QuestionI am 17 years old and I live in Florida. I am sexually active and have been since I was one month from turning 15. I have yet to be pregnant. That is a blessing in many ways but still I am concerned. I have had unprotected sex and everything but STILL nothing. A blessing again ... but still. Not lately .. well twice on separate occasions I have had really abnormal periods for me. Lots of blood .... savage cramping that woke me from sleep and kept me up moaning for hours, unable to move. When I went to use the restroom blood filled the toilet and soaked through pads. Every hour I needed a new one. Blood clots literally made PLOPPING noises in the toilet. This lasted for 5-7 days. A regular period for me last till 3. Now my most recent period started last Washday and ended .... well it's kind of still on but its VERY light. Now what bothered me about this period was not only did it not start out heavy first but it was the same as last time only this time I went through cramps and bloodclotting WITHOUT the blood. I found that quite weird. My period began spotting ( first time for me ) and THEN went into the heavy toilet filled with blood thing. I ran though pads again and stayed awake moaning and groaning from cramps. Then when the heavy blood stopped and I though it would be over .. the cramping continued. And so did the bloodclots. Today I took some pain reliever and so far so good ... I can still feel the faint feeling of pain but not much. There's no more bloodclotting ... just a bad odor that keeps coming back even after I shower ... there's some faint blood that's not going away. I'm a little concerned. I don't know what to do and quite frankly I feel embarrassed. What's going on ?
AnswerHello Lida from the U.S.,
It is not uncommon for women to have variations in menstrual cycles and bleeding. That can be normal. Much of what you described to me sounds normal, but without doing an evaluation and examination, I cannot be sure.
In terms of the pregnancy thing, that is very abnormal. A young woman your age should be able to become pregnant easily within an 8-12 month period. It's good to be lucky, but no one can be that lucky, especially since you have been sexually active since the age of 14.
If we take that sexual history with the abnormal bleeding and severe cramping, that could be an indication for a pelvic disorder, such as endometriosis. Again, without further evaluation, you can't know for sure.
My recommendation would be to go see a Gynecologist. We see lots of women of varying ages, even teenagers, so it will not surprise us that you have been active since 14. In fact, the youngest I have seen started at 12. This would be good because the gynecologist can evaluate your bleeding and severe cramping. In addition, you might want to consider going on some type of birth control for now. Also, because you have been sexually active for a long time, you are at risk for HPV, which causes cervical cancer, so you should be having pap smears every year. This will not be embarrassing. Since you are now a woman, you need to take responsibility for your body and your health. Having gynecologic exams is part of that responsibility.
Sincerely,
Edward J. Ramirez, M.D., FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
Monterey Bay IVF Program
www.montereybayivf.com
Monterey, California, U.S.A.
for additional information check out my blog at http://womenshealthandfertility.blogspot.com check me out on facebook and twitter with me at @montereybayiv
