Periods after Miscarriage

December 26, 2007 9:36 PM

Periods after Miscarriage? I had a miscarriage on 10-28-07. The first period after that was November 28 through December 3rd. It was complete and there was no D & C. I had a follow up with my OB 11-28 . Before the pregnancy and miscarriage my body was more predictable. Can a miscarriage change my body and periods?

As far as length of periods from now on and is it possible i will be irregular now? This has already changed me in many ways. I dont know what is supposed to be normal now for my body because it has changed so much. I am having a hard time with grieving so I am wondering if this also can affect my body?
So my point is:
Is it possible for periods to be irregular now?
longer or heavier?
could the symptoms of pms different now for me?
I do not use any type of birth control before or after.

posted by Snoogylips to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

Obvious first question- are you pregnant again?
posted by fshgrl at 9:54 PM on December 26, 2007

There will be short term changes to your cycle as your hormones even out to a non-pregnant state again. How long really depends on the person, and on how far along you were when you miscarried. If you were far enough along you could even have symptoms of postpartum depression and mistake it for PMS. Your doctor should be able to explain this much better than I could, I'm just recalling what I was told in a similar situation.

If you plan to try again soon you might want to check with your doc about that, too. It is occasionally advised to wait a couple months after a miscarriage to get pregnant again, so you may want to use condoms for a bit until your body heals and recovers fully.

I'm so sorry for your loss. It's a very difficult thing for anyone to go through.
posted by Kellydamnit at 10:01 PM on December 26, 2007

A good friend of mine had irregular periods for a couple months after hers.
She was also told to wait 2-3 months before trying to get pregnant again, which I think is typical.

I'm sorry to hear about your loss.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 10:03 PM on December 26, 2007

Yes, this is normal. It varies, but about 3 months is a reasonable amount of time to expect it will take to reset your cycle.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:17 PM on December 26, 2007

Kellydamnit is right on the money, but I wanted to chime in to say a couple of things. First, it may just be too soon for your body to have adjusted back to it's usual rhythm and hormone levels. Major changes were afoot and you must let your body recover fully. Second, stress can can have a tremendous impact on your cycle. You must also let your heart/mind recover.

Please give yourself time to grieve and try not to be too angry with your body. It's you, afterall.

Hormones are powerful, loss is painful, and our own bodies are simply human and make mistakes. Please be patient and loving to your body. If things don't normalize in a couple months, talk to your doctor.

So sorry you are having to bear this. On preview- yes, time. Time.
posted by metasav at 10:24 PM on December 26, 2007

Stress can cause periods to delay or become irregular.
posted by thebrokenmuse at 11:00 PM on December 26, 2007

i would ask your doctor, of course. a phone call should be enough--you probably don't need an appointment.

i would imagine your hormones are just working themselves out. (also, stress and grief can really do a number on your cycle.) if it doesn't regulate within a couple of months, go back to the doctor.

have you considered seeing a counselor about it? that may help you process the grief, which may in turn soothe your body.

i'm so sorry you had to go through this. it's so unfair.
posted by thinkingwoman at 4:42 AM on December 27, 2007