That's correct.

Yep, vaginal discharge is still normal when on birth control pills, or other forms of hormonal birth control. You will likely not notice the same cycle of discharge you'd see if you weren't on the pill, but you will still be producing discharge.

It can be tough to be open about mental health issues, even just enough to say that you feel bad enough that you'd like some professional help. But I think it is a good idea - as you said, having friends who are supportive is great but their support can't take the place of a counselor who can help y...

I think you could probably find a way to talk to her about this that isn't disrespectful. Maybe something like "mom, you've made your thoughts on [boyfriend] clear, but I feel pretty hurt when you keep insulting someone I care about and choose to spend time with. Can you stop making those comme...

Hi Sappho, Just so you know, having sex before you finish all three shots won't make the vaccine ineffective, it just means you won't yet be fully protected by it. Using condoms reduces (although it doesn't entirely eliminate) the risk of HPV transmission, and we certainly recommend that you use the...

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that your mom's making those comments, that's really inappropriate and mean of her. Have you directly asked her to keep her opinions about your boyfriend to herself? If so, what was her reaction? Does she have any criticisms of his character, how he treats you, or anyth...

When a condom does come off during intercourse, there is a risk of pregnancy; the risk is lower without ejaculation but it's still present. So, if you have access to EC and this happened under 120 hours ago, you could take that to reduce your pregnancy risk. Here's some info on EC, including effecti...

Since your partner didn't ejaculate and the condom didn't come all the way off, the risk is relatively low, but just as Edith said, this is a situation where it's really down to how you feel about the situation. If you find that you're having issues with condoms sliding off or mostly off often, you ...

There's nothing that can deactivate your pills just from being close to them; I'm not sure what kind of scanner that was but there's no machine that can make a birth control pill (or any other medicine) ineffective. You say you were looking at your pill pamphlet; any thing that might impact the pill...

Yes, that's fine.

It's possible that some of the active-ingredient part of the pills dissolved off; I don't think we can really know that for sure. But you could just make sure to back up with condoms for a couple weeks if you want to be extra sure you're at full effectiveness. Even if part of the pill dissolved it w...

Hi Berry, The answer to a lot of the questions you're asking here is simply "people react to new medications in a variety of ways, and we can't always know why." But what seems to be happening here is that all the anxiety that was fueling your pregnancy risk questions earlier has been funn...

We can't know for sure whether this is breakthrough bleeding or not, but a little cycle wonkiness doesn't sound too surprising right now, for the same reasons Heather mentioned above. It's entirely possible you're starting your withdrawal bleed (what you get on hormonal birth control instead of a pe...

Hi Confused, Of course we can't know for sure, but it sounds like what you noticed was pre-ejaculate, which is a fluid produced when someone is aroused but before ejaculation. It's totally normal and not at all a cause for concern. If you've noticed pre-ejaculate before and this was different, it's ...

Cramping can certainly happen on the pill, especially as you're getting used to it. We can't know for sure why you're experiencing it, but it's very likely not a cause for concern.

That's so sweet, thank you!

When you find yourselves talking about being sexual with a new partner (or imagining those conversations, if you haven't gotten there yet with someone but are considering it), does safer sex come up at all? If & when you talk about birth control with partners, is condom use or STI testing part o...

hi enixfire,

I took those links out of your post, since they were to adults-only sites many of our users can't legally access. We want to make the boards safe for our under-18 users to be on and use, so we ask that folks don't link to any sexually explicit content in their posts.

One thing that can help in terms of adjusting the name or pronouns you use in conversation for someone, is to step up your inner monologue about your friend. When you think about them, take the time to OVER-think and have some extra narration. "I'm going to go see Karen today. She's going to me...

Here's the direct link to the article about late or missing periods: M.I.A or, Dude, Where's My Period? Meeting up with your school guidance counselor sounds like a good idea, I hope that works out.

In terms of those forums online, it can be hard to know why folks talk about getting periods while pregnant. Sometimes this can be because people are a little mistaken as to when their pregnancy began, they had some other kind of bleeding during pregnancy, or for whatever reason they're just spreadi...

This sounds like a really frustrating situation! We can't really know why your former friend is saying the things she's saying, but it's a bummer that she's stressing other people out. One thing you might be able to do, to help out your friend who's getting stressed from hearing these stories, is to...

If I have the timeline right, you had sex a few days before you had diarrhea, and the diarrhea happened well after the previous night's pill and before that night's? Nothing in that scenario indicates an interruption in coverage. What we do suggest, though, is that folks who are having intercourse o...

You may find this article helpful as well: Figuring Out How to Be a Lesbian Safer Sexpert

If you're worried about a latex allergy, you could definitely talk it over with a doctor; they'd be able to do a test for certain. You might be able to get a better idea if you were to, say, take a condom and just hold it on your arm for a bit to see what happens, but doing a real test with a doctor...