You might want to read "never had regular periods" posted by saribellum. Regardless though - have you ever been to the doctor for a check up? If you haven't you need to just to make sure everything is ok with your body. Its not as scary or frightening as you think it is. The physical examine lasts only a couple of minutes and is not painful (although maybe momentarily a little uncomfortable). Get yourself checked out and make sure there isn't anything wrong causing you to have abnormal periods and then you will be able to put your mind at ease. Good luck

!!!!

When you go for the examine you go into the room and completely undress. They give you this paper shirt to wear and a paper blanket to put around you. The doctor comes in and asks you some questions and gives you the opportunity to describe any problems you are having or talk about things that are worrying you. The doctor will perform a breast examine as well as the physical examine. During the examine the doctor will look inside you to make sure everything is fine visually. The doctor will then perform a pap smear which consists of scraping your cervix to collect cervical cells to be tested for cancer. This part is a little uncomfortable in the fact that you will actually feel the doctor scraping your cervix. It isn't painful and really you don't feel much, its just kind of an odd sensation but only lasts for a few seconds. The doctor might ask if you want to be tested for stds which are done by swabbing your insides with a long q-tip. Finally, the doctor will insert a finger inside you and while gently pushing down on your abdomen with their other hand, feel around to make sure everything feels normal and is where it is supposed to be. After that the examine is finished and the doctor may talk to you a little more and then you will be able to get dressed. The whole physical examine probably doesn't last more than 5 minutes although you will probably spend longer talking with the doctor.

Before you choose a doctor you may want to decide whether you would prefer seeing a man or a woman. I have been to both and honestly they have been about the same. Some people prefer women because they just feel like they would be more comfortable with a woman around but its totally up to you. During the examine a nurse will be present the entire time so even if you have a male doctor, a female nurse will be there in the room with you also.

Its really not such a bad thing. The most important thing is to go and get yourself checked out and make sure everything is ok. Thousands of women get it done every day so it is nothing to be worried about. And you have to be completely honest with your doctor about your sexual history - don't be ashamed or embarrassed - chances are really good they've heard it a hundred times before you. Just be honest so that they will know if they need to do any extra tests or things like that.

You know what.. This may sound really weird, but have your thyroids checked.. Im serious.. The weight gain is a big part of it, and so is messed up periods as well as : hair loss, dry skin, anxiety/depression, lathargy. Go to a site online if you can, or if you have a medical book and look up hypothyroidism that is what I have, and I gained weight etc. And didn't know why and I was extremely tired all the time.. Thought I could fall asleep wherever I was standing. Good luck to you !!!

!!!!

Dear brutallyhonest, weight gain does do havoc on your periods. And if you are having trouble losing weight, have your thyroid checked. It may be underactive. My daughter who is 29 is very overweight. She still gets her periods occasionally, but they are very mild. And she does have an underactive thyroid and not getting treatment because of the lack of insurance. See a endocrinologist, they may have an answer for you.

It is not a good thing that she does not keep up on her thyroids. She can die from that if it gets too bad, and she doesn't receive help for it. I had to go to a local clinic recently to get more medicine, and it was 20 dollars for the office visit, and I do not pay over 10 dollars for medicine. This might be an option for her. Good luck

If you have concerns about your thyroid, I would start by going to your general practioner / family doctor. There is a simple blood test that they take that measures a level of some sort of chemical or hormone (something like that) that identifies how well your thyroid is working. It probably wouldn't hurt to also go to a gynecologist. They can put you on birth control or something to regulate your periods even if there's nothing wrong with you in that department. I have found what can seem to be a thyroid problem turn out negative myself. They have tested me multiple times on what they thought might be my thyroid not acting right, but it comes out fine each time.. Go figure! But the sudden weight gain could be a sign.