Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bleeding

Why am I having the longest period ever?

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:14:32 -0800

This is going to be gross: I'm a 25 year old female. Until now I have had extremely regular periods which last 6 days with a 12-18 hour gap on day 5 (no idea why). I am not on any kind of birth control and have not been on any kind of birth control for over a year. This month's period began on the standard day, except now I'm going on my 14th straight day of bleeding. The bleeding tapered to very light and brown around day 9. Since then it has been bright red with tissue. I worked out Saturday morning and noticed it was extremely heavy and ... tissue-ier afterwards, but that could be coincidence. I'm having standard, low-level cramps type pain recently. I had sex on Friday (condoms) and noticed no ladypart related pain at the time but the condom was bright red afterward. It was really unnerving.

I have already scheduled a doctor's appointment. I'm just trying to figure out what this could be in the interim. Please help.

....tore me a new asshole.

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:28:34 -0800

So it appears I have a tear in my buttocks. Most likely NSFW details inside. So over the past few weeks I have notice blood in my stool and on the toilet paper when I BM. I just passed it off as hemorrhoids, until tonight. I noticed a larger amound of blood than 'normal' in the toilet water. After wiping, I checked myself in the mirror, and it appears I have a 1" long hole/tear at the top of my (for lack of a better term) buttcrack. It doesn't constantly bleed, and it doesn't really hurt.

I am currently away from home for another week and a half, and I am planning on seeing a doctor when I get home. My questions are: How did this happen? Should I see a doctor immediately, or can I afford to wait as long as the bleeding remains minimal? Why would I not bleed every time I BM if this tear is here? Am I facing any real health problems by not seeing a doctor immediately? How serious is this?

My throwaway email is askmefithrowaway@yahoo.com. Thank you.

What can I put on my lips to help them heal?

suncoursing — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:18:30 -0800

What can I put on my lips to help them heal? After a bout with Stevens-Johnson syndrome, the skin on my lips blistered off. Since then, they've been a bloody mess.

About once a day, the scab will get so thick that it will crack when I eat, talk, or laugh, and then the scab falls off and I get blood on everything until another scab forms. This can't be a good thing; it would take forever for a wound to heal if I picked to scab off every day, and that's effectively what I'm doing to my lips. If this were anywhere else, I'd use a hydrocolloid bandage like Tegaderm or Duodoerm, or maybe a liquid bandage, but there's no way I'm going to be able to get a bandage to stay on my lips, and liquid bandages are basically superglue, which is probably not the best thing to put on my lips.

I've tried the usual stuff people put on their lips, like vaseline, aquaphor, chapstick, burt's, etc., and those don't seem to help. Any ideas?

Firsthand information about endometrial ablation

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:19:23 -0800

Please tell me what you know about endometrial ablation as a means of lessening or hopefully stopping my bleeding. (This is a female-parts question.) I'm looking for firsthand information on this procedure, if possible. I have only seen it mentioned a few times in a couple of threads from several years ago. I have Googled and gotten a pretty good idea of the mechanics of the procedure and how it's performed; what I'm looking for is personal experiences, info on whether I'd even be considered a candidate for it, that sort of thing.

I'm a single woman in my mid-thirties, live in the southern United States, casually sexually active, with no children and no desire for them, ever. I have had two abortions in the past. I only reveal this to really drive the point home that I do not want kids and will not be changing my mind.

Ever since I got my first period, my menstrual cycles were unpredictable, prolonged, heavy, and incredibly painful. When I was about 21, my doctor told me about Depo-Provera and I started using it (this was several years before the bone-loss issues were widely known). I was on Depo off and on for about ten years or so (got pregnant and had my second abortion during one of the "off" years). I absolutely loved the complete lack of bleeding while I was on Depo.

Unfortunately, last year I had a bone scan and was diagnosed with severe osteopenia (just shy of having actual osteoporosis), so my GYN insisted that I get off the Depo immediately and she put me on Sprintec birth control pills, to be taken continuously. I was aware that I probably wouldn't be completely bleed-free anymore, but I only expected occasional "spotting." After six months on the Sprintec (presumably the Depo had finally worn off) I started bleeding and didn't stop for a month and a half. Then I took a week off the pills (the "placebo" week, the way BC pills are normally taken, and on the recommendation of the GYN), stopped bleeding briefly, and then started bleeding again. Not monsoon-strength bleeding, but just enough to inconvenience me and constantly make me highly uncomfortable. I was pretty freaked out and expressed my concerns to the GYN, wondering if something might be wrong with me.

