r/WomensHealth

So, I went to my primary care doctor and he said that I had low iron. Then he recommended that I should go to my gynecologist and get on birth control, and then I wouldn’t have my menstrual cycle for 6 months which would help with low iron. Besides the blood report, I don’t really have any crazy symptoms cause of low iron. And I thought recommending getting on birth control and losing cycles was such a drastic approach cause birth control has so many side effects. Am i overthinking or is this normal?

i had my son 8 months ago by emergency c-section. ever since then, intercourse has been slowly becoming more and more painful to the point where i don’t want to do anything at all anymore.
the first time i mentioned this to my gynecologist, she said to try different positions and coconut oil for lube. i was actually there in the first place because i was concerned about a uti or something, but it was just irritation from the ky jelly we attempted to use. apparently my body just does not agree with it at all.
i never tried the coconut oil because i read many many people say it could cause a yeast infection. no thanks.
anyway, few more months go by and the pain is just getting worse. i’m having extreme lower back pain too. every time we try to do anything it feels extremely painful specifically in my urethra area?? last week i noticed it started feeling different when i pee and i have to go a lot more. and it’s way harder to hold it. i finally go to the doctor yesterday because they didn’t have any available appointments until then, she does the urine sample, whatever, i ask her again about the extremely painful intercourse that has only gotten worse. she just tells me to try different positions and coconut oil again. i told her that it doesn’t matter if i am lubed up, it is still painful and i literally will tear. she says it’s just my hormones. i mention the fact that my grandmother, mother, and sister all struggle with low estrogen levels and have similar issues. i asked if its possible for me to get any kind of estrogen supplements. she said the only thing we could do is remove the nexplanon implant and put me on a birth control pill, but she isn’t willing to do so right now. she wants to wait at least six more months for my body and hormones to adjust.
so, i left the office feeling discouraged. mainly because i know how my mom and sister have been doing with all of their issues and it’s been a rough battle for them. i don’t want to have to suffer the way they have.
also, i have a uti, and she has not prescribed antibiotics for it. she hasn’t responded to my messages on the portal.
i have felt so tired and lethargic all day. i feel defeated.

I am a college student who wakes up around 5 a.m. and needs to be in college by about 6:30 a.m. I do not feel comfortable using the toilet during college, so I want to poop either before 6:30 a.m. or after 1:30 p.m.

I poop every day and usually pass normal stool. I do not consider myself constipated. On weekends and holidays, when I am relaxed and have unrestricted bathroom access, I can poop normally whenever I feel the urge.

My main problem happens on college days. I get the urge to poop during college hours, but I cannot go because I am in class and feel embarrassed. When I hold it, my stomach or colon makes loud rumbling, bubbling, or “fart-like” noises. I also feel bloated and uneasy. The noises are worse when I sit and tend to reduce when I stand. Sometimes the noises happen even after I have already pooped.

When I try to use the toilet during one of these episodes, gas usually comes out first. If I push harder, normal stool may come out, but I avoid doing that because I am afraid of making embarrassing noises. I do not necessarily feel that stool is stuck or ready to come out; the main issue is that the urge appears at the wrong time, and holding it causes more gas and noise.

I also fart frequently compared with my family. The gas is often not smelly. I do not drink fizzy drinks, but I sometimes chew gum for about five minutes to help with mouth odor. I am not sure whether milk or cereal makes the gas, bloating, or noises worse.

My usual breakfast is cornflakes with toned milk at around 5 a.m. My medium bowl probably contains about 200–250 mL of milk, or roughly 9–12 g of lactose. Breakfast has reduced my previous hunger-related stomach noises, but it has not reliably made me poop before college. At home, the foods usually available are eggs, milk, cornflakes, bread sometimes, carrots, potatoes, onions, and bananas. I do not like eggs and do not want to add extra calories.

I have not experienced abdominal pain, mucus, blood in my stool, unexplained weight loss, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, or nighttime bowel symptoms. I have not described being unable to pass gas or having severe abdominal swelling.

