What does this mean exactly? I ask because in comparing by menstrual flow with other people's (in discussions) I seem to have many more clots in mine than is normal. Should I be worried about this?
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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You have WEIRD conversations. I was referring to INTERNAL blood clots (that is, within blood vessels) -- most common in the arms and legs, but particularly dangerous in the heart, brain, and lungs.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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If you are worried, maybe you should talk to your doctor. I pass a ton of clots and bleed heavily and for a long time, both during a regular period and after my first baby. After my second baby I was bleeding so heavily that the doctor gave me a shot of something I don't remember in the thigh to slow it, and had me on pitocin for about 8 hours after the birth to make sure the bleeding slowed down. It was wonderful, the bleeding was light and gone within three weeks instead of taking more than three months to stop!
Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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You have WEIRD conversations. I was referring to INTERNAL blood clots (that is, within blood vessels) -- most common in the arms and legs, but particularly dangerous in the heart, brain, and lungs.
I got that, I just wanted to make sure that blood clots within the menstrual flow didn't signify that internal blots clots were happening as well.
As to the conversations, just don't ask...
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Ok, now I'm doubly sure I don't want to be on hormonal BC! I also tend to have heavy bleeding, and the postpartum bleeding after my second was bad enough I believe a hysterectomy was discussed. Instead they SAT on my abdomen to stop the bleeding (pitocin alone was not enough).
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My doctor was on her way back. Two nurses took turns, I think. I admit to not remembering it very well. I was scared and in pain, and had just had a baby!
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quote:Originally posted by blacwolve: I got that, I just wanted to make sure that blood clots within the menstrual flow didn't signify that internal blots clots were happening as well.
Now that I think about it, that's a really good question. And now I have something else to worry about! >_<
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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rivka, they had to do that to my aunt, too. Three nurses and two aides, while the doctor frantically called people to find out whether there was anything he could do.
She ended up hemorrhaging the next day anyway and they had to do the hysterectomy anyway. (This was 1973. When her daughter, my cousin, hemorrhaged after her first child, they did some thing where they inserted a kind of balloon and inflated it while administering, like, five kinds of drugs. It worked, she's had two more kids. )
Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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From what my doctor told me, in my case, at least, it's probably because my periods are so heavy that my body is trying (and, apparently, failing) to slow down the loss of blood.
Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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(I'm talking huge clots, here, btw, and several an hour. I've always been told that a few small clots are nothing to worry about.)
Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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It would make sense if that was the case for me too. While they're not as bad as before I had kids, mine are quite heavy.
Then again, after my most recent kid, while they did put me on pitocin for quite a while after the birth, I didn't have any major complications. And the miscarriage I had between the two births involved no medically-significant complications either.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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My miscarriage didn't involve excessively heavy blood loss, or after-effects. My cousin didn't have extremely heavy bleeding after either of her other two births (although heavy enough that they did put her on pit.) Maybe it varies.
I'm actually on my first post-partum period right now, and it's just spotting and a little cramping. *crosses fingers that it will stay like that a while*
Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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It's my understanding that the stuff that comes out during your period isn't just blood, but also uterine lining. Which probably looks kinda like a clot, I'd guess.
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I'm giving up on the picture. They generally look like a big... jellied lump of old blood, kind of.
Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Dan_raven: If I may speak, as a male member of this forum, in regards to this entire thread.
ooooh, yuck, yuck,yuck, yicky yick yuck yuck,
Thank you.
I'm a WOMAN and I feel that way! EW! I don't know why those things have to even exist... At least I did something about it because I just couldn't take it anymore...
Posts: 9938 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Okay. Those are clots. Sometimes small amounts of non-broken-down uterine lining ARE passed, but they are different. They are, like, little lumps of what looks like tissue, that flattens if you poke it, that may have some blood drops in the middle. That is normal for some women, too, especially, I think, if resuming periods after not having them for a while for some reason. But it's different from clots. Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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*does not even want to go into detail about the horrible 4th day thing* *hates being a woman sometimes*
Posts: 9938 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by rivka: Ok, now I'm doubly sure I don't want to be on hormonal BC! I also tend to have heavy bleeding, and the postpartum bleeding after my second was bad enough I believe a hysterectomy was discussed. Instead they SAT on my abdomen to stop the bleeding (pitocin alone was not enough).
