Bleeding during/after sex

[williowrosenburg]

Really sorry if this TMI but I'm at a bit of a loss of what to do in this situation.

April last year during sex I started bleeding... it was a lot,very bright red. Assumed I was coming in as only few days before my period.

But woke in the morning and bleeding has stopped. Came on a few days later as normal.

The bleeding during sex started happening the majority of the times we had intercourse. I was due a smear so got that booked. It took a few months to get a result but it came back clear.

The bleeding continued so I went to my Gp who referred me to Gynaecology. Had an appointment at the end of last year. He did an internal but just said he couldn't see any issues with the Cervix. Not to worry.

The bleeding carried on for a while but then seemed to stop. It didn't happen for a good couple of months. Until this weekend.... it happened twice.

I should go back to the GP shouldn't I? I mean it's not normal is it? But worry I'm wasting their time when a gynaecologist has said all looks fine!

My period has gone from normal 28 day cycle to around 24/25 the past 6 months. And I had letz procedure in 2010 to remove pre cancerous cells from my cervix.

Please report this bleeding to the GP. Any changes to the menstrual cycle should be mentioned at the same time. Something is causing this and it is in your interests to find out what it is. You would not be wasting their time and this needs further investigation.

I had a cervical ectropion like PP however in my case, it was treated completely at the time and has never returned

But if it was an erosion wouldn't he have seen it when they did the internal exam?
He said there was nothing to note about the cervix and the general area...

I suffered from this and they blamed cervical ectropian for years. Then it turned out I had two blocked tubes (hydrosalpinx and pyosalpinx) plus some adhesions, all of which could have contributed to the bleeding.

Especially given your clinical history I’d ask for some further investigations (I had internal ultrasounds, colposcopy, and MRI)

All the best OP x

I'll call my GP tomorrow morning. DH is gonna add me to his private health cover as well so at least I could get referred that way if GP not happy to send me to Gynae again.

I did have my tubes checked back in 2012-ish due to infertility (unknown cause) had DD Via ivf in 2016.

Obvs I know things could have changed between then and now x

Congratulations on your successful IVF 😊

Yes, private a good route to take as routine NHS care so slow at the moment due to Covid

@Youngatheart00 thank you. She's nearly 5 now... was a long journey but def worth it x

When this happened to me it was because of the combined pill . Stopped as soon as I stopped taking it .

Had a telephone appointment this afternoon and being referred for an ultrasound.

I haven't been on the pill for 10 years - he said he could prescribe it to stop the bleeding!!! But I declined as would rather find out the reason for the bleeding rather then masking it.

I don't know if it's in my head but I do keep getting the odd twinge on my lower left side. Like where my hip is I guess. I prob wouldn't notice it if i didn't have the bleeding on my mind though so could just be in my head!

I’ve had this kind of bleeding lots of times over the years. I’ve had 2 cervical ectropians successfully treated. The gynae tends to be able to spot these straight away so if you were told that your cervix looked fine, then I doubt you have this. I have had normal ultrasounds and clear test results but still had the bleeding. My gynae has decided that as I have no ectropian this time that it is linked to my pcos and possible perimenopause. She thinks that my womb isn’t adequately shedding the lining each cycle so the movement during sex is causing the unshed lining to leak out. Who knows? I had the coil fitted a month ago to stop this problem as it’s meant to thin your lining.

Please try not to worry though, there are lots of reasons why the bleeding is happening and an ultrasound may show up what the problem is.

Thanks @AddictedToCrisps (great user name!)
I'm not worried to much! It's just annoying. I don't have the highest of sex drives, so when we do get down to it, it's just really frustrating to have to stop and deal with it. It's not a small amount that can be ignored.

Perhaps you should have sex the night before an internal so there is some evidence inside so they can see where it’s coming from? (Not for in ultrasound though as they don’t look inside with their own eyes, only equipment looks for things).

It’s definitely you? It’s not his foreskin or something?

Nope def me!

I was thinking that but thought could be a bit grim for the person doing the ultrasound!..... as I'm guessing it will be an internal

Ok, I'm gonna write all this out here just to get it out my head... I don't want to talk to DH about it as I don't want him to worry too...

So last night I was drifting off to sleep and some other things have come to my mind about this.
All of last year I was wanting to lose weight, my belly just seemed so huge. I'm a size 10 but my belly would most of the time look about 6 months pregnant. I always attributed the word "bloating" to more of a feeling of being full, sluggish but that's not right is it.... my stomach was bloated.

Now I know that's a sign of ovarian cancer so this morning I googled the symptoms ( yes I know I shouldn't!)
I have quite a lot of them...

acid indigestion - heartburn .... it's been so bad the past year I guess, when I never had it before at all! Except when pregnant.

Constant feeling of needing to urinate. Like I can go, walk out the bathroom and need to go again!

Fatigue - pass months I've been feeling so tired for no reason! I could literally close my eyes while someone is talking to me!

Appetite has been pretty weird recently too. I've struggled to eat full meals - and if I force it ( like a big lunch) I literally won't eat again for the rest of the day.

