayed the same weight or maybe gained ~5lbs, but that was a GOOD thing for me, because I'm underweight and was having trouble with losing weight because I was having too many headaches (which kill my appetite). My sex drive was quite good the entire time I had it. The only time I had sex drive issues were related to things other than the Mirena (like a relationship that was ending). And my cycles went right back to normal as soon as it came out. My insertion experience was pretty average, my removals were worse than average because my uterus likes to eat IUD strings. Even with that it wasn't actually that bad and I still got a second one with no qualms about it. It was wonderful compared to the pill.
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May 11, 2012 01:47
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NaturalLow posted:Also any personal anecdotes or links to posts about experiences with Mirena would be helpful for me. The rest of the internet is really terrible for level-headed info and I'm just going to end up scaring myself. Ya. Don't google the internet about IUD's. Apparently everyone out there has gotten pregnant with an IUD, grown another head, or gained 500 pounds... I don't know why all the drama, really. I mentioned this to my Doctor on the day of the insertion - she agreed that there was a lot of really bad information out there... This really is a good thread to get level-headed information about birth control.
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May 11, 2012 02:04
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I got Mirena last October so I'm going on a little over 6 months with it. For the first 3-4 months I had periods, but they have gotten lighter and lighter. I haven't bled in about 2 months now except for some random day where I spotted for maybe 12 hours and then nothing since then. I also had pretty bad cramps with mine for the first 5 months, especially during period times. About 2 months ago I got cramps so bad I had to leave work and I could barely drive home. I went to the doctor and they said everything was fine, just probably the IUD equivalent of a bad period cramp. Since then, though, I've had pretty much no cramping. Sometimes during sex I'll get cramps, but usually they go away. Sometimes they don't. As far as sex drive goes, well, I've never had one, ever, except when I haven't been on some form of birth control. I was hoping that issue would get better with Mirena, but it hasn't. I still have no sex drive and if it weren't for living with my boyfriend, I'd never have sex at all or even think about it. What I have noticed, though, is that even though I never want sex, when my boyfriend tries to get me in the mood, I feel like it tends to happen faster than when I was on the pill. For example, on the pill I never, ever got into sex, but now about 75% of the time I can usually get into it and enjoy it after 15-20 minutes of really trying. Sometimes, though, everything just feels dead down there and I don't enjoy it at all. My face acne cleared up, but my back acne hasn't. I don't think Mirena affect it much, though, because I know it's only bad because I pick at it! Regarding weight gain/loss, well I've always been about 5-10 lbs underweight and it certainly didn't affect my ability to gain or lose. I'm actually trying to gain right now, but still struggling with it. I think that's all! I hope this helps. Good luck!
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May 11, 2012 02:45
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I have also posted a lot about Mirena so click the ? under my name too. tldr I love it. No weight gain, no acne (well, back to "normal" levels before I was on any kind of pill. All I have to do is wash my face and moisturize regularly and it's fine though. No headaches or breast changes. Sex drive is better, though that's a hard one for me because I've been hopping on and off anti-depressants this year and sex drive stuff probably had more to do with drugs and/or depression than my birth control.
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May 11, 2012 02:51
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I switched pills a couple of weeks ago! And lately I've noticed that my contact lens on my left eye is starting to hurt my eye a bit--I've been wearing the same brand contacts for about two years now and I've never really had any consistent periods of discomfort like this. I did hear something about how the pill can affect how you wear contact lenses, or something, but all the info I'm looking up about it seems kind of vague--does anyone know if switching pills always causes that kind of discomfort? And if it goes away? For the record, I switched from the Yaz generic to the Ortho-Cyclen generic.
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May 13, 2012 00:03
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BlueOccamy posted:I thought that pantyliners were the only kind of menstrual pad and I was paranoid about leaving a tampon in too long/forgetting it was in there, so I'd just shove a bunch of toilet paper in my underwear and waddle around whenever I was on my period. I... what?  I'm glad you've been pointed to the cup thread but HOW did this misconception not get corrected, for example when you went to buy pantyliners which are next to nappy-like pads?
Medium Blue fucked around with this message at 00:26 on May 16, 2012 |
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May 16, 2012 00:24
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Swillkitsch posted:I switched pills a couple of weeks ago! And lately I've noticed that my contact lens on my left eye is starting to hurt my eye a bit--I've been wearing the same brand contacts for about two years now and I've never really had any consistent periods of discomfort like this. I did hear something about how the pill can affect how you wear contact lenses, or something, but all the info I'm looking up about it seems kind of vague--does anyone know if switching pills always causes that kind of discomfort? And if it goes away?
