QuestionHi Pat G-
A little about me. I'm a 28 y/o female in a committed relationship for the past couple years.mI had a Medical Abortion through Planned Parenthood in Febuary. Everything went exactly as they said it would early on. I bled heavily for a few days and then super light for the duration of that week. Maybe 10 days total and then it stopped for about 5 days. Only to start up again. Mostly just spotting with old brownish blood but annoying nonetheless. I went for my follow up at the 3 week mark and was told I still had some tissue I needed to pass but that my body would do that naturally. I spotted like that until the 3 month mark when I suddenly passed a hard clot and it then all immediately stopped. Now it's been a solid month of nothing only to start bleeding a little during sex with my boyfriend. It's generally brownish. Could it still be old blood from my abortion? And should I make another appt with my personal doctor? It just scares me because everything I was told at the doctor conflicts with many of the horror stories from women I've read on the Internet. It's hard to discern what's actually normal.
AnswerHello, Kristina,
Having an abortion is not normal, so anything that happens afterwards is not normal, either. So that part is easy.
I'm wondering if Planned Parenthood even examined you or took a medical history before giving you pills. They're notorious for not doing this, and yet this is essential to good medical care. Also, I don't know if they explained the possible dangers and complications to you and got your informed consent.
Brown blood is old blood, but HOW old is a good question. The pattern of bleeding, stopping, and starting up again is very common. I would venture to guess that the hard clot was the tissue they were talking about. I would certainly make an appointment with my personal doctor if I were in your position. Here it is, June, and you should have been done with bleeding for this reason by now. The fact you have this spotting tends to indicate to me that your uterus was injured in some way. So please have it checked out.
If you don't want to face another abortion, you need to stop having sex. You will get pregnant again eventually, even if you are using "protection" unless having the abortion means you can no longer get pregnant. You deserve to live without fear of pregnancy. Please think about this. Also, when you do bleed, even if it is old blood, this indicates your uterus is open and you are vulnerable to infection. The pills depress a woman's immune system, so an infection is much more likely. If your boyfriend has slept with anyone else, even if he hasn't told you, you could get an STD from him.
Please take care of yourself. Abortion is dangerous and can kill or harm you seriously, as well as harm or kill your future children. You deserve better. Please let me know how you do.
