Has anyone experienced dark brown spotting prior to their periods? I never have had this but the last 3 cycles I have had 3-5 days of dark spotting before I get my period. I have a 17 month old baby (via emergency c-section) who I nursed for a year and I'm 32 years old. I got my cycle back after the year of nursing in May 09. I'm running 28-30 day cycles and chart using Take Charge of Your Fertility. I appear to be ovulating around day 14-15. Since the baby, my cycle has been so heavy that I have to change Super tampons every 1-2 hours for the first two heavy days. We have also been trying to get pregnant since June with no luck. My OB says it's normal to have heavy cycles after having a baby and that may be normal for me now. I have a friend who swears by acupuncture for these issues. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks ladies!
Thank you ladies for all of your responses! I started acupunture with Dr. Eugene Zhang in Fairfax City and got pregnant after 2 months of treatments/herbs. He is fantastic and I highly recommend him. I felt so relaxed after the acupuncture that I will keep it up for that if nothing else. I'm only 5 weeks along but keeping my fingers crossed that I don't miscarry. http://www.northernvaacupuncture.com/
I've had this. My OB said that the spotting was normal. I've also had heavy periods. The first 2 days, I sometimes go through the Overnight tampons every 30m to 1 hour. After day 2 it calms down to slow to almost nothing.
Something that I found helps is to take an iron pill each day of my period.
M.
Hi,
I've been thinking a lot about trying acupuncture myself. I've just turned 42,and after 2 miscarriages, last month started having exactly what you've described. I've never spotted like that before, and am quite regular, so I actually thought it might be implantation bleeding as it happened about a week before I expected my period.
I have had very heavy cycles before, but since starting to use herbs like vitex and red clover, that's cleared up.
We're also trying to get (or rather stay) pregnant again, so wishing you lots of luck!
I don't have spotting before my period, but my periods are completely different after giving birth and nursing than they were before. Much, much heavier and my cycle is a lot shorter than it used to be (22 days vs. 28). I've not used acupuncture for this, but many people have had success with it. It is worth a shot. I think it is normal to have a different cycle after birth than before.
try acupuncture (a true chinese Dr) it really helped my friend tremendously....
I have the same problem since my daughter was born when my cycle returned after nursing her. I also know several people who have experienced same or similar problems. I went to the natural foods/ health store. The lady I spoke with said that it can take up to 4 years for a woman's hormones to adjust after child birth. My daughter is 2 - I'm halfway there. She gave me a hormonal cream that is used for PMS and menopause symptoms. I've used it for 3 months and I have found that it is making a big difference. I'm sorry that I don't recall the name, but it was supported by Dr. Lee and it's a progesterone cream. Perhaps you could stop in the natural food store in your area and they'll be able to help. Good Luck!
Wow, I'm amazed that so many women have this problem. My period has recently (I have an almost 3 yr old) gotten so that I spot brown for 3-4 days before AND after, and then so heavy that I go thru a super tampon AND a super pad in 20 minutes every 20 minutes for 24 hours or so. Yes, be sure you get enough iron. My dr said some women just do this, and the options are surgery or the BC pill if it makes life to unbearable. (I'm so tired of this, can't plan anything, am considering something, although the easy "fix" the BCP, will make my already high bp higher...)
Take care, and a 2nd opinion never hurts. But don't worry too much about it.
Good luck with conceiving!!
I would seek another OB/GYN opinion. With that kind of heavy bleeding you could end up anemic. Some women with heavy bleeding like that have uterine fibroids which cause the heavy bleeding. I would also suggest you get your thyroid level checked too. But definitely get a second opinion. Just my two cents. And you may also want to consider a Naturopathic or an herbalist who may recommend shatavari. which you can google to learn more about. GYNs usually recommend birth control pills to control the bleeding with fibroids.
I've had the exact same issue for the past few cycles. Reading the responses, it makes me wonder whether something environmental is causing this? Too many hormones in our drinking water and food? I spot for 2-3 days and then have an extremely heavy day, then it trickles to almost nothing. I actually prefer this to the 6-7 day periods I used to have before I had kids. I've attributed the heavy day simply to faster transit after having kids. I don't think it represents more bleeding overall. My DS is 29 months and I still nurse at bedtime, but I got my period back at 8 months. My biggest concern was timing my cycles for pregnancy PREVENTION! Was day 1 the spotting or the heavy day? One of the responses says the heavy day, and my calendar seems to agree.
Hi S.,
I have the exact symptoms you are describing. I had my first child at age 32, and once I stopped nursing my periods became very very heavy with spotting in between. My son is 3 now, and they haven't changed, but my doc assures me all is well, and I do feel fine, other than the annoyance! I have not tried to conceive, but as long as you are ovulating on a regular schedule there should not be a problem. I have never heard of acupuncture for this, but if it works, i'd try it myself!
I experienced this same spotting and my dr told me that it is old blood, i guess from a previous cycle. she also said to make sure when I am calculating days, to start with day one when my regular flow starts, not the spotting. This helped us get pregnant again. As far as the heavy flow, there weren't many options other than going on birth control now that we are done having kids. good luck
L.
