Community Posts, Tips & Support on Women's Health

Honest, unfiltered, and in real-time: what women like you are talking about. Peanut group chats, support, and posts on Women's Health

Debate

Do you use a rag or your fingers to wash your vagina

Hello ladies 👋

Ive always struggled with anxiety but it has been manageable to a point.
Since having my youngest 2 years ago my anxiety has slowly gotten worse to the point i was spiraling daily.
I started seeing a occupational therapist about 6 months ago, then around 2 months ago i started with really bad health anxiety also.
When I saw my therapist about 4.5 weeks ago we decided medication might be the best way forward.
I called docs next day and got prescribed propranolol 40mg x 1 a day... they helped my heart palpitations and with getting hot and sweaty but i find i stuffer with a tense jaw and they dont seem to be helping with that 🙈
Anyway, last week i called again to speak about my meds, the doctor has now prescribed me citalopram 10mg once a day and upped my propranolol to twice a day.
Think im on day 7 now of citalopram and side affects havent been too bad.. i decided to take it before bed.
I have been suffering with bad head aches and waking up alot in the night/early mornings.. im also absolutely knackered🥺 im soo exhausted all the time anyway to the point I asked docs for a blood test to make sure all is ok and it is but now with these tablets im feeling alot more drained.

Did anyone else get extreme fatigue from these and did it improve? 🤞 also if theres any successful stories etc i would love some great feedback.

First time taking medication for my anxiety and abit nervous about it xx

Lexapro

I was wondering if there were any moms on here that he had to stop taking Lexapro during their pregnancy and if so, how did you feel?

Contraception after birth

Hey mamas! I’m due my 6 weeks postnatal this Thursday. I was just looking to see what contraception to consider. After my first son I tried the 2 months injection and that made me put on weight so much and never had my period whilst I was on it, with the pills, they also made me gain so much weight. I want to consider the copper coil, any mamas to share their experience? Just so I can weigh my options. TIA

Did anyone opt for the copper coil during their C-section?

When I spoke with the consultant, she put it on my consent form to have the hormone coil during my C-section. However, a lot of the things she said are making me change my mind (she said I could cross it out if I no longer want it). Just wondering if anyone got it before? Just not sure if it's for me, as I never been on birth control in my life

IUD

has anyone had Mirena IUD? what was your experience? I can’t have estrogen because of migraines

How likely are my chances of getting pregnant?

I stopped taking birth control (the mini pill) last Friday and I’ve had unprotected sex 3 times since then

Heavy periods

Is anyone else still having incredibly heavy periods? I’m still wearing maternity pads/maxi night pads (borderline adult nappies) as well as period pants. They’re lasting about 7 days which isn’t too bad it’s just the heaviness is unbearable. Might be TMI but I ruin the bedsheets every month no matter what I wear, up in the night to change my pads and bleeding through clothes in the day. I’ve been to the drs and I’ve tried tranexamic acid (or whatever it’s called) which doesn’t seem to be working. I’m really anxious to go on any hormonal contraception as my MH tends to be a bit wobbly these days and I don’t want to risk trying anything and being all over the place as I’m back at work. Thought it would have settled by now. There are no clots or anything else that seems to be alarming, not overly painful just reaaaaally tired (I am already on iron tablets so don’t think I’m anaemic). I’m really struggling with it.

Contraceptive patch

hiya, i was wondering if anyone has used the contraceptive patch?? what do you think of it?
i did have the coil before pregnancy which i loved, but if i dont have to go through the insertion again then id rather not🤣

Mini pill

Has anyone else experienced this on the desogestrel mini pill? ❤️

I’ve recently started taking it and I’m having a really light bleed, but I’m also getting the normal period-type cramps I would usually get with my period.

Is this normal when starting the mini pill? I know bleeding can be quite unpredictable at first, but I’m wondering if you can still get the usual period cramps even when the bleeding is really light.

How long did it take for everyone’s body to settle down after starting desogestrel? 😊

How does your male partner wash his face?

Do you think men should wash their faces with a cleanser too?

White discharge in baby girl’s vagina

My baby is 13 weeks old and I noticed small, white bits (discharge?) in or around her vagina.

I don’t know if it causes her any discomfort.

Should we go to the GP?

Could I have caused this by incorrectly cleaning her during nappy changes?

How do you clean your baby girls, especially after a poop?

I know to only wipe front to back.

I don’t use any harsh materials or chemicals. I use WaterWipes and switched to a “natural”, bamboo based disposable nappy. The discharge was there before the nappy switch.