Without having me come in to see her, the GYN then switched my prescription to the lower-dose Lessina birth control pills, which I've been on for four months now. For the first three months there was just a little spotting, but now once again I'm bleeding constantly, with all the attendant discomforts (cramping, irritability, etc.) of a real period. I tried taking a week off, again, and the bleeding briefly stopped, but as soon as I got back on the pills I again started bleeding just enough to need tampons. To be clear, the bleeding is not what I think most people would consider "heavy," i.e., needing to change my tampon every hour, but it is constant (not stopping). I am taking the pills as directed, faithfully at at the same time every morning.

The last time I spoke to my GYN about all this, she told me dismissively that "every woman has to deal with some bleeding" and pretty much told me I should get over myself. I won't be going back to her. I'm not a moron and I don't want a doctor who only tells me what I want to hear, but I expect my doctors to be a little kinder when I'm freaking out about my body acting up.

When I find a new GYN, I will of course tell them everything and agree to any tests they might want to run. But I'd like to bring up the subject of endometrial ablation, which I didn't know about until recently and which I've been Googling and reading about, but I don't know anyone in real life who has undergone the procedure. Can any of you provide firsthand information? Will any doctor just refuse me outright if I ask about it? I am still relatively young and have no kids, and I keep reading stories about how doctors won't agree to sterilization procedures on younger people with no kids unless there's a serious enough medical condition to warrant it, and are always assuming a woman will inevitably change her mind later about wanting babies (about which, see above; I really won't).

I also have never been diagnosed with endometriosis, fibroids, cysts, or anything serious like that. My last few PAP tests have been completely normal, though I have not yet had one since going off the Depo last year. There is a history of breast cancer in my immediate family so I'm probably at a higher risk there. Would my current condition be considered "not bad enough" to justify a procedure like this?

Other things I've considered: The Mirena IUD, which was mentioned by my last GYN as an option (but not at the top of her list, since she said I need the estrogen in BC pills to help build my bones back up), but I really don't want to use an IUD. I have read up a lot on those, including many comments here on AskMe, and I know they're now considered very safe and effective, but for personal reasons that's not an option for me. I've also, in desperation, thought about begging to go back on the Depo and take some sort of calcium-building supplement at the same time, but I'm almost certain no doctor would agree to that, knowing what terrible shape my bones are already in.

I will follow up via the mods if necessary, but just to be clear, what I'm really looking for here is firsthand information about endometrial ablation, like, "I/my sister/my friend had the procedure and it was [a big help/a disaster/whatever]," or "I work at a GYN office and you [would/wouldn't] be considered a candidate because [whatever]. You would have to [ask nicely/get off the pills/bleed harder/have a baby/wait a year/whatever] before they would perform this on you."

I know that there is no guarantee it would completely stop my bleeding.

P.S., Any idea how much it would cost, assuming no insurance?

Cut while skydiving will a person bleed faster?

Sully — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 21:11:47 -0800

So my buddy and I watched that old Keanu Reeves film Point Break the other night, and we got to talking. We're thinking that more air pressure causes you to bleed at a more furious pace. So if someone's in a knife fight in a plane, is cut, say across the arm, then jumps out of the airplane to parachute to the ground - will they bleed to death before they hit the ground because the air pressure is causing them to bleed so quickly? It doesn't have to be skydiving, it could be on like, Everest. Will you bleed crazy fast higher up? I know that there are a lot of variables here, but I'm just curious if the thinking is sound.

Am I riding the crimson wave or what?

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:08:53 -0800

FemaleFilter: What is this discharge? (probably graphic or gross) I just finished my period about a week ago. Or I thought I did. Today I stood up after sitting for about an hour and felt a gush of fluid rush out of me. Upon inspection it was bright pink and almost watery. I'm still dripping, have no pain, but was hit with nausea and lightheadedness. Enough to make me have to lie down. I'm probably not pregnant = barrier + hormonal contraceptives, but I am sexually active so I guess that means that there is a slight chance. Is this just breakthrough bleeding? Or something else? I've never experienced anything like this before. I could take a pregnancy test, but I believe it is too early to take one even if I did turn out to be pregnant. Planning to find a Doc first thing in the AM, but wonder if this need attention now. I'm sorry, I know you are not my doctor. I just am home by myself (husband away on business) and we just moved to Portland from Michigan. I don't know anyone here or the neighborhood and I'm a little nervous. Any suggestions/advice/ideas?

stop the bleeding

Thorzdad — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 07:58:51 -0800

I was in the emergency room last night to have a cut on the end of a finger tended to. The doctor used dermabond to repair it... This morning, I accidentally bumped my finger and now it is seeping a little blood. It's not gushing. Just a slow, tiny seep. I keep dabbing at it in hope of it coagulating enough to stop.

