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Emergency Contraception Emergency contraception consists of methods that can be used by women after sexual intercourse to prevent pregnancy. Emergency contraception methods have varying ranges of effectiveness depending on the method and timing of administration. Types of Emergency Contraception Intrauterine Device Cu-IUD ECPs UPA in a single dose (30 mg) Levonorgestrel in a single dose (1.5 mg) or as a split dose (1 dose of 0.75 mg of levonorgestrel followed by a second dose of 0.75 mg of levonorgestrel 12 hours later) Combined estrogen and progestin in 2 doses (Yuzpe regimen: 1 dose of 100 µg of ethinyl estradiol plus 0.50 mg of levonorgestrel followed by a second dose of 100 µg of ethinyl estradiol plus 0.50 mg of levonorgestrel 12 hours later) Initiation of Emergency Contraception Timing Cu-IUD The Cu-IUD can be inserted within 5 days of the first act of unprotected sexual intercourse as an emergency contraceptive. In addition, when the day of ovulation can be estimated, the Cu-IUD can be inserted beyond 5 days after sexual intercourse, as long as insertion does not occur >5 days after ovulation. ECPs ECPs should be taken as soon as possible within 5 days of unprotected sexual intercourse. Comments and Evidence Summary. Cu-IUDs are highly effective as emergency contraception (283) and can be continued as regular contraception. UPA and levonorgestrel ECPs have similar effectiveness when taken within 3 days after unprotected sexual intercourse; however, UPA has been shown to be more effective than the levonorgestrel formulation 3–5 days after unprotected sexual intercourse. The combined estrogen and progestin regimen is less effective than UPA or levonorgestrel and also is associated with more frequent occurrence of side effects (nausea and vomiting). The levonorgestrel formulation might be less effective than UPA among obese women. Two studies of UPA use found consistent decreases in pregnancy rates when administered within 120 hours of unprotected sexual intercourse. Five studies found that the levonorgestrel and combined regimens decreased risk for pregnancy through the fifth day after unprotected sexual intercourse; however, rates of pregnancy were slightly higher when ECPs were taken after 3 days. A meta-analysis of levonorgestrel ECPs found that pregnancy rates were low when administered within 4 days after unprotected sexual intercourse but increased at 4–5 days (Level of evidence: I to II-2, good to poor, direct). Advance Provision of ECPs An advance supply of ECPs may be provided so that ECPs will be available when needed and can be taken as soon as possible after unprotected sexual intercourse. Comments and Evidence Summary. A systematic review identified 17 studies that reported on safety or effectiveness of advance ECPs in adult or adolescent women. Any use of ECPs was two to seven times greater among women who received an advance supply of ECPs. However, a summary estimate (relative risk = 0.97; 95% confidence interval = 0.77–1.22) of five randomized controlled trials did not indicate a significant reduction in unintended pregnancies at 12 months with advance provision of ECPs. In the majority of studies among adults or adolescents, patterns of regular contraceptive use, pregnancy rates, and incidence of STDs did not vary between those who received advance ECPs and those who did not. Although available evidence supports the safety of advance provision of ECPs, effectiveness of advance provision of ECPs in reducing pregnancy rates at the population level has not been demonstrated (Level of evidence: I to II-3, good to poor, direct). Initiation of Regular Contraception After ECPs UPA Advise the woman to start or resume hormonal contraception no sooner than 5 days after use of UPA, and provide or prescribe the regular contraceptive method as needed. For methods requiring a visit to a health care provider, such as DMPA, implants, and IUDs, starting the method at the time of UPA use may be considered; the risk that the regular contraceptive method might decrease the effectiveness of UPA must be weighed against the risk of not starting a regular hormonal contraceptive method. The woman needs to abstain from sexual intercourse or use barrier contraception for the next 7 days after starting or resuming regular contraception or until her next menses, whichever comes first. Any non hormonal contraceptive method can be started immediately after the use of UPA. Advise the woman to have a pregnancy test if she does not have a withdrawal bleed within 3 weeks. Levonorgestrel and Combined Estrogen and Progestin ECPs Any regular contraceptive method can be started immediately after the use of levonorgestrel or combined estrogen and progestin ECPs. The woman needs to abstain from sexual intercourse or use barrier contraception for 7 days. Advise the woman to have a pregnancy test if she does not have a withdrawal bleed within 3 weeks. Comments and Evidence Summary.The resumption or initiation of regular hormonal contraception after ECP use involves consideration of the risk for pregnancy if ECPs fail and the risks for unintended pregnancy if contraception initiation is delayed until the subsequent menstrual cycle. A health care provider may provide or prescribe pills, the patch, or the ring for a woman to start no sooner than 5 days after use of UPA. For methods requiring a visit to a health care provider, such as DMPA, implants, and IUDs, starting the method at the time of UPA use may be considered; the risk that the regular contraceptive method might decrease the effectiveness of UPA must be weighed against the risk of not starting a regular hormonal contraceptive method. Data on when a woman can start regular contraception after ECPs are limited to pharmacodynamic data and expert opinion. In one pharmacodynamic study of women who were randomly assigned to either UPA or placebo groups mid-cycle followed by a 21-day course of combined hormonal contraception found no difference between UPA and placebo groups in the time for women’s ovaries to reach quiescence by ultrasound and serum estradiol; this finding suggests that UPA did not have an effect on the combined hormonal contraception. In another pharmacodynamic study with a crossover design, women were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) UPA followed by desogestrel for 20 days started 1 day later; 2) UPA plus placebo; or 3) placebo plus desogestrel for 20 days. Among women taking UPA followed by desogestrel, a higher incidence of ovulation in the first 5 days was found compared with UPA alone (45% versus 3%, respectively), suggesting desogestrel might decrease the effectiveness of UPA. No concern exists that administering combined estrogen and progestin or levonorgestrel formulations of ECPs concurrently with systemic hormonal contraception decreases the effectiveness of either emergency or regular contraceptive methods because these formulations do not have antiprogestin properties like UPA. If a woman is planning to initiate contraception after the next menstrual bleeding after ECP use, the cycle in which ECPs are used might be shortened, prolonged, or involve unscheduled bleeding. Prevention and Management of Nausea and Vomiting with ECP Use Nausea and Vomiting Levonorgestrel and UPA ECPs cause less nausea and vomiting than combined estrogen and progestin ECPs. Routine use of antiemetics before taking ECPs is not recommended. Pretreatment with antiemetics may be considered depending on availability and clinical judgment. Vomiting Within 3 Hours of Taking ECPs Another dose of ECP should be taken as soon as possible. Use of an antiemetic should be considered. Comments and Evidence Summary. Many women do not experience nausea or vomiting when taking ECPs, and predicting which women will experience nausea or vomiting is difficult. Although routine use of antiemetics before taking ECPs is not recommended, antiemetics are effective in some women and can be offered when appropriate. Health-care providers who are deciding whether to offer antiemetics to women taking ECPs should consider the following: 1) women taking combined estrogen and progestin ECPs are more likely to experience nausea and vomiting than those who take levonorgestrel or UPA ECPs; 2) evidence indicates that antiemetics reduce the occurrence of nausea and vomiting in women taking combined estrogen and progestin ECPs; and 3) women who take antiemetics might experience other side effects from the antiemetics. A systematic review examined incidence of nausea and vomiting with different ECP regimens and effectiveness of anti nausea drugs in reducing nausea and vomiting with ECP use. The levonorgestrel regimen was associated with significantly less nausea than a nonstandard dose of UPA (50 mg) and the standard combined estrogen and progestin regimen. Use of the split-dose levonorgestrel showed no differences in nausea and vomiting compared with the single-dose levonorgestrel (Level of evidence: I, good-fair, indirect). Two trials of anti nausea drugs, meclizine and metoclopramide, taken before combined estrogen and progestin ECPs, reduced the severity of nausea. Significantly less vomiting occurred with meclizine but not metoclopramide (Level of evidence: I, good-fair, direct). No direct evidence was found regarding the effects of vomiting after taking ECPs.