The heartburn and urination where both things id thought about seeing the GP for but kept putting them off.... they didn't seem like things the dr would take seriously.

But add them to the bleeding and the change to my cycle..... well I'm shitting myself to be honest.
I'm not normally an over reactor! But I am genuinely worried. Also worried the scan appointment will be in months, and I'll be sitting around worrying.

Anyway sorry I just needed to get that all out. Hopefully now I've written it all down I'll be able to stop thinking about jt.

Ohh and after months of exercise etc last year and Losing little no weight.

I literally dropped half a stone in the past few weeks - no diets no exercise. It just feel off. I attributed it to lock down weight coming off and maybe just falling back to a more "natural" weight but I think it's gone past that...

Oh @williowrosenburg we’ve all been there, googling the worst case scenario and then wishing we hadn’t. If you are having inbetween bleeding, then your hormones could be all over the place, hence the symptoms of bloating and twinges. I remember when I did ivf, the suppositories of progesterone made me so uncomfortable with bloating and indigestion. Maybe your progesterone levels are off?

I think you either need to just stay calm and wait for the ultrasound which will rule out anything sinister, or you should phone your gp again and explain that you forgot to mention other symptoms you’ve been having and see if they change you to an urgent referral.

But stop googling!! You’ll stress yourself out even more xxx

Oh I know!
I'm very much a plan for worst and hope for the best type of person.... but I don't usually let the "worst" worry me.

I'll see how long the referral for the ultrasound is before speaking to GP again.

Been distracting myself all day. Finally painted the bathroom which is being waiting to be done for weeks! So every cloud.....
But I do feel better for writing this all down.

X

If you feel better then it was worth it. Often our thoughts are very powerful until we share them. Just try and reassure yourself that the chances of you having something sinister when you’ve had these issues for over a year is slim. There’s probably lots of easily explained reasons for your tiredness, bloating, weight issues. But in our heads we conjure up these worst case scenarios. I find writing a diary helps, jotting down mood, symptoms or concerns which you can then refer to when you eventually chat with the gp or gynae. I stressed so much about irregular bleeding but when I showed the gynae my calendar of bleeding it didn’t look half as bad once you looked at it logically. Keep busy and hopefully the scan will be soon xx

OP - how old are you?

Has your DH put you on his private health care yet?

If he has (and it will cover a pre-existing condition) get your GP to refer you to a gynae-oncologist. You'll probably get an appt in a week. They can rule out ovarian cancer (it's very rare) and then find out what is causing the bleeding and other symptoms.

It's disgraceful how the NHS expect women to put up with gynae problems.

I think many private health insurances will cover medical conditions that started in the last couple of years.

Dh couldn't add me... he can only add me in March! Very annoying. More annoyed we didn't take out our own private insurance when we looked into last year. I don't know if I get it now would they cover this or not....

I'm 35. I have no history of cancers in my family... thankfully but one website I looked at said IVF treatments can be a cause of it 🙄 fabulous. Not that I'd change doing it.

I know the chances are slim, rationally I know this! I should've pushed back more when the Gynae discharged me. Not that it would've done anything considering COVID kicked of a few weeks after my appointment. Chances are I would've have been seen that quickly anyway.

Really appreciate all the messages though. It's really helpful.

Xx

This has happened to me twice lately with a new partner. But it feels like damage. We use lubricant but skipped the foreplay both times it happened. But worried I'm gonna get hurt like this every time we have sex. He is rather well endowed.

Guess I just have to be more vocal about stopping if I think its going to happen again. And encourage him to...warm things up first.

Kudos to the guys though eh! For sticking around and not fainting at the sight if blood lol

Lol I've been with DH for 15 years and he's seen worse then a bit of blood from me.... he did nearly pass out at my colposcopy exam though..... seeing my cervix live on screen was far to much for him 😂

But do keep an eye on your bleeding and make sure your smear is up to date x

Hi,

Just wanted to update, although I have no real update! But I will keep updating incase anyone else ever come across this thread in the future.

I had an internal scan the week before Christmas. I've had one before, and it lasted ages and was really uncomfortable. This one lasted all of 2 minutes and she took about 3 measurements.
I was obviously listening as she read out the measurements to her assistant.
One ovary was 2.8 and the other one was over 4... my left one. Is that normal to have one bigger then the other?!
Which incidentally I've been having aches and period type pains on my left side since speaking to my GP.

Anyway, called GP for results and she said they were normal! Mentioned about the ovary measurements and she just said "the report says everything is normal" so I don't know if she could see the details or literally just a statement that said "all normal"

I mentioned I was now having discomfort, and that I was also now having spotting between periods... only the once but still.

She kind of said something like "let me see what else I can do..." and it was like she was ticking symptoms or something off a list on a computer or something....
So I'm now being referred back to gynaecology and I need to have a blood test.... but she said I'm on the 2 week pathway!! So I'm just waiting for an appointment and have to pick up my blood test form today.