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May 16, 2012 01:33
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Medium Blue posted:I... what? Day 8 Implanon update: No "irregular bleeding" yet, I'm cautiously optimistic.
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May 16, 2012 03:04
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Medium Blue posted:I... what? My first period was Thanksgiving in 6th grade, I yelled for my sister to get Mom and she went down to where everyone else was sitting on my grandparents' porch to tell them that my butt was bleeding  Mom just had me use a pantyliner, and I guess she didn't explain the difference between those and "real" pads since we weren't at our house. And she was always the one who bought them, so I was never part of that process. It started soaking through/spilling over the sides cause it wouldn't absorb enough/fast enough, so I started using toilet paper and never stopped til my now-husband decided to bring me into the 21st century  I'm still waiting on my period to start so I can call and schedule my Mirena for 14 days later. The gyno said that the other gyno at the office is the one who inserts all of the IUDs, so it should go smoothly. I just started a job for the first time in ages two weeks ago, so all the stress is probably pushing it back a bit. I'm so impatient though 
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May 16, 2012 03:34
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BlueOccamy posted:pantiliners Wow that's pretty awful. My sister and I were very lucky with our Mom, after a childhood where she was told "ask me when you are older" about any kind of sex or related questions, she educated herself and made sure to answer all of our questions as honestly and truthfully as she could. She missed one detail with my sister, however. Sis was about 13 or 14 i guess, and was home alone and started her period. I don't think it was her first one. Anyway she didn't have pads available and decided to try a tampon. It didn't go too well because she didn't know to remove the applicator afterword! It was apparently very painful and she took it all out. I may have told this story in the past, I'm not sure.
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May 16, 2012 04:42
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They actually sent us home from sex ed at school with a little zip-pouch of pads of different weights and some of the skinny lightweight tampons, and a pamphlet with instructions. It was all sponsored by Kotex I think. I was 7 I think, so I didn't actually start my period until a few years after that, but there were certainly girls in my class who were starting theirs by that point. By the time I actually needed any of the stuff I knew where my mom kept hers. We never really talked about it other than me saying "I'm using your pads, by the way" so she could start buying more, and me asking her to buy some of the lighter tampons because the heavy ones she used were too much for me. I'd say we have more conversations about it now, since she's starting to go through menopause. My poor father, though. He knew he needed to keep a stock of that sort of thing at his apartment, and he for some reason decided it was less awkward for him to go buy it on his own than to take my sister and me with him. He was overwhelmed by the variety of feminine products available. I know at one point he started taking the empty package from the previous purchase with him so he could compare it to what was on the shelf. It didn't help that the companies seem to change their packaging every few months.
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May 16, 2012 16:29
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RazorBunny posted:I know at one point he started taking the empty package from the previous purchase with him so he could compare it to what was on the shelf. It didn't help that the companies seem to change their packaging every few months. I just laughed out loud at this.
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May 16, 2012 17:17
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Anecdotal Mirena Story. I got mine inserted in October of last year. The insertion was pretty bad for me (induced a panic attack, I posted about it here, just click the ? over on the side), but I went home and the next day I was pretty alright. I went to work like normal, I was even lifting weights two days later. I've never had a lover mention that he could feel anything up there. It's been a pretty flawless experience for me, save for the initial insertion. The spotting lasted about 2 months and panty liners/light day tampons were sufficient to take care of it. Now I get a period about.. every other month and its extremely light. Would insert a copper birth control device in my vagina again. v  vedit: went through my thread post history and I was wrong about a few things so I fixed it. ladyweapon fucked around with this message at 23:50 on May 16, 2012 |
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May 16, 2012 23:47
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Anyone have experience with frequent yeast infections and BV from their IUD? I'm getting over from an awful BV episode and I hope it doesn't become the norm I can only deal with Metrogel for so long.
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May 16, 2012 23:58
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I'm up on the five year mark on my Mirena and need it replaced. The first time I had it in the pain was horrendous. Anyone have experiences getting an IUD replaced? Is it going to hurt just as bad? I'm kinda terrified
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May 17, 2012 02:13
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Shnooks posted:Anyone have experience with frequent yeast infections and BV from their IUD? I'm getting over from an awful BV episode and I hope it doesn't become the norm I've been having reoccurring yeast infections for almost a year now, and no doctor I've been to has really found a solution yet. One suggested removing my copper IUD, but I didn't want to do that except as a last resort because it's the only contraception that I'm really happy with. Right now I'm on three weeks of a daily diflucan pill, and it seems to have helped, but it didn't completely clear it up. I'm going to follow up on diabetes first (my father's side has diabetes, and my gyno said he's diagnosed patients with diabetes when the only symptom they showed was reoccuring yeast infections) but if nothing else turns up I might consider removing my IUD... Sorry I don't have a happy ending, but I'm going through a similar thing!