Recently, I ate dinner at 7:30 p.m. The next morning, around 8:30 a.m., while I was supposed to be in college, I felt the urge to poop. I tried to poop before college but couldn’t. Because I was worried about having the urge, loud stomach noises, and bloating during college, I ended up skipping college so I could stay home and poop.

The main issue is recurrent college-time bowel urgency, loud internal bowel sounds, bloating, and frequent mostly odorless flatulence despite daily normal bowel movements and normal bowel function at home. I want to reduce or prevent these symptoms during college rather than simply being told to use the college bathroom.

My only issue is the loud noises my stomach makes when I hold in the urge to poop during college. It is embarrassing, and I want to know what I can do about it. I also want to know what diet and meal timings I should follow to increase the chance of pooping before 6:30 a.m. or after 1:30 p.m., so I can avoid the urge, bloating, and loud stomach noises during college.

i literally never used to get bad cramps during my period before, but recently they’ve been awful. even when i take painkillers the pain won't go away, it gets so bad that im practically writhing in pain. laying on my stomach doesn't even work for me anymore either.

plz what else can i do to relieve this??

Hello!! I have had daily diarrhea for almost a decade now, AMA!! Haha, just kidding, all the answers could be summed up with “MY LIFE SUCKS!!” I haven’t been able to work as a normal person my entire life while also not being disabled enough to qualify for disability. I saw a male gastroenterologist about 4 or so years ago, describing in detail my GI years long battle with frequent mushy incomplete feeling evacuations multiple times a day every day for years. This mf heard all that and said “PRESCRIBE HER THE ANTIDEPRESSANTS, SHE MUST BE INSANE/STRESSED/A WOMAN”

So I’m wondering, without medical records because it was years ago in another state, HOW do I convince this new guy in a month to take me seriously, and not take antidepressants for an easy answer?? Do I need to take pics of my poop for gods sakes!!?? Do I need to log another 4 years of antidepressants not working??? Because I’ve been on Welbutrin and doing very well with my mental health for years now, I wouldn’t describe myself as “depressed” AT ALL!!! Maybe a little depressed I can’t enjoy life because of my DIARRHEA but most days it’s become background noise. Just started bleeding recently so it’s gotten to a point it’s unavoidable. And I just learned about gastritis and how leaving stomach issues untreated can cause even WORSE issues so I HAD to deal with this now

On Sunday, after a long time without checking, I touched my breasts and noticed a lump. It's kind of round and movable. I know these aren't necessarily bad characteristics, but I have anxiety and I'm already freaking out. I managed to get an appointment today (Tuesday) with an OB-GYN.

She talked a lot about my history: I'm 34, I have PCOS, and I was on birth control for 5 years but stopped 2 months ago because I was having a lot of headaches. We also talked about hormonal fluctuations over these past 2 months and my irregular cycle after stopping the pill.

When she felt my left breast, she joked: 'The good thing about being skinny is that it's easy to feel things.' When she touched my right breast at the bottom where I found the lump, she asked, 'Here?' and I said yes. She examined it with a more serious face. That made me even more anxious.

She asked me, 'Are you okay with just my opinion, or do you want to get imaging done?' I found that question weird, and even wondered if I had understood it right. I'm Brazilian and still not used to the American way of doing things and interpreting certain situations. So I answered: 'I'd like to do the imaging either way, but I would also like your opinion.'

She replied that she didn't think it was a big deal, that it's probably a fibroadenoma, and that at my age it was unlikely to be 'something bad.' I asked her one more time: should I be worried, and what did she really think it was? She answered more explicitly: 'No, no, no, you should only worry if I worry.'

She ordered an ultrasound only for the right breast where the lump is, which I found weird because in Brazil they do an ultrasound of both breasts for these types of exams (I've had dense breasts before and I've had one done). Because of that, I asked her to order it for both breasts. She told me that when I go to get it done, I would need to say I was in a lot of pain, because otherwise they wouldn't do both, as it's standard American procedure to just do the one side.

Then she explained that if they found anything abnormal on the ultrasound, they might order a mammogram and maybe a biopsy. This explanation made me more anxious. I don't know if she was just explaining the procedure, especially since she had just explicitly said it was nothing and very unlikely to be something bad.

