Spotting after sex

[gatesy08]

Hello!
So almost two weeks ago now my bf and I went to Mexico for vacation. I knew that for half of the time there I was going to be on my withdrawal week so I decided to skip my period by going from one pill pack to the next. We had sex a number of times while there, but the times where I had a orgasm, there was a tiny smear of blood on the toilet paper when I wiped after using the washroom right after we finished. If i wiped again the blood was gone. I will also note that this is my first I have skipped my period with my pills in a long time. I was worried so I went to the Dr. when I got home and she said it was breakthrough bleeding and the contractions from uterus caused the light spotting.
But now I'm too nervous to have sex again because I don't want to see blood. Everything I read online worries me.

Ps. I had a normal pap smear 2 months ago.

Thoughts?

Thank you!!

[Redskies]

Are you up-to-date with your STI testing? I know you said you saw a doctor and you had a pap smear a couple of months ago, but you didn't mention any STI testing, and it's important to be able to rule out STIs as a possible cause of spotting after sex.

It's very common to get some breakthrough bleeding or spotting when you run two pill packs together. What the doctor told you is exactly what we would tell you, provided that STIs can be ruled out.

What things are you reading that are worrying you? What's bad for you about seeing blood after sex?

[gatesy08]

Yes all testing up to date. Sorry I should have mentioned that too!

I was reading that seeing any blood after sex isn't normal and could be caused by very serious things such as polyps, fibrods, and cancer.

[Sam W]

Good to know. Since you talked to your doctor about these concerns, and I assume they asked you some questions in order to rule out other causes (if they didn't please correct me), then you can assume their diagnosis took those more serious possibilities into account and dismissed them.

[gatesy08]

She did ask about STI and when my last pap was. After that she said ok we can rule our anything cervical and again said it was my lining being shed from the sex. But I didn't bring up other cancers, fibroids etc. Because she didn't.
I will also note my bf and i had sex last night and there was no blood.

[gatesy08]

Anymore thoughts?

[Redskies]

There's nothing in the situation you're describing which would suggest any concern about any serious underlying cause. Your doctor likely didn't mention any serious conditions because there was truly no need to investigate or consider them.

A bit of spotting once every so often is something that we'd expect for anyone with a uterus. It's just a body being a body and being a bit quirky. If it's not common and it's not ongoing, there's no need for any medical concern. Too, occasional spotting is a common side-effect of the pill, so it's more likely that you might get spotting sometime. And, the real biggie here is that you skipped your placebo pills: when someone does that, it's truly no surprise that they may get some spotting. There's a very obvious and ordinary reason for you to have had the spotting you had

It's true that if someone starts seeing blood after sex repeatedly or often, that's a thing which should be checked with a healthcare provider. You did that, and you're all up-to-date with your sexual healthcare and testing: you're doing an awesome job of taking care of your sexual health, go you! You've got this.

Other than what you read when you looked online about this, is there any other reason you're thinking about serious illnesses?

[gatesy08]

Thanks so much for all of that reassuring information. I do suffer from healthy anxiety that I am seeing a therapist for. And when I spotted after sex a few times during that week I skipped my placebo pills it really scared me. Especially when googling your symptoms always points to cancer. Thanks for you help again and giving me the props!

[Mo]

In all honesty, I think stepping away from google any time you have a health question or concern is one of the greatest things you can do for your own mental health. The internet is good for many things, but pretty terrible at providing medical advice or insight.

[gatesy08]

Thanks, Mo!

[Mo]

You're welcome.