We bathe her every other day.

Nexpanlon (may of spelt wrong )

Birth control in my arm I have a question for other people that have this is the second time I have it is it normal to still have a monthly cycle

PPA medicine

My doctor prescribed me Zoloft for PPA. Anyone have problems with it making it worse or bad symptoms

Birth control issues post babies

Since having my babies (now 2 and 4) I'm really struggling to find a birth control option that suits me.

Background:
Before ever getting pregnant I was on the combined pill for a couple of years and than had 2 implants - no issues.
After my first baby I went on the mini pill, wasn't a huge fan but didn't want anything long term as we wanted a small age gap.
After my second baby I had an implant fitted 4 weeks postpartum. Bleeding was so irregular so I had it swapped to a mirena coil after 11 months.
This was almost a year ago now, still have the mirena but I am literally bleeding (not just spotting) almost every day and it's unbearable.

Went to my GP a month ago, was put on the mini pill alongside to try to settle it. Managed 2 weeks but it made it worse so they told me to stop and to go back again at the end of September.

Bear in mind even though I have voiced my concerns they've done no checks to make sure the coil is positioned properly and no bloods or anything to try to find out what's going on. I don't know whether it's the coil that's the problem, whether it's cyst or fibroids or something. They won't check. They're adamant I just need a different birth control.

When I go back at the end of the month they've given me 3 options all of which involve removing the mirena:
- have nothing as a replacement, see what my natural cycles are like now and reassess (my husband and I have never used condoms though so this feels like a very risky option!)
- replace with a copper coil even though I was advised against it due to heavy bleeding previously (I also have another gripe with the mirena in that a year on my husband can still feel the strings when we have sex so I assume we'd have the same problem with a copper)
- have the depo shot (I've never had this before and have heard awful things about it, not to mention if it doesn't suit me I have to wait 3 months for it to be out of my system)

Does anyone have any advice/can you relate? I really don't know what to do!!

Also, my husband has already said he's happy to have a vasectomy next year when he'd be able to take the time off work for it. Although when I mentioned this to my GP she was adamant I'd probably still need hormonal birth control to control my own periods?!

When do you order refills?

I thought we were all taught the same rules. A week before you run out for daily pills and around 10 pills for as needed. But after working in this line of work I am surprised at the amount of people who wait until the last pill or after they completely run out. Am I wrong in assuming this is common sense?

Anti depressants

I’ve been taking sertraline for around 3 to 4 months. Since taking them I feel like I’ve completely lost my sex drive. I really don’t know what to do. Has anyone else had the same? How did you fix it?

I think i have a uti but not 100% help

Edit: i called and went in and they got me to do a urine sample will know in couple of days if or not I have a uti or not she didnt seem concerned tho

I am prone to utis, i did have a uti at the start of pregnancy but other than needing to pee more I had no other symptoms other than typical 1st trimester symptoms was given antibiotics it went away. Well im 23 weeks and I have been having days where im either needing to pee constantly or im pee constipated if that makes sense I put it down to how baby is laying. well the last 2 days I have been peeing a normal amount not urgently needing to pee or having the urge more than normal no other symptoms apart from first in the morning a slight stinging after not drinking for hours so thought nothing of it. I brought one of those home uti test kits and nitrates are normal but the other one comes back and shows something should I leave it a few days and see if it changes and see if all symtpoms go away as if it is because baby changed position. I did read that inflammation can cause it to be high and I have been having to hold my pee a couple of times due to not being near a toilet. What should I do leave it a few days or just go get checked anyways?

Thoughts?

I’m curious if anyone has any advice or thoughts for me. I know it’s still early to think about birth control after delivery since I’m due in December but I figured getting a head start on it could be good.
I’ve always had a bad experience with birth control and want to see if anyone with similar experiences had anything that worked for them. I’ve tried almost every birth control pill out there even the mini-pills and always have a very bad depressive response to them. I tried the patch and was allergic to the adhesive. I tried the non hormonal iud and it put me into a false labor, I had to get it removed less than a week later. I don’t know what would be a good option for me. If I have to I’ll do the pill and hopefully find some antidepressants to counter the effects but I’d prefer to avoid it if possible.
Any ideas?

Birth control

Ok so I need help with picking which birth control i have no idea what to do i really don’t want the shot because I hate shots and I don’t trust myself on the pill I know I am going to forget one day to take it so right now its between an insertion and an IUD and I just don’t know which one to do help please