CHLAMYDIA TESTIMONIALS Reading all of these stories, makes me want to share mine. I was dealing with a guy for ten years, never contracted a STD from that relationship. I decided to try and end that relationship to begin another one. This new guy and I never had intercourse but engaged in oral sex. He told me that his ex-gf contracted chlamydia and told me to get tested. I did. Results came back, I got chlamydia and gonorrhea. My ten years partner was negative and showed me his results. New dude claimed he got results but refused to show me his results. Just by receiving oral sex look what happened to me. They say STDs can be contracted only by anal and vaginal, but in my case oral too. Be Careful ladies. Have the man get tested before dealing with them. Female patient, 25 Name, Title Previous Next 20 to 29

How To Choose A Lube The Big Lube Guide For many people with a vagina, irregardless of arousal, they need lube – whether it’s just how their body is, or it’s a side effect of a medication they’re on, or it’s part of their health issues OR the sex toy they’re using is particularly textured. It’s normal to use lube! But not all lube is created equal. In fact, I’m sorry to tell you that most readily-available commercial lubes SUCK. Plus, the best lube for sex (vaginal) may not be the best lube for anal sex and may not be the best lube for masturbation. Chances are pretty good that if you’re using a quality sex toy made from body-safe materials and you are experiencing irritation and burning anyways, the irritation and burning is coming from your lube. Whether it’s bad for you, bad all around, or it went bad. Yes, lube does expire! And most of us aren’t about to make yam lube, either, so I’ve gotta help you find the best commercial lubes out there that won’t poison your genitals. Explain it Like I’m 5 – What’s Osmolality? LUBE-OSMO-QUICK We’ve got three situations – the best is if the lube is iso-osmotic – meaning your cells and the lube sit there next to each other, happy, making each other better. They’re content. If the osmolality is low, i.e. hypo-osmotic, then the lube is like my Italian best friend’s mom – eat, eat! It’s feeding the cells too much water, and at some point they will burst. When does this matter the most? If you’re trying to conceive. Hypo-osmotic lubes would kill the lil swimmers. The most common situation is when the osmolality is high, i.e. hyper-osmotic. It’s the vampire situation – the lube comes in all charming at first and things seem okay. The lube feels really slippery, which is great! But it’s slippery because it’s drinking the moisture from your cells. When they have no more to give, they are dead and dry. The outer layer of cells will slough off and leave your mucus lining very vulnerable, like standing in a snowstorm without winter gear. STI transmission can increase and at-risk people are at greater risk for infections – this is the same group of people who need to use more lube than the average person. Diabetics, those with a compromised immune system, those undergoing treatment for cancer, etc. If your partner has Herpes, you’re doing everything you can to avoid transmission – consider the lube, as well. Stick to iso-osmotic lubes. Molality is defined as the amount of substance (measured in mol) of solute, divided by the mass (in kg) of solvent, (not the mass of the solution). In other words, it’s the measurement of the mass of the stuff that’s dissolved in a liquid. Osmolality is a variation of molality that only takes into account solutes that contribute to a solution’s osmotic pressure, and Osmotic Pressure in this instance is the measure of the tendency of a solution to take in water by osmosis. Unfortunately we’re largely left to guess when it comes to osmolality because only a small handful of lubes have been tested. In addition to those listed in this chart I found a few extra listed here (including Probe brand which seems to be pretty close to iso-osmotic) and I also contacted the makers of System Jo lube who say that the Agape version is at 350 and the new version of H2O (which will be released in October) will have an osmolality of 200 (current is 800). We can make educated guesses on the osmolality by knowing a few things: that certain ingredients cause the osmolality to increase. So by avoiding those ingredients we can have a better shot at a lube that plays nice with our body. Of course, you can also avoid this by using coconut oil or silicone-based lubes. We don’t know how osmolality affects hybrid lubes (which are water-based with a little silicone added) because no one has ever tested them. Do they suddenly get to skip the rulebook because of the small amount of silicone? Maybe? But to stay safe, pick hybrids with very few ingredients. LUBE-Osmolality Second you need to consider pH. pH results are easy to come by – you can buy pH test strips yourself and test out your lube (or your mucus) at home if it’s not on this list below. The pH of the vagina can range from 3.5 – 7 depending on where you are in your cycle, if you have an infection, if you’re pre/post menopausal, etc. Post-menopausal women tend to have a higher pH. Higher pH is also associated with bacterial vaginosis but it can also be the normal course of cycle for you. Anal lubes need a higher pH so a lube that is good for your lower-pH vagina could really sting when used for buttsex. Let’s go back to the vagina though for a minute. If you’re trying to conceive, you need a slightly higher pH as well to be friendly to sperm. Lubes with a low pH can sting and burn. Lubes with a higher pH than the vagina can bring on yeast infections and bacterial vaginosis OR just feel itchy (butt or vag) without the infection. Notice how Replens, once again, seems to be unfriendly to the very group it is targeted at? That’s considerably lower than it should be. The pH numbers below are less disconcerting, overall, versus the osmolality ratings but you should still refer to this chart. In addition to the glory of Sliquid there are other stand-out brands, but we have lubes that ranked super high in osmolality ranking right on target in pH. But that doesn’t make them okay because the next factor is…. LUBE-pH INGREDIENTS! READ YOUR LABELS! Sometimes there are so many scientific words in the ingredients list that we don’t even know what they are. Are they safe? Will they burn, are they a known irritant? There are a lot of problematic ingredients and this goes way beyond parabens. In fact, it’s been suggested that parabens might not be the Big Bad Monster – studies about the effects of parabens have been done by feeding mass doses of it to mice…naturally, they’re going to experience bad side effects! You may never use enough lube to rack up enough parabens to cause cancer but some people are allergic to parabens. Of course, paraben is also a xenoestrogen, but a weak one. Xenoestrogens can have a feminizing effect on masculine bodies and masculinizing effects on feminine bodies. The other top two ingredients to avoid are glycerin(e) and propylene glycol. Both of these greatly increase the osmolality of the lube (making it a lube to avoid) and both can cause sensitivities (and for some, yeast infections). Other lube ingredients are listed below and any of them can cause irritation in addition to: increased STI transmission; killing off of the good bacteria; increase of bad bacteria; allergic reactions. AVOID: Glycerin(e), Propylene Glycol, Nonoxynol 9, Chlorhexedine Gluconate, Petroleum Oils, Polyquaternium-15, Benzocaine, Sugars & Sugar Alcohols, Ureas Why you should avoid Benzocaine. It numbs you, which is not really a good thing. I am unsure if the numbing creams for premature ejaculation will transfer the numbing agent to the vagina, but benzocaine is an irritant. Benzocaine used for those experiencing painful sex or those wanting to make anal play less scary is just a bad idea because pain is your body’s way of saying HEY STOP. You can end up with injuries, microtears to the delicate tissue, and major problems. A note for Celiacs or those with extreme gluten-sensitivity: Avoid “Oat Beta Glucan” which is found in Sutil. I contacted the company about that ingredient (because not all oat is contaminated with gluten, but some super sensitive people react to oats no matter what) and they have confirmed that there is gluten present in that lube. When I was trying it out I also licked it and it made me ill for a day, so it’s enough gluten that if gluten makes you sick even in tiny quantities, avoid this lube. Avoid Vitamin E (tocopherals) unless the company can assure you they are not derived from a gluten-containing grain. These can also be derived from soy, for those with soy allergies. Sliquid’s Organics line uses Vitamin E and this is what they have to say about it: Our Natural Tocopherols are extracted from wheat germ, sunflower, and safflower oils. One