I've seen OTC liquid bandages in the stores. Would one of these be ok for me to do a small, spot repair to the drmabond? Or should I take another hit to my insurance and go back to the ER?

I know, I know...YANMD

Oh, okay, I wasn't aware that anal bleeding was such a pedestrian concern-- thanks, Doc.

Anonymous — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:33:40 -0800

TMI Medical Filter: Previously, I had sometimes crippling stomach pain. That went away. Now I'm, uh, bleeding. Rectally. Um. Yeah. But my HMO doesn't seem to care all that much. MetaFilter is not my doctor, but I can't go to my doctor to ask... should I skip my HMO and go to the hospital? Demographics note: Caucasian male, 20 years of age, only other major prior health problem--familial (?) migraine headaches.

Around August, I started having these awful, crippling bouts of mid-torso (stomach-area) pain in the morning and night, accompanied by abdominal bloating and upper-back pain. This continued for a week until I stopped being a moron and went to see a gastrointestinal doctor through my HMO, who put me on a preliminary regimen of Prilosec and ordered a round of tests.

For awhile, these bouts subsidied (with no word from my doctor RE: my tests), but then mid-September they began again for no readily apparent reason, prompting me to schedule another appointment, which I was not able to get in until October. I learned that apparently turned up negative for my H. Pylori scan (which apparently is predictive of having an ulcer?), though my HMO/doctor lost (!) all of the other related tests (I don't even recall all of them--one of them was an "occult blood" test). My doctor quibbled about perhaps performing an endoscopy, but would not commit to any further orders.

With a significantly increased dosage of Prilosec, the painful episodes had until recently subsided into occasional odd, funny, light pain in my stomach that I had been unaccustomed to feeling prior, but nothing that interfered with going along my day-to-day business. I had largely put that out of my mind until a few days ago, when I started to bleed rectally at almost every defecation. This began as a few drops or a bloodiness of the feces, but in my very subjective perception seems to have gotten steadily worse day-by-day. Accordingly, I've made an appointment with my doctor, but it won't be for another two weeks!

I've been calling for the past few days to try to catch a dropped appointment or see if any doctors at associated facilities have openings, explaining my circumstances, but have had absolutely no luck. Today, my bottom-torso even hurts some.

My own self-diagnosis was Meckel's Diverticulum, but, uh, then I noticed that this is mostly diagnosed at youth, and really, I don't understand anything. The symptoms seem to match me exactly, though (minus the, uh, life-threatening ones, as far as I know).

These are a lot of words to ask: At one point should I say "fuck you!" to my HMO and decide to seek some ER help at one of my great local hospitals? Is this potentially life-threatening in the immediate term? Should I have said "fuck you" the moment I started bleeding? I'm worried about incurring unnecessary hospital costs as my family and I are in a difficult financial situation (though I'm lucky to have healthcare at all, I suppose). If it helps at all or if anyone has any experience working with them, my HMO is Kaiser and I live in the Northern Virginian area.

Which pregnancy test is right?

theantikitty — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 15:47:42 -0800

How common is a false positive pregnancy test? Do you have any experiences you can share to help us determine our situation? More details (fears, worries, etc) inside. My husband and I were not trying to have a baby. Pregnancy was the farthest thing from our minds. However, I began having some symptoms of pregnancy last week (tender, sore breasts -- which I have never experienced at any other time in my life, some fatigue, feeling as if something strange was happening in my body). A friend of mine suggested that I might be pregnant. I took a pregnancy test (clearblue easy digital) and it was positive. Luckily, it was the kind of test that displays words, so there's no way we mininterpreted the giant word PREGNANT on the display screen.

The first test was with first morning pee. We took two subsequent tests (not with first morning pee) and both were negative. Last night, I had some spotting. We both became pretty alarmed about this, even though we read online that this can be normal. The blood was light pink and not red, and it has not happened again since last night. I had some very mild cramps as well.

