Mr. Fred Coleman, M.D.

Most likely a vaginal infection called bacterial vaginosis (BV), which can be treated with some antibiotics (usually flagyl). However, the raised area near the labia makes the possibility of some other type of infection possible (frequently an ingrown hair), so, as annoying as it is, I'd recommend going to a gynecologist (or maybe an urgent care) just to be sure it is not something more serious. Good luck. Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

Let's go with stress. Actually, I have no idea. Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind with no period is pregnancy, but I would expect a positive pregnancy test at some point. After that comes all the things that result in an abnormal cycle- persistent ovarian cyst, stress, hormone changes (like birth control, but I assume you aren't on any), etc. There is no way to know for sure and, unless you have other symptoms (fever, nausea, pain, etc), we usually just wait to see what happens over the next month. If it's been a couple missed periods, then seeing a gynecologist and getting an ultrasound would be reasonable. Despite being fairly regular, most women have occasional irregular periods without it being anything serious. Test for pregnancy every week or so while you're waiting to see if your period is going to start.

This is probably late, but we don't know the answer either. I would guess miscarriage early in pregnancy (chemical pregnancy) but the HCG levels will tell the story. If they are going down, you are losing the pregnancy. If they are going up, then you could still have a normal pregnancy or an ectopic pregnancy. You would need more HCG levels and ultrasounds to see where the pregnancy is. How fast the HCG levels are rising would give us a clue as to what is happening. Statistically, you are most likely having a miscarriage. Good luck

Go back on the pill. When you take the pills intermittently like you did (with normal life events, this is very common), having irregular bleeding and not starting at the normal time is common. Assuming you haven't gotten pregnant in the meantime (it is remotely possible but unlikely), just start the pills again. Depending on where your body is in its cycle, you may have some bleeding while you're taking the pills this month but just start the pills and either this month or next month, you'll be back on track. Worth screwing up your pills to go to France. Hope you had fun.

Depends on your opinion. The manufacturer says no (they are protecting their butts). The (limited) research has not found any fetal effects that are likely to be caused by the retinoid medication in Differin. The amount of difference absorbed through the skin is very small, which makes it even less likely to cause a problem. So, from my point of view, you can keep using the gel, with very little risk of a problem. This, of course, doesn't mean that you won't have something wrong with the baby (3-5% risk in every pregnancy); it just is very unlikely to be due to the Differin. If you want to be safer, don't use it until after 13-14 weeks, by which time, all the parts of the baby are formed, so a physical birth defect can't happen after that. Or you can not worry about it, because we love you for your mind, not your skin. Good luck.

Moderately likely you are not pregnant, but that is always a possibility. As to why your period is late - there are many possible reasons, the most likely being that women, unlike Swiss watches, are not always regular - hormone changes, diet, activity, etc. can all play a role in your period regularity. However, that's really annoying, so you may need an ultrasound to be sure there isn't anything in your uterus to be concerned about (whether you really need one at this point, if you are otherwise feeling fine is debatable - it's just easy to take a quick look in our office, so I probably would do one). Other than that, I would consider doing hormone testing, but that's mostly a waste of time unless there are other symptoms of imbalance. So, having no ultrasound or hormone testing, what I would really do is put you on birth control pills for a few months to see if that fixed the problem (once you come off them) or you could stay on them and your periods will be regular or you can just wait and most of the time, your periods will come back on their own, sooner or later. Since wondering when you are going to start bleeding is annoying, I would suggest birth control pills for a few months. If you have not had a period for more than 6 months (and you keep having negative pregnancy tests), I would be more aggressive about trying to figure out what is going on. Good luck Fred Coleman

You almost certainly have a pituitary tumor with that history. Sometimes they need to be operated on and sometimes not. At a minimum, you need a CT (or MRI - people argue about which one is best, but they both work) to see the size of the tumor. Cabergoline or bromocriptine are the meds we would put you on the suppress the prolactin and usually stabilize the tumor (and even if it turns out not to be tumor). You have to be on it for a while (longer than a week) and have the dose adjusted until your prolactin level comes down. How much of how you are feeling is related to this or to other life factors, I can't be sure, but it is moderately likely the high prolactin (and other effects from the probable tumor) may be causing the fatigue and other symptoms. Get it checked out. Good l uck Fred Coleman