thing to keep in mind (and you can find this info on http://glutenfreedietitian.com and other sites) is that refined oils are exempt from allergen labeling by the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act, and the European Food Safety Authority, because the refining process renders them virtually free (undetectable) of allergenic proteins. Consuming refined wheat germ oil is still not recommended for anyone with a gluten allergy, however, there is still another refining step where the Vitamin E (tocopherol) is extracted from the refined oil. Add to that, the amount of Natural Tocopherols in any one bottle of Sliquid Organics is less than 5%. For a highly sensitive person, or someone who just wants to be extra careful, we would suggest the Naturals line from Sliquid. In fact, for anyone with any food allergy, we recommend Sliquid Naturals, just to be safe. Note: if your lube is paraben-free it can go bad much more quickly. There are preservatives that are natural but they don’t seem to do quite as good a job as paraben preservatives. Keep an eye on the color of your lube and the odor. If it’s off, toss it. Try to avoid pump bottles (air = bacteria) or sticking your finger in the lube bottle. RESEARCH YOUR INGREDIENTS: Lately I’ve been looking into various lubes when someone has mentioned that they caused burning/irritation, and I’m finding even more weird and suspect ingredients. I usually just Google the individual ingredients and read over the first few results. Some sites will make something sound worse than it is, some will whitewash it. Some will confuse you. I mean why would you put an abrasive agent that’s normally found in toothpaste, in a lube? But there it was, in a System Jo arousal gel (and shamefully, System Jo doesn’t publish ingredients so thank goodness for reviews). UNDERSTAND SENSITIZERS: If in your research you find that an ingredient is referred to as a “sensitizer” it means that the likelihood a person will react to these ingredients depends on how much they’ve used them – sensitivity it cumulative and increases with use. This means you can find yourself not reacting at first, but reacting after your 2nd or 3rd bottle or even 4th or 5th use of the first bottle. UREAS are one example of sensitizers, and you’ll find these in a lot of cosmetic ingredients (so they’re a common irritant to sensitive-skinned people). LUBE-Irritants What about the FDA? What about lubes that make medical claims? A bunch of experts were polled on their thoughts about the FDA and lube. Most said “oh, absolutely, we welcome the FDA, the FDA knows best!”. But as Sarah Mueller pointed out – the FDA doesn’t always know best. They approved Nonoxynol 9, after all, and it’s been shown to INCREASE STI transmission! The FDA testing process doesn’t actually test how a lube will affect human genitals! They test it on rabbits – their eyeballs and vaginas. In fact it really does seem like the FDA cares about two things: that you pay your fee (which can range from $20,000 to $300,000) and that you either do animal testing or go to much length to prove you do NOT need animal testing. So what if you wanted only lubes that are FDA-approved? Well let’s consider that the awful KY Yours-And-Mine duo (hideous ingredients) is FDA approved. Surgilube is FDA-approved. Another troubling fact: If your lube is FDA-approved then you DO NOT have to list your ingredients. Anywhere. This spells trouble for those that are high risk or have allergies. Just consider Surgilube – they say it’s proprietary so they won’t tell you even if you ask because of allergies. Just because it’s FDA-approved doesn’t mean it’ll be iso-osmotic, a good pH or free from common irritants. The FDA-approval process for lubes needs a major overhaul before I think it’s something Good For The Public. STI Prevention Claims Something I’m seeing a sharp increase in is lubes containing carrageenan, and the lube companies making claims about STI prevention. There have been some studies on this and they’ve had positive results, but a lot more research needs to be done. I would, for now, be wary of these claims. Just because a lube with this ingredient, for this claim, is FDA-approved does not mean it can prevent the spread of an STI. They’re not stamping a seal of approval or efficacy. One such FDA-approved lube is called Divine 9 / Carraguard, from Carrashield Laboratories. They make some grand, yet vague, claims on their website that might lead you to believe that they’ve proven that their lube can prevent the spread of certain STIs but you have to really hunt and read for the truth: The excellent results in the NCI laboratory studies have led to the launch of three large scale human clinical trials using Divine 9. These are the only three human clinical trials in the world on HPV prevention using a topical gel and Divine 9 is featured in all three. While no conclusive evidence exists yet that Divine 9 with CarraShield will block HPV in humans, the results of the NCI tests were compelling enough to justify multi-million dollar investments in these three Phase 2 human trials. CarraShield Labs will provide updates as the data collection continues. At this time CarraShield Labs makes no medical claims about Divine 9 and provides this information strictly for educational purposes. So they’ve gotten it classified as a medical device and gone for FDA-approval to give the idea of something grand and medicinal, but the tests aren’t conclusive and there haven’t been enough tests, or tests on humans. The human tests aren’t concluded, I believe. Basically, anytime you see a lube making any claim that it can help prevent the spread of any STI, don’t believe them. The large-scale clinical trials and conclusive results are not here yet. When they happen it will be major news. LUBE RECOMMENDATIONS: First I want to say that osmolality and pH and ingredients don’t play a role in pure plant oils like coconut oil, or silicone lubes. We don’t know what role they play in hybrid lubes (which can be really awesome – there’s not really enough silicone in a hybrid lube to fuck up most silicone sex toys, but it’s enough to give that slippery, long-lasting appeal). Check the ingredients on the hybrids and avoid the bad stuff if you’re sensitive. Unfortunately, even some of these good lubes can irritate very sensitive people sometimes. While the amount of citric acid in lubes like Sliquid is small, sometimes it’s enough to irritate someone. I understand that most people don’t want to buy their lubes online but unless your local drugstore carries Good Clean Love (some do) or Sliquid (rare) the brands I’d recommend are going to be found online. This isn’t the most accessible, I know, but for many people it’s necessary. If you care about what’s going in your body and strive for non-porous body-safe sex toys, consider overhauling your lube kit, too. I would recommend the following lubes based on ingredients, pH and known/assumed osmolality: Water-based Lubes: All Sliquid brand (and their Organics line) are good on the osmolality, pH and ingredients lines. Organics line can have aloe which can present issues for some and all Sliquid has a small amount of citric acid as a preservative. Only the most sensitive would be bothered by it. Try: • Sassy for a thicker anal lube and H20 for a thinner lube – Both of these are free of aloe • Sea also has aloe; it contains carrageenan which MAY help prevent the spread of HPV, plus other oceanics-ingredients to help with inflammation and dryness • Sliquid Pack to try out various types • While I prefer that you shop for lube at sex toy stores, Amazon does carry Sliquid if you just need to purchase lube and not sex toys. • Lovehoney US and Lovehoney UK carry some Sliquid lubes, but not all. • Smitten Kitten carries a few of the Sliquid Organics lubes • The Organics Line has some organic ingredients and all of them contain Vitamin E and Aloe, amongst other natural stuffs. Good Clean Love 2 is a good brand, also, for pH and ingredients. Definitely check out the Almost Naked variety. I’ve got a review here! Love the stuff! • SheVibe seems to carry the whole line • Smitten Kitten carries two GCL products • Amazon also carries Good Clean Love Smitten Kitten, a progressive queer-and-female-friendly shop based in Minnesota, carries brands that many other sex toy stores don’t. • Hathor Aphrodesia – they have Sutil which sells like hotcakes; it is much longer-lasting than most water-based lubes on the market. The regular H.A. has some interesting ingredients like Horny Goat Weed which can contribute to bad taste. Note: Sutil contains Oat Beta Glucan, which is a gluten ingredient. Company has confirmed there is gluten in the lube. • WaterSlide which could be really great for those sensitive to most ingredients – it’s a thin, slippery lube with nearly no taste. • Aloe Cadabra which rates well on taste, too. • Southern