OBGYN Questions - a thread for lady things

Hmm, I might still put a call into my gyn. to see what she thinks.

Also: you can ask your pharmacist (or go to company website) for the actual product label, which they never give you unless you ask for it. The data in the label is gone over with a fine-tooth comb by the FDA, so if you can get through the excessive verbage it is a highly reliable source of side effect and drug interaction info.

yes this is what I was initially thinking. I used depo-provera briefly and it was constant, random bleeding (if that makes sense.)

The thread title is warning. Anyone who clicks deserves what they get.

I'm off the pill now after 12 years of almost constant use, and I'm absolutely loving having a cycle and mapping my changes. I can feel when I'm ovulating (which is reassuring!) and can predict which days I'll be at my horniest. This will be so routine for women who don't use the pill, but it's really exciting for me. How sad.

If the Pill didn't fuck with my moods so badly, I'd go on it just to get some control back over my hormones.

I don't miss the Pill; I really appreciate the side-effects of ovulation, as suggested by Rumps. Ahem.

The bf is not yet at this stage so I am still on the pill. Although our conversations have moved from "If we have kids. . ." to "When we have kids. . ." so it will happen. Hopefully before my ovaries dry up.

Errr

I'm done having babies, my husband had a vasectomy, so no more Pill for me. All GREAT!

Rumps, that is hilarious. I have not heard any complaints about that effect, though.

Eh? that was my experience of being ON the pill.

I did do a pregnancy test a week or two ago, neg. but is breakthrough bleeding a sign of pregnancy? maybe I should do another.

crying spells from watching commercials with penguins covered in oil.

hahaha.

kate, maybe you should check into some of these newer low-hormone variety. my obgyn spent a lot of time choosing a pill for me that would play nice with my pyschatric meds/moods.

I have a question too that popped into my head recently, you are not supposed to wear a tampon for any more than 8 hours max (that is if you use them overnight, which I won't do, but I have been told it is "ok"). Why can you wear the Sponge for up to 30 hours max? That seems like a mistake? I am just worried that I shouldn't be listening to the Sponge instructions and I should take it out much sooner. I usually don't let that go more than just overnight just because I think it is kind of gross but I was wondering if anyone had any idea why the Sponge is ok to leave in for ages but tampons wouldn't be; it seems both would have the same illness potential if left in.

???

I think Ally means the Today sponge which is not at all natural.

I don't know Ally, that's a good question. The TSS issues are largely due to absorption and soaking up all your natural secretions which then let the bacteria dig in. Perhaps it's because the sponge isn't as absorptive?

When I've used them I've always put them in the close beforehand and took them out after 30 min/1 hr.

this is happening to me. really, really not happy about it. i read up on side effects, but i wasn't expecting this as it didn't happen to me with the pill.

I do mean the Today sponge. I'm wondering if the spermicide also kills off some of that bacteria mentioned, so it makes it "safer." I generally put them in close beforehand as well but the instructions on the new new Sponge say that you have to leave them in 6 hours after intercourse, at least (!!!). I don't understand why but I'm not taking my chances after my charming experience with expired birth control pills.

xpost wait this is like the third time you've mentioned IUDs, I assumed you did have one. That shit is supposedly painful as hell!

(I'd offer stories about my wife but I suspect she'd kill me due to the whole "Google spider picking up info about her hoohoodilly without her consent" issue)

That sounds terrible. Way worse than the time I had the student nurse for my gyno visit.

Geez, the PI sheet goes on forever and a day about DEADLY RASH but not something as useful as birth control interactions. WTF.

http://www.wonder-showzen.com/images/wallpapers/small/dogobgyn_wp_300.gif

!!

I guess I better call my obgyn then. and maybe pee on another baby stick . . .

Oh, sorry, Americans, I forgot you have to pay for this stuff.

coffee
alcohol
psilocybin mushrooms
crystal meth

Oops. He's fine, really. I am too.

During the week before I found out I was pregnant, I got high three or four nights, and drank an entire fifth of jack daniels by myself, and Spencer is a-okay.

