Why Am I Bleeding Days After My Period

What Is Abnormal Uterine Bleeding

Abnormal uterine bleeding is the name doctors use to describe when something isn’t quite right with a girl’s periods. Doctors also sometimes call AUB “dysfunctional uterine bleeding” . Like lots of medical names, it can sound worse than it is. Most of the time, AUB isn’t something to worry about.

Abnormal uterine bleeding means that periods may be heavier or last longer than normal or not come at all. Bleeding between periods is also a sign of AUB. AUB isn’t usually a major problem, but it can lead some girls to develop anemia .

If a girl has AUB, it might mean her periods last longer or have more bleeding than normal. Or, it might mean the opposite that her bleeding is light and her periods aren’t coming as often as they should.

Because AUB isn’t usually a problem, doctors often don’t do anything about it. But sometimes they take action if a medical condition is causing AUB. Doctors also might treat AUB if it is causing another problem. For example, doctors may worry that a girl could get if she is bleeding more than she should.

How Is Heavy Bleeding Diagnosed

After a thorough history and clinical examination including a cervical screening test and swabs your doctor might order blood tests and/or a pelvic ultrasound to eliminate some of the possible causes listed previously. The gold standard is to perform a hysteroscopy and curette in all women over 35 years of age to rule out endometrial hyperplasia or cancer. This is where the lining of the womb is viewed with a telescope the hysteroscope and is then lightly scraped away and a biopsy taken for examination.

My Period Stops Then Starts Again Then Stops

Have you ever gotten to the end of your period, delightedly thrown your pads or menstrual cup to the side and thought its all over for the month!, only to find blood on your underwear a day later?

Periods that stop, then start, then stop again are actually really common. When this happens, it can be very confusing and scary, but most of the time its nothing to worry about.

Why does my period stop then start again? is one of my most commonly asked period questions, so I thought it was about time to shed some light on some of the many reasons why this may be happening.

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Reasons To Worry About Spotting After Period

The Source Of The Issue

Long periods can be the result of a variety of factors such as health conditions, your age and your lifestyle.

Underlying health conditions that can cause long periods include uterine fibroids, endometrial polyps, adenomyosis, or more rarely, a precancerous or cancerous lesion of the uterus. A long period can also result from hormonal imbalances or a bleeding disorder.

Many women struggle with long and heavy periods for years without knowing there are ways to manage and improve their symptoms. I encourage all patients to seek out medical care if they have questions about their menstrual cycle or other gynecologic issues.

The first step to managing long periods due to a specific condition is to treat it. This can include things like removing an endometrial polyp or correcting hypothyroidism. Hormonal contraceptives are commonly used to help regulate abnormal cycles resulting from a wide variety of causes. Most of these methods take three to six months before youll notice some improvement.

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What Should You Know About Bleeding After Period

• Spotting lightly after your period does not always mean you are pregnant. Most women thought its implantation spotting but its not. In fact, implantation spotting does not occur after your period, it happens a week before your menstruation.
• Women can positively conceive a baby only after ovulation and successful fertilization. The process occurs ten days after their menstrual cycle. Thus, the possibility of getting pregnant right after you have your monthly period is too low.
• Spotting a week after your period cannot be linked to early miscarriage. Unlike spotting, miscarriage is always accompanied with excessive bleeding and cramps.

How Is Abnormal Uterine Bleeding Diagnosed

A doctor will want to rule out other health problems before deciding a girl has AUB. For example, doctors might find out that a girl with heavy periods has a bleeding disorder like von Willebrand disease.

To diagnose AUB, doctors will ask questions about periods and bleeding. Expect your doctor to ask the date your last period started.

A doctor also might ask questions that don’t seem connected to bleeding like about recent weight changes or if you have ever had sex. Doctors ask these questions because conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome and some STDs can cause abnormal bleeding. If they’re not treated, they may lead to more serious health issues, like infertility .

Girls who have had sex and miss a period need to see a doctor. Missed periods could be a sign of pregnancy as well as a sign of AUB. If you have heavy bleeding or bleeding between periods, it could be an infection or other problem. For example, an ectopic pregnancy can cause bleeding, and can be life-threatening.

A doctor might do a physical exam and maybe a pelvic exam. Sometimes doctors order blood tests or ultrasound exams. Blood tests also can show if a girl has anemia.

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Theres Still A Huge Knowledge Gap When It Comes To Menstrual Health And Fertility

Although researchers are starting to study ovulation spotting, they still donât know exactly why it happens, or whether it is a sign of something to be addressed with a healthcare provider. But there is currently no evidence that ovulation spotting is a cause for concern.

Irregular bleeding and inconsistent spotting can be a predictor of other underlying health issues. If you regularly bleed between periods or you experience unusual heavy bleeding between your periods, talk to your healthcare provider.

Let’s support one another.

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Bleeding 3 Days After Period Ended

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Use Of Hormonal Contraception

Bleeding between periods often happens when you start to take hormonal contraceptives. This is because your hormone levels drop. It is also called breakthrough bleeding, and usually happens about 2 weeks after your last period.

Breakthrough bleeding should stop after 1 or 2 months. Your periods will usually become more regular within 6 months. Bleeding between periods can also happen if you forget to take one of your oral contraceptive pills.

However, if bleeding occurs at other points during your menstrual cycle, you should consult your doctor in order to rule out the possibility of other conditions.

