(( VaginaPagina ))

delay period for wedding?

2013-05-21T15:56:13Z

I think I did my math right, and if so, I'm set to get my period smack dab on my vacation in august. I get It ever 26-28 days and on August 6-13 I'm headed to California for my cousins wedding. Is REALLY like to have my period and be done with it by the 6th, after the 12/13th... but according to my calculations I could (WILL) get it anywhere between then. Other then birth control, is there any way to prevent these tragic events from occurring lol.. or if hbc Isthe only way, how can I assure that I don't get my period then? I've been on hbc before and hated the side effects but if it's only for one month I may be able to deal... please help! Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Here's a little more info: if my next 2 cycles are 26 days each, I'm set to get my period August 7-12. If they're all 27 days, I'll have it Aug 10-15. and if they're all 28 days (my last two were but who knows if it's a trend or what) I'd get it Aug 13-18 which is best case scenario but with my luck will be least likely. We are going to Cali August 6-13.

traveling with boric acid

2013-05-21T15:51:34Z

I have BV going on right now and I'm treating it with boric acid. I can tell I need at least a few more days of it but I'm getting on a plane to travel to a different state tomorrow. I might just be paranoid, but will I run into problems traveling with boric acid? It's white powder in capsules, I mean... that just looks suspicious lol and I would much rather not get stopped and questioned. Anyway, does anyone know of any precautions I should take to make this go over smoothly? Thanks.

Trans-vaginal Ultrasound

2013-05-21T11:16:38Z

hello friends. I will undergo Trans vaginal ultrasound this coming Sunday. I just want to know how painful is it at my age. I'm only 19 years old and this is my first time so I really don't know what to expect? Please help me. Thank you.

Crying during/after masturbation?

2013-05-21T06:00:27Z

OK, so I have kind of an embarrassing problem to ask about but you folks are always so lovely that I thought I'd ask you.

So a bit of background: I've had sex twice in the last couple months and I'd never had sex before that. My partner and I get along fine, but we're not in a relationship or looking to be in one and I kind of get the feeling we won't be hooking up again, which is fine. Anyway, since hooking up with him I've been using my vibrator a lot more for penetration than clitoral stimulation and the last couple times I've masturbated whenever I'm penetrating myself, I start crying. Just a little bit while I'm doing it and then after I orgasm, I just start sobbing. It seems to be worst if I'm using a thrusting motion (sorry for being so graphic!) even though it really feels very good! I'm wondering if I just have unresolved feelings about my non-relationship or something or I did just start talking to this new guy who's super nice and something might happen with, but hasn't yet and maybe I'm just emotional about that? Could my Nexplanon birth control have anything to do with it? Is this normal? I've heard of people crying after sex before, which I sort of understand, but crying after masturbating? Am I being ridiculous?

Anyway, sorry if I'm being ridiculous, but I just want to make sure that I'm normal and that this will go away eventually; I don't want it to affect any future partners!

After intercourse bleeding?

2013-05-21T04:45:13Z

Ok, just some basics - i've only "been with" one guy, the guy i'm currently dating right now and he's been with other girls before me but gets tested for stds on the regular when he was "around", i take birth control at the same time every single day, i've never missed and only been late by MAX an hour (i'm obsessed) and i'm much too paranoid to even on top of that, have sex without a condom, so we're on birth control AND use condoms every time. Recently i started a new form of birth control. i used to be on a 3 month type, but now i'm on the kind that you get a period every month. but my obgyn told me that if i wanted, i could skip the sugar pills if i wanted to still have my 3 months regime, i was only planning on having a 2 month regime this time simply because my period would have started the first week of summer and i didn't want to be bloaty and gross feeling at the beach, so that means i'm on my 5th week of birth control pills on a pill pack that is "designed" for 3 weeks of birth control and then a placebo week. does that make sense? anyways! Earlier today we were having sex and it was like usual, tralala, and then after it was over i went to the bathroom and wiped and noticed some bright red blood coming out (only when i wiped, not dripping) of my vagina. it was about quarter sized at first and then i just stayed in the bathroom until it stopped bleeding which really didn't take but a few minutes. and since it didn't look like period blood, i just assumed that it might have been a cut/tear on the inside from something, i dont know. i dont remember the sex being particularly rough or that i was particularly dry or anything, but whatever. about an hour or two later, i went to the bathroom again and noticed brownish period-looking blood in my underwear. it was almost as if i had JUST started my period (i'm a week away from the placebo pills) it was not like brown mixed with discharge, it was brownish blood that you usually get in the beginning or end of a period. it was enough to cover the bottom of my underwear, but it appeared as if the "blood" had already stopped flowing since it didn't look too wet or anything. and that was the last that i saw of it.
i've never had spotting or breakthrough bleeding on birth control and i'm BEYOND paranoid. i'm just wondering what this could possibly be and if i need to get a morning after pill just in case?
sorry if i sound like a rambling mess, i dont want to worry myself sick thinking i'm pregnant or something of that nature if i don't need to, but i also would like to be as educated as possible. i can't seem to find any answers that sound like my situation.
thank you! xoxo

