Orange?

December 13, 2007 8:26 AM

Girly-bits related medical question hidden inside so boy-zone members don't need to read the details.

I'm currently (since yesterday) seeing a vaginal discharge which is orange. And not, like, sorta vaguely orangish in colour. Like neon orange. Koolaid orange. Food colouring orange.

I'm also feeling a bit crampy, which may be just a pending time of the month thing or may not.

Both crampiness and orangeness (and may I just add a "WTF, ORANGE?!?!?!" here? Because it's really freaking me out) may possibly be related to the ultrasound I had yesterday morning. But that was to look at my gall bladder, and was completely external (I've had ultrasounds that got a lot more up close and personal with my girly-bits, but this wasn't one of them).

If it wasn't the ultrasound -- and everything I've been reading on ultrasounds suggest they're considered pretty much harmless -- what else might it be? I can pretty much guarantee it's not an STD, unless it's a D that can also be Ted in non-S ways because I have no sex life.

posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (37 answers total)

Have you called your gyno? Because lord knows that would be the VERY FIRST thing I did if I had neon stuff coming out of my bits. (Oh, and when you do? Update, please! Because, wow.)
posted by restless_nomad at 8:33 AM on December 13, 2007

Call your gynecologist right away.
posted by inconsequentialist at 8:34 AM on December 13, 2007

Okay, so you're not pregnant (I had vaguely orange discharge at early stages) and it's not an STD. Call your gynecologist and give all the information you gave us. Could be an infection but regardless, you need to see a doctor or at least speak with one.
posted by cooker girl at 8:36 AM on December 13, 2007

Did you, perchance, stick something orange up your canal? Like a popsicle?

All joking aside, it seems, from my google-fu, to indicate one of two things: 1) Bacterial vaginosis causes all kinds of interesting discharges, ranging from green to pink to whatever. You should get tested for that. And, 2) it's the normal white/yellow discharge tinged with blood to equal orange. Still, you should get it tested.

Interestingly enough, this seems a common question in internet forums. I simply typed in "orange vaginal discharge" into google and got a whole bunch of questions asked in various forums, with various medical (or non-medical) people saying they'd never heard of it or seen it, but the person should get it checked out for possible infection.
posted by nursegracer at 8:39 AM on December 13, 2007

Having no sex life has spared me from having a gynecologist, but I'll call my doctor's office when they open in a couple hours. In the mean time, however, if anyone else has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:39 AM on December 13, 2007

Yeah, I googled it, too, and mostly got 'Wow, that's strange, see your doctor.' I was hoping AskMe might be able to do slightly better.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:40 AM on December 13, 2007

Having no sex life has spared me from having a gynecologist

That's not a good reason. As a woman, you should get checked out yearly by a gyno whether you're sexually active or not. Believe me, the exam is far better than some of the health and reproductive problems that regular visits can help prevent.
posted by chrisamiller at 8:42 AM on December 13, 2007 [4 favorites]

Strongly recommend you call the hospital and talk to an on-call ER nurse rather than wait for the OB/GYN's office to open.
posted by arimathea at 8:54 AM on December 13, 2007

OK not a girl, but a little science advisor would say, "Save some of this liquid, if it stops before the doctor can swab it you have an issue." I would insert my fingers wearing a clean latex glove and turn it inside out and seal it up in a zip lock if nothing else.

Hope it is nothing.

Peace
posted by Freedomboy at 8:55 AM on December 13, 2007

From here

A reduced rate of bacterial vaginosis is seen among women in monogamous sexual relationships, but it can occur in virginal women. Increased rates of bacterial vaginosis occur in certain groups of women, such as black African women, lesbians, and smokers....
As mentioned above, self reported symptoms and the clinical appearance of vaginal discharge are both very variable and do not permit accurate determination of the presence or absence of a specific STI. A full screen to exclude STIs is essential to avoid delayed diagnosis and possible long term complications.

Unless you're on some meds. There are some meds that turn various secretions colors. There's some less common things that I can think of which turn assorted bits orange, but there are other manifestations to those that you'd notice.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 9:01 AM on December 13, 2007

Only meds I'm on is an occasional dose of Ventalin for asthma rescue, but that's not new, nor have I used it in the past few months (I need it primarily when I'm being good and going to the gym, which is not any time recently).
posted by jacquilynne at 9:11 AM on December 13, 2007

Call Telehealth.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:14 AM on December 13, 2007

oops, 1-866-797-0000
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:14 AM on December 13, 2007

Strongly recommend you call the hospital and talk to an on-call ER nurse rather than wait for the OB/GYN's office to open.

You might as well wait for the office to open because ER personnel are not going to dispense medical advice or diagnostic info over the phone. Around here (and probably everywhere), they won't even say "yes, you should come in for that" or "no, you shouldn't" because the hospital's legal counsel will take them out behind the barn and shoot them if they do.