Butter’s Bliss On is rated well by SK. There is some alcohol in it, but so far no one has reported irritation. • Smitten Kitten’s curated sample packs. Each pack contains 5-6 lube samples from different brands, all of them true, body-safe lubes. They’ll also send you their Lube Info pamphlet. SheVibe carries: • Probe is good on both osmolality and pH and is formulated to feel more like natural vaginal lubrication • Coconu has a water-based lube that looks good • Blossom Organics looks decent, but contains Vitamin E and I can’t get an answer on the source so those with soy allergies and gluten limitations should steer clear Goodvibes has their own Please brand. The Liquid and Gel are the water-based. I found another option through Amazon. Astroglide makes a Naturals lube that is shockingly free of any crap ingredients. I don’t know where it falls on the osmolality scale; sensitive folks should pay attention to the ingredients for anything they might find irritating. YES brand is under FDA scrutiny and a sort of “lockdown” for import into the US while they wait on becoming FDA-certified. But I’d heard so much good stuff about this brand that I had to locate it. You can find it on Amazon and according to YES, it should be genuine YES brand lube. How they’re doing it, I don’t know; the seller must be partnered with a European seller. You can find YES brand at Lovehoney US and Lovehoney UK, because all Lovehoney US orders come from the UK. Hybrid Lubes These are awesome because they combine the toy-safety of water-based with just a littttttle silicone (how much varies between brands). Now since silicone doesn’t affect osmolality or pH, and there haven’t been studies on hybrids, we don’t know how hybrids fare on osmolality or pH. So for that reason I still say to avoid osmolality-raising ingredients and irritants. I used to enjoy Wet’s Syngery lube but it has ingredients I can’t recommend. Spunk lube seems to have some popularity but it contains every ingredient I tell you to avoid! Plus there are multiple silicones in it and they’re high up on the list, which means it may not play as nice with silicone toys. These three are the only ones I can find that meet my requirements for safe ingredients. • Sliquid Silk – Found at: SheVibe, Early to Bed, Tantus, and Amazon • Sliquid Organics Silk – Found at: SheVibe, Early to Bed, and Amazon • GoodVibes Please Cream comes highly recommended. It does contain some alcohol in the middle of the ingredients list, and citric acid at the end, so there’s a chance for irritation. Plant-Based Oil Lubes Naturally there’s good ole plain coconut oil – please be sure you get the right kind though! It has to be unrefined, virgin coconut oil – don’t get the liquid/fractionated. Read this guide for all the ins and outs of using coconut oil. I feel that pure coconut oil is perhaps the best starting point for vaginas stretching out into the plant-based oil lube world, as we know that coconut oil is low-comedogenic and anti-microbial (can help with infections). There’s also Sliquid’s oil blend to consider or YES brand oil blend available at Amazon or Lovehoney US / UK. Also look at The Butters, soon to be in a retail store near you, I hope. I don’t recommend Coconu because of their sham marketing which says that silcone is practically toxic. They also hide the fact that their lube will destroy many sex toys materials and get you quickly on the road to this mess. Please note that oil lubes are not good with most condoms/protection – only nitrile and polyurethane condoms. Also to note that oil lubes should never be used on porous material sex toys like most male masturbators, TPR, PVC, etc. It’s safe with pure silicone, metal, some wood, glass, hard plastic and ceramic. LUBES AND CONDOMS I’m working on having this section fleshed out a little better. It seems that most condoms are using a silicone-based lube. What if you don’t want that? What if you can’t tell what type of lube they are using? My best bet right now is to tell you to find non lubricated condoms and pair them with your own lube that you know isn’t irritating to you. SheVibe carries Atlas brand; Smitten Kitten carries Trojan Enz. Even though I go over this elsewhere, I’ll say it here: If you choose to use plant-oil based lubes (coconut oil, etc) then you must use polyurethane condoms. You can also use the nitrile-based FC2. FLAVORED LUBES Flavored lubes (or conversely, totally taste-neutral lubes) that are completely safe, pH good, osmolality good, etc etc are going to be hard to come by. I hear mixed things on the Sliquid Swirls to be honest. It seems to be very much YMMV because what one person thinks is as tasty as a Jolly Rancher, the next is ready to puke. This is a section I will be working on, both sides of the coin. FISTING POWDERS J Lube and X Lube are just a few fisting powders I’ve heard about. Basically it’s a powder, you add water and mix it up. The result is a thick gel which is economical and plentiful. J Lube was made for birthing livestock; it contains a lot of sugar and is not safe for vaginas. X Lube claims not to use sugars, but I’m not really sure about their ingredient which is listed as PEO. Wikipedia says PEO and PEG are the same thing – polyethylene glycol….a petrochemical we’re to avoid. I’m waiting on more information before passing a judgment. Vaginal Tightening/Shrink Creams and Gels I’m putting this here because I haven’t yet done a whole entire post on it. These aren’t a lube, but they’re often sold with lubes. These can be dangerous, or just won’t work. They often work by doing one of two things (or both): Drying you out on purpose or creating a mild allergic reaction. Inflammation = feeling “tighter”. Yet as you can imagine, this does a real number to your mucous lining and overall vaginal health. It increases your risk for infections and the spread of STI. It increases your risk for microtears of the vaginal wall, even. In short, it’s never a good thing. A dry vagina is not a good thing. If you want to improve vaginal health overall, buy some kegel beads. I’ve also seen herbal “teabag” like things you shove up in the vagina like a tampon and frankly, anything like that…even if it’s natural…can have adverse affects you’re not expecting. It can throw off your pH, lead to infection, you can have an allergic reaction, etc. Herbal doesn’t mean safe (unless it’s the FORIA THC “tampons” for menstrual cramps – that one is legit). FINAL TIPS If you see a gynecologist, try taking along your own lube because chances are pretty good that they’re using either KY or Surgilube, both of which are vagina poison. The doctors aren’t trained to know this stuff. If you have ever experienced dryness, irritation during sex, etc after a check-up then this is why. And when you do bring your own lube tell them why! Point them to badvibes.org to educate them on the dangers of the crappy lubes they’re using. Tips to soothe the burn of an irritating lube or a lube that is incompatible with your pH: I finally sleuthed out some tips and present them here. Irritation with some chemicals can build over time; you can be fine for awhile with the lube you have or an ingredient in your favorite lube and then one day…you’re bothered by it. It happens. If you have a vagina, you’ve read by now that your vaginal pH can change over time, or where you are in your cycle. It can be a good idea if you’re particularly sensitive to lubes to occasionally test your own pH and the pH of your favorite lube. LUBES TO AVOID KY is a hated brand. It contains an ingredient commonly found in mouthwash. That’s right, an antiseptic. This is irritating AND not necessary! Astroglide, yikes. Polyquaternium-15 promotes viral activity and is found in four different Astroglide varieties. ID Glide has never been a favorite of mine, the ingredients are crap and the osmolality is high. Pjur makes great silicone lubes, but their water-based leaves a lot to be desired. Same with Wet brand. Don’t buy lubes (or anything else that is a topical for your genitals) that don’t publish their ingredients. In my research I’ve been looking for brands/varieties to recommend and have had to leave them off the list because I can’t find the ingredients. System Jo, Spunk lube, XR Brand’s Tom of Finland lubes or Passion lubes (basically anything by XR brands), and many more. Some reviewers published the Spunk lube ingredients but there seems to be a little variation. I can’t see why any company would avoid publishing the lube ingredients, but it raises a red flag for me. Resources and other great lube articles: * Graphics, charts, and research courtesy of BadVibes.org / The Smitten Kitten * Interview with Sarah Mueller with even more tidbits about her lube research * Lorax of Sex breaks down the types of lube * Sexational! explains osmolality * Lube osmolality study Organics Natural Ingredients Purified Water, Plant Cellulose (from Cotton), Aloe Barbadensis*, Natural Tocopherols (Vitamin E), Cyamopsis (Guar Conditioners), Extracts of Hibiscus*, Flax*, Green Tea* & Sunflower Seed*, Citric Acid (Citrus Fruits), Phenoxyethanol (Rose Ether) ↩ Ingredients: Organic Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Xanthan Gum, Agar, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors ↩ Sutil is formulated with regenerating hyaluronic acid for dry and sensitive skin, including the genital area. Hyaluronan has the ability to bind large amounts of water to provide increased lubrication, enabling optimal regeneration of the skin. ↩ Ingredients: Purified Water, Xylitol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Potassium ascorbyltocopheryl phosphate (Vitamins C & E), Pectin, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Phenoxyethanol. ↩