Cycle/Conception Questions

2013-05-21T01:17:29Z

Hello all you fantastic VPers! Having a little confusion about my menstrual cycle, and hoping someone can help me out. So, I had my Mirena removed 4/19. I had it almost 4 years, it was awesome. I also haven't had a period since I got it, either, back in September 2009. I have also been on some kind of hormonal contraception since 1997. All that said, I had it removed in order to conceive. May 5, I was 99.9% sure I ovulated due to pain in the right ovarian side and cervical mucus at the time that was EWCM. I took a few pregnancy tests (dollar store cheapies as well as some EPT that were on sale), all negative, and got what I am pretty sure is my period, today. Which means that I was most likely right about 5/5 being ovulation, since this is 15 days later. (The reason I say "pretty sure" about my period, that is because it's REALLY really light, and I want to be all "implantation bleeding yay" but I'm 99% sure it's actually a period.) So, tests negative, fairly sure of ovulation...boils down to: when trying to plan via calendar and also various apps for this, it often wants to know your length of cycle. Well, I don't know for sure, as I have no "prior period" to use. Since the ovulation-to-period time was "average" (which we all know "average" doesn't mean jack), can I figure that it would likely be an entirely "average" cycle? Therefore, when should I theoretically expect to ovulate again, do you all think? I'm just trying to be proactive at this point, and I know it's not able to be predicted with total accuracy but any thoughts would be helpful. I've been reading and searching the web but I also know VP almost always has an answer or a place to look, at least. Thank you everyone!

MMMMonday! Bra sizing (as a feminist issue).

2013-05-20T23:04:39Z

t's MMMMonday! Each Monday, we bring you special, maintainer-curated content intended to enrich your VP experience. Please note that you can find past MMMMonday posts using the "mmmmonday" tag.

Also, a quick reminder about the other places you can find VP: vp_bulletins for local announcements; contact_vp for questions and feedback on the way VP is run; the Vulvapedia for basic questions; and don't forget about our sibling community over on Dreamwidth!

I stumbled upon this piece and thought it was a perspective that might be interesting to our members: Why I Believe Bra-Fitting is a Feminist Issue.

An excerpt:
"On a somewhat similar note, I feel bra sizing can play a huge role in body acceptance. I feel that accepting that you should wear (for example) a 30HH, rather than a 36DD, can be one of the biggest things you can do when it comes to accepting your body. Women are constantly told they need to be smaller, to be daintier, to take up less space, and bra sizing hasn’t escaped this."

If you want to share, what is your bra size? Have you always worn the correct size for you? What has your experience with bra sizing been like? How does bra size affect your feelings about your breasts? Do you agree that bra sizing is a feminist issue? You're invited to share any thoughts on the piece, these questions, or whatever in the comments!

sore nipples and...extreme thirst?

2013-05-20T20:18:37Z

For the past two weeks my nipples (not the actual breasts) have been really sore! Like, if something brushes against them, the pain is really strong and feels like someone is pinching them as hard as they can. I've also been constantly thirsty, which is weird becaus e I'm not a big water drinker. I've also been really tired and not feeling like myself. Its kinda like getting up in the morning and feeling groggy before having a cup of coffee. But this super tired feeling I can't shake no matter how much coffee or redbull I drink or how much I slept. Anybody know of anything that can cause these things? I'm not sure if they're all related or not. The extreme thirst is probably the strangest symptom.

plan b help

2013-05-20T16:34:13Z

I took plan B 3 times. March 4th, April 4th, & April 6th. My last 3 periods were February 23, march 24, & April 18th...now it's march 20th and I still don't have a period..but I have cramps. I have had sex in between April 18 and now. It was protected so I didn't take anything. I have taken 2 first response tests and one Walgreens test and all are negative. I've been feeling naseaus but I think that's because of being so worried! What do you guys think is going on? Is there still a chance I'm pregnant or do you think my cycle is just really messed up from plan B?

