Oh, ugh. Sorry to hear that. It might be worth trying to find the discussion group though, if only to connect with people you can feel a bit more comfortable around per your orientation.

I get how that could be frustrating! One thing that could be helpful is just broadening your social circle a bit: the more people we know, the higher the chance that we'll find someone(s) with whom there's a mutual attraction/interest in dating.

It won't have anything to do, basically. The extra hormones may cause some side effects, but other than that, it won't do anything at all because there's nothing for it to do in the first place.

No need for a new topic, these are related questions so no worries. :) Your period should arrive at some point during the sugar pills, but most people find that it doesn't arrive immediately - it often takes a few days for your hormone levels to drop enough to trigger that bleed. And it's normal for...

Please be patient. We do say in our guidelines that there may be a bit of a wait for a response, and it has not even been 24 hours. The timing of a pregnancy test depends on which test you get. Generally, you'll need to wait until it's been at least two weeks since your risk, but the directions of t...

Glad to help. And no worries about the language, it happens. :) (Per the vaccine, genital warts are caused by a strain of the HPV virus. It's a virus that has a lot of different strains, some cause warts - genital and elsewhere on the body - and some can result in cell changes that lead to cancer, b...

Ideally, you want to use barriers until both of you have had two clear screenings six months apart, just because it takes a while for some STIs to show up on a test. But, if you're comfortable with the level of risk - and it is likely low here - then it's up to you whether or not you want to use con...

I wouldn't rely on lubricant as an effective second method. There is evidence from the study you found as well as others that some lubricants may affect sperm motility, but lube is not intended, nor has it been tested, as a method of contraception. Honestly, condoms or withdrawal are the best option...

Using condoms and hormonal birth control (like the pill) together is about as protected as you can get. You can see the effectiveness rates for various combinations of methods here: The Buddy System: Effectiveness Rates for Backing Up Your Birth Control With a Second Method Developing a "tolera...

Brown discharge can be from a few different things. Sometimes discharge is a bit brown at the very beginning or end of a period, or if you're having very light spotting. It's possible your partner scratched you a bit and the brown you're noticing is a bit of blood making its way out of your body (th...

Direct means exactly that: ejaculating on the vulva with no fabric or any other barrier in between, or contact between genitals with no barriers of any kind. As for the contradictions between the two articles, I can see how that would be confusing. I am not the one who wrote that particular piece, b...

Yes, using emergency contraception 3 days after unprotected sex will lower the risk of pregnancy. You can read more about EC here: Emergency Contraception

How about giving your doctor a call, then, and seeing where they are at with that process? You can ask at the same time if they think it's worth coming in to get your cramps and other symptoms checked out.

It doesn't sound like there's any reason to think the implant isn't doing its job. But, if you would feel better using two methods, would it help to have some info on how to make condoms more comfortable for both of you?

Bloating and abdominal cramps can happen for all sorts of reasons, including stress. One of the side effects of stress for many people is digestive upset, so it's possible that's what's going on here. Of course, checking in with a doctor is the only way to know for sure. Looking back on some of your...

You're very welcome.

There is no method of birth control that completely eliminates the risk of pregnancy - there will always be a chance. However, the implant is highly effective at preventing pregnancy, so your risk is very, very small. (The 7 day rule is not arbitrary, btw, it's based on what we know about the menstr...

Yes, using a condom and the pill offers a very high level of protection from pregnancy. You can read more about that here: The Buddy System: Effectiveness Rates for Backing Up Your Birth Control With a Second Method

There's a whole section on sexual identity right here: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/sexual%20identity This piece is a good place to start, though, if that list looks overwhelming: b] The Rainbow Connection: Orientation for Everyone [/b] These two pieces might also be useful: Q is for Questionin...

It's a bit tricky to answer that, because a big part of showing that you're interested in having sex with someone is, well, having a someone(s) in mind. Even if you generally want to explore sex, and someone expresses interest in you, if you're not interested in them then it's not likely to be very ...

Each week of pills with ortho tricyclen lo has a different amount of hormones, so if she switched around two pills from two different weeks, then it may compromise the effectiveness. But, as long as she continued to take one pill each day, with none missed or late, then it likely won't have a huge i...

This is one of those times where taking the morning after pill very likely wouldn't reduce your risk much, if at all, but it's up to you. If you feel better taking it, then go right ahead.

There's no way to know for sure how effective your pill would be five days after ending a course of antibiotics. But even when taking a medication that interferes with your pill, you still have some level of protection: it doesn't drop to zero when you start taking something that interferes, and the...

So, you didn't use condoms, but you did use another backup method: withdrawal. It's not quite as effective as condoms, but since your partner didn't ejaculate inside you, then it does reduce the risk of pregnancy by a lot. It is a good idea to use a backup method for at least 7 days (ideally the res...

You're welcome. If it is due to the pill, then it could just be a temporary thing while your body adjusts to the hormones. It's one of those times you just have to wait and see though!