I am 23 years old and the mother of one.
Preceding my first pregnancy, I was in the
best physical shape I could be in. My
daughter is nearly 3, and, although i'm
not in bad shape, i'm not the 20 year old
hardbody I was, and I certainly don't eat
or exercise the way I should. I have been
on birth control for only 6 months--with
no plans to have another child for at
least 2 years. Before I had my daughter I
was on birth control for about 2 years. I
had regular periods with the normal
cramping that lasted about 5 days. After
I had her, my periods returned to normal,
even though I was no longer on birth
control. Shortly before she turned a year
old, my periods got strange, ending in
this thick, black, sticky mess after seven
days. Eventually, the old-fashioned birth
control method (pull & pray) my
husband & I were using started getting
tedious & we decided I should try
birth control both for our peace of mind
(we didn't want any more children yet) as
well as to possible make my periods normal
again. The birth control pills both
shortened my period to a mere 4 days with
no cramping and got rid of the black
stuff. So, here I am, 6 months later with
a period that was 2 weeks early and still
going on. It began with a slight, reddish
brown, thin discharge; progressed to a
heavier, dark brown flow; and went on to a
thick, black, tar-like mess that had me
changing tampons/pads like crazy.
Yesterday (4/4/05) was the day I would
have started taking the "inactive" pills
and prepare for my period to start, and
this black stuff is just starting to taper
off. Now it's a thinner dark brown mess
with black chunks. Is this a miscarriage
or some freak period or cancer or what? I
should maybe mention that for the last
year or so I have been having the most
murderous headaches imaginable. They come
on instantly with sharp, stabbing pain.
Doctors have written them off as stress
and tension headaches, but "not ruled out
a brain tumor." I don't have the money for
a brain scan, so I just take my ibuprofen
and pray when they are at their worst.
Maybe, maybe not related to my current
problem...
