A LOT of blood after sex. What gives?

July 19, 2016 2:21 AM

I am on the pill. Last night I had sex (sans condom) with my partner. This afternoon - sudden cramps, blood and very large clots. The internet is not helpful. What might be going on?

I am on the pill. Last night I had unprotected sex with my partner.
Today I have had a (minute) trace of blood in my discharge - which is not uncommon for me.
This afternoon I felt a sudden powerful cramp and felt a rush of blood between my legs.

Within a minute I had passed two very large blood clots. (The size of my thumb.) I am still cramping, still bleeding (not much but at a faster rate than on my period) and am still continually passing small clots.
I take the pill continuously and at a consistent time every day. I had my (totally typical) period a week ago. I last had sex 4 weeks ago. In more than 10 years I have never experienced this.

What I can find on the net talks about cervical bruising and tearing or bleeding while pregnant or miscarrying. I don't see how a cervical tear could lead to cramps and clots that big - a full day later. I don't see how - based on timing - I CAN be pregnant. Should I be hunting down a pregnancy test? Is there any other reason this might have happened?

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

I wouldn't hesitate to see a doctor immediately. Well, as soon as possible. Not an emergency ambulance level. Any bleeding that's outside of your cycle can be concerning.

Please don't google. Just go.
posted by taff at 2:38 AM on July 19, 2016 [9 favorites]

Please go see a medical professional.

It's possible that you've burst a polyp.

Please go see a medical professional.
posted by yomimono at 2:45 AM on July 19, 2016 [4 favorites]

If the last time you had sex was four weeks ago, and this was also unprotected, then this could very well be a miscarriage. The pill is not 100%. Periods do sometimes continue during pregnancy. These symptoms sound very much like what my sister experienced when she miscarried. But nthing that you should absolutely see a doctor asap.
posted by piranna at 4:00 AM on July 19, 2016 [18 favorites]

Doctor time. Sudden cramping combined with heavier-than-period blood and big clots is not something to be googled and self-diagnosed. Please go see your doctor.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 5:03 AM on July 19, 2016 [2 favorites]

Your whole thumb? After you have a baby, a clot the size of a quarter or bigger and you're supposed to see a doctor right away. I'd call your obgyn as soon as they open. Otherwise, this is an urgent care situation. If you don't have an urgent care you can go to in the next couple hours then yeah you have to go to the ER.
posted by Kalmya at 5:50 AM on July 19, 2016

For reasons which will appear shortly, I just talked about this with my sister. The message is: go straight to the doctor.
posted by mumimor at 5:50 AM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

You should head to the doctor. If you don't have insurance, look for a Planned Parenthood as they can work on a sliding scale. If you can't afford or find PP, then head to the emergency room. (The ER will likely do a blood HCG test (along with a bunch of other blood tests) and possibly an ultrasound. This has been my unexplained heavy bleeding ER experience anyway.)
posted by PorcineWithMe at 6:05 AM on July 19, 2016 [2 favorites]

Doctor ASAP. The only women I know who have this kind of weird bleeding in a situation that's "normal" are women who take Seasonale or take their BC pills in a way that skips over their period every month (DIY Seasonale). But, you have to see a doctor to rule out other issues before landing on that as a cause.
posted by quince at 8:46 AM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

I am extremely lackadaisical about this kind of thing and even I would go to urgent care or PP. Because yes, it's likely to be something that has already happened and is more or less over for now, but a number of those somethings are cause for concern and shouldn't be waited out.
posted by Lyn Never at 10:51 AM on July 19, 2016

I'm sorry but this sounds like my first miscarriage.

I was on the Pill but not using condoms. I took an antibiotic i SPECIFICALLY asked my Dr about re: my Pill and he said it would be fine. It was not fine. It took several months to turn out to not be fine though. I had a fairly light period a few times but i did HAVE a period. I thought everything was fine until suddenly i began bleeding, cramping HARD and losing big clots.

You can't calculate your periods when on the Pill to find out when it would be "possible" to get pregnant, because the period you have is a withdrawal bleed from the Pill and has nothing to do with your natural cycle. I miscarried on the 14th day of my Pill-packet, but it was a roughly 9-week-along pregnancy (estimated in the hospital). Basically if your Pill fails you ovulate whenever, the Pill-bleed is irrelevant.

So yes, go to hospital/your doctor/planned parenthood and get checked out ASAP.
posted by intergalacticvelvet at 12:21 PM on July 19, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'm glad you asked! And I'd go to the doctor. If the timing is bad you could also call a nurse line right now. Access to the line may be included with your insurance. Hope you feel better soon.
posted by ramenopres at 8:20 PM on July 19, 2016

Sounds almost identical to what I experienced during one of my miscarriages (though I had been trying to get pregnant and wasn't on the pill). I too assumed that since I'd had a "period" I must not have been pregnant. Hcg levels taken afterwards said otherwise. First trimester miscarriages are extreeemely common. Often women didn't know they were pregnant until afterwards.
posted by mysterious_stranger at 8:23 AM on July 20, 2016