American women, should I be worried, or is this normal here? Anyway, I already managed to schedule the ultrasound for next Thursday.

getting my first ever pap smear later today, but i can't shit😭 kinda scared more so in the embarrassing way

Today I found a large pimple in my mon pubis area and against my better judgement as it was so massive (almost the size of my pinky fingernail), I popped it. There was a bit of puss and blood but after I finished wiping and cleaning the wound I found that they was a little red thing standing from the open wound. Initially I thought it was blood but I found that I couldn’t wipe it away no matter what so I suspect it’s the tissue under my skin?

Now I have no idea what to do. I have already used warm water to gently rinse the wound but have no clue what else to do. Should I go visit the doctor?

I’ve heard that a wound in your private area can lead to infections and can even cause death as there’s bacteria in the blood. I’m deathly afraid right now. Please help.

Hi

I’m a newlywed and have been married for about four months, and unfortunately this is now the third time I’ve experienced what feels like a UTI during that time.

I’ve been following all the usual advice to try to prevent them, but they keep coming back. I’ve taken antibiotics for the previous episodes, but then a couple of weeks later the symptoms seem to return.

I’m starting to feel like repeatedly taking antibiotics isn’t the best long-term solution for me, and I’d really like to understand why this keeps happening and what I can do to prevent it.

At the moment, I’ve been taking Ural, which has actually helped ease my symptoms. I also did a rapid urine test at home, and it showed a small amount of white blood cells in my urine.

For those who have dealt with this:

Are there any preventative measures that genuinely worked for you?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences because I’m getting frustrated with this happening every few weeks. ❤️

I'm scared I'm going to / have lost an ovary and worried about waiting for the specialist next week. Symptoms are blood in stool, on tissue, severe cramping and then fatigue/pain for 2 weeks since 25 July. Got better but now I'm on my period and the pain feels like it did with the cramping last time. A scan on Thursday last week shows I've a 5cm hemorrhagic cyst on my right ovary but they couldnt see the left because it was an abdominal ultrasound. The pain has been mainly left sided. I need a transvaginal ultrasound and think if I go on Friday with the urology consultant, he can refer me for one sooner.

With the blood in the stool, wind, I thought it was a gastro issue so was seeing that specialist first but all tests have come back fine so far bar the cyst being discovered in the ultrasound.

Do I wait for the person who's better qualified to deal with the issue or get seen to sooner in case I could be at risk of losing an ovary?

24F, feeling itchy inside the vagina for 3+ days.

Context: I had had sex 4 days ago and usually don’t do a second round in the same day (even same week tbh) but that day did 2 rounds within a span of 30 mins. We use condoms every time and in the past when did another round, it once caused roughness and another time it made the vagina kinda leaky. This time it feels a little like UTI but I don’t have any other symptoms for that or a yeast infection. No discharge (especially the bad smelling one or cottage cheese like), no burning sensation while peeling, it feels a little ticklish though. No pain otherwise but this itchiness is pretty irritating and it is kinda reaching my asshole too a bit.

What could this be and what shall I do?

hello, 19F and i have a regular cycle. my period lasts for 3 days then light bleeding for the rest of the week.

however, every month or so, i get intense cramping and i don’t know what triggers it. the cramping is really bad that it gets me nauseous, like i’m about to pass out and i have a hard time breathing.

it happened again to me this morning, hence my concern. should i go to ob-gyn or is this normal? i’m kind of scared. tyia!

Has anyone experienced the same, or an explanation for this? I have noticed it across the years. I am not saying when I am single, I do not have any symptoms. But it is almost not noticable.

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When in a relationship I have heavy depressive and anxious episodes before my period starts. Around the relationship, but also my life and my future in general.

I've never posted here before, so I'm not exactly sure if this is the best sub to post this on. Here's context:

I'm nonbinary 24, born female, and I have a very masculine sense of self. I once identified as trans male in high school, but realized later on that it didn't really fit my idea of myself. As someone who is neurodivergent, it's more convenient to label myself in order to provide a loose explanation of my gender identity to those that ask/care. I know I don't OWE anyone an explanation, but I have hopes that offering insight will help others understand me.