This is completely IANAMD and intended just as a calmative agent to make you less wigged about that color we shall not mention (which, yeah, would give me pause too), but I know that when I've had various ultrasonic things done (female components, other abdominal areas, teeth cleaning), even though it's totally harmless, it's still shooting vibrations around, so that portion of my anatomy always feels vaguely funny or out of kilter for a little while, like after any sort of unusual exam.

Especially if you're not sexually interactive and haven't had OB-GYNS prodding around recently, it might be that your girly bits are just reacting rather strongly to foreign sensations in their general vicinity.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:17 AM on December 13, 2007

As a woman, you should get checked out yearly by a gyno whether you're sexually active or not.

Seconding. Women that are not sexually active should still go to a gynecologist (though maybe once every other year is fine). There's all kinds of stuff that can go on up there that doesn't require sexual activity to go awry. Be good to your girlyparts.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:17 AM on December 13, 2007

I've had ultrasounds for both girlyparts reasons and gallbladder. No orange discharge after either.

I agree that you should save some of the discharge for testing, since any sort of mysterious discharge/symptom has an annoying habit of vanishing right before the doc sees you.

I won't be surprised if the doc determines that it's bacterial vaginosis. But while you're waiting for them to open, you may as well make a list of what you've eaten lately, any meds you're on, what kind of soap you use, anything else that's been anywhere near any of your girlparts, the date of your last period, etc.

(Hey, go to the gyn regularly, whether you're gettin' any or no. At the very least you'll have a relationship and baselines so that when you call with mysterious WTF orange discharge, they know that you're basically healthy and not crazy.)
posted by desuetude at 9:25 AM on December 13, 2007

I've had orange from bacterial vaginosis before (for whatever reason, I used to get that pretty frequently in my 20s and then I just apparently grew out of it) but it wasn't neon glow in the dark orange. Still, it was pretty orange-y. If there's a distinct odor, than that's probably what you've got and you're not going to die or anything; the gyno will just put you on some medicine and it will go away, at least for a while.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:27 AM on December 13, 2007

I tried telehealth, the nurse suggested seeing a doctor in the next few hours because it wasn't likely to be an emergency, but could be something in need of care relatively quickly. I then called my doctor's office, though the doctor isn't in yet, and they have no appointments for today. She's going to ask the doctor about it when the doctor gets in and figure out what we should do based on what the doctor says.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:41 AM on December 13, 2007

I've had orange from it's-almost-my-period before, i.e. regular discharge tinged with blood. It freaked me out the first time I saw it, but it's become increasingly common (on almost a monthly basis, the day before my period) since then. It usually smells rather strongly musky that day, too—more so than any day before or after that during the month. Pretty gross, but explainable, at least.
posted by limeonaire at 9:43 AM on December 13, 2007

Please don't let this answer deter you from seeing your doctor, but I think this orange discharge is a direct result of your gall-bladder ultrasound.

Human gall (bile) is a strong yellow:

Bile (or gall) is a bitter, yellow or green alkaline fluid secreted by hepatocytes from the liver of most vertebrates. In many species, it is stored in the gallbladder ...

Bile is also a powerful surfactant, and ultrasound is a standard means of breaking cells apart and dispersing them in a medium with the aid of a surfactant.

I'm guessing the ultrasound caused some bleeding into your gall bladder, and then caused the blood cells to be broken apart and dispersed into the contents of your gall bladder. Then this material was recycled into the bloodstream from the distal ileum in the usual way (as described in the linked article), and this bright orange material (bile yellow + blood red) found its way the menstrual blood, staining it a bright orange.
posted by jamjam at 9:58 AM on December 13, 2007

Are you absolutely sure you didn't forget to remove your last tampon?
posted by Wilder at 9:59 AM on December 13, 2007

I'm very, very sure, Wilder, as I use them only when I'm going swimming during my period. And the last time that happened was probably 2003.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:15 AM on December 13, 2007

Uh, IANAD, but jamjam...I don't think so. I don't think diagnostic ultrasounds are intense enough to cause bleeding. And how would this blood-bile mixture find its way into the menstrual blood from the intestine?
posted by desuetude at 10:35 AM on December 13, 2007

The only time I've had any experience with bright orange bodily fluids was when I was taking pyridium for a bladder infection, and it turned my pee neon. I don't suppose you took some Uristat recently?
posted by Ruki at 11:10 AM on December 13, 2007

Hrmm. New developments (namely, I had to go #2) suggest the discharge is not actually vaginal. It would seem to make more sense that way, too, if it was caused by the ultrasound aggravating my gall bladder -- if it's more anal in origin, that's at least a system that's connected to the gall bladder.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:19 AM on December 13, 2007

JACQUILYNNE! You go see your doctor and you get an annual pap smear or I'll drive up there and SHAKE YOU. There's a good girl.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:34 AM on December 13, 2007

Honestly, if you're trying to get me to go for a pap smear, you're going to have to come up with a threat that's more serious than shaking. Something that's worse than a pap smear, ya know?
posted by jacquilynne at 11:40 AM on December 13, 2007

I know. ;) What works for me is a sundae as a reward.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:53 AM on December 13, 2007

Um you havent been taking that over the counter diet pill Alli have you? it causes orangey greasy discharge that they refer to it as "anal leakage" when you eat greasy foods. That is how it "teaches" you to eat better by not letting your body absorb the grease.
posted by meeshell at 12:32 PM on December 13, 2007

Nope. I'm not sure it's even legal in Canada yet.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:45 PM on December 13, 2007

Something that's worse than a pap smear, ya know?