Importance of Partner Treatment If tests show that you have an STI, your sex partners — including your current partners and any other partners you've had over the last three months to one year — need to be informed so that they can get tested. If they're infected, they can then be treated. Each state has different requirements, but most states require that certain STIs be reported to the local or state health department. Public health departments often employ trained disease intervention specialists who can help notify partners and refer people for treatment. Official, confidential partner notification can help limit the spread of STIs, particularly for syphilis and HIV. The practice also steers those at risk toward counseling and the right treatment. And since you can contract some STIs more than once, partner notification reduces your risk of getting reinfected. Local Clinics

I got someone pregnant-what do I do? So you got someone pregnant? Read on for what do next and how to be supportive in the event of an unplanned pregnancy Father's Rights and Responsibilities There is a lot of advice out there for girls who find themselves facing an unwanted or unexpected pregnancy but there is very little information out there for guys. It takes two to make a baby but all too often when the pregnancy is announced the guy gets lost in the confusion. Teen fatherhood is not something to be taken lightly and along with responsibilities to the mother and the child; you have rights that you need to know about. LEARN MORE How To Be Supportive Accidentally getting a girl pregnant is probably the last thing you ever expected — or wanted — at this time in your life. However, here you are, reeling from the news that the woman you have slept with is pregnant with your baby. LEARN MORE

3 Empowering Sex Tips We Should Be Giving Young Women Like many girls, I got my first sex tips from women’s magazines. I learned how to stand to appear thinner when naked. I learned which positions put my sexiest body parts on display. I learned hundreds of ways I should touch a penis, whether I liked it or not. Sex sounded grown-up and exciting, but also scary – though I couldn’t pinpoint why. I totally see why now, though. It sounded like sex would make me an object – like once I walked through the door of a man’s (it was always presumed to be a man’s) bedroom, I’d leave my humanity on the other side of it. Actually having sex as a teenager was equally confusing. I wanted to be my partners’ hot, sexy lover and their fellow human, but it always felt like I had to pick one. When I tried to be both, they’d punish me for it. In college, after enthusiastically initiating a hookup with someone I met at a frat party, and openly enjoying it, he got behind me and air-humped me in front of his friend while I was trying to talk. It felt like his way of saying, “In case you got as much out of this as me, I’m going to make sure you still don’t leave feeling equal” – as if my comfort with the situation took the fun away from him. As if he were trying to win a game aimed at convincing me to hook up, and I wasn’t even letting him play. He’d learned it, too: that women’s role in sex was to deny or “give in to” what men wanted, not want anything themselves. (And that LGBTQIA+ people don’t exist, apparently.) I didn’t just learn this from magazines. I learned it from musicians who implicitly or explicitly referred to their sexual partners as “bitches,” “hos,” and conquests. I observed it on TV shows that existed to let men ogle naked women. I learned it from men who treated rape as “locker room” behavior. Thankfully, during college and after, I absorbed other ideas about sex and women’s role in it. Here are some of the healthier messages I got – and wish we’d all get sooner. 1. Do What You Desire, Not What You’re Just Okay With Desire was strangely absent from the sex lessons I received from adults and peers alike – or at least the desires of people other than men were absent. I learned all about men’s supposed desires. I learned men’s desires were uncontrollable. That they would try to use me to satiate them. That I had the “powerful” position of deciding if their desires would be fulfilled (if they were “nice guys” who didn’t rape, that is). In addition to erasing non-binary people, this belief system renders women incapable of consent. You can’t, after all, consent to something you don’t desire. So, until I understood that my desires mattered, sex seemed, by nature, non-consensual. No wonder it scared me. Then, in my freshmen year of college, I went to a talk about sex. And unlike other sex talks I’d attended, it didn’t reduce women to victims. “Do what you desire, not what you’re just okay with,” the speaker said. Before, I thought being okay was the most I could hope for. I thought if a guy wants to do something and you’re okay with it, it was just spiteful not to let him do it. But, as this speaker recognized, that sets you up for an unequal exchange and makes consent blurry. Instead, he suggested, say no if you’re not excited about something, and you can always change your mind. I learned another version of this advice at a cuddle party years later: “If it’s not a ‘hell yes,’ it’s a ‘no.'” By affirming people’s right to say hell yes, we help them say no when there’s no hell yes in them. And by affirming their right to say no, we make room for more hell yeses to safely come out. 2. Express What You’re Thinking – And Ask Your Partner What They’re Thinking Women’s magazines offered tips for the hottest things to say in bed, but they rarely taught me to express how I actually felt. And they also didn’t teach me how to figure out how my partners felt. Any vocalizations that happened in bed were supposed to be for the sake of a performance. Communication in the bedroom should accomplish the opposite, though: expressing what you’re truly thinking. I didn’t know it was okay to say I wanted sex, or more sex, or a different kind of sex. I didn’t know it was okay to admit the current activity was doing absolutely nothing for me. I didn’t know it was okay to say if I was in pain or to say I felt pressured into something. Those things weren’t “guaranteed to turn him on,” after all. But expressing what you’re thinking is more than okay. It should be a requirement, especially if the alternative is to be uncomfortable or unsatisfied. This also means it’s important to find out what your partners are thinking, particularly when you’re not sure what they want. Discussions of sexual violence usually paint women merely as potential victims or survivors, but we are highly capable of ignoring others’ boundaries and pressuring them. Instead of teaching women to merely compliment their partners’ sexual prowess, questions like: “Do you want this? Are you good? What do you want? Do you like that?” should be part of everyone’s vocabulary. This not only makes sex better, but it’s also vital for keeping it consensual. And no, it doesn’t “kill the mood.” In what other activity is talking to your companion considered a detraction from the fun? 3. Make Sure You’re Getting as Much Out of This as Your Partner (And Vice Versa) I put that second part in parentheses because women already know this. We’re taught it’s our job to ensure our partners are getting at least as much out of the encounter as we are. In a study on college students’ attitudes toward hookups, one woman said, “I will do everything in my power to like whoever I’m with, to get [him] off.” And here’s what another woman said of receiving pleasure in hookups: “I didn’t feel comfortable, I guess. I don’t know. I think I felt kind of guilty almost, like I felt like I was kind of subjecting [guys] to something they didn’t want to do, and I felt bad about it.” It makes sense, then, that men are more likely to receive oral sex than women during college hookups, and both teen boys and girls say oral is a bigger deal when it’s performed on a woman. I always thought I understood that I deserved as much as my partners. It seems like common sense that both people should get something equal out of every exchange, right? But like the latter student, I never expected orgasms from my sexual encounters. Since I wasn’t getting them, I assumed my body was just too difficult, even though it wasn’t difficult when I was on my own. That’s what we’re taught: “Women are harder to please. Our bodies are ‘tricky.’ Men are microwaves, while women are ovens.” (Wrongfully assuming that all women are cisgender, these statements usually attribute such differences to sexual anatomy.) Then, when we don’t get much pleasure out of sex, we think, “Welp, that’s just my body being all womanly and complicated again.” No. It’s not. It could be a number of things, like anxiety getting in the way, lack of knowledge on your or your partners’ part, or a lack of effort on their part. But it’s not the inevitable result of you being a woman. We deserve to stop resigning ourselves to “meh” sex lives, and go after what we want. The idea that we shouldn’t pursue our desires sets us back in all sorts of ways outside the bedroom. It’s time we take back our right to pleasure in all areas. What all these tips basically boil down to is: “It’s totally valid to have a sexuality, express it, and expect others to care about it.” I never cease to be amazed by how confused people are when women have a sexuality. When I talk about masturbation, porn, or anything else to even suggest I’m a sexual being, one of several things happens: People assume I’m looking to be subservient to men because I’m obviously just sexual for them. They resent me for seeking my own pleasure. They assume I’m just hypersexual and “out-there.” When people react negatively to women being sexual, what they’re really doing is reacting negatively to women being human. And when we teach women not to be sexual and just be sexy, we’re denying their humanity. Of course, women – and everyone – can be sexy if they want. But they also, unconditionally, deserve the right to be sexual, whether they’re sexy or not. I hope that one day, it’ll be normal for a woman to have a sexuality – because that’ll mean people will honor her expression of it. I also hope people abandon the cliché “women want this, men want that” model of sex and honor the sexualities of people of all different genders and sexual orientations. And I hope we can move toward that by giving everyone these alternative “sex tips.” WEBSITE

Social Media Resources Most are familiar with Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. To some parents, the idea that these popular social media sites might actually provide helpful information to teens about sexual health and sexual empowerment might seem ridiculous. However, in the past few years teens have been taking sexual empowerment into their own hands and sharing real stories and information to educate their peers. The following are some examples of educators and activists. @sexelducation Sexologist Emily L. Depasse is on a mission to "redefine the narratives around STIs," and considering that she's already amassed nearly 30,000 followers, it seems like she's been pretty successful in using her platform to spread an important message. Her casual sex series offer templates for having tough conversations — like how to bring up your STI screening, support a partner who discloses an STI, or reveal your herpes status to your sexual partners — all of which are aimed at de-stigmatizing sexually-transmitted infections . Whether you want to learn more about protecting yourself from STIs , or you have one and could use some positive affirmations, @sexELDucation is definitely worth a follow. Mission @drlauramcguire Dr. Laura McGuire is not only a sexuality educator, trauma-informed specialist, and inclusion consultant, but she's also the founder of the National Center for Equity & Agency , a #MeToo-era consulting firm that specializes in sexual misconduct prevention. Basically, Dr. McGuire is dedicated to creating a culture of consent by schooling you on what it means and how to provide it. Moreover, they shed a spotlight on what it means to heal from sexual trauma. The best part? They're not afraid to tackle the tough subjects, like victim-blaming and healing from trauma — or tackle complicated questions, like, "How do I give consent to a long-term partner I've already been intimate with many times before?" @evyan.whitney You might have heard about birthing doulas, but what's a sexuality doula? Well, according to Ev'Yan Whitney , who coined the term, it's someone who "educates, facilitates, supports, and holds space for women and femme-identifying folks who are ready to step out of shame, confusion, and fear within their sexuality and into erotic empowerment—whatever that looks like for them." In addition to providing how-to posts (like asking for what you want sexually), Whitney also offers glimpses into her own personal journey of healing. They also created the #sensualselfiechallenge , a five-day radical self-love program that's aimed at encouraging you to celebrate your sexuality and your body in bold ways (no nudes required). @allbodieshealth Looking for some sexual health realness? Then make sure Allbodies is on your feed — it's an online platform for reproductive and sexual health, and it's brimming with super useful info, all of which has been reviewed by experts. Here, you'll find announcements about their latest digital health classes (which range from communication pleasure with partners to fertility preservation and dating after trauma . But you'll also get answers to questions you never dared to ask, like why you may be experiencing excessive vaginal sweating , or what the risks of oral sex are when one partner has herpes . @sexedsteph Given that @sexedsteph is a certified sex educator, reproductive justice advocate, and sex researcher, you can definitely expect a wide range of facts on her account — from the wonders of lube and emergency contraception to how antibiotics may affect your birth control. @KillerAndASweetThang If you don't already follow @killerandasweetthang , run — don't walk — to add this digital sex/mental health resource to your feed. Eileen Kelly — the gal behind this uber-popular IG — has been called Gen Z's Dr. Ruth , and that just about says it all. Between the hilarious sex-themed memes, stunning depictions of sensuality, and educational pointers (hello, Anal 101), this is one account that's bound to boost your intimacy IQ while also keeping you endlessly entertained. @shanboody The fact that @shanboody has collected 367K followers at this point speaks to just how valuable, relatable, and entertaining her content is. Shan Boodrram is a certified intimacy educator, which means she teaches people to be more competent and confident in the bedroom for a living. And from #couplesquarantine intimacy tips to facts about erectile dysfunction and the anatomy of the vulva, truly no topic is off-limits for her. @drshemeka Since Dr. Shemeka Thorpe is a sexuality educator & researcher whose account fuses sex ed with self-care. In other words, she doesn't just want you to know more about sex — she also wants you to have more satisfying experiences. So, you may quickly notice that all of her posts, no matter what the subject of the content, center around eliminating shame from your sex life. PS: Dr. Thorpe happens to be the co-founder of @theminoritysexreport , a space for people of color to have conversations around sexuality, which is def also worth a follow. @givingthetalk This Instagram account bills itself as "sex ed for this century" and that description honestly couldn't be more accurate. Not only is all the content on @givingthetalk medically accurate, sensitive, and incredibly insightful, but it's also inclusive of all genders, races, and identities. Gotta love the "Real Talk" posts, which cover such conundrums as what to ask yourself before establishing consent with a partner, ways to give and ask for consent, and how to revoke consent. @ericasmith.sex.ed Sex educator Erica Smith is on a quest to break down purity culture and encourage a more sex-positive societal mindset. Better yet, she continually shares statistics and other straight-up facts to support that goal. If you find yourself frustrated with how sex is portrayed in the media or advertising, or you're just trying to foster a healthier sexual relationship with yourself, this account is surely worth a follow. @sexedwithsarah Sarah Cyr-Mutty, M.Ed, is a freelance sex educator, reproductive justice activist, and a lot of her content on @sexedwithsarah revolves around the nitty-gritty of consent, as well as gender identity, and sexual orientation. In addition to empowering quotes (like, "no is a complete sentence!") and advice (like ways to end a sexual experience without having to fake an orgasm), her account is loaded with practical reminders — like the little gem above.