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May 17, 2012 13:34
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It's entirely possible that it's not related to the IUD. Sometimes things like yeast and BV are just incredibly hard to get rid of. Especially since often the treatment to get rid of one infection will trigger the other kind, so you just kind of keep going back and forth. I've been dealing with this back-and-forth for at least a year now myself and I'm IUD-free. Speaking of which, has anyone else gotten some weird side-effects on diflucan? I'm taking it right now and after my first dose (1) the mild (mostly asymptomatic) yeast infection I had seemed to flare up into overdrive and (2) I got so anxious/moody the next few days I felt like crawling out of my drat skin.
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May 17, 2012 22:36
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Phisty posted:I'm up on the five year mark on my Mirena and need it replaced. The first time I had it in the pain was horrendous. Anyone have experiences getting an IUD replaced? Is it going to hurt just as bad? I'm kinda terrified My removal sucked rear end because the strings were missing and not easily recovered (highly unusual). The actual insertion of the new one was no big deal. I also didn't really cramp afterward the way I had with the first one. Pretty much felt dead normal by 2 days after and that was with a much more complicated than normal removal.
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May 17, 2012 22:50
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NaturalLow posted:Speaking of which, has anyone else gotten some weird side-effects on diflucan? I'm taking it right now and after my first dose (1) the mild (mostly asymptomatic) yeast infection I had seemed to flare up into overdrive and (2) I got so anxious/moody the next few days I felt like crawling out of my drat skin. I haven't noticed any side effects like that. My abdomen has been a little sensitive, but that could also be a) my imagination b) menstruation-related. I'm a little paranoid because a doctor at the clinic mentioned something about liver damage with diflucan, and recommended I get blood work done near the end of my current prescription. But my yeast infection/discomfort lessened significantly, and I haven't noticed any anxiety.
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May 18, 2012 00:17
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Bagleworm posted:I haven't noticed any side effects like that. My abdomen has been a little sensitive, but that could also be a) my imagination b) menstruation-related. I'm a little paranoid because a doctor at the clinic mentioned something about liver damage with diflucan, and recommended I get blood work done near the end of my current prescription. But my yeast infection/discomfort lessened significantly, and I haven't noticed any anxiety. Yeah I thought it was kind of bizarre myself. I had no idea I even had a yeast infection until it showed up on a pap smear, then when take the medicine for it and I started getting all the classic symptoms for it like crazy. 
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May 18, 2012 00:29
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I just finished metrogel/flagyl for BV and I can't even tell if I have a yeast infection or not. Personally, I want my vagina to stop being broken and get it's poo poo together already.
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May 18, 2012 00:30
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Recurring/long lasting yeast infections could be caused by your partner carrying the infection and passing it back to you despite any medications you may be on to treat it. Dudes can sometimes get little red spots on their wang but often times have no symptoms to speak of. They can get a prescribed topical cream to clear it up.
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May 18, 2012 04:51
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| # ? Jun 8, 2024 15:14 |
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 IUD replacement trip reportIt all went pretty well, really. I forgot to take any ibruprofen beforehand, although I did remember to have a banana to keep my blood sugar up. I think the trainee (but not male) gyno was more nervous than I was, to be honest. The NHS seems to have started offering a numbing gel which they goop over/into your cervix before starting; they also offered me some local anesthetic injections into my cervix as well if I wanted them but I was happy with just the gel. I'm not really sure it made all that much difference, but it's nice that they offer it. The removal of the old coil felt very weird and a bit uncomfortable but not really painful - the strings on mine were long and easy to find which probably helped a lot. As with the initial insertion of my first coil, the most painful part was the bit where the doctor put the sound through my cervix - they was a bit ouchy and unfortunately she had to do it twice as my cervix spasmed a bit the first time she tried to put the new coil in. I felt a bit wobbly afterwards so went home rather than back to work, but after having some chocolate and a nap for an hour or so I felt OK. I had some spotting and cramping for the next few days but so far, so good. Fire away with any questions!
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May 18, 2012 09:22
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