As usual in medicine, I can't tell you for sure. It is about 99% that it is your period, which can be lighter with the birth control pill but there is always a small chance it could be pregnancy- either an early miscarriage or implantation bleeding. Telling you not to worry is a waste of time because you're going to anyway. So, wait a couple weeks and do a pregnancy test (or wait a few days and get a blood pregnancy test, if you can). If those are negative, it is almost for sure you are not pregnant. Good luck Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

Now. If it is negative, repeat in 4-7 days if you still haven't had your period. Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

There is always a chance you could have gotten pregnant, but in your case, it is very low. First, if you have regular periods (about every 28 days), you will ovulate about 14 days after the start of your period (which is also about 14 days from the start of your next period). So the timing of the sex is unlikely to be when you could get pregnant. Second, taking the I-pill will add extra protection from getting pregnant, so that further decreases the chance you would be pregnant. Third, the bleeding after taking the hormone in the I-pill is fairly common, so that shouldn't be an issue, other than being annoying, but may throw off your cycle, so your next period may be heavier or lighter than usual and the timing may be off as well. Fourth, if he didn't penetrate or ejaculate, it shouldn't be possible for you to get pregnant, though some sperm can leak out early and it is amazing how far they can swim at times , so I won't tell it's completely impossible (but that story is for another time). However, and I know it's none of my business and I'm not sure I can even get an answer on this site, if he didn't penetrate or ejaculate, other than presumably being naked, what was the sex that you had? Anyway, I think the chance of you being pregnant is way less than 1 percent. But, take a test if your period is more than a week late. And consider using birth control so you don't have to worry about as much in the future. Get Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef>

You could tell me your symptoms but I probably wouldnt be able to tell you if you were early pregnant anyway. I dont blame you for not wanting to spend money on a test, but there are (so Ive been told) tests you can get for a few dollars at the dollar store. So they dont have to be extremely expensive, like the are sometimes. I cant tell you the accuracy of those tests, but they are usually good enough to tell if you are pregnant, though probably not as early as the best tests. Having said that, it is also not unusual to have irregular periods or none for a while after depo, so there is a medium chance your body just hasnt started back up with a normal cycle (assuming you have a period every month before the depo). Still, if you stopped at the beginning of the year and its now near the end of the year, I would consider getting seen to be sure youre getting back toward normal as far as hormones and your cycle goes. Meanwhile, the 4 most common signs of early pregnancy (and all of them can occur without pregnancy and can occur when your cycle is not normal, so none of them mean you definitely are pregnant) are breast tenderness, nausea, fatigue, and urinating more frequently. If those fit, get a pregnancy test. And, in my dad mode, unless you are trying to get pregnant, you may want to use something for birth control, if you are not already using an alternative to the depo . Hope all goes well. Fred Coleman

That’s a tough one. It may just be a new experience (that you probably won’t want to repeat) and it’ll get better in a few days. It most likely is not something serious. However, because the serious things that it could be are really serious, I think you should be seen by your usual doctor or in an urgent care. At a minimum, you need a blood count (CBC) and tests for liver and kidney (usually a CMP - complete metabolic profile) and possibly blood clotting tests like an INR. They might do blood cultures, too. Again, most likely this is nothing to worry about but you have enough symptoms to get it checked out more thoroughly. Good luck.

There are a lot of questions that may play a role in a good answer, but given what I have to go on, it is possible you are exercising too much, which can throw off your cycle and make your periods go away. But another possibility is that the cycle may be irregular enough to have some thickened lining of the uterus all the time, which can give you spotting frequently. I am making a few assumptions- you are not pregnant (spotting in early pregnancy is fairly common). You are not using birth control, which can give you spotting and light bleeding at times. And you are still having fairly regular and normal periods- if not, go back to the stuff above about the thickened lining of the uterus.
Now, what to do about it? The simplest thing (but most annoying) is to wear a pad and put up with it. It is unlikely to be dangerous, just annoying. I assume you don't want to do that, so getting on birth control pills would help regulate your cycle and get the lining of your uterus more normal (though it can make the lining of your uterus too thin at times, which can also lead to irregular spotting (sometimes life just doesn't seem fair)). Or you can cut back on exercise to see if that makes it better (it may take a few months to see if that will help). If you like to exercise (which I assume you do), you'll hate cutting back, & you don't have to, but it is an approach to finding a cause and treating it. Finally, getting seen by a gynecologist just to be sure isn't a bad idea, either. An ultrasound to be sure your uterus and its lining is normal size, a blood count to be sure you're not anemic, and someone to get you birth control or some other hormones to try to regulate your cycle and stop the spotting - those would be the advantages of seeing a provider and probably where I would tell you to start (even though it's a big pain to see a provider). Good luck