Cervical cancer?
posted by almostmanda at 1:27 PM on December 13, 2007 [5 favorites]

Hrmm. New developments (namely, I had to go #2) suggest the discharge is not actually vaginal. It would seem to make more sense that way, too, if it was caused by the ultrasound aggravating my gall bladder -- if it's more anal in origin, that's at least a system that's connected to the gall bladder.

It is possible to push out extra cervical fluid when you poo, just so you know.
posted by sutel at 1:44 PM on December 13, 2007

Honestly, if you're trying to get me to go for a pap smear, you're going to have to come up with a threat that's more serious than shaking. Something that's worse than a pap smear, ya know?

No joke. You're at a lot bigger risk than you think.

In the lesbian community, there's been a lot of effort in recent years to get the word out that we need to do the annual PAP and pelvic exam. All manner of cancers -- including breast, cervical, ovarian, and endometrial -- are detected and treated much earlier in sexually active straight women because going in regularly is so deeply intertwined with the routine of their family planning. Dykes and sexually inactive women come in far less often, get the bad news later, and are ultimately dying in greater numbers for our complacency.

Also, not having been pregnant by 30 is a risk factors for certain cancers.

So get down there pronto, don't skip anymore years, and insist that your ob/gyn always takes your cancer screenings seriously. http://www.temenos.net/articles/08-02-04.shtml
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 4:25 PM on December 13, 2007 [2 favorites]

That's not a good reason. As a woman, you should get checked out yearly by a gyno whether you're sexually active or not.
If you live in the US or Canada, maybe. In the Netherlands nobody gets checked out by a gyno on a regular basis. Women who are older than 30 get pap smears (done by physician's assistants) once every five years and that's it (no standard pelvic exams). Sometimes there are discussions as to whether we should have more intervention, like in the US, but the general consensus is that more checkups are not necessary and may be harmful. Our cancer rates are comparable to those in other countries. (Dutch people may find this (entire) article and this column interesting)

Jacquilynne, I do hope you'll find out what it is soon.
posted by davar at 4:52 PM on December 13, 2007 [1 favorite]

Seconding the statement that having a bowel movement can help push out more cervical fluid (it's frequently mentioned in regards to using the fertility awareness method for birth control or to get pregnant).

In my experience, orange cervical fluid has meant bacterial vaginosis (as mentioned multiple times upthread). You don't have to be sexually active to get it, but you need a pap smear to get it properly diagnosed so that you can get the appropriate medication.

You need to see a gynecologist, pronto. Seriously, there are far worse things that could happen to your girlparts than the discomfort of the 30 seconds it takes to do a pap smear. I know, because they've happened to a couple of friends of mine (including one woman who refused to go to a gyno for the exact same reasons as you), but I'll spare you the details.

So from one woman to another: please don't allow your fears to make you do something stupid -- namely, avoiding the basic medical care you need. I don't care if you need to take a valium an hour ahead of time to calm you down and/or bring a friend to hold your hand... go. Please.
posted by scody at 5:20 PM on December 13, 2007

That's not a good reason. As a woman, you should get checked out yearly by a gyno whether you're sexually active or not.

This is not exactly true. Canadian women generally don't have gynecologists: they get pap tests from GPs. You would only see a gynecologist in Canada if you had a serious problem your regular doctor couldn't handle.

Furthermore, the American Cancer Society does not recommend pap tests for people who have NEVER had any sort of sexual contact. Their short recommendation is "age 21 or three years after first intercourse," but if you read the full guidelines you will see that they actually set the "age 21" to protect women and doctors who are uncomfortable talking about sex (i.e., it's easier to just assume sexual activity by 21 instead of asking patients about sexuality) as well as victims of sexual abuse, and that the ACS believes that people who have had no sexual activity should not be screened. Furthermore, the ACS does not recommend yearly pap tests for sexually active women unless you are using the old-fashioned glass slides (which no one should be anymore). With new liquid-based tests, it's recommended women under 30 be tested every two years and women over 30 every three. Testing more often does not lead to a better outcome.

Other countries, as mentioned by davar above, test even less often than the US without raising mortality.
posted by Violet Hour at 9:16 PM on December 13, 2007

Just a status update for anyone who is still interested in my disgusting health problems, I had an appointment with my doctor set for 3:30 this afternoon, but as of late yesterday evening, the problem had gone away. Since it's not back today, I checked back in with her office and we've agreed to cancel today's appointment, and we'll discuss it in more detail when I see her next week to get the ultrasound results.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:37 AM on December 14, 2007