I'm going to leave the topic of your relationship with your parents to Heather, as I am sure she had some thoughts in mind when she asked you those questions. As for coping mechanisms with panic attacks, this is one of those things where counseling would be super helpful: a counselor can help you de...

Also, just in case this is something you want to check out, here are a couple of books titles that you might want to check out. Yes Means Yes , Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti What You Really, Really Want , by Jaclyn Friedman. These should both be good fits for you: The first one is an essay col...

So, obviously every individual counselor is going to have their own style on the hotline, so I can't give you a play-by-play. But I can tell you what a hotline is about, generally. Most hotlines are operated by a crisis counseling center, and they tend to offer a variety of different services, depen...

I am glad to hear that you'll call a hotline. I truly think that this is going to be helpful for you, not jsut because of what might come out of that conversation, but also because stepping up for yourself and taking action to improve your situation is a powerful thing. As for your concerns - I hear...

In your post that I just replied to, you said that you would do anything. And now, you are turning down just about all of the suggestoins we've made to you, again. Do you see how that makes it rather difficult for us to try and help you? I understand how tough it can be to deal with some of the thin...

I feel like we have given you a lot of options for thinks that may be helpful (even aside from seeking out a therapist, which would of course be optimal): calling a hotline for support, talking to your parent, cutting down on your workload some so that you can get more sleep and feel less stressed, ...

I am sorry to hear that the pill is affecting you so much! But the good news is that generally side effects do go away after the first three months or so on the pill. If you're still feeling like this after your third month, though, you'll want to talk to your prescribing doctor about perhaps giving...

So your closest Planned Parenthood is in Eden Prairie, you can find all the info on that here: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-center/minnesota/eden-prairie/55344/eden-prairie-clinic-3376-90720 I realize that may be a little far, depending on whether you have access to a car, so I'll make su...

One option that you have is calling your insurance to find out what might show up on an insurance statement if you went to your regular ob/gyn for a prescription of birth control. If you'd rather not use your parents' insurance at all either way you have the option of going to a clinic where you pay...

If you are up for it, one thing that you might find helpful is to seek out a local rape crisis center. They often offer support group meetings, which would give you an opportunity to hang out with people, and find support and help from people who have similar experiences. As Heather already pointed ...

Hi Hawley. I have a few thoughts and questions about your frameworks for relationships, but I am going to hold off on those until you have answered the questions Heather has posed. While we do want to help you, and do not feel in any way like your posting here is detrimental to us or this service, o...

The thing about healthy sexuality is that it, ideally, involves a lot of communication. It involves not making assumptions about your partner, and acknowledging that people's feelings and thoughts on something are not static, that something that felt great yesterday may feel boring today and somethi...

Hi Hawley, welcome back! I am happy to go over what we talked about initially re the situation you described, but it also sounds like Heather already said a lot of the things that I would want to say. Basically, the main issue with that interaction with your ex boyfriend was that you two had specifi...

Hi hawley. I just wanted to check in again before the direct services break. I am sorry you are feeling like the break will be a struggle for you, but we will be right here again in just one short week. Maybe in the meantime, you can still write out your thoughts? Whenver you feel the urge to post o...

Only you can know if posting here is helping you, and if it so something you want to keep on doing. We are coming up on a direct services break next week, so maybe you can use that time away from the message boards to think about the things that we have talked about and how you feel about that, and ...

When taken as directed, the pill protects you every day, including during the placebo week.

Lack of sleep can totally be a factor in your fears. When we don't get enough sleep, or body's defenses are just way down and it can make it easier for us to feel stress. So, part of good self-care is trying to get a good night's sleep. Do you have a good bedtime ritual for winding down before you g...

I am sorry the pharmacist was so unhelpful and judgmental :( So, you do not have to worry about sex that you had before starting the antibiotic. Even if it does compromise your protection, it won't do so retroacticely. If you want to be on the safe side, you can back up with a condom while you take ...

I am glad to hear that you are in counseling, ALS. Have you talked to your therapist about learning some coping tools that you can use outside of the sessions when the anxiety hits you?

Thank you! I am glad to hear that you've found the site so helpful

I hope you feel better soon!

Side effects can show up at any point, yes. But if the symptoms persist, I would still suggest that you go and see a doctor. Do you have a health center on campus? That might be easier for you to get to than your GP.

If you are taking the pill as directed and doubling up with condoms, you have no reason to be concerned about a pregnancy risk.

Have you been to see a doctor about your gastrointestinal problems?

You are not wasting our time, hawley. If you have found coming here and posting useful for you, please continue to do so. We wre here for people like you, and we are happy to continue to be there for you.

You came here describing a situation and asking what it was, saying you were not sure about it. I've given you my answer to your quesions. It's alright if you're not ready to accept that - it's a hard thing to live with. But I am going to keep calling it what it is. So it sounds to me like what you ...

Okay, I have to confess I am all out of suggestions for now. But I do have a few thoughts. You came to us asking for help, and I knwo you came in expecting something that we unfortunately cannot give you - a quick fix. As I, and also Sam, have explained, there really is no quick fix for dealing with...