What's your new reason? I can't figure out what changed your mind. Er, added to it, anyway. Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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Personally, I think most men on the forum have learned to stay out of threads with "menstruation" in the title by now, because they know what will happen... If not, they will soon.
And I don't mind discussing it, I think it's good for women to be able to discuss these things, and if men are curious, they can lurk around and have their curiosity satisfied without offending any women when they butt into a "girl-talk" conversation, saying, "Hey, ladies, while you're on the subject, I've always wondered..." Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Of course, I also had a ridiculously heavy, long cycle before I started bc. I had to wear the super plus tampons and change them every ~2 hours.
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Yeah, that's how I was before I started having babies. Except I couldn't use tampons, they caused my cramps to get EVEN WORSE (which I hadn't thought was possible until I tried them.) I used overnight ultrathin pads and changed them every two to four hours (depending on which day of the period it was.)
Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Taking bc helped... But even if I take it all the time and don't take the placebos I STILL sometimes will get a period anyway! It will only las ta little while a day though, but it's still annoying and better thann the full awful thing with its 4th day thing. Posts: 9938 | Registered: Mar 2003
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kq, I got ridiculously nauseous and also had crazy food cravings. I actually lost weight once I started nuvaring, I think partly because I wasn't stuffing my face for like two weeks (my periods were 2 weeks-ish, with maybe, MAYBE a week off if I was lucky).
I've gotten a little nauseous at night this week, but it's my last week before I take the ring out, so that probably has something to do with it. Or the muscle tension I started that thread about.
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I do, although I'm approaching my deadline for the pain to stop or I'm getting it taken out. The IUD without hormones, of course.
Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Oh, and I seriously got symptoms like I was pregnant, but with cramping, severe cramping, most periods. Migraines, nausea, blackouts, food cravings, I had it all... The only thing that made them bearable at all was when I was finally prescribed my miracle drug (which I took WITH three Advil.)
Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Theca: What's your new reason? I can't figure out what changed your mind. Er, added to it, anyway.
Original reason: the hell my friend is going through because of her reaction. Regardless of the fact that since I'm not related, the odds are far lower for me (I'd assume). New reason: Now I suspect that perhaps I am also likely to have a higher risk of clotting issues than I did before today.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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That, and simply because I never considered before that clotting issues that I have had might be a warning sign of potential problems.
IOW, before it was general "this really bad thing can happen because of hormonal BC" but not really thinking of it in terms of my personal medical history.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Hormonal BC would be really tempting to me, because of my awful periods and because of my experiences with other forms of bc (ay!), if I didn't have such a family history.
I'm not glad that my mom had problems or my sister had a stroke (although it didn't end up permanently impairing her brain function, she noticed something was wrong in time, called my mom, and my mom left work and drove her to the hospital), but I am glad that I know that these tendencies run in the family, because it pretty much means I don't have to make the decision. Once I explain my family history to gynecologists, they tend to tell me that it would be irresponsible of them to recommend that I try hormonal BC.
Posts: 21181 | Registered: Sep 2004
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May I just take this moment to sing the praises (once more) of Depo Provera? I have no mood swings, no periods, and seem to be mostly unaffected by its very common side effect of weight gain (I've lost 22 lbs. since February). I can have sex any day of the month. You may now be jealous.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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I've never heard of heavy bleeding/clotting during menses having any relationship to DVTs or other dangerous types of clotting, in general.
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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quote:Of course, I also had a ridiculously heavy, long cycle before I started bc. I had to wear the super plus tampons and change them every ~2 hours.
I used to use a super plus tampon and a super heavy pad and still had to change them every hour. And then I still had accidents.
