Period or spotting or what on earth?

[ginny587.livejournal.com]

Back in the day my cycles were super irregular. 6 years on the pill fixed that. 3 years off the pill, and they're still pretty consistent.
I am training for marathon #6, so nothing unusual, and was 2 weeks away from my next period. Sunday I ran 10 miles. Monday morning I woke up soaked in a lot of blood. None of my usual warning signs had happened (discharge, PMS, junk food food cravings). Put in my cup and was bloated, moody, and tired most of the day but no cramps (very unusual if not a first).
Monday night the cup was full and it looked like a normal period (deep, deep red, thick), not like it does when spotting (light red/pink, watery). Tuesday and Wednesday, absolutely nothing in said cup aside from normal discharge.
Normally i have a fair amount of pain when ovulating; haven't noticed that at all this month, so I am not sure if I actually did.
So would this be a highly unusual cycle or spotting? Not sure how to put it in my tracking app or whether I should anticipate things at their normal time.

Intense cramps on new HBC

[jessgracef1988.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone.

Thanks to all of you who commented on the post I made on being torn about what form of BC to take. My cramps and bleeding were really bad so I decided to try the pill again. The HBC my doc initially prescribed gave me terrible nausea so she took me off that and prescribed me tri-lo-sprintec. Since starting my first pack I've had no issue with it up until now.

I'm currently on my last week of active pills. I know technically I'm supposed to get a withdrawal bleed next week but my period came this week anyway. I expected it, assuming my body would need time to sync up with the pill and get used to it. I've been tracking my cycle so I knew it was gonna come.

The first two days it started off very light, more like spotting, with "old" dark blood etc and no cramps. In the last two days the bleeding has gotten a bit heavier (not nearly as heavy as I'm used to) but what's killing me is the cramps. The pain is constant. It takes a lot out of me. Pain reliever hardly touches it. I can still make it through work but other than that I've been glued to the couch. These cramps are much worse and have lasted longer than any I've ever had. I'm wondering at what point I should worry? Does this sound normal?

I'd appreciate anyone's input.

The NuvaRing and bleeding (and bleeding and bleeding)

[frostcrystal.livejournal.com]

Hello VaginaPagina! I have a question.

These past couple months I've been trying to transition to continuous-use on the Nuvaring. I've been using it around half a year now with no side-effects so it's pretty stable. I usually do a monthly schedule on the ring (3+ weeks in, 4-7 days out), which enables me to put the ring in on the same day of the month and take it out on the same day.

Last month I did 4 weeks in. On day 28 I started bleeding lightly, and it didn't stop after the new ring was in, which was insanely annoying. I eventually gave up after 6 weeks continuous use, took it out and had my period.

Now here I am at the end of my ring-free week, and I'm finding that I'm still bleeding lightly. It's bright red. I'm a bit at a loss. My body seems to react to absolutely everything Nuvaring by bleeding hellaciously (I bled for 3 weeks straight when I first started), but this is a bit much... I didn't think that it was that big of a hormonal change to switch over to continuous use, and I'm starting to wonder if there's anything wrong with my rings (I'm traveling and they've been in some maybe-too-cold-or-hot places).

Has anyone here ever transitioned to continuous use of the ring? Should I just keep using it and wait it out?

While I'm at it, does anyone have opinions on a good partner contraception for the ring? My boyfriend has a deep dislike of condoms.

breast pain?

[tinyroses72.livejournal.com]

I was wondering if anyone ever experienced this- (I'm not pregnant or on my period) but,
sometimes when im laying down and i turn over, or if i press my arms against my chest I feel a random little bit of pain near my nipple almost inside it feels like. Its never a constant pain but I cant tell if this is normal discomfort, but if my breasts get pushed against too hard or sometimes im laying on my side one hurts a bit. I'm 22, i goto the gyno regularly and I dont feel any lumps. is it possible to just have a sensitive chest?