I have to hope that the dates are wrong. Certainly, by now you would know if you are pregnant from sex in October as you would be 24 weeks (due July 15). If the dates are correct, you would not have had your period for several months and any doctor should be able to tell you are pregnant. Assuming you really meant last month, it is highly unlikely that you are pregnant, as that usually occurs in the middle of your cycle and not at the end. All the symptoms you have can just be a normal part of your cycle though they could also be symptoms you get in early pregnancy as well. But those usually take a little longer in pregnancy to show up (shortly after you miss your first period, which you haven't done yet). While it's very unlikely you got pregnant, you can test in a week or two to see if a test is positive or get blood drawn for a blood pregnancy test next week.
I assume it doesn't have to be said that probably you should use something for birth control. And if you're going to have sex (preferably protected), try to do it earlier in the evening so you can get a good night's sleep ??. Or, to be even more of a dad, wait until the next morning to see if this is someone you really want to have sex within the first place. Meanwhile, there is almost no chance you are pregnant with the situation you described. Try to relax for now.

Endometriosis is definitely a possible cause of the pain you are having, but there are other possible causes as well. The only way to be sure is to get an exam to see exactly where your pain is and probably get an operation (laparoscopy) where we look inside your abdomen to see if we can see a cause of pain. The operation would be the only sure way to see endometriosis to be sure that is what you have.

Fred Coleman

Yes you can, but not by yourself. You would have to have blood drawn to look for pregnancy hormone (HCG level). That will show up before you miss a period, but requires you to see someone (your doctor, nurse practitioner, urgent care, etc) to have them order the test and someone to draw the blood. Most of the time, they may not order the test, since insurance may not pay for it unless there is a good reason to know before a missed period or a urine test will show you are pregnant (usually around the time that you would have your period).

Fred Coleman

Your hymen is usually not a complete membrane across your vagina (if it is, you will have other problems, since your periods would not be able to come out). So, whether it is "broken" or not shouldn't make any difference for artificial insemination. The hymen is stretched or tears with sex because it is smaller than the penis. Usually, artificial insemination instruments are smaller than that. The only thing that might make you uncomfortable would be the speculum - the thing we use to see your cervix. We have smaller ones for smaller people, so even that shouldn't be too uncomfortable. At your age, a small syringe to deposit the sperm inside the vagina should be good enough, since it doesn't have to be put into the cervix directly, in which case, you don't need to use the speculum at all.

Assuming you have no other illness or complications of pregnancy, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, etc., the usual time is a week before your due date (39 weeks).

Not usually. The most common reason for a negative pregnancy test is that you are not pregnant. Even an expired ID will still do a fair job of preventing pregnancy. If you think the pregnancy test is wrong, you can get a blood pregnancy test to look for even small amounts of pregnancy hormone in your body. But the IUD shouldn't change the results of a pregnancy test.

It is not unusual to have irregular periods when you first start having them, so most likely, you don’t have to do anything and your period will come back on its own over the next few months. However, you could also be working out enough to stop your normal cycle. That is fine; it will come back when you are not training so much. In the meantime, enjoy not having your periods. They are nothing but a pain, so if you get to skip a few, that’s lucky for you. The biggest problem with you is not knowing whether it is going to start soon or not, so you have to be prepared – always have pads with you and maybe even a change of underwear and pants in your backpack, just in case. Once your periods settle in and become more regular, you can plan for them, but for now, just be prepared all the time. And, as much as possible, don’t wear white.