unexplained vaginal bleeding

[bafleyanne.livejournal.com]

Hi there everyone, I just joined today and was hoping to get some insight on a problem I've been having.

For the last few weeks, off and on, I've been having some weird bleeding. Sometimes it's spotting, sometimes it's a blood clot like you'd get with your period. The clots are...maybe golf ball size? They're not small. No real cramping or other pain that I'm feeling. I am not bleeding all the time, and there's usually not much bleeding associated even when the clots come out.

The basics: not on any form of birth control (the husband and I are halfheartedly TTC). I have irregular/heavy periods most of the time, but haven't been diagnosed with PCOS. I had an abnormal Pap a couple of years ago which necessitated a cervical biopsy, which came back fine. I haven't been to the gyn in about maybe....a year and a half because I need to change gyns and my husband just recently started working after being out of work for a while, so we didn't have insurance. I don't have any STIs that I know of.

Anyone have an idea what could be causing this? It's worrying me because I'm reading on some medical sites that it's one of the symptoms of cervical cancer. Obviously I'm planning to see a doctor ASAP but I can't currently because we're still getting insurance sorted out and I don't want to have a pre-existing condition, sigh.

Comments

[mica-desastre.livejournal.com]

I have no experience with this kind of bleeding, but I would take a look at this link if you haven't already; if you scroll to the bottom, there is a list of possible conditions that can cause irregular vaginal bleeding. They also emphasize that most of this bleeding is benign:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vaginal-bleeding/HO00159/UPDATEAPP=0

Do you have access to a Planned Parenthood in your area? If so, it couldn't hurt to get checked out there, especially since you don't have insurance quite yet. I would encourage you to not stress over anything quite yet--just take everything one step at a time. Remember, your last pap wasn't too long ago. I tend to try and diagnose myself according to things I read online as well, but we gotta remember that we are not professionals, and everyone experiences things/conditions differently. I know it's extremely difficult to try and stay sane when you are experiencing funky symptoms, but worrying yourself too much isn't good for you either. Sending hugs your way!

[archangelbeth]

Golf-ball (well, they said "plum")-sized clots were one of the things the nurses said meant that they wanted to see me ASAP, after my c-section. While you've not had major surgery in that area, and you're not bleeding like it's something major, large clots like that are... something that I'd suggest checking on, perhaps at a Planned Parenthood?

And then there was the clot I had when it was decidual bleeding, when I was (unknowingly at the time) pregnant with my kid. Oddly fibrous and matted-looking, rather than a goopy clot, and larger/more cohesive than any clot I'd ever had before. So a pregnancy test is not out of the question, either -- dollar tree reputedly carries perfectly reasonable ones for, well, cheap.

(When you do get insurance? This is entirely my pet hobby horse, but my irregular periods became much less so once I got my undiagnosed hypothyroidism diagnosed and treated. It's worth asking for the tests if you're TTC, since hypothyroidism can make it difficult to conceive/maintain pregnancies. I, fortunately, managed -- but then my thyroid totally conked out, I got diagnosed, and realized I'd always been a little hypo.)

Good luck!

[bafleyanne.livejournal.com]

Theoretically, we have insurance now. However we don't have our cards yet, so I can't so much use it. Husband is calling the employer tomorrow to hopefully figure out where they are.

I actually have a pregnancy test in the cabinet--maybe I will take one. Pregnancy is really unlikely since my husband was just out of town for a month (for the afore-mentioned job) but on the other hand, I haven't had a period in that time, just bleeding like this, so.

[slowmotioncrash.livejournal.com]

You might try calling your insurance provider and see if they can give you your policy number. Explain to them that you need to visit a provider but haven't received your card yet and it's urgent. I needed to see a doctor a little after I had just gotten insurance and I called my company and they basically gave me the information that the card would have. I took this information with me to the doctor and told them that they could verify it and I'd bring in a card as soon as I could. I didn't have any kind of issues with it.

[althea_valara]

This. I've gone to the doctor without a card before--just gave my group/policy number. Also, some insurance plans let you print off temporary cards. I know United Healthcare does, because I did that when i first switched to them.

[archangelbeth]

I'd say it wouldn't hurt to take a test -- decidual bleeding can mimic the timing of period bleeding. (I thought maybe I'd miscarried without even knowing I was pregnant. If so... I think I'm glad I don't have twins!)

Yes, if you can get your card information from the insurance agency as the posters above suggest, a doctor-visit sounds like a very useful thing.

Crossing fingers for ya!

[quite-fetching.livejournal.com]

i was diagnosed with von willabrands disease a month or two ago and i experience unusually heavy periods and im on birthcontrol and i spot randomly through the month, sometimes clots. with von willabrands you bleed easily and more than usual. when you do go to the gyno ask for them to test you for a blood disorder.