Why didn't my doesn't-accept-insurance-must-pay-full-price psych tell me this when he prescribed it? he had a list of all my meds, looked shit up on his laptop and told me about the freaking rash but not the lack of efficacy of birth control pills!!!

arrgghh. pregnancy would be awesome. unplanned preggers, no. besides my general margarita and basketball beer funness all of my pysch meds are labled 'DO NOT TAKE IF PREGNANT' and my obgyn and pysch have both said we would have to work AS A TEAM to wean me off them when I began to try and get preganant.

suxor suxor

kenan is lurking

They also bumped me up from a low dose pill to a higher dose, and that seems to have helped some. For those having mood swings and irritability on the multi-level hormone pills (anything called tri- or multi-), ask your dr. about the ones that keep a steady level of hormone every week. Switching to one of those saved my sanity about 10 years ago.

Also, I think the fewer periods you have, the less your chance of cancer, so Sam, despite the breakthrough bleeding, you're supposedly reducing your cancer rates by taking the pill and missing periods.

If I were you I would get with your local la leche league, they'll help you find someone knowledgeable about pregnancy and antidepressants...many are safe to take throughout pregnancy and nursing but you might want to begin any transitions necessary now. Or it'll just help you be informed when the time comes.

I was advised to drink dark beer while I was nursing. I think it was for vitamin B-12(?), but also for the relaxing. While I'm sure there are lots of things in the world that are dangerous to developing fetuses, I also think pregnant women are especially easy to terrorize (I know I was). I had my wisdom teeth out under general anesthetic when I was pregnant with my second child and didn't know it. The OBs I was seeing were telling me (with relish it seemed) all the things that would be wrong with my son because of my thoughtlessness. Fortunately, my daughter's pediatrician was able to reassure me, and he turned out healthy.

coffee
alcohol
psilocybin mushrooms
crystal meth

this reads like my ideal personals ad

hahaha "sometimes".

um. actually i hope my cynicism is wrong because i'm seeing a new naturopath today, and hoping she can help address my copious hormonal issues (i have a little growth on my pituitary, it makes for FUN). my endocrinologist put me on a bunch of stuff that didn't work for me after making all sorts of lofty promises, and then gave up on me.

but hopefully a naturopath has all sorts of other tricks up her sleeves. bring on the mexican yams or whatever the fuck.

No fucking kidding. I've been on Lamictal a long time and it was 1 1/2 fucking years before my nurse practitioner (5th or 6th one I had) told me about this. Like you'd think that'd be a top priority issue. That sample pack doesn't say anything, either, but if you just finished out w/the 25/50/100 mg titration I can't imagine those doses would have really fucked anything up. BUT STILL.

I think that's something they say to scare kids (or grown ups) away from sexoring and dranking.

At my last campus the local women's group was giving away keychains that were BEER OPENERS that said, "Drink beer and get all your folic acid!"

I do try to inform myself, but looking it over again, there was one tiny sentence about this in the whole giant PI sheet. I've been much better about it since then. Just advocating for your own treatment plan & how you want to deal with it makes a person way more confident & stronger psychologically in my experience. I know that's not always a possibility, tho.

also, a friend who worked many years in a methadone clinic swears up and down heroin babies are not only born healthy, they are more beautiful than most.

I was really strict with myself wrt OTC medications with my first - I wouldn't even take Sudafed, which is not contraindicated - and that was a mistake because I then wound up with ear infections in both ears and had to take antibiotics and something topical to kill the raging pain in my ears. I might have headed that off with the Sudafed.

(Also, I hated pregnancy because ibuprofen is not "okay," but acetominophen is. Acetominophen does nothing for me.)

I wouldn't hesitate to consult with my ob/gyn, doctor, or midwife on these questions.

Yeah I did. I just started on a script for 100mg friday. I'm going to call my obgyn for a different pill today but I have no privacy in my office and I"m waiting for my male co-worker to go to the bathroom or something. Strangers on the internet knowing what's going on in my panties, cool. Dude who sits next to me everyday and isn't my boyfriend, not cool.

