Blood Clods, is it ok

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-14-2004
Blood Clods, is it ok
2
Thu, 10-14-2004 - 7:10am
Hi, I posted about a month ago about restarting birth control and when to start it so that my period doesnt fall on my wedding date, Nov. 6th. I started my pills just as I was about to get my cycle naturally. Needless to say, I bled and spotted for the majority of this month. I Just started the period as predicted with the pills. Its my second day into the period and I usually experience cramping most of the first day. Well I did, but they were probably the worst ones I ever felt. This morning, I found a blood clot, or what I thought to be one, the size of a half dollar. This really scared me, b/c the largest blood clots I'd ever had have been about the size of a pea. My horrible cramps went away and now Im fine, but I am wondering if that is what caused them. Is this normal?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 10-14-2004 - 7:25am
I used to get blood clots all the time before I started the pill, and often they were that size! And I also had heinous cramps. Different pills have given me different types of periods, but what I've typically experienced is that the cramps go with the clots and the bigger they are, the worse the cramps are. When I've had STD tests and they've taken samples from the cervical canal that it cramps then too--it might be that disturbance to the cervix might cause cramps, even though I've never read it anywhere, it just seems to make sense.

The clot may not actually be a clot, it may be a piece of endometrial tissue--this can be normal when you have your period, as you're shedding the excess tissue and the blood vessels that have developed within it. Is it freaky? You bet, if you're not used to it!

Now you started your pills toward the end of a natural cycle, just before your regular period? And then you didn't have your regular period but had breakthrough bleeding through much of the pack of pills? If that's the case, this wouldn't seem to be too unusual--you normally develop more endometrium off the pill than on, and then when you combine that with an additional three weeks of development (it develops during the active pills too), there's going to be more to get rid of than normal which can mean more cramps and clotting.

You can always call your doctor to double-check, but I'd wager that next month will be better.

I hope that helps!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-14-2004
Thu, 10-14-2004 - 11:36am
Thanks for your help, that really eased my mind. I was worried something was wrong. :)