Menstrual cycle all out of whack...what could be causing it?

[Oliver'sMom]

After my second child was born, I had the luxury of not getting my period until he was 16 months old.  However, since it has returned, it has been very irregular and increasingly longer.  About 6 months ago, I started having a black flaky discharge for about a week before my regular period would start.  Gradually over these past 6 months, my regular period has become much more heavy and painful, and in the last 3 months or so I've started passing golf ball sized clots at the end of my cycle.

So currently, I'm only getting about 10 days where I'm not discharging something.  During that time I'm having major PMS symptoms and a ton of cramping.  Then I get the black flakes for a week, the heavy bleeding for another week, then the clotting for the third week.

I went to the doctor yesterday to discuss this.  He did a pelvic exam and said my right ovary was very large and suspected a cyst or two.  I wasn't on my period at all for the visit, but started bleeding during the exam and pap.  Doc said my uterus was very "inflamed".  I'll get the results of the pap in a couple of days.  Last night I was in a tremendous amount of pain from the exam.  The doctor wasn't overly rough or anything, but I was hurting a lot.

I'm getting my blood drawn today to check my thyroid, etc.  I'm also still nursing my 27 month old, and when I told this to the doctor he seemed convinced right away that that was the culprit behind all this, but I'm not really buying it.  Could extended nursing affect your cycle so drastically and negatively?  The doctor said that if the blood tests come back normal, I should consider weaning.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?  My pelvic exam was normal besides the two things I mentioned.  Are my hormones all out of whack from breastfeeding?

[Oliver'sMom]

bumping...hoping for some input
 

[Cyllya]

Well, I don't have much help, but I wanted to sympathize. My symptoms are a little different than yours, but it could be a related problem. About a year ago, I had missing or sparse periods for a couple months, and then they became longer and more frequent until I bled everyday for three months. I didn't get painfully large chunks until after I started the birth control, but there were oddly numerous small chunks. Sometimes I've had days where the blood flow is so heavy that I go through a "extra-heavy flow, overnight" disposable pad in two hours! I end up limping around everywhere because I can feel it gushing out and I'm worried I'll leak on my clothes at work. Fortunately it's not usually that heavy.

The doctors tested everything and couldn't figure out what was wrong, and they finally gave me birth control pills. I took it for three months, and it stopped the symptoms, but about two months after I stopped taking it, I'm bleeding daily again. *sigh*

I'm not nursing, have never nursed, and have never been pregnant. My blood tests were all normal except that I had weirdly high testosterone. I had a transvag ultrasound which was normal except that there was a small (6-8 mm) uterine fibroid on the outside of my uterus, which my gyno described as "like a mole, basically" and said it couldn't possibly be the cause since it was on the outside.

[Oliver'sMom]

Thanks for your reply!

It seems like I have yet to meet a doctor who understands the female body at all, and in my experience, instead of a doctor just telling me that they don't know what is wrong or what is going on, they just keep ordering tests and charging gobs of money.  Or they give me a pill and hope it works.

I'm sorry you're going through something similar.  Hope we both find some answers soon!
 

[Haveagreatday]

Just as a suggestion.Maybe try resetting your "Circadian Rhythm".That might help reset the oscillators in the cells of your cycle.

[Oliver'sMom]

Originally Posted by Haveagreatday 

Just as a suggestion.Maybe try resetting your "Circadian Rhythm".That might help reset the oscillators in the cells of your cycle.

And how do I go about doing that? :)  Does that mean that I try to go to bed and wake up at the same time everyday?  I usually do that within a half hour on either side (morning/night)

[haveagreatday2]

I'm by no means pretending to be a doctor,first-and-foremost.which sorry,(i should have pointed out when i first posted here) but i do read constantly on many subjects,so its purely a harmless suggestion. Nothing substitutes professional care at anytime,which I'm sure you're more than aware of,but sometimes there are simple solutions.
Do you have any sleeping disorders: I.e. "Sleep Apnea"? If you are overweight it could affect your uvula which hangs from the back of your throat . It could possibly disrupt your sleep cycle by affecting your breathing at night.This could possibly cause the circadian to be off,which in turn could potentially contribute to dis-regulation of the cycle and other factors as well(not sure about the clots...etc, but maybe that as well. Hopefully your doctor can help you get to the bottom of it.

Best of luck to you and the newborn:)