My last period, I had one tampon last not even 15 seconds before it soaked through. I'd made one step away from the toilet before it leaked. Later that day, I had a blood dribbling accident in the dining room while talking to my sister in law - that tampon lasted less than a half hour. And it was a messy, messy, messy accident. With lots of blood on the floor. That I had to clean up. And my clothes... >_<
I wish mine lasted two hours.
Okay, in all fairness, they usually do most of the time. It's just these freak hemmhorraging things that bug me. Well, no, the cramps and nausea and migraines and dizziness and everything else bother me, too, but cheese whiz, did we really have to add the hemhorraging bit to the list? Really?
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Rivka, I was reading the other day about the practice observed by some orthodox Jews in regard to non-touching of their husbands (and by extension no sex) during the period and for 7 days afterwards. (I forget what it's called. I'm sure you know. )
The article made the point that the day on which marital relations resume often coincides with the fertile phase of a woman's cycle, making the practice beneficial for those couples wishing to conceive.
I was wondering what happens in cases where a woman has an exceptionally short cycle and ovulates in the 7 days post-period. Would not being able to fall pregnant if the practice was observed be justification enough for not observing it?
(*Apologies for any incorrect assumptions/explanations etc)
Posts: 4392 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:I was reading the other day about the practice observed by some orthodox Jews in regard to non-touching of their husbands (and by extension no sex) during the period and for 7 days afterwards. (I forget what it's called. I'm sure you know. )
First of all, it is not some Orthodox Jews. (I am sure someone will disagree with me, but) It is generally agreed that the minimum standards of observance that constitute "Orthodox" are keeping kashrus, Shabbos, and Taharas haMishpacha (family purity, which are the laws you are asking about).
Secondly, it's quite a bit more complex than I feel comfortable discussing publicly. I will say that having an extremely short cycle is a definite issue, and that it would be a CYLOR (Consult Your Local Orthodox Rabbi) question. Except in this case, most LORs would refer the couple to a specialist -- there are rabbis who specialize in the details of Taharas haMishpacha questions.
Since it is not something I ever dealt with, I only know that there are solutions, but they are not simple.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Seriously, quid, that's hideous! I thought I had it bad bleeding through a night pad - not a patch on what you go through. Ick indeed.
Posts: 4392 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Ok, so now I know (of) three people with this complication. None of whom are blood relatives, but I think I will stay away from hormonal BC anyway!
I'll chime in as another person who had a Very Serious blood clot the month after I started the Pill. Serious in that it stretched from my calf to at least my abdominal region (the doctors couldn't trace it any further than that), and fully blocked up every vein in the area. After that happy incident I had a lot of genetic tests done which show that I have a couple of unknown genetic disorders that cause clotting, including Factor V Leiden, one of the more common disorders (one in twenty white woman in the US have it).
Net result: coumadin for life, regular blood tests, serious pregnancy/fertility issues (I've been told to have all my children before 30, if I can), and permanent damage to the blood valves in my right leg (no more running )
So, yeah, if you start any BC that has estrogen, be aware of the potential problems, and be on alert to any possible troubling signs of blood clots. On the other hand, Depo has been shown to not increase the clotting risk in both the general population and the clot-prone population. I'm on it and I love it - no noticable side-effects other than stopping my period, which is great since periods on coumadin are Not Fun.
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Lalo: PMS is horrible. I'd want to wait a decade or so before asking my girlfriend to start this, but if it has no negative side effects... lord, I won't miss hormones.
Oh, there's an upside and a downside, sugar. not all pms hormones are hard on significant others.
mcwink.
¡Don't have sex, just say no to drugs, stay in school, kids!
I'm deeply suspicious of most things that mess with the natural reproductive cycle, despite my deep disdain of menstruating and all that comes with it.
Posts: 3936 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Depo might cause some osteoporosis, especially if used for over two years. So it's not entirely side effect free. I'm also quite surprised to hear it doesn't have any clotting effects at all.
Posts: 1990 | Registered: Feb 2001
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