Genetic Testing For Breast Cancer

2013-05-20T05:38:48Z

About two weeks ago I saw a documentary called "Dawn Porter : My Breasts Could Kill Me" and have been contemplating getting a genetic test done to see if I too have the gene/s. I'm turning 26 this year and 11 years ago, when she was 46, my mother was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. They caught it early and she's fine now but I'm wondering since she is the only one in my family who has had the disease, whether I should worry about a genetic link.

Most articles I have read by people discussing getting tested for the breast cancer gene do so because 2 or more people in their family have been diagnosed with it. I realize that you can have the gene and not get the disease. I'm in Perth and after getting a referral to the hospital that does the testing, there is around a 1 year waiting time for an appointment and I don't know if it's worth getting it done since my general practitioner who is aware of my family history doesn't seem concerned. Has anyone here had the test done? And if so, what made you decide to find out?

Living with Eczema

2013-05-19T23:56:00Z

This is not vagina-related, but it is self-image-related I wanted to get some sort of feedback from the non-judgemental, helpful masses here.

I have eczema. I've had it for at least five years; beyond that, I don't remember but I do know I've had it at least since the beginning of high school. At the time, I didn't know what it was, only that there were angry red patches of dry skin up and down my arms that never went away. I felt really embarrassed about them. I covered my arms all the time with sweatshirts so no one could see them, and I brought it up to my mom. She took me to the doctor and my doctor told me it was a virus, it would never go away, and to get some vitamin D by sitting in the sun every day.

I did this for a few months, but all it did was make the dry patches more dry. They were there all year round, but they were worse in the winter (and still are) so I thought maybe the sun was helping, but I have since then realized it's probably because of the cold, dry air in the northern mid-west United States that's making it worse in winter. I continued to wear long sleeves constantly, for fear of anyone noticing.

I went to my same doctor once more for my skin, because my mom did some research and decided her diagnosis did not make sense. The doctor said the same thing, though: nothing to do but sit in the sun for a while.

I switched to a new doctor when my mom did, and I mentioned the skin issue to her. She scraped a small bit of effected skin off and tested it to see if it was a fungal issue; it wasn't. She didn't do any more tests, and gave me a steroidal treatment that I never used (I can't remember why).

I've tried using lotion on the area after showers, and I've even tried scrubbing the areas harshly to get the flakey, dead skin off. Those things just made the skin more red and on top of that, it hurt.

Then, my mom (who is a nurse) came to me recently and said, "I think you have eczema." I then found as much information on it as I could and found pictures of other people with eczema identical to my own. I was happy, but also sad, because along with a diagnosis*, there was the prognosis. There is no cure, only treatment to make it manageable.

I decided I did not want steroidal creams to use on my skin because I did not want the bad side-effects, but I did find Aveeno's Eczema Therapy lotion. I've used it for the past four days and my skin has shown improvement. The patches of dry skin feel better (but not quite how my other skin does), and it is not as red.

I should be happy about this, but it honestly makes me feel worse.

When I look at my arms now, I am afraid, because I don't think it will last. I'm afraid that I'll wake up tomorrow and see bright red patches of skin glaring up at me. I'm afraid that I will always have to feel bad about the way my arms look.

I have a great, supportive partner. The (rare) times that I've mentioned how I hate the way my arms look, he always tells me that he never notices it and that I'm beautiful, no matter what I think. But I feel like any time I wear short sleeves everyone can see it, and it's all they can see.

I'm tired of people saying "what's that on your arms?" They don't mean anything by it, but it makes me feel terrible that my skin is disgusting and everyone can see it. It makes me hate warm weather, and it makes me less likely to hang out with people.

I'm afraid that I'll look this way for my wedding someday. I'm getting older, and I'm in a serious relationship. What if I do end up getting married sometime soon? I don't want to feel self-conscious on what is supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life. I want to wear a beautiful wedding dress and not have to wear some sort of cover-up.

I want to feel normal.

*Obviously making a diagnosis, even based on my mother's knowledge as a nurse, is not the same as going to a doctor.

I guess I don't know what I'm trying to say, here. I will ask, though: Does anyone here suffer from eczema or chronic dry skin? How do you deal with it? Am I alone in thinking the way I do about my skin?

vaginal odor help!