Other hormonal contraceptives such as hormone containing intra-uterine devices contraceptive injections or rods can also cause breakthrough bleeding or irregular periods. Sometimes this may be because the device isnt inserted properly, especially if its also painful. Check with your doctor as they may be able to give you medicine to control the bleeding and rule out other causes, like an infection.

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Causes Of Bleeding A Week After Period

1. Old Blood

If you notice brown spotting a week or two after your monthly period, it would often mean that some amount of tissue and menstrual blood were not properly expelled out of your body. Since they could still be inside the uterus, they need to be discharged in a form of spotting even after your period has ended.

2. Infection

Bacterial infections and yeast infections are two of the most common infections that occur in women. These infections often expel colored spotting with foul smell a few days after period. While they are not the main cause, they may have an effect to abnormal bleeding or discharge, which is often mistook as spotting.

3. Deep Penetration During Intercourse

Deeper penetration during a vigorous or rough sexual contact could lead to very light bleeding and may sometimes create physical injury. It can cause bruises to the cervix which is usually accompanied with pain.

4. Unregulated Menstrual Cycle

Untimely bleeding or bleeding a week after period often happens to teenage girls while their bodies try to get accustomed to their menstruation. It may last for a couple of months or years until they are able to adjust to their menstrual pattern.

5. Oral Contraceptives

6. Polyps

Polyps are non-cancerous cells that grow in the uterus. Sometimes, some of these polyps burst and lead to bleeding or spotting.

7. Uterine Fibroids

How Do You Know If Your Bleeding Is Too Heavy

It is very difficult to determine whether your bleeding is too heavy. The best guide is to decide whether your period is having an impact on your quality of life if it is causing you to be housebound, interrupting your daily activities, or causing you stress and anxiety. The following signs might indicate you are experiencing heavy bleeding:

• bleeding or ‘flooding’ not contained within a pad/tampon
• changing a pad/tampon every hour or less
• changing a pad overnight
• clots greater than a 50-cent piece in size
• bleeding for more than seven to eight days.

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You Took A Morning After Pill

That night of fun ended with you popping a Plan B on your way home the next morning. You thought all was good in your uterus but now youre spotting. Dont mistake this as a sign of pregnancy or your period. The hormones present in emergency contraceptiveestrogen and progesteronecan cause light spotting. It should go away pretty quickly so put on a pantyliner and go celebrate not being pregnant with a mimosa .

What You Can Do About Uterine Fibroids

You and your healthcare provider may choose to leave fibroids with mild symptoms untreated. Tracking your symptoms can then help you know if your fibroids are changing, and at what point a treatment plan might be helpful. When fibroids do become problematic, there are many different options for managing and treating them, and for preventing their future formation:

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Youre On A New Birth Control

Youre more likely to see spotting throughout your entire cycle if you started a new type of BC, Dr. Minkin says, but this could also cause spotting right before your period specifically. This is called breakthrough bleeding, and the estrogen in your birth control is to blame.

Breakthrough bleeding should resolve on its own in a few months after you start your new BC. If it goes on longer than that, Dr. Minkin suggests talking to your doc, who may recommend a birth-control method with a lower amount of estrogen.

Few Things That You Should Know

• Spotting after your period may indicate pregnancy, but it is not always true. It may or may not be implantation bleeding, so you may want to take a pregnancy test to be sure.

• You can become pregnant only after ovulation and successful fertilization, and the process usually starts at least 10 days after your menstrual cycle. Therefore, the possibility of you becoming pregnant immediately after your monthly period is quite low.

• Spotting or bleeding 10 days after period ended is not associated with early miscarriage, unless you experience heavy bleeding that is accompanied with cramps.

Read Also: Using Birth Control To Stop Period Once It Starts

Why Am I Bleeding 10 Days After My Period

Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers â it’s anonymous and free!

Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers â it’s anonymous and free!

HealthTap doctors are based in the U.S., board certified, and available by text or video.

When Is Spotting During Ovulation Considered Normal

There are some signs that can help you determine whether your bleeding during ovulation is normal or a cause for concern.

First of all, its essential to keep in mind that ovulation bleeding occurs only once during each cycle.

Before you start ovulating, you experience an increase in estrogen levels, which then drop after ovulation. As a result, progesterone levels rise for five days.

This fluctuation in estrogen and progesterone is what causes ovulation spotting. Some women do experience other symptoms, which shouldnt be a cause for concern if they are mild. However, if symptoms are severe, we recommend seeing a doctor as there could be an underlying factor causing spotting between periods.

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What You Might Notice

Some of the most common symptoms of uterine fibroids are:

• Periods that are heavy, long, and/or painful

• Irregular bleeding

• Pelvic pressure or pain

• Frequent urination and difficulty emptying the bladder

• Constipation

• Difficulty getting pregnant or carrying to term

In rare cases, uterine fibroids can become very large, twisted, or infected. These situations can create intense symptoms, and may require immediate medical treatment .

Some studies show that pregnancy may cause fibroids to grow slightly bigger in up to 1 in 3 people . This might make some symptoms more noticeable. The most common complication of uterine fibroids in pregnancy is pain, usually felt in the second and third trimesters .

What Is Heavy Bleeding

Heavy menstrual bleeding is excessive and/or prolonged menstrual bleeding. The amount varies from woman to woman and can change at different stages in your life for example, in teenage years or approaching menopause. It is defined as blood loss greater than 80ml per cycle, or periods lasting more than seven to eight days. Heavy menstrual bleeding affects about one in five women and is a common problem in the 30-50-year-old age group.

Heavy bleeding fact sheet

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