Update to "Weird discharge problem..."

[leslie5329.livejournal.com]

Hi, I posted this here a few weeks ago: http://vaginapagina.livejournal.com/20588138.html

"Hi, I have been having a weird problem and I'm just looking for some ideas on what could be causing this... For the last week or two, sex has been painful. It's a slight burning feeling on the inside whenever I try to have sex. A couple days ago, I started getting a light brown mixed with clear discharge. These are really my only symptoms -- no itching or anything. Usually I would assume brown discharge = spotting or period starting, but my periods are pretty regular and it shouldn't be coming until around February 10. Also, I have a Paragard, so if my period were on its way, I would know, because of the cramps.

Any idea what this could be?"

I ended up going to the ER just to be safe, because I was feeling light-headed and weak, and I was worried it might have been an ectopic pregnancy, but they told me it was just irregular bleeding after doing an ultrasound. I think I also have had a yeast infection off and on for a while now because sex has been painful. I went to the doctor this Wednesday and got some cream for yeast so hopefully that helps.

However, I still have not gotten my regular period, and according to my calender I'm about 10 days late. I've been getting cramps, though, without any bleeding. One night about 2 weeks ago I had such bad cramps out of nowhere that I was crying and writhing in pain, and then after using a heating pad for a while, they completely went away after maybe an hour of pain. Since then I've been getting a couple bad cramps every day, that last for about a minute and then go away. It seems weird that I had spotting without cramps mid-cycle, and now I am having cramps without bleeding when I should have had my period already. Can anyone tell me what's going on? Is this normal?

Comments

[archangelbeth]

My best bet would be that you are in the process of having a decidual cast (or the non-pregnant version of that; I think "uterine cast" is technically a more correct term). Basically, your uterine lining peels away in large chunks -- possibly even an entire tiny uterus-shape! -- and tries to come out your cervix. Which is usually very painful; one poster fainted. The lack of blood is odd, but if your cervix is blocked by tissue...

That you have a Paragard might complicate matters, though.

I'd suspect that while this is not immediately life-threatening, it might indeed be worth calling up the doctor and seeing if you can be fit in during normal business hours. Explain the cramping and that you are concerned that you might be experiencing perforation, or a complication from a uterine cast interacting with your Paragard, and you'd like to rule those possibilities out.

Good luck! (And I totally would've gone to the ER as well -- light-headed and weak is nothing to mess around with.)

[leslie5329.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reply! I actually started my period today and it seems a bit lighter than usual but more cramps than I've had since my first Paragard period... If things continue to get weird I will definitely go back to the doctor and ask about the possibility of a uterine cast, but right now it seems that things are relatively normal. I guess I just had a really weird cycle this month. :/

[archangelbeth]

That also happens at times! I hope that things even out for you.