I also see my pysch on Wed and plan on informing him of his oversight.

The two trials of Lybrel, a continuous non-cyclic, low-dose, combination oral contraceptive for which an active pill is taken every day without a placebo interval, investigated return to menstruation after study participants stopped taking Lybrel, and the safety and efficacy of Lybrel compared with a traditional 21-day cyclic oral contraceptive.

--

I for one welcome our new no-period overlords.

I am going to call my dr. after xmas about this. I can't take it anymore. It never bothered me as much when I was younger, but now I'm an emotional mess with cramps THAT DON'T QUIT.

also I'm still feeling paranoid about possible pregnacy. did a test this weekend, negative, although I suppose I should do another in a week or two.

Oh, and I also toked a few times while pregnant. Once after a prenatal visit, they called to say they found THC in my pee. I said, "Do you have any information that it's actually bad for a fetus?"
Nurse: "Uh, no, nothing has been proven."
Me: "I couldn't find any information that it's actually harmful to a fetus either. As a matter of fact, one study found babies of potsmokers to be better weight and healthier than babies of moms who didn't."
Nurse: "Yeah, that's possible, but we just advise our patients against any drug use."

It made me feel more relaxed, and I figure that's good for the baby. But, as I said, it was only occasional. Smokers of tobacco keep a steady flow of nicotine headed their baby's way. That can't be good.
Obviously, you shouldn't overdo anything when pregnant. There were many foods and beverages I knew I absolutely could not have, from the smell (Slimfast, for example).

Rufus just turned 4 and he's not only reading, he's writing. Cyrus is 19 months old and speaking in sentences.

I'm going to ask the pharmacist tonight what to do with the pills.

I want to have kids when I'm done w/grad school but the thought of having to give up smoking for a year or maybe forever is terrifying to me. I could do it, the nausea I experienced 4 fucking weeks in the unwanted time might be a nice cig repellant. I never feel like smoking when I've got he vom.

Cravings I had: Kentucky Fried Chicken legs, extra crispy style; cherry Coke, and burgers from Burger King and Culver's. Not too healthy there!

Sara yr craving list sounds like my non-preggo list. I have been wanting sausage pizza w/a dry red wine for a longity long time now. And I eat KFC 2-3 times a week, Jack in the Box breakfast sammiches every couple days. So.

Cravings? Not really. I ate a ton of unhealthy (read: candy and stuff) during my pregnancy but that was mainly psychological. "YAY I can eat whatever I want!" One time my OBGYN asked me to stand on the scale again cause he refused to believe I had gained so much weight. Oops. Maybe I should refrain from criticizing pregnant smokers and point the finger at me? ;-) I gained about 22 kilos? Juuuust within "that's okay, you're not Jabba The Hutt yet."

What I did hate was warm food. Weird huh?

Oh my doctor gave me another pill. A bit weird Ididn't need to visit the OBGYN but the pill she recommended I have heard of (it being milder than Melian andbetter for migraine sufferers).

We are not incubators.

'Maybe I should refrain from criticizing pregnant smokers and point the finger at me? ;-) I gained about 22 kilos?

Juuuust within "that's okay, you're not Jabba The Hutt yet."

You post pictures of yourself, and your daughter, every other day. I don't quite get it.

My point is that reproductive rights are being stripped, and I'm happy for everyone who has a baby, but your babies are not ready to protect my reproductive rights.

And I AM protecting yours.

DEFINITELY.

I think what she meant: We're putting all these rules on pregnant women and we should stop from doing so. Which I think is right (up to a certain point).

I had a slight cramp on Christmas morning but nothing since.

Watch tbhis space.

last cycle was 58 days, if I hadn't been charting I'd have been in the loony bin by the end of it!

Rumps! WOOHOO! Let's Xross our fingers! Do/did you have VERY sensitive breasts?

No Nath, my boobs aren't sore at all. They look bigger though.