Scarleteen

I've had my period for quite sometime now and only just became aware that "clotting" can be dangerous or bad for you. I've never paid attention to my period blood in depth because it was always the same month after month and no one really ever told me that I should be checking for color and consistency. My period often comes out as a slimy, almost syrup texture that stays in tact as it touches the water, as in doesn't immediately disperse like liquid blood would, and it's usually a darker red but nothing near black. Is that the same thing as a clot? If so, I have them pretty often and they're pretty decently sized so I'm sort of wondering if I could be in danger from this?

Clotting during your period is actually normal. I've had it happen before. The only problem seems to be if the blood clots are really heavy because it might mean you're losing too much blood, but it's hard to tell because some people's periods are just heavier than others. I would try to pay attention to how you feel - there are a lot of normal pains that come with menstruation of course but if anything seems out of the ordinary that's when I would go see someone.

I do want to clarify something - what you might notice as large, dark clumps in your menstrual flow aren't the same thing as blood clots that cause health problems - those are blood clots within your veins that can stop the proper flow of blood through your circulatory system. There are various health factors that can increase your chances of those kinds of clotting happening, and if you're at risk of that (or worry you might be), you can talk to your doctor about this.

However, what you're noticing in terms of your period texture isn't the same thing. Menstrual flow isn't made up of just blood, although people often talk about it like it is, since visually it can look so much like blood. Blood is part of it, for sure, but mixed in with that blood is the lining of your uterus that build up over the previous cycle that's also being shed. What look like blood "clots" are larger bits of that tissue, mixed with blood; they are totally normal and not something you need to worry about.