I don't have dysphoria in my breasts, I am always subconsciously aware of them, but that's normal considering society's stance on the whole 'girls have to wear shirts in public and keep their breasts hidden thing.

Down to the bottom. I can touch my external anatomy just fine. I try not to really feel that I'm touching a vagina with my hand, and just focus on the sensation of pleasure.

But whenever I have attempted to feel pleasure from penetration (fingers, toys do not fit no matter what I do), even when its wet enough to do so, and when I've tried water-based lubricant, I don't.

I'm not very good at describing sensation so bear wirh me: worst case scenario: it just hurts or I can't get it in at all. Happens when I try to use tampons too. This happens sometimes even when it's wet.

Best case scenario: I'm able to slip a finger in, but usually only my pinkie or my index finger. I've never been able to insert anything larger, and it still feels like I'm going to tear something. Even when wiggling into the vaginal walls or trying to find that g-spot to see how the heck other FaB's find pleasure from this, it still makes me feel sick? You know the feeling of a weak stomach when you're ill and have been throwing up or shitting your brains out? It's like that, but instead of in your stomach, it's inside your genitalia. Same feeling with tampons (plastic tip) after I use a bit of water on the plastic to help slip it in. And when I pull it out later, I feel excruciating pain and fear that the string will rip off the pad part and it'll be stuck in there.

I usually prefer anal stimulation, even if it doesn't provide as much pleasure as clit rubbing.

I've never had a pap smear because I'm a virgin in every sense of the word, and frankly I'm terrified of having to get one to check for cancer due to the problems mentioned above and fears that the doctor will think I'm being dramatic about the pain.

So what do you think, ladies? I'm too scared to talk to my doctor, because I don't want her to just say it's vaginismus because she 'doesn't believe in gender dysphoria' mindset. I also believe my hymen isn't there still, considering I've been able to use tampons before.

And if there's any other place you think I should crosspost this to instead, please let me know.

i’ve been using pads my whole life and am curious about period underwear. tell me your experience good or bad i wanna hear it all!

I have tried every type of tea possible
Green tea , black tea , chamomile tea you name it.
None of it works for me
I feel bloated everytime in consume any it those.
Need suggestions!!!!

I’m 18 and I have had this problem since I was 8 years old. I have been extremely itchy on the topical side of down there for years with no relief. It’s all of down there (not just female anatomy) and the surrounding skin. I’ve worn just cotton underwear, worn only cotton no chemicals pads, cleaned down there with just water no harsh soap or anything, worn loose airy pants and skirts, oatmeal bath soaks, tried different ointment prescriptions and over the counter medicines such as BV treatment, probiotics, yeast infection treatment like miconazole, diaper rash ointemnt, itch ointment such as vagisil. The gynecologist has looked, the dermatologist has looked. None work. I can’t go swimming or wear fun bathing suits because it’s so itchy, I’ve missed so much stuff since I was a kid because of this issue and I can’t take it anymore, constantly itchy, it makes me feel like less of a girl compared to my classmates who go to beach’s and wear short shorts. I want to be able to even go on a walk and not feel so uncomfortable. I don’t want to deal with this more of my life and have it restrict me for more years. Please if there’s any recommendations I will try, I just want to live normally. Any help would mean so much to me

Stupid random question but was thinking about this. When getting on top of your man to ride him during sex does he typically hold it and you sit on it or do you hold and put it in yourself?

I went to the doctors when i was 14 or 15 and they refused to do a pap because i was young, but they took a look because i was having some issues and just basically said it looked like cervical ectropion, and that was that. I went to a few more appointments where they treated me for BV and yeast infections and nothing worked. 6 weeks after i gave birth which was a year ago (i did not have an exam just a blood test) they told me i had BV show up in my blood test. They treated me again. Now I'm 21 and just got back an abnormal pap and they want to wait a year to check again. Should i be worried or should i just wait it out.

Help mee