Don't panic! You've just started your period! Congratulations, and welcome to womanhood!

Your mom might not let you wear tampons, but she'll be fine with you wearing pads. Let her know your period has started, and she'll get you set up. Or, worst case scenario, you go to the drug store and buy a pack... they're not that expensive.

Don't worry about your period. Once you're all padded up, you shouldn't leak through to your pants, and nobody will even notice. I know it seems pretty gross the first few times, but in no time at all you'll be used to it.

If you get cramps, try taking a little Advil or Midol. Make sure to drink plenty of water (to keep down bloating) and to avoid chocolate and caffeine, because they make cramps worse.

Good news! There's no age limit!

You can also usually get them for free from Planned Parenthood or even sometimes your school's nurse or guidance office.

Your friend is insecure and has low self-esteem. That makes her clingy; she depends on her friendships to give her a sense of value.

What you should not do:

Be nasty or rude to her. It would shatter her, because she's pretty fragile.

What you should do:

Let her know that you want to tone things down a little bit. You have other friends you need to spend time with, and it's not that you don't like her bunches, but she's monopolizing your time.

If she's sharing super-personal details with you, tell her that you really appreciate the fact that she feels like she can confide in you, but that you are under a lot of stress right now (you can lie about that if you need to) and you can't really help her with her problems. Suggest that she talk to a guidance counsellor about these things. Don't give her a big reaction, because she may be seeking validation through attention.

She's not exactly mentally sound. Be understanding and patient, but look out for yourself.

Maybe I'm just old (22) but I've always thought grinding was a little too publicly sexual. I know a lot of people do it, but to me it's rubbing your bits on a guy's bits, and the guy tends to get a lot of 'enjoyment' out of it. But hey, it's up to the individual. As for making out with randoms, to me that sounds like a great way to get mono or cold sores. Again, up to the individual, but I wouldn't make out with a guy who I wasn't dating, and I wouldn't kiss a person who makes out with lots of people either. If you feel bad about it, then you should change, and if you don't, then you shouldn't until you feel a need to.

Now, calling you a slut is wrong. It's sexual harassment, and if people are doing it at school you should be talking to your principal. Most schools have a no-tolerance policy for that sort of thing. If your friends are saying that, then let them know that you don't appreciate the title, and that if they disagree with how you do things that's their own business and they should keep it to themselves. If they can't handle that, you need to find new friends if this is that important to you.

Absolutely not! You're safe :)

She's your mother. You're 15. She's supposed to control you to a certain degree.

Things like monitoring internet usage and checking your grades are things that good parents should do. A young girl can get in a lot of trouble on the internet (I should know, since I was one not too long ago!), and she's just making sure that her daughter is safe.

The other stuff; the background checks, etc, are way overprotective, but she does have the law on her side. Her house, her rules.

The only way you can stop fighting with her is to stop fighting her rules. Go along with them. Don't complain. Do this for a while, and let things calm down.

Now you have a good base for communication. Once you're not yelling at each other, your mom will be more open to talking to you. Find out from her what you can do to earn her trust. Start small; don't immediately request unsupervised visits with strangers (obviously!). Try something like having two of your mom-approved friends over for a sleepover with her supervision. Warn your friends that you're trying to earn your mom's trust so she'll loosen up, and that you guys all need to be on your best behaviour.

Unfortunately, since you're under her roof and she's not doing anything abusive, you kind of have to suffer till you move out. You can make things smoother, though, by just suffering in silence and working slowly.

Say what you want, but this is a cry for help.

I've been there. I tried to overdose this last winter, and it was awful. That was the lowest point in my life; even lower than the time I'd spent in a mental institution a few years back.

Killing yourself doesn't solve anything. It hurts everyone around you, even the people you'd least expect. It's a violent act that hurts everyone but you.

If you really want out, be somebody. Make yourself into somebody. Go out there and get the help you need to do so.

Find a doctor ASAP. If you need to, just show up at the hospital and tell them you're suicidal. They will make sure you're safe and they'll get you on the path to recovery. You're depressed. You might have depression, or you might have another issue that needs to be addressed. Either way, it's not a reason to end your life. It can be managed with counselling and/or medication. Would you commit suicide if you were diabetic? No, because it's manageable, and you can live a long, happy life despite having to deal with these issues.