STI Transmission STIs are sexually transmitted infections. This means they are most often -- but not exclusively -- spread by sexual intercourse. HIV, chlamydia, genital herpes, genital warts, gonorrhea, some forms of hepatitis, syphilis, and trichomoniasis are STIs. STIs used to be called venereal diseases or VD. They are among the most common contagious diseases. More than 65 million Americans have an incurable STI. Each year, 20 million new cases are reported; half of these infections are among people ages 15 to 24 and they can have long-term consequences. STIs are serious illnesses that require treatment. Some STIs, such as HIV, cannot be cured and can be deadly. By learning more about STIs, you can learn ways to protect yourself. You can get a STI from vaginal, anal, or oral sex. You can also be infected with trichomoniasis through contact with damp or moist objects such as towels, wet clothing, or toilet seats, although it is more commonly spread by sexual contact. You are at high risk if: You have more than one sex partner You have sex with someone who has had many partners You don't use a condom when having sex You share needles when injecting intravenous drugs You trade sex for money or drugs HIV and herpes are chronic conditions that can be managed but not cured. Hepatitis B also may become chronic but can be managed. You may not realize you have certain STIs until you have damage to your reproductive organs (rendering you infertile), your vision, your heart, or other organs. Having an STI may weaken the immune system, leaving you more vulnerable to other infections. Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a complication of gonorrhea and chlamydia that can leave women unable to have children. It can even kill you. If you pass an STI to your newborn child, the baby may suffer permanent harm or death. What Causes STIs? STIs include just about every kind of infection. Bacterial STIs include chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. Viral STIs include HIV, genital herpes, genital warts (HPV), and hepatitis B. Trichomoniasis is caused by a parasite. The germs that cause STIs hide in semen, blood, vaginal secretions, and sometimes saliva. Most of the organisms are spread by vaginal, anal, or oral sex, but some, such as those that cause genital herpes and genital warts, may be spread through skin contact. You can get hepatitis B by sharing personal items, such as toothbrushes or razors, with someone who has it. Local Clinics

One At Home This program allows Oregon residents to receive a free envelope of sexual wellness supplies delivered discreetly to their door, up to twice per 30 days.

HIV/AIDS HIV is a virus spread through body fluids that attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells, often called T cells. HIV is a virus spread through certain body fluids that attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells, often called T cells. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of these cells that the body can’t fight off infections and disease. These special cells help the immune system fight off infections. Untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells (T cells) in the body. This damage to the immune system makes it harder and harder for the body to fight off infections and some other diseases. Opportunistic infections or cancers take advantage of a very weak immune system and signal that the person has AIDS. Learn more about the stages of HIV and how to know whether you have HIV. What is HIV? HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS if not treated. Unlike some other viruses, the human body can’t get rid of HIV completely, even with treatment. So once you get HIV, you have it for life. HIV attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T cells), which help the immune system fight off infections. Untreated, HIV reduces the number of CD4 cells (T cells) in the body, making the person more likely to get other infections or infection-related cancers. Over time, HIV can destroy so many of these cells that the body can’t fight off infections and disease. These opportunistic infections or cancers take advantage of a very weak immune system and signal that the person has AIDS, the last stage of HIV infection. No effective cure currently exists, but with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. The medicine used to treat HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. If people with HIV take ART as prescribed, their viral load (amount of HIV in their blood) can become undetectable. If it stays undetectable, they can live long, healthy lives and have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex. Before the introduction of ART in the mid-1990s, people with HIV could progress to AIDS in just a few years. Today, someone diagnosed with HIV and treated before the disease is far advanced can live nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV. Where did HIV come from? Scientists identified a type of chimpanzee in Central Africa as the source of HIV infection in humans. They believe that the chimpanzee version of the immunodeficiency virus (called simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV) most likely was transmitted to humans and mutated into HIV when humans hunted these chimpanzees for meat and came into contact with their infected blood. Studies show that HIV may have jumped from apes to humans as far back as the late 1800s. Over decades, the virus slowly spread across Africa and later into other parts of the world. We know that the virus has existed in the United States since at least the mid to late 1970s. To learn more about the spread of HIV in the United States and CDC’s response to the epidemic, see CDC’s HIV and AIDS Timeline. What are the stages of HIV? When people get HIV and don’t receive treatment, they will typically progress through three stages of disease. Medicine to treat HIV, known as antiretroviral therapy (ART), helps people at all stages of the disease if taken as prescribed. Treatment can slow or prevent progression from one stage to the next. Also, people with HIV who take HIV medicine as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex. Stage 1: Acute HIV infection Within 2 to 4 weeks after infection with HIV, people may experience a flu-like illness, which may last for a few weeks. This is the body’s natural response to infection. When people have acute HIV infection, they have a large amount of virus in their blood and are very contagious. But people with acute infection are often unaware that they’re infected because they may not feel sick right away or at all. To know whether someone has acute infection, either an antigen/antibody test or a nucleic acid (NAT) test is necessary. If you think you have been exposed to HIV through sex or drug use and you have flu-like symptoms, seek medical care and ask for a test to diagnose acute infection. Stage 2: Clinical latency (HIV inactivity or dormancy) This period is sometimes called asymptomatic HIV infection or chronic HIV infection. During this phase, HIV is still active but reproduces at very low levels. People may not have any symptoms or get sick during this time. For people who aren’t taking medicine to treat HIV, this period can last a decade or longer, but some may progress through this phase faster. People who are taking medicine to treat HIV (ART) as prescribed may be in this stage for several decades. It’s important to remember that people can still transmit HIV to others during this phase. However, people who take HIV medicine as prescribed and get and keep an undetectable viral load (or stay virally suppressed) have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to their HIV-negative sexual partners. At the end of this phase, a person’s viral load starts to go up and the CD4 cell count begins to go down. As this happens, the person may begin to have symptoms as the virus levels increase in the body, and the person moves into Stage 3. Stage 3: Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) AIDS is the most severe phase of HIV infection. People with AIDS have such badly damaged immune systems that they get an increasing number of severe illnesses, called opportunistic illnesses. Without treatment, people with AIDS typically survive about 3 years. Common symptoms of AIDS include chills, fever, sweats, swollen lymph glands, weakness, and weight loss. People are diagnosed with AIDS when their CD4 cell count drops below 200 cells/mm or if they develop certain