2013-05-19T23:48:39Z

Ok so as long as I can remember I've had an odor down there I remember ever since elementary school I've had it. I went to the gyn a couple of times they said there is no infection I'm 17 years old now and a virgin. The odor down there literally smells like an underarm when I get sweaty or hot like the musty smell u smell when u forget to put on deodorant and I also have alot of discharge. What can I do about this? Will home remedies work like the garlic or apple cider vinegar remedy ??

Bleeding Through on Nuvaring??

2013-05-19T19:26:07Z

Has anybody out there had issues with bleeding through on the Nuvaring?? I started using the Nuvaring last August after terminating a pregnancy - so I haven't had a normal period since last June. My normal periods were heavy and a bit chunky at times but my periods since starting have been more like the discharge after the abortion (dark, dry, minimal) and only last about 2-3 days (usually starting 2-3 days after I take it out and stopping the minute I insert the new ring at the end of the week)....until now. Last week I started spotting the day before I was supposed to take it out and now, 3 days after putting in the new one, I'm still bleeding. It's nowhere near as heavy or painful as my old/normal period, but I've had cramps and the blood is "fresher" (red, less dried out) than it's been since I started using the ring. Is my body still adjusting to the abortion/birth control drama of last summer? Is something else going on? Should I take the ring out and just let my period go until it is done and start over in a week?

Links Round Up: Week Ending 19 May 2013

2013-05-19T18:26:55Z

Hi and welcome to our latest edition of the Links Round Up!

For those who may not know, the LRU is a compilation of items from the past week that may be of interest to VPers and is intended to broaden the kinds of conversations we have here.

To submit articles for next week's round-up, e-mail frolicnaked@vaginapagina.com. If you have additional articles you'd like folks to know about this week, feel free to comment directly to this post.

As a reminder, in lieu of trigger warnings, I use keywords describing the themes of the piece. Please skim these before deciding to read the excerpt or click through for the full article. Outside sources are not safe spaces, and mainstream source's comments should almost always be avoided. The links I highlight don't necessarily reflect VP's views, or even my own, for that matter.

This week's round-up includes: language and mental illness, sex education for children and adults, LinkedIn and sex work, substituting "sex" for "rape," and "kangaroo care" for premature babies.

"She forgot to take her medication today!" by allama at the old jaw jaw (Keywords: mental health, medication, language, stigma)
"She forgot to take her medication today!" is one of those marginally irritating stock phrases that people use without thinking it through. It's used as a lazy joke for any mistake or failing or mildly eccentric behaviour, and honestly? Most days I wouldn't even give a shit. I might register a vague flash of annoyance and observe that the speaker really needs some new material.

Today, though: ha.

be the sex educator... by emily nagoski at the dirty normal (Keywords: sex education, children, bodies, consent)
"Yes. Yes. Children should learn about sexuality the same way they learn about nutrition and hygiene and families and being kind.

But they don’t, and the reason they don’t is because the grownups are mired in a dangerous combination of lack of knowledge and abject fear.

How can we teach our children what we don’t understand ourselves?

Frisky business? LinkedIn evicts little-known 'red-light district' by Helen A.S. Popkin at NBC News (Keywords: sex work, professional networking, LinkedIn, discrimination)
As LinkedIn’s rules now clarify, even legal prostitution violates the user agreement.

No, You Cannot Substitute ‘Sex’ For ‘Rape’ by Tara Culp-Ressler at ThinkProgress (Keywords: rape, language, rape culture)
Using the terms “rape” and “sexual assault” to describe acts of non-consensual sexual violence is an incredibly important journalistic distinction — particularly in light of our society’s pervasive victim-blaming rape culture that often obscures the gravity of those crimes. Across the country, victims of sexual assault are being told that they’re not telling the truth, or they’re the ones at fault for the crimes perpetrated against them, because they somehow “asked for it.” Pretending that “rape” is interchangeable with “sex” is a subtle method of furthering this attitude — especially because rape is about power, not necessarily about sex.

In praise of Kangaroo Care for premature babies by Dr. Jen Gunter (Keywords: childbirth, parenting, premature babies, skin-to-skin contact)
Kangaroo care (KC) is the practice of skin-to-skin contact with a premature baby and parent. In low and middle-income countries, where there are fewer medical resources, Kangaroo Care has been shown to reduce mortality among premature babies and shorten the length of hospital stay.

Kangaroo Care is also very beneficial in high-income countries even in the midst of extremely high-tech care.

Thoughts on any of these stories? Also, what have you been reading (or writing!) this week?