Suicide is not a way out of being a nobody; in fact, it's the fastest way to becoming one. Why not become a somebody in your own eyes instead? Get out there and accomplish things. Do volunteer work; help someone else feel good. Do well in school, or at your job, or at anything! You are somebody. Just be somebody that you can be proud of :)

Nobody here is going to tell you how to kill yourself. We can't do that, and none of us believe that that's a way out.

If you need to talk to someone, you can call a suicide hotline near you (although from personal experience, they tend to be fairly clinical and not very sympathetic), or you can talk to a close friend, a family member, a priest, a doctor, or even me.

Just remember; nobody wants you out of this life, despite how it may feel at times. You are a special person, and you have the right to live a long, happy life. Now make it happen :)

I have the same problem, but there are non-prescription ways to help.

1) No more caffeine.

No more caffeinated pop, no more coffee, no more tea. Cut it out entirely.

2) No eating after 6 or 7 pm (if possible)

Eating too late can make you stay up later.

3) Put away the electronics!

An hour before you want to go to sleep, you need to start to wind down. Don't do anything stimulating. No movies, no video games, no homework, no exercise. It'll wind you up and make it hard for you to sleep.

4) Pick up a book

What do you do with your spare hour before bed? Find a good book. Reading will help you to calm down.

5) Sleepytime tea is your best friend.

Seriously, I love this stuff. It's an herbal tea that you can get at any grocery store. It knocks me right out.

If you do all this and it's not working, then you should go to your family doctor. From experience, if you don't have perfect bedtime habits, they won't do anything until you do.

Omelets actually don't even need cheese, although I suppose that makes them more like "eggs with stuff in it"!

I make cheeseless omelets for my guy all the time. I usually put in mushrooms, peppers, spinach, whatever meat we have kicking around, and onions.

Basically, you make it the same as usual, but without melting the cheese on top. You wait till it's mostly cooked, then fold it in half, and the eggs will stick together on their own :)

It's not unusual at all. Everyone has their little ticks (I need to be holding a pillow!). Some women even need to be on their stomachs. Consider yourself lucky that your needs are easy to fulfill while you're in the process :)

He's putting his friends above you, which is not okay. This is a common thing to have happen when you've been dating for a long time. The guy stops being excited about having a girlfriend, and views her as a constant in his life, something he doesn't have to worry about anymore.

You have to sit down and have a good long talk with him. Let him know that you've been with him for three years, and that you feel like he's not appreciating you. You feel like his lowest priority, and that needs to change or you're going to go. (Harsh, I know, but seriously... if he loves his friends so much, why doesn't he marry them?)

If he doesn't see anything wrong with this, keep at it for as long as it takes. Tell him a million different times in different ways how you feel until he gets you.

Be prepared to follow through. Do you really want to be with someone who does this to you? If he refuses to acknowledge your complaints as legitimate, then he's not going to be a good husband or father.

Why does she feel like she's a part of it? Have you been discussing your plans openly in front of her? If you have, then she probably thinks she's been invited, and you're going to need to disinvite her.

The best course of action would be to let her know that this is an old tradition for the three of you, but you'd love to go to the beach with her on Saturday/First day out of school/Some other time. It's nothing against her.

In the future, if you're going to make plans that don't include other people, make sure you keep them a secret until after the fact!

I believe that what you're asking us to do falls under the category of academic dishonesty.

What I can do is refer you to some diagrams of the cardiovascular system. Just Google "Cardiovascular System" and check the images it finds.

http://www.byhealth.com/files/cardiovascular-system.jpg

http://69.6.217.158/images/cardio.gif

http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/uploads/VMC/TreatmentImages/1235_Heart_realistic_labelled.jpg

Getting an actual job when you're 13 is really hard. I did it, but I worked at a library.

What you would probably do best with is starting your own business; now that summer is full force, you can start mowing lawns in your neighbourhood. Charge $5 per lawn (front or back) and you're golden!

If you want to do nursing, and you're trying hard, you will succeed.

