About Martin M Expertise Health is in the body, it`s in the mind and it`s in the emotions. About the body you can ask anyone, the other two are not so easy to discuss. Genitals are tricky subjects as well. So, just when sex is new and relationships become complex, who can you talk to? Teens need to grow up healthily in ALL respects. Your sex-life has just started, don`t let it start all knotted up. If you worry about the first time, kissing, virginity, STD`s, love, genital size, masturbation, homosexuality, self-confidence, oral sex or any such matter, ask away. Get it off your chest, don`t worry, be happy.
Experience I?m not a doctor, but I learned much about much. On this site I advised and helped hundreds of people who had problems and questions about their body, sexuality and relationships. I specialize in questions that are SILLY, PRIVATE, EMBARRASSING, DIRTY and STUPID. Somewhere in your teens, you run into puberty and sex gets to be an item. You learn the basics about puberty and sex at school and at home, but where do you get the details? The weird and naughty bits? Who do you ask those private and embarrassing questions? You don?t want to look dirty-minded asking a teacher, you don?t want to look silly and stupid asking a friend. If you don?t ask, you worry and blunder. That?s where I come in. Old enough to know, young enough (at heart) to understand you.
Expert: Martin M Date: 5/19/2005 Subject: birth control
Question age 17
very familiar w/English
i have a question on using birth control pills. can you tell me a little bit about it and how long u have to use it each day? once you use the pills, do you have to use it for the rest of your life?
Answer Dear Amy,
No, you can stop and restart as often as you like, and at any time. But you are only ‘safe' per cycle. You start just after the period and take a pill per day till the next period. You can start or stop half-way, but then you won't be completely safe for the rest of that cycle.
The menstruation-cycle is controlled by hormones that various organs make, one after the other, like a chain of events. Every hormone makes something happen (like the production of a new egg) and at the same time ‘orders' the production of the next hormone (for instance a hormone from the ovaries which makes the womb prepare for the new egg). This circular chain of events is very complex and it is easily brought out of balance. A period of stress is enough to make the period come later, or earlier.
The pill contains small amounts of ‘synthetic' hormones that make things happen at the wrong moment, or not at all. There are many different sorts of pills, each work on a different step in the cycle. Some are strong and those hormones take complete control, others are more subtle and just give small nudges to your own system, to unbalance it enough. So, some are taken every day, some you don't take for a week during the period, others consist of different pills for different stages. In all cases you get just one small pill per day (or none), so that's easy. The trick is to make sure you don't skip one. Especially with the more subtle ones, that means you're not safe anymore. Pick one fixed time of day to take one and make sure you can't possibly forget. Put a sticker on whatever you use first thing in the morning, or so. And make sure you keep it in. If you get nauseous and throw up right after taking the pill, take another one. Alcohol is no problem but smoking seems to be. There are indications that the combination pill-nicotine heightens the risk of cancer.
The hormones do other things as well. Most women experience marked changes in how they feel, some positive, some negative. It may take a bit of trying out the different kinds of pill, to find the one that suits you best. Ideally you get less pain during ovulation and menstruation, less blood-loss, less feeling miserable beforehand and a shorter period. Your doctor will help you to find the pill that works best in your particular case. It depends on your natural hormone-balance.
The pill provides the hormones that are needed directly. These unbalance the cycle for a day or so, but they don't change your body at all. So, the moment you stop, your body goes back to its own rhythm and you are exactly the woman you were before.
Those are most of the general things, I guess. If you still have questions, ask again.