Pain Urinating?

2013-05-19T15:59:09Z

Hey VP'ers so I have a weird problem. Whenever I pee and I'm trying to finish I get this pain in my urinary tract. It's not like UTI pain, but rather a bruised/squeezed sort of pain if that makes sense. My pee isn't cloudy, there's no burning, nor smell. I can start peeing fine, but when I'm trying to finish this pain creeps up and I can still pee, but it's just slightly painful. I don't think I have a bruised clit or anything because it doesn't hurt when I masturbate. Does anyone have a clue as to what this might be? I've been drinking more pop (I normally drink tea/water) and am wondering if that is what is causing some of this pain? Does anyone have any natural remedies that might relieve some of this/make it go away? Thanks for your help!

Communities for people with anxiety disorders?

2013-05-18T16:21:27Z

This isn't exactly on-topic for VP, and if it's not ok to post, then mods please feel free to delete this. I have just kind of exhausted myself with searching and thought that if anyone might be able to point me in the right direction, it would be the superstars here.

Does anyone know of any good (supportive, active) communities on LiveJournal for people dealing with anxiety problems?

Thanks in advance.

brown discharge 2 weeks after period/unprotected sex

2013-05-18T15:59:01Z

i am on the combined pill since the beginning of this year. last month instead of taking a break, i continued onto a new pack and about halfways through the new pack on tuesday 30 april i realised i forgot to take mondays pill and i got some brown discharge and light cramps so i decided to let my period come.

on saturday 4 may i started a new pack even though i still had my period and the whole 7 day break had not passed.

on sunday 5 may (my period was really light/pretty much gone) i had unprotected sex. i don't actually remember if he came inside me or not, i was extremely drunk and blacked out and only remember parts of it. please dont judge me on this i feel like i was sexually assaulted because he didnt stop when i asked and i already have a lot of guilt.

today, 13 days later, i have brown discharge and light cramps (which feel like period cramps) in my stomach. i actually have the cramps for the past 2 days but the discharge just started today.

should i be worried?

vaginapagina @ 2013-05-17T22:41:00

2013-05-18T02:41:56Z

I posted two weeks ago about some strange brown vaginal discharge 3 days after sex. (Penetration, if you will. He did not ejaculate) It lasted about 3 days, and I only needed a pantie liner on the first day - the last 2 days it was only visable when I wiped.

Yesterday, I noticed some light pinky brown stains on my panties at the end of the day, and then again today. For what it's worth, I had sex 3 days before.

My period is very irregular, especialy lately. My last period was on April 13th (I had skipped my March period).

I took a HPT this morning and it was negative.

I'm very concerned and I don't have health insurence or a gyno. What could this be? My first worry was that it was inplantation bleeding, but it seemed too early the first time and now I've got it (albeit, lighter) two weeks later.

There's no burning, itching, or irritation.

Breast Cramps

2013-05-17T23:27:23Z

I'm having some rather intense cramps in my breast. This is not normal for me. I'm 43 and never really felt this before. I'm in the middle of my menstrual cycle - my period should start in a week. Any ideas about whether or not I should be worried about bigger health issues? I have no other symptoms at all, and do not have any complicating physical conditions.

Anon Post: Concern about abusive situations

2013-05-17T16:32:20Z

As people hopefully know, VP maintainers/moderators will post anonymously for other. I'm not technically a VP maintainer (because I sometimes have to flake out and curl up under a rock for a few days), but I am also happy to help out and post for someone!

And, as the maintainers would say, Thank you for trusting VP enough to share your story. We're honored to have you here, and we hope you receive kind thoughts and the help and information you're seeking.

They'd also say, This is just a quick note to remind readers that VP has some guidelines for responding to posts about sexual abuse or assault. VP is fabulous because of its members. We appreciate your sensitivity and understanding when responding here. :)

Basically I want to know if this actually happens or if I am just a special
breed of special snow flakes? I mean... After doing a lot of therapy and
suffering more than my fair hare of mental illness I have accepted that I
have been either raped or sexually molested by 90% of the men that have had
come in contact with me that way. That... Is a total of 4 out of 6 guys and
one of those fabulous other 2 was physically and verbally abusive to me
(not slightly either... He broke my nose once and took a blade to my skin
many times even of I didn't want to cut at those times). So I am currently
dating the ONLY man who hasn't ever forced his touch on me or hit me or
stuck anything in my body that I didn't want.