As for getting into school, most schools have a personal questionnaire that they have you fill out. One of the questions is usually related to extenuating circumstances that may have affected your grades. So the person who has an 85 average but doesn't do anything but study will actually be worse off than a person with a 75-80% average who works and does activities outside of school.

Make sure you look into what kind of scholarships you can get. That would help ease the burden. It might mean writing a million essays, but if you can earn some quick money, it'll help.

Remember that while it is great to work and save up some money, it's not worth it if it jeopardizes your chances of spending that money on school. Cut back a few hours a week. The difference between 16 hours and 12 hours would really help, and you're only missing out on what, $40 before tax?

One more thing; does your local community college offer a pre-medical diploma? I know mine does, and a lot of people do that before going to university for nursing. It gives you a chance to raise your average, and doesn't cost all that much.

Good luck!

When I was on Depo, I took a pregnancy test once a month. You can get them at some dollar stores, so it doesn't cost as much. That way I could be 100% certain.

If you're still worried, wait a week or two and try again.

The best part of Depo, though, is that it's way more effective than the pill because it's kind of foolproof. If you're using condoms too, you should be fine unless he's Superman or something ;)

"Love me, love my friends."

Unfortunately, you really can't put him in a position to choose whether he spends time with his friends OR with you. It's great that you're fine with that, because guys hate being smothered. However, he shouldn't be forced to make that choice.

I don't like some of my fiance's friends. Some of them are losers, some are misogynistic, some I just plain don't like as people. Because I've chosen him, though, I've had to realize that he's friends with these people for a reason. Something about them appeals to him, and he has things in common with them. Getting to know his friends means getting to know him - rejecting his friends would mean rejecting a big chunk of him.

My advice; suck it up. Force a smile, get them to like you. It counts a lot in your favour if your boyfriends' friends like you. You can rant to your friends about it later, but don't let on to him how you feel.

The only exception is if you have children and these guys are exhibiting harmful behaviours around them. That's a no-go.

I don't know how long you've been on this website, but there are plenty of fairly graphic sex questions posted on here.

You can search the columnists here by age and check out their columns to see if they have experience in the area.

As for me, I'm 22/f.

Everyone's different. People make decisions based on their own personal likes/dislikes and those of their partner.

What I can tell you is that shaving can be a colossal pain. Ingrown hairs, razor burn, and the worst possibility - a razor cut down there hurts like anything! It's itchy when you get regrowth. Fairly uncomfortable.

If you're going to use hair removal cream, make sure it's specifically for bikini area removal. I had a friend use the regular stuff and end up a painful mess.

IMHO, I believe that maintained is best. Not necessarily shaved clean, but trimmed and neat-looking.

You are absolutely being fake for one reason.

To be nice to someone you don't particularly like is to be a decent, civil human being. Yeah, maybe you don't like them, but being nasty won't get you anywhere. If you do this, then you don't have to worry about them finding out what you really think of them, which avoids a lot of stress and drama.

What you're describing here, though, is worse than being outright rude to the person. To be nice to someone's face and nasty behind their back is an awful thing to do. They can't defend themselves that way, and they feel like you actually like them when other people know you don't. The big problem with this is that you look like a huge jerk for being two-faced, and other people will think less of you for it.

You're best off being distant but polite to people you don't like. That way you're not pretending to be super-friends with them, but you're not being an outright jerk.

My Personal Forum

My name is Amanda and I'm 26 years old. I'm currently studying electrical engineering. Armed with a fairly odd sense of humour and a sunny outlook on life, I'll take on just about anything. I'm also cussedly stubborn, which has its ups and downs. Things get tough sometimes, and I've never been one to run from it.

In my last 8 years with Advicenators, I've gone from honours student to failing out of university (and getting back on top again!), from single to married, from tenant to homeowner.

Until lately, I have been struggling with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and OCD, which had basically ruined my life and taken just about everything from me. I'm thankful every day for every experience I've had because of this ordeal, because it's helped to make me who I am today. Things like that really make you appreciate what you do have. Now that I'm back in work and school and starting to become myself again, I couldn't be happier. I credit Advicenators with saving my life back when I was a teenager, which is a big part of why I'm still here.

I won't necessarily give you the answers you want to hear, but I'll always be honest and do my best to help.

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