Having a Long Term "Feminine" Problem

Hey...I had similar issues after delivering my 3rd baby October 2005...I tried Nuvaring, and my body didn't react well to it at all...Now I have an IUD...which I must say I LOVE....I would definitely reccomend you visit the doc...and maybe you could suggest IUD...I only have periods once every few months...

S.,

I would talk to your doctor about having blood work done to specifically check for a possible bleeding disorder. There is actually a disorder out there called Von Willdebrand Disorder, where it is not caught until major surgery or delivery. You could possibly have a very mild case, and may be why you did not have the problem with the first one. This can be for both boys and girls, but generally this particular bleeding disorder is found in women and heavy/irregular periods. Most doctors miss it, and state, simply that a person has Menorrhea (heavy bleeding)and really don't know what to do about. Due to missed diagnoses, most women end up having to go through drastic measures to stop the bleeding.

It's just a suggestion to bring up. They can do blood work to test for the Von Wildebrand's factor level. Might be worth bringing up, because it is so treatable. If you do have it, they would give you the missing Von Wildebrand factor as a shot which would be like having blood work done or IV put in temporarily, but after they get the level up, you are generally better, until you have another major incident.

Of course, I'm no doctor, but do know I went through close to 18-20 years of the doctor's not knowing why I would have heavy bleeding and missed periods, then have one for 6 weeks, then stop one week and start over. I personally don't have Von Wildebrand disorder, but they were able to diagnose my problem after we had my son.

Hope it helps,
T.

After my second or third child I kept bleeding for weeks and weeks and they couldn't find anything wrong. They thought they were going to have to do a D & C, but I was given hormone pills first, not birth control, and the bleeding stopped.

Everyone's different, so you may have a different problem, but you might need to change doctors. I wasn't taking birth control, either, but I ended up going to a specialist.If I remember correctly, the pills were just one hormone, that's why they weren't birth control. Good luck.

this sounds kinda like what was happening to me in 05. but i also had really bad pain along with it. i went to the dr and they done ultrasounds. the lining of my uterus was abnormally thick. we treid diff meds and a couple rounds of birth control. i dont think it ever really got fixed cuz in sept we got preg with our daughter. but since having her some of those problems are starting to return. my dr has me on a high estrogen dose birth control. he sd give 3 months and we will go from there. hope it can maybe help a little. sorry looking at the other responses.. the pill i tried was just progestern. it was supposed to help you shed the linning so everything would get back on track. well good luck

K...mom of 2..boy 4yrs and daughter 7mos...wife for 7yrs

Hi S. H.

I am a Mother of 5 kids. Most of them were wonderful surprises which we wouldn't change for the world:) We had tried several forms of birth control and as you see, many of them failed. After my 5th child I tried the depo shot.

I had two doses and had spiratic bleeding (even more than my regular periods) for several months. Some-time after the second shot all bleeding stopped entirely.

Recently I had to have my gall-bladder removed and decided if they were going to go in there, they minds well do a tubal - our life was already blessed with several children and we thought this would be best for me....

So, I obviously never went back for my third depo shot. It has been almost 2 months since I was due for my last shot and I have still not had a period.

Please continue to go to the doctor, but my guess is that depo is powerful stuff. It seems to give people lots of bleeding in the beginning and then once it takes effect takes a long time to get out of your system.

Listen to your doctor and be persistent, but my guess is your body just needs a break from everything to recalibrate:)

Good Luck!

I have the same issue when taking b/c. I think the dark, black is just residual blood from having your period. Let us know what the dr says and good luck.
B.

I say lose all hormonal birth control!! I have the same problem when I try using hormones and it's NOT worth it.

I am almost in the same situation that you are in. I never had the Depo shot. Tried it when I was younger and bleed forever. But am still having problems with my period. I am on a pill too, since the patch is so expensive with my insurance. (the patch really worked for me). And my doctor's don't think it's a big deal and have me waiting till the end of February for my appointment. I dunno what's going on either and it is strange. I also have two children, (could it be a coincidence?) Please let me know what is going on with you so that I might be able to point myself in the right direction also!!

Hi I know kinda of what you are going through. I got the depo shot and was told you shouldn't have a period. Yeah right I started bleeding after my second shot of depo and bleed for over a year. It wasn't light either. I bleed heavy and for 7 days. Well I bleed heavy for a year with no stopping. I went to dr's and no one had a reason. I finally stopped taking the shot after my third round. I went to another dr. and he shut my system down all the way. It is a cousin to depo but it does the opposite. The symptoms are menopause but it is well worth the hot flashes and mood swings. You get a shot once a month for 6 months and then you gradually start your period back up. That shot is the only reason that I stopped my bleeding. It is expensive and some insurance don't pay for it but when you have tried everything it is worth a shot. It is called Lupron. I have tried pills and the patch since and I bleed about the same. So do don't take any kind of bc at all. They just make me bleed not as bad a the depo but enough. Just hang in there and keep talking to the dr. or even go get a second opinoin. Good Luck.

I agree that you should see your doctor. This could be out of whack hormones or something different. If you haven't had a pap since this problem began, I would suggest doing that as well. I had hay-wire bleeding after my daughter was born. It took the doctors 3 years to finally run simple tests to find out what was wrong and in a matter of days things were fixed. You know your body best, if you feel something isn't right let your doctor know and request second opinions if you feel it necessary. Blood tests for hormones and such and a pap should help the doctors pin point any problem that may be happening. If you hear the excuse that they won't examine you when you're bleeding, if that is the case on the day of an exam, don't listen to them.. they can examine you. Follow your gut, see your doctor and if you feel you need it, get a second opinion. I hope you get to the root of this soon and feel better!

Has your doctor brought up doing a D & C or a hysteroscopy? It's a minor procedure where they scrape the inside lining of your uterus(D & C)and look inside your uterus with a small scope(hysteroscopy). There may be something left from the birth or something else that they can't see or find in an exam.

*FYI -- I had a very similiar experience after being on the Depo shot. I was so tired all the time (because my body was constantly losing blood) so I took a multivitamin every day - you might want to consider doing that too just to maintain enough energy to get thru the day at least until your body returns to normal!

I'm not a medical professional but I do believe some women are just more sensitive (physically & emotionally) to "hormones", birth control, etc...

It sounds like you are keeping a good record of all that your body is doing which is what you need to keep your doctor up to date on...

I ended up choosing to have an endometrial ablation which means I no longer get a period at all (since my endometrial lining does not build up througout the month) but I am also unable to have any more children since a fertilized egg would no longer be able to implant into my endometrial lining!

I truly wish you the best... Hang in there!

Hi S....I was on Depo for 9 months and I bled like that the whole time. It was frustrating as all get out! I certainly made up for not having a period for the 9 months I had been pregnant! My doctor told me that some women just react that way to the Depo (it's like 10% of women). But I've not heard of the bleeding with all types of chemical bc's. Perhaps that's just your body's way of telling you the chemicals are too harsh. Update us and let us all know what your dr. says.

please let me know what ur doc says asap my e-mail is ____@____.com my son is 5 months old i also had the depo after birth i stopped bleeding in 2 weeks and didnt have what i thought was a period until christmas eve day when i started bleeding but i still havent stopped i have already had me second depo shot and going for the third on feb 7 like you it comes and goes you think it has stopped and then you go to the bathroom and there it is again it is driving me crazy everyday i am using any where from 4 to 8 pads changing about every 2 hours i hope is all is well with you please let me know my e-mail is at top begining of the msj one more thing i have never used any b/c and this is my third child in 8 yrs