Stomach sticks out abnormally(pic)

Doctor not MFP.

Contraception is not infallible: http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/unintendedpregnancy/pdf/contraceptive_methods_508.pdf

And if it is not a pregnancy, then the answer is still a doctor, because anything that is making your belly stick out like this relative to the rest of your body HAS to be looked at and resolved.

mommazach wrote: »

Wheat belly! Drop wheat for a week. Zero. None.. Nada. You will see a dramatic decrease. I had the same thing. That was the first thing my Dr. told me. There are several wheat belly diet books out there. I've been off wheat for a little over a year now and still don't have the issues in my belly. There are several other types of wheat free flours, etc.

You can't know this is OP's issue for sure, though. I am glad your issue has been sorted, though.

I agree with everyone saying Doctor.

TavistockToad wrote: »

CoffeeNCardio wrote: »

D O C T O R. Now. Please.

Also, when you say there's no possibility you're pregnant, do you mean "I know for sure because male seminal fluid has never been within 50 feet of me" or "I trust birth control's claim of 99.9% effective and I took my pill therefore I can't be pregnant"? I'm not trying to call you a liar or anything, I'm really not. I just have a sleeping two year old next door who I couldn't POSSIBLY have been pregnant with because "birth control is 99.9% effective"...

I thought the pill was only 98% effective?

The percentage actually widely varies across different forms of birth control, which is why i didn't specify the pill.

First of all, not all pills are created equal, and the principle differences are what hormones they use to achieve blocking pregnancy from happening (some are estrogen only, others are a mix of estrogen and progesterone, and some have additional hormones to those two). In addition, because of the different hormones and levels of hormones, they work to different efficacy in different individuals.

And that doesn't even get into other forms of birth control, like the hormonal intra-uterine device mirena, the non hormonal IUD paraguard (commonly known as the copper cross), or nuvaring (cervical hormonal barrier device) and standard barrier devices like condoms and diaphragms (which are 100% effective at blocking sperm from passing, but are only in the high 80's when statisticians account for reported occurrences of breakage or tearing.)

Further problems exist with what I like to think of as non-user user-error, which is like when you have an IUD but it falls out during the menstrual cycle. Because you can't feel it, it's not really your fault you didn't know it was there anymore, but it's the same effect (though perhaps not the same fault) as when you forget to take the pill.

This has been sex-ed with Coffee. Don't let this scare you. Abstinence only is still stupid.

ETA: You will be hard pressed to find a gynecologist or gp who doesn't recommend using MULTIPLE forms of birth control if you are engaging in intercourse outside of a monogamous relationship. This advice is not often heard or given, likely due to the fact that no one wants their doctor to think they're a slut (because we're apes in shoes who can't seem to get over the fact that sex is something squirrels are doing in the backyard), and also because the primary group that uses birth control in this country at least is married or monogamous females over the age of 21.

TL;DR version: 98% is an average applied to the general population. It's the easy to remember number pharmaceutical companies and sex ed programs use to encourage safe sex and discourage unwanted pregnancies. The number is not that simple, and there's a lot of nuances to it at the individual level, but they're doing their best so it's not a bad number or bad intentions. and at a population of 350,000,000 people, half of whom are female, and over half of those are using birth control and engaging in sexual activity at least some of the time, it's fair to say birth control failure effects so few people in the scheme of things that it's almost negligible. So stay happy and safe and use it.