He's the only person who knows what his reasons were, so if you're curious, you'll have to ask him. A lot of people - probably most - won't want exactly the same thing every time they have sex, so it's entirely possible that he just wanted something a bit more gentle this time but only he'd be able ...

Every single cycle is a bit different, yep, so even if you've never had spotting around the time of ovulation before, it's not really something that's cause for concern. There's no way to for anyone to know whether it will happen again, either: part of the deal with having a body is that it will do ...

You're on the pill, and your partner didn't ejaculate inside your vagina, so you essentially used two methods of birth control (the pill and withdrawal) and the chance of pregnancy is about as low as it's going to get. The real concern here is infection: anal sex is basically the highest risk activi...

When you're just starting your sexual life, or at the beginning of a new relationship (and plenty of other times too) there can be some pressure to do things "right" during sex; pressure to not be awkward or seem like you don't know what you're doing. But hey, sex is awkward sometimes. Thi...

It's not dumb. :) You just might want to think a bit about whether having sex without a condom is something you actually would want to do (and keep in mind that while some people do prefer having intercourse without a condom, plenty of people do not, and may not think it feels any different). In ter...

Unless you seriously injured yourself somehow through masturbation, it's not at all likely that that's the issue here. What's much more likely - and this is not at all unusual - is that you maybe had a bit of nervousness going on, and that can really have an impact on physical arousal. It can take a...

If things were feeling a bit dry, then yep, it's very likely that the soreness and swelling you're feeling is due to friction. There's not much you can do except wait for it to subside on its own, and not engaging in any kind of genital sex until you're feeling back to normal. It should heal up in a...

I'm glad you're finding this site a helpful resource, but it can be powerful and a little overwhelming to realize that you're not the only one dealing with something, so it's not surprising that you're feeling kind of rattled right now. We're more than happy to keep talking with you and to help you ...

Sometimes progesterone treatment - taking progesterone for a period of time and then stopping - is used to induce a period, but it depends on what the cause for missing periods is in the first place. As Redskies said, the best thing you can do is talk to your doctor, describe all the symptoms you're...

Hi hawley-smoot. Can I ask - and I know it can be hard to explain this kind of thing - what you mean by nobody understanding you? I feel like if I had a clearer idea of what kind of understanding you're looking for (someone who can relate to the way you see the world? someone who is interested in th...

Going back a bit to Heather's question about labels vs adjectives, and what makes something a label as opposed to just a word we use to describe ourselves, I've noticed that a lot of the time labels relate to some social category that seems to be important. So I wouldn't tend to think of "tall&...

It's definitely not good. So, how about you do what you can to stop yourself reading endlessly about HIV? That's one really easy way to help dial down some of your stress around this. I also think that worrying about what you would do if the result came back positive isn't likely to help you feel an...

Spotting is a common side effect of hormonal birth control like the pill, so if you and your partner are up to date with your STI tests and you're not noticing any other signs of infection, then it's likely you're just having some random spotting: it happens. Per the possibility of pregnancy, what's...

If you're taking two pill packs back to back, you want to complete both packs fully. So you'll want to finish the pack you're on currently, no taking a break in the middle of it.

Hey, Dandelion. I'm sorry you had to go through that, and it's totally okay to come here and talk about it, although there's a pretty limited amount we can do. One thing that can help when you're panicking is to do some grounding exercises, like the ones here: http://www.pandys.org/articles/groundin...

Hey, bigbywolf. I'm sorry you're still having such a rough time. I hear that you're annoyed that it's taking you so long to get over this, but everyone deals with breakups and exes moving on in their own ways and in their own time, so while I get that you want to just be done with it already, try no...

Glad to hear it. (Keep in mind too that if the pain you're having becomes severe, or you develop any other symptoms, the emergency room is always an option too.)

That's totally understandable, and even if you do manage to start seeing a therapist regularly again, it doesn't hurt to seek out resources on your own. Unfortunately, I'm drawing a blank but I know Heather has had some good book suggestions in the past along these lines, so I'll leave her a note an...

We can't know whether it's a blood clot or not: the thing to do if you're having any worrying symptoms with a new medication is contact your doctor. They should always be the first person you get in touch with if you're concerned about things like this.

Amanda has made a lot of good suggestions, but I wanted to mention (in case you might be interested in checking in with a therapist or counsellor to figure out some strategies for dealing with anxiety), most universities have counselling centres that provide free or low-cost services to students. So...

It sounds like checking in with your doctor is a good idea, if only to give you some peace of mind. Going down a cup size is a pretty significant change to happen in just a couple of weeks, and while it's still entirely possible that this is just a bit of weight loss or hormonal changes, it never hu...

Just wanted to add that we have an article on painful intercourse on the main site you might want to check out: From OW! to WOW! Demystifying Painful Intercourse

Seconding Edith's advice about talking to the healthcare provider who will be doing the insertion: they're the best person to discuss this with. I also agree that you can ask about your family's medical history without needing to mention why; it's a perfectly valid thing to want to know. That said, ...

I don't see any cause for concern, no. Just looking at a website, one not related to porn, is not going to cause any problems.

I am a bit concerned about the level of anxiety I'm hearing you express around this: is it something you experience with other things as well, or just this?

Hey, Atonement. It does sound like you've got a lot on your plate right now, and I'm sorry you're having a rough time with it. Transition periods like the one it sounds like you're going through now - finishing up school, shifting to a career, dealing with your friends doing the same - can be really...