Scarleteen

I posted on here a few months ago that I hadn't had any sort of bleeding for the last 2 months on my mirena IUD. Well, as of last night, I'm having spotting to light bleeding. What the heck is going on??? I have a gyno appointment in two days to get things checked out but I am concerned it could be a sign of either my birth control being compromised, implantation bleeding, or of my IUD perforating my uterus!

I did just recently go through an extremely stressful time of my life and I know it took quite a toll on my body, but would that cause bleeding? Also, as stated before, my boyfriend and I always use condoms in addition to my IUD whenever we have sex, so Im not sure if there's even a legit risk of pregnancy. The only issue we have had with a condom was three days ago before any bleeding started, where I was really dry (to the point of pain) and the condom came off inside me after he finished. I apologize for any TMI in the next part but I want to be clear. The opening of the condom wasn't inside me or anything, just the tip of the condom was in me and the rest was dangling out. I was on top so it didn't empty onto me at all, my boyfriend wasn't so lucky.

To the point, I am concerned about why the heck I'm bleeding all of a sudden and if I should be worried about my birth control being compromised or something serious. I know my gyno will probably have some good answers, but I am impatient and quite frankly, worried.

How long have you had the IUD? Your last topic mentioned no bleeding for two years but this one says two months?

If you've only had the IUD for a couple of months, this is likely just your body still adjusting to the IUD and coming to a hormonal balance.

If you've had the IUD for a while, spotting to light bleeding is most likely a sign that your IUD may have been knocked slightly out of place. An IUD knocked out of place is still effective, but a doctor's appointment to readjust it is in order.
Do you know where your IUD strings normally sit? Do they still feel even to one each other and feel like usual length? How about your IUD - can you feel it? These are signs that your IUD could have been displaced and placement needs to be corrected by the doctor.

I'm not sure where you read about IUDs perforating the uterus, but not only is this very rare, it's also extremely serious. You'd have a lot more and a lot more intense symptoms than a little bit of spotting if your IUD had perforated your uterus, and if your doctor thought this was at all possible, they should have suggested you go to the emergency room. Symptoms of uterus perforation include dizziness and fainting, pain in abdomen, blood in stool, severe/excessive vaginal bleeding, appearance of bruising in abdomen, difficulty breathing, and rapid heartbeat. I know it's tempting when things change to jump to the worst conclusion and read scare stories that psych you out, but try not to put yourself through this! We rarely experience the extreme odds - we usually experience much more mild and common happenings.

Implantation bleeding also doesn't sound too likely, as you have an IUD and it doesn't sound like you really did anything that would put you at risk of pregnancy.

It's good that you made the appointment with your gyno. You're right that they'll have the best answers for you!

horriblegoose wrote:How long have you had the IUD? Your last topic mentioned no bleeding for two years but this one says two months?

If you've only had the IUD for a couple of months, this is likely just your body still adjusting to the IUD and coming to a hormonal balance.

If you've had the IUD for a while, spotting to light bleeding is most likely a sign that your IUD may have been knocked slightly out of place. An IUD knocked out of place is still effective, but a doctor's appointment to readjust it is in order.
Do you know where your IUD strings normally sit? Do they still feel even to one each other and feel like usual length? How about your IUD - can you feel it? These are signs that your IUD could have been displaced and placement needs to be corrected by the doctor.

I'm not sure where you read about IUDs perforating the uterus, but not only is this very rare, it's also extremely serious. You'd have a lot more and a lot more intense symptoms than a little bit of spotting if your IUD had perforated your uterus, and if your doctor thought this was at all possible, they should have suggested you go to the emergency room. Symptoms of uterus perforation include dizziness and fainting, pain in abdomen, blood in stool, severe/excessive vaginal bleeding, appearance of bruising in abdomen, difficulty breathing, and rapid heartbeat. I know it's tempting when things change to jump to the worst conclusion and read scare stories that psych you out, but try not to put yourself through this! We rarely experience the extreme odds - we usually experience much more mild and common happenings.

Implantation bleeding also doesn't sound too likely, as you have an IUD and it doesn't sound like you really did anything that would put you at risk of pregnancy.

It's good that you made the appointment with your gyno. You're right that they'll have the best answers for you!

Sorry!! I have had the IUD for about 2 years, not 2 months. And, if it is knocked out of place, despite my mishap with a condom three days ago, I should still be protected? I can feel my strings and they do feel pretty normal- they move around sometimes but I know that can happen due to the cervix moving. I can't feel my IUD so I know it hasn't actually like come out of my uterus or is partially expelled.

It's not unusual to experience some spotting or light bleeding with an IUD, even if you've gone a while without experiencing it. I think it's great that you have an appointment coming up, but nothing you've described sounds like a sign of any underlying issue with your IUD. Hopefully your doctor can put these worries to rest more definitively in a couple days.

Mo wrote:It's not unusual to experience some spotting or light bleeding with an IUD, even if you've gone a while without experiencing it. I think it's great that you have an appointment coming up, but nothing you've described sounds like a sign of any underlying issue with your IUD. Hopefully your doctor can put these worries to rest more definitively in a couple days.

Thank you so much! Is there any reason why the bleeding may happen? Im kind of curious. Also, does it matter the color of bleeding? Mine has been pretty light red, almost pink, to kind of a red-brown color.

Looking at Mirena's own information about bleeding or spotting, they don't discuss why it might specifically happen after not occurring for most of the past couple years, only that it's possible and is often irregular. I do think this is likely to fall under the "irregular" umbrella and not be a sign of a problem.

Mo wrote:Looking at Mirena's own information about bleeding or spotting, they don't discuss why it might specifically happen after not occurring for most of the past couple years, only that it's possible and is often irregular. I do think this is likely to fall under the "irregular" umbrella and not be a sign of a problem.

Okay thank you! Is there any reason why the bleeding would be a certain color or is that not something that could really tell me anything? It started pink and then has been brown for the last 24 hours

It really depends, but on the whole, any uterine or vaginal bleeding can be in that range without cause for concern. But since you have your GYN appointment tomorrow, I'd just try and relax about all this for tonight and bring your concerns into them tomorrow.

Hey Jellyfish,

I wanted to flag that it's possible since you mentioned during the recent condom incident that you were really dry that you are actually seeing spotting because the friction against your vaginal walls and/or cervix caused some localized tissue trauma or blood vessel damage, which isn't uncommon when things are a little dry. Usually bleeding after sex due to dryness/friction happens pretty soon after sex, but in some cases you might not see any spotting until a day or two later. (If this is the issue, and you want to forestall it in the future, I advise using lube! But not an oil-based lube, which damages latex condoms).

But definitely see what your gyno says about any concerns re: the IUD!

I don't mean to pile on, so if the posts in your thread are getting too overwhelming, let me know, Jellyfish!

I just wanted to add that the tint of period blood is usually due to some pretty simple reasons.
First: concentration - or how much blood there is. The lighter your flow, the less concentration of blood there is, so it can appear light/pale. The heavier your flow, the higher concentration of blood there is, so it can appear brighter/darker. Think of food coloring in water. If you want a more striking color, you add more drops of food coloring. Same theory.
Second: age - or how long the blood has had to oxidize. Especially near the end of your flow, you may sometimes experience blood that is very dark red, almost brown, in color. That's because this blood is often older and trickling out slower, so it has more time to oxidize and become darker, just like rusting metal.

Hope that helps satiate your curiosity!