Basically, we're freaking out. We can't understand why we have two negative pregnancy tests and one positive. We don't know what the bleeding means. I have irregular periods, so we have no concept of when we might have conceived. The last few days have been an emotional roller coaster. It would help us tremendously to hear some thoughts from people with more experience than us.

How common is it to get a false positive? Could the second two tests be wrong? Could I have a miscarriage with such a small amount of blood? I'm calling a doctor first thing in the morning, but I'm worried it's going to take some time before they'll give me an appointment. I want a blood test to be sure. We're confused and we don't want to get too attached to the idea of being parents without confirmation from a doctor. Anything you can share with us will be helpful, especially since I probably won't be able to get in the with the doctor for a minimum of a few days. Thank you all.

So the horror stories about Depo were true...

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:47:45 -0800

I was on depo briefly, reacted badly, went off as soon as I could, but the after-effects still linger. Do I wait for the drugs to flush out, or is this more serious? I went on Depo Provera in December of last year. The first 5 weeks or so were great, but then the bleeding started. It's pretty brutal - essentially I'd have 17-19 days of bleeding ranging anywhere from spotting to light-period, a 3-4 day breather, and it'd start all over again.

Naturally, I did not go in for my second shot. I was supposed to get it renewed on February 28th of this year. At the time of this writing, it is April 3rd, and the cycle of 19-days-3-days-19-days has not stopped, and it is driving me insane (I am on day 20). It's light enough that I only wear a liner, but it won't. Freaking. Stop.

I've read enough horror stories about women reacting badly to depo and the effects lingering long after, but those seemed to be more in long-term cases. I was on it for all of three months. I have no other symptoms to speak of. No fatigue that I can tell, no headaches, no cramps (not since February at least), I occasionally feel a bit bloated but even then it's a bit of a stretch. Normally I'm on a 29-35 day cycle depending on how stressed I am that month, with each period lasting around 6-8 days.

I am 19, not on any other forms of drugs (other than caffeine, ha-ha, and even then at most one cup a day), healthy, relatively fit, lower end of weight spectrum, etc. Fairly stressed, yes, but that usually manifests itself in slightly later periods and acne for me, not spotting/breakthrough bleeding.

Is it normal for the effects to linger THIS long after such a short time on the drug? When can I expect it to fully flush out? Or could it be something more serious?

cardio + shivving=dead?

Bookhouse — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 12:35:42 -0800

Would getting a person to exercise before stabbing them cause them to die faster? In the nonfiction book Mexican Mafia (pretty good read, by the way), there is a story about the Eme deciding to kill one of its members who is in prison. The killers asked the man to play a game of basketball. After the game is over they stab him in the chest, the idea being that his raised heart rate will cause him to bleed out before the guards can get him medical attention. The man does die, but would the exercise really cause him to bleed more?

I'm not planning on shanking anybody, by the way. I want to use this in a short story, but I want to make sure it makes sense first.

Can't be a mommy yet.

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:39:20 -0800

I had sex for the first time, and less than a week later I had period-like cramps and some blood spotting in my underwear. Was I, or am I now, pregnant? We took every possible precaution... Did the deed Saturday night. Three times. Bye bye virginity. It didn't hurt and I didn't notice any post-coital bleeding, which was a relief. Did it again three more times Monday night. The weird, between-period bleeding and cramping happened mid-afternoon on Wednesday. Nothing more that I have noticed since. I feel a little bloated, though that could be me being paranoid. I'm in the middle of week 2 of my cycle.

I'm on the pill, he used condoms. The first time we did it I was somewhat late taking my pill (Necon 1/35, so a pretty high dose) that day, but, as I said, a condom was used right from the first point that sperm could have been introduced into the equation.

I have looked at a lot of the pregnancy scare/miscarriage posts from the past, but none can quite reassure me enough.

Most importantly, I need to know if I should be doing pregnancy tests/going to the health center/worrying about scheduling things at Planned Parenthood. I'm in college, in the throes of end-of-semester nonsense, BUT I absolutely cannot go home to my parents worrying about this.

I know you're not my doctor, but this seems like it should be a fairly common experience. If I really need to be going in to see a professional (and that's not just your kneejerk reaction), I can do that.

Unexplained Vaginal Bleed

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 18:26:47 -0800

Why am I bleeding? ACK! My partner noticed I was bleeding during some acutely angled sex a few days ago. Kind of a lot. Enough to stop.

Since then, I am noticing blood when I poop. Kind of a lot. The first time I saw it, I checked and it seems certainly to be coming from the vagina, not the butt. In between poopings, there is a trace amount, but not enough to wear a pad. Seems like only what's left from the bleed that happens when I'm on the toilet.

