Thank you so much, Alice! It’s been good to journal and track my progress and how I react to situations like these to feel more in control and confident in the future.

Thanks!

Hi Heather, thanks for the response. Despite the heebie jeebies, I did actually drink it! It was a full glass of cider that I bought, so I really didn’t want to waste it. Their advice was that it’s fine to seek out knowledge as long as it’s not perpetuating a cycle of anxiety. So, if I can go ‘okay,...

Hi guys, I read the STI files on herpes and was a bit confused about the part that said bodily fluids don’t need to be present for HSV to spread. I know it’s spread through direct contact with a sore, but can it be spread through spit alone? I went to a show tonight and an actor did a spit take with...

Hey Sam, thanks very much for the info.

Hi guys, I just wanted to check under what circumstances (if any) you would need to take emergency contraception after a missed pill. My pill packet has plenty on what to do for a missed pill and how to proceed moving forward, but I noticed it didn't say anything about any action needed if you've ha...

Thanks Sian! It was a bit difficult to accept a need to go back - I had previously tried a psychologist who I just really didn't gel with. It's really nice to find someone who I really think can benefit me and my health.

Hi Sian, I was wondering about the blood test as I know they're not routinely included in all sexual health screenings, so I was just a bit confused about that. I'm not sure to be honest, I've had an issue with it for the longest time. I think part of the fear stems from the virus being both out of ...

Hi Heather, thank you for that. As you might know from my previous posts, I’ve tried really quite hard to avoid the HSV simplex and was gutted to find out my doctor thinks that it was likely the cause. We’re doing a blood test to find out for sure, but I’ve heard mixed things about the accuracy of b...

Hi Heather, I actually had my first appointment with a psychologist last week and have another appointment next week. It’s been going well so far and we’re working on using meditation to help me avoid or break out of really anxious spirals.

Hi there, I’ve recently been diagnosed with a viral eye infection. My doctor prescribed Zovirax, which according to the packaging is only used for ocular herpes infections. But, before receiving the medication I asked her how I got the infection, and she said the same way one would get conjunctiviti...

Thanks Alice. I appreciate that.

Hi, I know I probably don’t need to ask anything here, but I was a bit unnerved about a situation. I went to a public bathroom and noticed something on the toilet paper. When I looked closer (without touching it), I found it was menstrual blood. I slid the toilet paper dispenser over to use a new ro...

Thank for the suggestions, Sam, I hadn't heard of those sites before.

I've almost got my driver's license, so hopefully that'll help me in getting around and scheduling a bit more 'me' time.

Hi Sam, I used to really enjoy the feeling of studying or learning. I'm trying to read academic papers in my work, but beyond that I've sort of lost the feeling of learning. Because I'm more stretched for free time than I ever have been before, I've sort of lost a few of the things that make me feel...

Apologies for the delay in response! He's not really the one attacking my self esteem - he's made a few jibes here and there (not made with malice), but it's more my own insecurities that compound what he's saying into something that affects me more. But again, he doesn't often makes comments that w...

Hi, if there's nothing more to be said about porn being the issue, could I please have some advice on how to handle learning about this from my boyfriend? It came out quite suddenly and it's a blow to my self esteem to know that he feels uncomfortable being around me for too long because he wants to...

It's not so much that he's using it, just that he claims to be attracted to me, but also that he feels uncomfortable having sex with me after we've had sex once or twice that week and would prefer to go home and masturbate to porn so he can look at other women. That makes me feel really uncomfortabl...

Hi guys, my boyfriend and I recently had a long talk and put our cards on the table. We were very honest and talked a lot and it really helped us evaluate whether we'll still be together (the previous help you gave with this issue was helpful in that regard, so thank you). We are staying together - ...

Thanks, Sam. We've sort of tossed it around as an idea, but it's not something we've really put into practice. I think with us meditating, and with the idea of moving forward in both of our minds, it might be a bit easier to do in the near future, should we need to. We've just spent the weekend toge...

It's more we both get really defensive and bitter and it quickly escalates to yelling.

Thanks for that Sam. We've both had a read and were pretty delighted to find that we both feel a lot of the first list and not very much of the second. We're both going to try mediating as something to help us chill out a bit an reevaluate how we approach each other. One thing we do struggle with is...

I think we're having trouble realising that arguments don't have a winner, and that it's about listening, more than being right. I think we're both very stubborn and really want to push our point across to the other person, to the point where we might, accidentally or not, ignore the other person's ...

Unfortunately not, the university focuses more on individualistic therapy, and even then there's not a lot of support. We might fight about other things, but in one way or another it all comes down to communication style, so if you have any articles on that we would really appreciate it.

My boyfriend's therapist has suggested we go to couple's counselling. We've been fighting a lot about the same petty issues, arguing about communication styles and things of that nature. We both feel like we cannot bring up serious issues without it escalating too far or hurting the other person's f...

Oh, phew! Thank you for confirming Sam. That 12 hour window is certainly amazing. Thank you for your help and Merry Christmas! Good to know I can relax about it now. The pill can be so confusing sometimes.