[morocia]

Since I graduated highschool I've had a mix of different periods. Sometimes I'd have the normal few days on, 20 days off. However, before I married in 2008 I had a period last three months long. Went to the doctor, took some medicine to restart everything and I was back to normal. Generally now my periods last from anywhere between two weeks to just five days. Since my weight goes up and down constantly (for example this last year I lost about fourty pounds, gained half back and lost around fifty again) my menstrual cycle would be shorter when I lost, and longer when I gained. That makes sense, since fat holds estrogen. Now that I'm in college and have changed my complete life style, I don't understand why this is happening. I'm eating healthy, exercising but I'm having much worse symptoms than before...tonight being the worse. I'm using two super tampons per an hour or less and passing terribly large blood clots. (a little smaller than my fist) Is it possible that I am having a miscarriage? Pregnancy was a definite possibility. I've been on my period for a little over two weeks, it stopped for two days, started for an hour yesterday, stopped and started again this afternoon. I'm having moderate to high pain in my lower back and pelvis on and off and nausea. I'm 21 years old, have high anxiety, I smoke, I am not on birth control or any medication.


I'm just curious if anyone else has had any problem like this. Should I be worried? Is this normal?

[Ashlee T.]

I think getting your hormone levels checked is a necessity. Clots are fairly normal, but I've never experienced clots nearly the size of my fist. Is PCOS a possibility?

I think you definitely need to get back to your doctor. Just be prepared for them to try to put you on the pill....which has it's own set of side effects.

[Yamimi]

Oh, that's definitely an issue for the doctor. I've heard a similar story with a member of my family passing a lot of blood clots. Turned out her doctor said she was "backed up" and her uterine wall was not sheading all the was as it was suppose to. Back then, BC pills were not considered an option, so she had to keep going to the doctor constantly to get rid of the uterine lining. It seems like you know weight gain/loss & other 'lifestyle changes' such as diets, smoking, etc can also have an effect to some degree, but this may be something outside of that.

Check frequently with your doctor. Only they can know for sure before it has potential for becoming something worse.