It seems not to be menstrual blood, because it's fresh red every time. This last time, there was definitely some clotting in it, sorry to be so graphic, but soft clots embedded in mucus, leading me to suspect an internal recent bleed, it was red red only, and this is the third day of the phenomenon. Menstrual blood is usually dark or brownish for me by the middle of my period. Also, no cramps. Also, not time for my period. I am not on the pill or any other hormonal birth control.

Nothing hurts. The sex didn't hurt. What could this be, please? Do I have a nosebleed in my vagina? My blood pressure is always 120/80, and I am otherwise a healthy young woman. I had my annual and pap in March.

Sex is making me bleed.

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 15:02:01 -0800

Sex is making me bleed. I am seeing a doctor this week. I'm a woman in my early 40's with a new male partner. Physically we fit together very well, and I have no health problems to my knowledge. I haven't hit menopause and I have a doctor's appointment this week.

Every time we have vaginal sex I bleed bright red, equivalent in amount and color to the first day of my period, lasting only for an hour or so after sex. I'm in no pain, and sex is not painful, but I've never experienced this before and we're both obviously very concerned.

Has anyone else experienced this? I know you're not a doctor, not my doctor, and not diagnosing me. What I'm looking for is anecdotal experiences that will keep my anxiety under control until I see my doctor.

Throwaway email account is stop.bleeding@gmail.com.

butt blood!

fabesfaves — Mon, 28 Nov 2005 17:36:48 -0800

Is blood coming from a cat's butt always serious? Nice start, eh? Yesterday was the second day where we discovered that our cat had eaten some of my hair. This was fairly obvious, as he was tracking his poop around with him by a strand of it hanging out of his rear end. I know--gross. Anyhow, I cleaned him up, and I know you aren't supposed to "pull things out of cats butts" because of the intestinal issue, but hair is so fragile that I figured it was ok. And anyhow, it came out really easily. I then had to wash/scrub his butt and the surrounding area because he had made quite a mess of himself. I'm sure I irritated this highly sensitive area for him, but what can ya do? The bottom line is--today, right after he pooped, I checked out his butt to make sure there was no trail (because now I'm worried that he's going to drag poop around with him all over the house) and he had a small amount of red blood on his anus. There didn't seem to be much, if any, on his poop, as far as I could tell in the littery mess. He also pooped yesterday after the incident, and it was just fine. Should I be worried? Does he need to see a vet? I know I should just ASK a vet but since it's late, I just wondered if anyone had any first-hand experience with this type of thing. I called the emergency vet and they said it sounds like it can wait until tomorrow, but I'm just wondering if I should even bother taking him to his regular vet. He is acting perfectly normal, eating, drinking, being himself, etc. He's also not vomiting, which is something the emergency people asked me. In addition to this main question, has anyone else had a cat who seemed to like to eat their hair? My hair is pretty long and it's hard to not get it all over the place--I try to clean up/vacuum a lot, etc. but he's still getting his hands on some somewhere!

My nose is bleeding

jsavimbi — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 03:11:51 -0800

About three weeks ago I had a nasty cold. Headache, congestion, nose running 24-7. Since then, I wake up every morning to blow my nose out, thick, green, blood speckled mucus having accumulated there. This morning I blew my nose and afterwards a fresh stream of blood poured out. I've never had a nosebleed in my life nor have I ever stuffed any junk up there. Does this warrant a visit to the doctor? ps: I'm not a hypochondriac, it's just that I've never been sick.

Nicked Bump Near My Lip While Shaving, And the Blood's Not Coagulating

five fresh fish — Tue, 31 Aug 2004 12:34:49 -0800

SeepingBloodFilter: like this shaving nick, I'll cut to the point inside... I've a little bump near my nose and upper lip. Harmless little thing, not a mole or skin tag, just a raised bump that's been sitting happily there for as long as I can remember.

Said bump has been nicked whilst shaving these past couple of times and slowly oozes blood for endless hours. For no particularly good reason I can imagine, the blood simply doesn't coagulate. I can (and have) nick myself most anywhere else and quit bleeding within minutes, so it's not like I'm a hemophiliac.

I really don't think this is a Big Medical Concern. It shows no signs of being anything but a bump.

Any ideas on why it bleeds so, and what household items may be used to force coagulation? Lemon juice didn't do the trick...