Sex and Oral Contraceptives

When you see your gyno it's important to be able to discuss the issue of sex: not just sexual risks and STDs (although you definitely need to discuss that); but the whole topic: your libido, your arousals, your orgasms, your partner relationships, your cycle and sex, any pain, any prior unwanted sex,it's all important and all of these concerns may relate to the use of birth control pills. Gynos love to look at hormone levels, and in turn, we love to try to tag our sexual behavior to specific hormones, lack of hormones, or lack of effective hormone levels. To the extent that oral contraceptives can alter our sexual hormones, being on the birth control pill might affect how your sex life is. A study attempted to be the first to look at how sexual function was on birth control pills and it was just published on line.
Overall women did not have adverse effects on their sexual function although when researchers looked specifically at desire, arousal, and pleasure which all decreased slightly. Orgasms and responsiveness were not adversely affected. Thus it is possible that sexual function can change when on a contraceptive. This study evaluated the women over 3 months of use, thus it cannot be fully extrapolated to women on the birth control pills longer. Initially women do require time for the hormone levels to be steady, so it's important not to jump to conclusions based on just a very short time on the therapy. This study did look at ages 18-35, although most sexologists would say a teen's sexual response is very different from a mature woman in her thirties. Other possible confounding factors for some women are: low initial arousal rates, use of other medications, chronic infections, or low lubrication. It would be worth consulting with your gyno if you have any of these conditions and to see what therapies might be available to you.

Overall sexual function was similar in women in the oral contraceptive and placebo groups. The PFSF domains desire (-4.4, 95% CI, -8.49- -0.38, P = .032), arousal (-5.1, 95% CI, -9.63- -0.48, P = .030) and pleasure (-5.1, 95% CI, -9.97- -0.32, P = .036) were significantly reduced in comparison to placebo, whereas orgasm, concern, responsiveness and self-image were similar between groups. The mean frequency of satisfying sexual episodes and personal distress were also similar between groups. - See more at: http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2016-2032#sthash.mQHFAhum.dpuf

Passing Your Uterine Lining, Menstrual Period Norms

Decidual Cast Periods can be fairly easy, passing some tissue at a time, or off can come the whole lining in one piece called a decidual cast. Generally the lining of the uterus is only 6-8 mm thick at the time of the menstrual period, and it is shed gradually, a few cells at a time. The decidual cast is when the entire lining passes spontaneously. It's not uncommon, but it usually both uncomfortable, and alarming to some. But us women are designed to have some sort of periods Or Not? We have to pass tissue each month. Or Not? Are they good for us? Or Not? Do we want them? Or Not? Is this something that is individual? Or Not? It's a complex topic that I will be discussing a lot over my time in this blog. So lets start with basics: How much do we bleed and what are we loosing, and just what was this that the patient passed? And another basic: track your periods, and the Women's Health Practice site http://www.womenshealthpractice.com/media/pdf/menstrual_chart.pdf you...

Post-Endometrial Ablation Syndrome

If you have had an endometrial ablation and have developed symptoms of pelvic pain you might have post endometrial ablation syndrome. What is post-endometrial ablation syndrome? It is a constellation of symptoms due to entrapped blood or tissue within a uterus that has previously undergone an endometrial ablation. We are able to diagnose this at Women's Health Practic e but occasionally other conditions are causing similar symptoms. Other complications of endometrial ablation include pregnancy, risks from pre-existing conditions such as a polyp or fibroid, an infection of the uterus, or a pregnancy. If you have had a tubal ligation then it is possible that the condition could be post-ablation tubal sterilization syndrome. The ablation procedure is designed to destroy all lining tissue, but in fact there is no way to confirm the completeness of the ablation. It is thought that either residual or regrowth of the tissue is producing the symptoms of post-endometrial ablation syndrom...

You Have an IUD: But a Positive Pregnancy Test

Fortunately IUD pregnancy failures are rare. But if you have an IUD for contraception, and you get a positive pregnancy test, you probably ask yourself, what next? Well, make your gyno appointment promptly, this is a condition that is not typically an emergency, but it can be and it’s not handled over the phone or on a blog, or through self diagnosis! That being said, some researchers from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas decided to look back at over 4100 women who had IUDs and of those 42 cases who became pregnant in their institution, over about a year period of time, to help understand what these women could expect when they got to their gyno and what actually happened to their pregnancies. Accurate pregnancy diagnosis, pelvic examination, and pelvic ultrasound were the cornerstones of the evaluations. They had very specific ways they looked at their ultrasound to prove there was no pregnancy in the fallopian tube, or partially in the fallopian tube...

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