Posts by Thomas Collins60

By the way, is there actually a directory somewhere that lists all the specialists? 🙂

So, does that mean I actually get to pick a specific doctor? Like, can I choose anyone at any hospital in any city, or how does that work?
I’m looking specifically for a dermatologist and an orthopedist—it would be great if I could hand-pick them if that's an option.

I was wondering if someone could give me a quick rundown on how the process works for seeing a specialist these days? I assume I need a referral from my primary care doctor first, but what happens after that?
Do I get to pick which specialist I see by name, or is it more random?
It's been years since I've had to deal with anything through insurance, so I'm honestly a bit out of the loop here.😳

Here’s a little something from my side too 😁
Even though, looking back now, the photos look pretty much the same to me—I honestly don't see a huge difference 😂
So, I guess it’s not super helpful in terms of seeing progress, but since I’m always commenting on other people's posts to be fair, I figured I’d share 🙂
I still have these really strong (okay, let's call them thick) legs and thighs, plus that stubborn "pregnancy pooch" situation—you know, that little bit sticking out at the bottom of the stomach that just won't budge. I know plenty of women who are actually heavier than me, but the weight is distributed more evenly everywhere, including the sides, so they just look toned and balanced. With me, though, if I put on a tight t-shirt, it literally looks like I'm still in the middle of a pregnancy 😂

Front view, 2011
Legs, 2011

Front view, 2012
Back view, 2012

I'm trying to figure out why my workspace is totally stripped of all my gear—no Nokia, nothing—but then I get home and everything is right where it should be. I really want my setup at work to feel just as complete as my setup at home 🙂

At my job, we don't use any fancy tech—no smartphones, nothing—it’s actually pretty old-school and chill 🙂 but once I get home, it's a total disaster 😢

What’s even the point of plastering ads everywhere when anyone can just block them without breaking a sweat? Honestly, sites just end up driving people away from their forums by pushing this kind of nonsense.

btw I use Firefox with an ad blocker

I’m sitting here at my laptop and honestly—everything feels so tiny right now—it’s hard enough just to make out the quote 👎
It would be way better if the actual text took up about a quarter of the screen, and then we could just fill the rest with ads 🙄

I don't know, sorry, but it’s definitely not cheap 😢—honestly, I'm not even sure if it's worth picking up a little bit given how high the price tag is. But hey, take a look at what they have listed here:

If you head out from the spaghetti place—where that pizza cut used to be—toward the theater, stay on the left side of the street (not the side where the theater is, but the opposite one). Right around the same level as that pub—honestly, kill me, I can't remember the name right now—there was an &bio&bio location almost directly across from it.

Down by the waterfront—you know, right near where Spagho is, just past the stadium

Whole Foods has those little 8oz cartons of rice milk

electrichound78 said:Ugh, okay, I'm about to ask a totally stupid question😳
The first pill in my pack is marked with "Mon" (which means Monday😳). So, here's the deal: I take the first pill on the day my period starts, but what happens if my period shows up on Wednesday, or any other day besides Monday? Do I still just grab that first pill in the pack labeled "Mon," or what?🙂

It looks like you only sent "Da"—was that a typo, or were you about to start a thought? Either way, I'm here whenever you're ready to dive in!
So, when you’re just starting out with those pills—like, on day one—you always have to kick things off with the initial dosage. It's basically like setting the baseline before everything else settles in.
So, after that—it’s always on the exact same day, no matter when you actually get your period. It’s like having a built-in calendar you never asked for.
You'll most likely get it before you even touch your first pill—since they usually hand them out during the break.

When you first start taking the pills, you just take that very first dose on the day your period actually starts.
After that, you always take the first pill of a new pack on that same specific day—it doesn't matter when your period actually shows up.

For me, the first pill is always on a Friday, and the last one is always on a Thursday.
So, my period usually hits sometime between Sunday and Monday—right in that gap between the Friday and the Thursday, you know?

Honestly, it’s pretty straightforward.🙂
If you start on a Monday, just keep going... once you finish the whole pack, you just wait seven days until the next Monday rolls around and start again.🙂

silverrider2 said:And honestly, I’m mostly asking because there isn't a direct link available. Someone just started this rumor online—you know, the "I heard it through the grapevine" type of thing. That’s why I want to dig into it. I haven't stumbled upon anything negative about them yet, aside from people just spreading hearsay... Look, they work fine for me, but I don't want to wake up one morning realizing I've accidentally invited a whole new set of issues into my life...
It’s not like you can just pick these up over the counter here either, so I had to get a little creative 😁 since they’re quite affordable.
Wait, hold on—which ones are you saying aren't primarily intended for contraception? Are we talking Diane or Novynette?

Diane

silentwolf53 said:So, which OHC is actually covered under the supplemental list by the SSA here in the States? I’m currently on Yaz, and honestly, it works fine for me—it’s just that the price tag is way over $33. Looking at these other options, they seem to be around 30-$13, which makes for a pretty noticeable difference...

Lindynette

I'm realizing now that I don't even really know what Novynette is—I only know Lindynette 🤷

If Diane doesn't explicitly state they should be purchased over-the-counter, you really ought to include a link—just dropping random info like that isn't the smartest move. 🙂

Around here, those are actually cheaper than other options since you can get them with a prescription—meaning the government essentially picks up part of the tab for us.
Diane works the same way with prescriptions too, so I actually think they end up being free, though their main purpose isn't really contraception.

Nathan Baker said:A drop in libido can definitely be a side effect of oral contraceptives; it's actually listed in the fine print. Personally, my own drive actually went up once I started them, mostly because that constant, nagging anxiety about pregnancy finally evaporated, and I honestly don't know a single woman whose desire plummeted because of them, so I suspect it might not be quite as common as people claim. Before you pin the whole thing on the medication, though, maybe take a moment to consider whether the issue might actually be rooted in the relationship itself rather than the chemistry.

Don't let him scare you too much, 🙂
lower libido is actually a pretty common side effect of these medications.

I’m just not sure if switching up the type of pill would make a difference—maybe it would...

Hey, bubica, which ones were you switching from and to?

It seems like you used to be able to get prescriptions for pills without needing a fresh one every single season—but now, thanks to some new law or regulation, they’ve changed everything so they can only last for a maximum of six months at most.🤷

Nathan Baker said:It’s actually quite straightforward once you get past the confusion—prescriptions are sent electronically now. When you visit your primary care physician, they upload the order to a central database that’s accessible by every pharmacy across the United States. You just show up at any local drugstore with your insurance card and your supplemental coverage info, if you have it, pick up your medication, and they'll hand you a printout. That slip tells you exactly when you're eligible for your next refill. From there, you can go to any pharmacy you like. You can keep doing that for a year, or however long your doctor specifies in the system, and you'll be able to see exactly how many refills you have left right there on that little slip of paper.🙂

So, how exactly would this work for private OB-GYNs?
So, I was at the pharmacy today and they told me my gynecologist can’t write a prescription for a full year of birth control anymore—only for six months at a time. Honestly, I'm a little confused here... since when does the pharmacist get to decide the duration of a doctor's prescription? It feels like the roles are totally flipped. 🤔

@Steven Kelly152 - I don't know much about this myself, but I'm definitely curious—maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to start a new thread so it doesn't get buried under all this 🤷