opportunistic illnesses. People with AIDS can have a high viral load and be very infectious. How do I know if I have HIV? The only way to know for sure whether you have HIV is to get tested. Knowing your status is important because it helps you make healthy decisions to prevent getting or transmitting HIV. Some people may experience a flu-like illness within 2 to 4 weeks after infection (Stage 1 HIV infection). But some people may not feel sick during this stage. Flu-like symptoms include fever, chills, rash, night sweats, muscle aches, sore throat, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, or mouth ulcers. These symptoms can last anywhere from a few days to several weeks. During this time, HIV infection may not show up on an HIV test, but people who have it are highly infectious and can spread the infection to others. If you have these symptoms, that doesn’t mean you have HIV. Each of these symptoms can be caused by other illnesses. But if you have these symptoms after a potential exposure to HIV, see a health care provider and tell them about your risk. The only way to determine whether you have HIV is to be tested for HIV infection. After you get tested, it’s important to find out the result of your test so you can talk to your health care provider about treatment options if you’re HIV-positive or learn ways to prevent getting HIV if you’re HIV-negative. Is there a cure for HIV? No effective cure currently exists for HIV. But with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled. Treatment for HIV is called antiretroviral therapy or ART. If people with HIV take ART as prescribed, their viral load (amount of HIV in their blood) can become undetectable. If it stays undetectable, they can live long, healthy lives and have effectively no risk of transmitting HIV to an HIV-negative partner through sex. Before the introduction of ART in the mid-1990s, people with HIV could progress to AIDS (the last stage of HIV infection) in a few years. Today, someone diagnosed with HIV and treated before the disease is far advanced can live nearly as long as someone who does not have HIV. < Previous Next >

Birth Control Bedsider The explorer is a place to learn about all your birth control options. We cover every available method, from the IUD (and others on our most effective list) to condoms, the pill, the patch, and more. Click on any method for more details. Want a more apples-to-apples way to compare?

Chlamydia Chlamydia is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI) that can be easily cured. If left untreated, chlamydia can make it difficult for a woman to get pregnant. What is chlamydia? Chlamydia is a common STI that can infect both men and women. It can cause serious, permanent damage to a woman’s reproductive system. This can make it difficult or impossible for her to get pregnant later on. Chlamydia can also cause a potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy that occurs outside the womb). How is chlamydia spread? You can get chlamydia by having vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has chlamydia. If your sex partner is male you can still get chlamydia even if he does not ejaculate (cum). If you’ve had chlamydia and were treated in the past, you can still get infected again. This can happen if you have unprotected sex with someone who has chlamydia. If you are pregnant, you can give chlamydia to your baby during childbirth. How can I reduce my risk of getting chlamydia? The only way to avoid STDs is to not have vaginal, anal, or oral sex. If you are sexually active, you can do the following things to lower your chances of getting chlamydia: Be in a long-term mutually monogamous relationship with a partner who has been tested and has negative STD test results; Use latex condoms the right way every time you have sex. Am I at risk for chlamydia? Anyone who has sex can get chlamydia through unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex. However, sexually active young people are at a higher risk of getting chlamydia. This is due to behaviors and biological factors common among young people. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men are also at risk since chlamydia can spread through oral and anal sex. Have an honest and open talk with your healthcare provider. Ask whether you should be tested for chlamydia or other STIs. If you are a sexually active woman younger than 25 years, you should get a test for chlamydia every year. If you are an older woman with risk factors such as new or multiple sex partners, or a sex partner who has an STI, you should get a test for chlamydia every year. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men; as well as pregnant women should also get tested for chlamydia. I’m pregnant. How does chlamydia affect my baby? If you are pregnant and have chlamydia, you can pass the infection to your baby during delivery. This could cause an eye infection or pneumonia in your newborn. Having chlamydia may also make it more likely to deliver your baby too early. If you are pregnant, you should get tested for chlamydia at your first prenatal visit. Testing and treatment are the best ways to prevent health problems. How do I know if I have chlamydia? Most people who have chlamydia have no symptoms. If you do have symptoms, they may not appear until several weeks after you have sex with an infected partner. Even when chlamydia causes no symptoms, it can damage your reproductive system. Women with symptoms may notice An abnormal vaginal discharge; A burning sensation when urinating. Symptoms in men can include A discharge from their penis; A burning sensation when urinating; Pain and swelling in one or both testicles (although this is less common). Men and women can also get infected with chlamydia in their rectum. This happens either by having receptive anal sex, or by spread from another infected site (such as the vagina). While these infections often cause no symptoms, they can cause rectal pain; discharge and bleeding. You should be examined by your doctor if you notice any of these symptoms or if your partner has an STI or symptoms of an STI. STI symptoms can include an unusual sore, a smelly discharge, burning when urinating, or bleeding between periods. I was just diagnosed. What do I do now? How will my doctor know if I have chlamydia? Laboratory tests can diagnose chlamydia. Your health care provider may ask you to provide a urine sample or may use (or ask you to use) a cotton swab to get a sample from your vagina to test for chlamydia. Can chlamydia be cured? Yes, chlamydia can be cured with the right treatment. It is important that you take all of the medication your doctor prescribes to cure your infection. When taken properly it will stop the infection and could decrease your chances of having complications later on. You should not share medication for chlamydia with anyone. Repeat infection with chlamydia is common. You should be tested again about three months after you are treated, even if your sex partner(s) was treated. I was treated for chlamydia. When can I have sex again? You should not have sex again until you and your sex partner(s) have completed treatment. If your doctor prescribes a single dose of medication, you should wait seven days after taking the medicine before having sex. If your doctor prescribes a medicine for you to take for seven days, you should wait until you have taken all of the doses before having sex. What happens if I don’t get treated? The initial damage that chlamydia causes often goes unnoticed. However, chlamydia can lead to serious health problems. If you are a woman, untreated chlamydia can spread to your uterus and fallopian tubes (tubes that carry fertilized eggs from the ovaries to the uterus). This can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). PID often has no symptoms, however some women may have abdominal and pelvic pain. Even if it doesn’t cause symptoms initially, PID can cause permanent damage to your reproductive system. PID can lead to long-term pelvic pain, inability to get pregnant, and potentially deadly ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy outside the uterus). Men rarely have health problems linked to chlamydia. Infection sometimes spreads to the tube that carries sperm from the testicles, causing pain and fever. Rarely, chlamydia can prevent a man from being able to have children. Untreated chlamydia may also increase your chances of getting or giving HIV – the virus that causes AIDS. < Previous Next >