Doctor's Advice - Will pills reduce my urge?

• Will pills reduce my urge?

Q. Doctor, is there any tablet or medicine which will make a girl less interested in sex? I am female, age 17, and I have a boyfriend. I am sure I love him. And he adores me! The problem is that both of us want to 'be good' and not get ourselves into trouble or have a baby, but I am so highly sexed that I cannot keep my hands off him. All day, I dream about him. I want to hug and kiss him, and to be frank, I really, really want to have sex with him. He says he is desperate for my body, too. So far, we have not had a full sexual relationship, but we have gone in for a lot of petting. I try not to do that, but when I am with him, I just get carried away and feel so excited that I can scarcely stop myself. So if I went to a doctor, could I get any tablet that would make me less interested in having sex with him? Maybe hormones or a sedative?

A: Alas, there is no medication that will make a young woman less keen on sex! Neither hormones nor a sedative would work.

I do understand that it is very difficult for you at your age. You seem to be in love with this young guy, and it is not your fault that you are desperate for sex with him. Over the years, experts have come up with several tips for dealing with this common problem:

1. Try not to be left alone together, particularly in the evening;
2. When you go out with him, stick to places where there are plenty of people;
3. If possible, go out with a group of friends;
4. When you are with him, wear clothes that would be difficult for either of you to undo or to take off;
5. Avoid wearing the sort of flimsy pants that could be pulled down or pushed aside at a moment's notice!

From long experience in the consulting room, I would guess that no matter how hard you try, there will eventually come a time when the two of you decide to throw caution to the winds and have sexual intercourse. If and when that day arrives, please make sure that you are using adequate contraception.Good luck!

• My foreskin is breaking away

Q. For the first time in my life, I had sex with a girl last week. Now it seems to me that my foreskin is kind of 'breaking away' from the head of the penis. Is this serious, Doc? Help me!

A: Do not fret. In many young men, the foreskin is still stuck to the head of the male organ by little bands of tissue called adhesions.  When the guy starts having sexual activity, these adhesions break down, so the skin can then roll back farther away from the head. It sounds to me like you are perfectly normal.

• I found a lump

Q. Last week, I had trouble getting a tampon out, so I put my finger inside me to try and hook the fingertip round it. To my horror, I found that there was a big lump deep inside me at the far end of the vagina. I am sure this is some kind of tumour. So what must I do, Doc? And is this some type of cancer?

A: No, you don't have cancer. Like many younger females, you have been alarmed by discovering your own cervix. That is just the lowest part of the womb, and it is normal to be able to feel it with your fingertip. So there is no need for you to fret.

• I cannot finish!

Q. I am a guy of 22, and my big problem is that I just don't seem to be able to discharge inside a girl. I find this very concerning, Doc, because I don't see how I am ever going to be able to father any children. I have not lost my nature. I can keep an erection going for hours, but I just cannot 'finish'. The odd thing is that on the rare occasions when I masturbate, I reach an orgasm without any problem at all. So why can't I do it when I am with my current girlfriend?

A: Unfortunately, you have a male problem called delayed ejaculation. As you can see, if you look it up on the Internet, this is basically a psychological condition. You need some long-term psychotherapy to help you.

• I can't conceive

Q. Doc, I am a female who has had four abortions. Now, I want to get pregnant, but I can't. Every time I try for a baby, my period still comes, so it seems like I cannot conceive. Is there a treatment for that?

A: This is a very sad story. I hope it will show other young women that there are considerable dangers in doing an abortion.

In particular, there is a great risk that the abortion process will introduce germs into the womb and the Fallopian tubes and thus cause a serious infection. Alas, these infections often block the tubes and so make conception almost impossible because of the fact that the sperm cannot find their way through to an ovum (egg).

As it relates to your case, I cannot diagnose what has been going on inside you, but there must be a high chance that infection has blocked your tubes. There may also be other causes for your fertility problems.

I would say that your best chance now is to go to a doctor who is interested in infertility and ask him or her to find out whether your Fallopian tubes are blocked by infection. It could be that the doctor will be able to help you. For instance, there is a chance that a course of antibiotics might get rid of the infection, and thus unblock the tubes. I wish you well in your quest to have a child.

• I have three testicles

Q. I am a guy of 21, and my girlfriend recently told me that she could feel a third testicle in my scrotum. To begin with, I laughed at this idea, Doc, but when I felt my testicles, I discovered that there is truly a third lump there. Seems like it is kind of attached to my right testicle. I am sure it was not present until recently. So what should I do?

A: When a young man discovers an unexpected lump inside his scrotum, there is just a possibility that he is developing a cancer of the testicle. I hope that is not the case with you, and there is certainly a good chance that this swelling is something harmless. But you must not take any risks!

Please see a doctor this week. He will examine you, and see what this lump is. I am pretty sure he will want you to do an ultrasound scan, which is a good way of getting a clear picture of what is going on inside the scrotum. It does not hurt! So don't delay! Contact a doctor immediately.

Email questions to Doc at saturdaylife@gleanerjm.com and read more in the Outlook Magazine tommorrow.