This hurt... Admitting to it has left me distraught and sad. I used to
play it off, like meh it was nothing and like there was nothing wrong with
those relationships but looking back at my life and my history with self
loathing it's RIGHT there. The worst part? I dated two of these men or
YEARS and eventually I just gave in, let them do what they wanted and I
just laid there... Swallowing pain and hurt and pretended to like it...
Some times I even did. I actually really loved being physically abused
because he was on antidepressants and at least he couldn't get it up...
Which meant he couldn't force THAT on me. And one of them clearly was
hurting me.... Even when I finally managed to say 'no' out loud to him (I
rarely did, mind you with the others) he used his height and weight
advantage against me... And I went back to him for more -.-

I am pathetic, aren't I? I mean you're supposed to go through sexual abuse
only once by one person and know better not... 5 different people abusing
you... That just doesn't happen, does it?

Maybe I do just look for it... Maybe I secretly like it because it makes no
sense otherwise. I've been crying on and off about this for a couple of
days. How could I be so stupid and let this happen to me over and over
again?

Concerns about being child-free?

2013-05-17T14:56:36Z

Howdy everyone!
I'm 22, which is pretty young to be making these kinds of decisions but... I don't want children. In fact, thinking about not having children is one of those super-charged-emotional topics for me. Ever since I was a kid, I just never wanted them because I didn't want to make space for someone else in my dreams for my life.

Having said that, I'm a real "type-a" people pleaser personality (total ENFP here). I worry that my decision to not have children will affect me and I'll be miserable later in life. Is there any truth to that statement?

Also, my partner's parents are very secular but are still from a more religious background than I am. They're North African, and kind of expect that everyone wants children. They know I'm pretty good with kids, so they see me as a "mommy" type. Should I let them know now that I don't want kids or wait for one of his siblings to have kids?

So I use a diaphram

2013-05-17T11:25:38Z

Today I was looking on line, and saw this product.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gyneas-Femcap-26mm-Cervical-Cap/dp/B007MNWK5G/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_z

is it safer, (it does claim this)? experiences? I like the fact a nurse fit my diaphragm, but Do find increasingly finding one who knows anything about them is getting harder and harder. So i feel increasingly unsafe or at least less sure then I would like.

Period starts, stops, starts, stops, starts.

2013-05-17T03:18:20Z

I got my period last week but only bled through 1 tampon and then nothing. A couple days later, I started bleeding again. I went through a tampon and then it stopped again. Tonight, it started again. I'm not on any hormones and there is zero chance of pregnancy. Is this cause for concern?

To sleep or not to sleep?

2013-05-16T22:45:36Z

Hello superstars!

I'm happy to say that thanks to the awesome support of this community (not necessarily directed to me, but helping me anyway lol) I think I've gotten my various vitamin deficiencies under control. The result? MORE ENERGY! I still get tired and sleepy, but not nearly to the extent of feeling like a zombie.

However, I do have to come to you all with a problem:

Pretty much every night for the past month or so I wake up between the hours of 2 and 4 am. And can't. Fall. Back. Asleep.

I don't know if it's the weather changing (yay summer!), stress (waiting on responses from interviews/job is getting stressful), or vitamin overdose (is this possible? Should I stop taking B12?) but it's driving me up the wall!

I know this is really vague, but any and all responses will be awesome.

Some possibly relevant background: I'm taking B12, Vitamin C, Calcium, Vitamin D, and Iron supplements as well as Mutacil (or something fibery) for my recently diagnosed IBS.

I showed a severe vitamin D deficiency a few years back, but wasn't able to follow up on it, and I was diagnosed as borderline anemic.

I can't be losing anywhere from half an hour to hour and a half hour of sleep every night. If I'm exhausted enough I still wake up at night but I can manage to fall back asleep.

Acne while on birth control

2013-05-16T16:58:34Z

Hi everyone,

I'm taking the birth control Loestrin, and I have been on it for a few months. I'm stacking my pills so that I only have periods 4 times/year. So I take the pills for 3 months without taking placebos, and on the 3rd month, I take the placebos and have a period. I normally don't get bad acne at all. This month, I am taking the placebos and will have a period. I start taking the placebos in about 3 days. And I have terrible acne suddenly. All over my face and chest. I'm wondering...Does my body know I'm about to have a period? I thought the hormones are supposed to trick my body into not having one, so how would it know, especially since I'm not on the placebos yet and have a few more days?

Just wondering if anyone knows. More so out of curiosity.

Thanks! :)