clotting and my period?

Question

I just started my period about 2 days ago. This time around though, im clotting A LOT. i always got some clots and they were small, but this time its basically JUST clotting. I do not have back pain or major cramps. I did recently have sex for the first time though. Could the 2 be related? should I be worried? any advice?

Thanks :)

Answer 1

It may be normal, but you should check with your doctor to make sure as it could be a caused by another condition that may need treatment.

I know you said you had sex recently. I'm not sure if there is the possibility that you could have gotten pregnant? Sometimes a woman will get her normal period and it is very heavy with lots of clots and it is actually a miscarriage of a pregnancy. When this happens, most women don't even know that they ever were pregnant.

This may be endometriosis, or possibly adenomyosis, fibroids or polyps -- or it may even be normal for you. In any case, yours is a common and fairly easily treated problem.
Adenomyosis is a "cousin" to endometriosis. In endometriosis, the uterine lining tissue gets outside the uterus and attaches to other internal organs and structures. In adenomyosis, this tissue penetrates into the wall of the uterus an abnormal amount. Heavy, crampy periods are the hallmark of adenomyosis.

Fibroids are benign growths of the uterine wall muscle, and polyps are fleshy stalks that protrude from the uterine lining, again benign in the vast majority of cases. Both can increase bleeding by increasing the surface area of the uterine cavity -- if there is more surface, then there is more to slough off every month.

Visit your gynecologist or family doctor if you are having very heavy and painful periods. Based on a physical exam and perhaps an ultrasound, your doctor may be able to give you a specific diagnosis and treatment. Often non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication, such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), may help with both cramps and bleeding. Birth control pills are another frequently used treatment. Occasionally surgery is an option as well.

If you have days of heavy cramps and heavy bleeding, you may pass dark, chunky clots of blood. On such days your contractions are so fast and so strong that the blood gets forced out before the anti-coagulants have time to take effect. So the blood clots. And you pass big chunky gobs of stuff.

If the clots you are passing are larger than, say, a quarter, you might want to ask your doctor about it, because that indicates that your periods are quite heavy, and they might want to check for fibroids (benign tumors)..

Answer 2

If the clots are bigger than the size of a quarter I would recommend counting how many of them you notice so that you can give this information to the doctor. Because of this clotting situation it needs to be evaluated by your doctor to see what they think is going on.