Brown periods with clots: causes and treatment

Typically, periods are rich in color in the first days. On days 3-4, the discharge becomes duller. During menstruation, endometrial remains are released mixed with blood. Brown periods with clots can have various causes. First of all, you should pay attention to the time when such discharge appears.

Brownish discharge may occur during pregnancy. In this case, they are not menstruation. If the condition is accompanied by extraneous symptoms, consult a doctor. The doctor will conduct an examination and prescribe the required tests. Only a doctor can determine the true cause of the disorder.

Sometimes during pregnancy there may be brownish discharge

Causes of brown discharge with clots

There are many factors that contribute to the appearance of brown discharge with clots. Such changes may be associated with ectopic pregnancy, abortion, the onset of menopause, exposure to stress, and hormonal disorders. The following can also provoke an uncharacteristic secretion:

• anemia;
• accelerated blood clotting process;
• injuries in the pelvic area;
• taking oral contraceptives;
• following a strict diet;
• excessive physical activity;
• prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays;
• various pathologies of the genitourinary system.

Brown menstruation in itself is not dangerous. You just need to identify the reasons for their appearance.

In adolescence, when hormonal levels are just developing, this symptom is considered an acceptable norm. If such changes are observed during reproductive age, they often indicate serious problems in the body.

Why do clots appear?

If your periods are bright scarlet in color, this is a sign of heavy blood loss, which often indicates uterine fibroids or endometriosis. If the discharge is darkened, then there is less blood in it than normal, it takes a long time to move from the uterus to the vagina, and hemoglobin is destroyed during this time.

Small clots during menstruation should not frighten a woman; they are just part of the endometrium that normally leaves the uterus. If there are too many clots or they are large, the cause may be a dangerous condition - endometriosis. It is especially dangerous if the process is accompanied by pain in the ovarian area. You should immediately consult a doctor, because endometriosis is considered by many specialists to be a precancerous condition.

Change in the color of your period

During menstruation, a deep red discharge is normally observed, indicating detachment and release of the endometrium along with an unfertilized fertilized egg. For this reason, small capillaries are damaged and menstruation appears. The closer the hemoglobin cells are to the vaginal outlet, the darker the regulae become.

Scanty brown periods are often observed while taking hormonal medications. The discharge may become darker if there is a small amount of oxygen in the vagina.

Discharge in the middle of the cycle

Ovulation occurs in the middle of the menstrual cycle. During this period, the secretion may acquire a brown tint due to the opening of the follicle and the introduction of the egg into the cavity of the reproductive organ. Such changes are considered normal.

Menstrual bleeding with clots that appears in the middle of the cycle is observed for the following reasons:

• taking hormonal contraceptives;
• lack of ovulation;
• neoplasms in the genitourinary system;
• a sharp decrease in body weight;
• intense physical activity;
• stress.

Heavy bleeding during this period is a reason for immediate contact with a gynecologist.

Discharge before menstruation

Women note that they sometimes get brown clots before their period. Such discharge is observed a couple of days before the onset of menstruation. There is no cause for concern in this case. Such symptoms indicate that the endometrium has begun to exfoliate and regulation will soon come. After a few days, the functional layer will begin to be rejected more intensely, and red discharge will appear.

If such symptoms are observed for no more than three days and are not accompanied by pain and general malaise, then they can be regarded as a variant of the norm.

Discharge instead of menstruation

Brown clots that appear instead of menstruation indicate that normal periods have not yet occurred. There is a delay in critical days and similar changes are observed during heavy physical exertion and stressful situations. Hormonal contraceptives, low hemoglobin levels, weakened immunity and rapid weight loss can provoke cycle disruption.

Clots in the discharge

Brown periods with clots should not be a cause for concern. During this period, the endometrium exfoliates, its particles come out. Causes of concern are an increase in the amount of menstruation and large blood clots, especially in cases where the woman experiences severe discomfort. Such symptoms indicate the development of endometriosis. With this disease, the endometrium thickens and grows excessively. The appendages and peritoneal cavity are affected.

Content

1. Why do clots come out during menstruation?
2. Menstruation with clots: reasons
3. Menstruation with clots: reasons
4. Brown periods with clots: treatment

Some women experience brown periods with clots.
Often they are not a sign of serious illness. But still, if you find blood clots during your period, consult your doctor and undergo an examination to determine the cause of their occurrence. We will try to understand the main reasons why periods come in clots further in the article.

Brown discharge during pregnancy

Discharge with a brown tint is an acceptable option only in early pregnancy, when the fertilized egg is introduced into the cavity of the reproductive organ. This symptom appears once and lasts for a short time.

Implantation of the embryo into the uterine wall

The appearance of brown clots, which are accompanied by severe pain, indicates a violation of the integrity of the endometrium. In this case, there is a serious threat of miscarriage. You should immediately seek help from a doctor. Even minor spotting in a pregnant woman, observed in the second or third trimester, is a reason for an urgent visit to the gynecologist.

Brown discharge during the postpartum period

After childbirth, there is the appearance of copious bleeding - lochia. Such symptoms are a variant of the norm. During this period, the uterus actively contracts and is cleared of amniotic tissue. Over time, the bleeding becomes less profuse and turns brown.

Causes of darkening of periods

The question of why periods are brown concerns almost every woman at some point. If we discard the assumption of stagnant blood, there can be many reasons for brown discharge, and they are not so harmless. One of them is a strict diet that deprives the female body of essential beneficial microelements. Because of this, a malfunction could occur in the reproductive processes of the cycle, and either the periods will be dark brown or not at all. You shouldn’t joke about such things, since such disorders can ultimately lead to polycystic ovary syndrome, and as a result, infertility. Heavy physical activity can also cause failure.

Constant stress, lack of sleep and bad habits contribute to incorrect functioning of the genital organs, resulting in dark brown periods. All these factors influence the complex hormonal system of a woman, where the slightest inaccuracy of work results in serious problems. Therefore, in order to establish the reasons for the appearance of brown periods, you first need to examine the hormonal levels for abnormalities.

In the case when darkening of the blood during menstruation is not the only symptom, but at the same time you experience a migraine and dizziness, cramps in the lower abdomen, nausea - these are signs of the following diseases:

1. Inflammatory processes of the pelvic organs caused by hypothermia, as well as sexually transmitted infections - human papillomavirus, herpes, chlamydia, etc.
2. After surgery, including abortion, surgery on the uterus, ovaries, removal of cysts.
3. Problems in the functioning of the ovaries. Often black or brown periods indicate polycystic ovary syndrome.
4. Failure in the hypothalamic-pituitary connection with the ovaries, as a result of which ovulation does not occur. In a third of women, problems with conception are associated with disruption of the endocrine system.
5. Difficult pregnancy, including ectopic.
6. Endometritis is inflammation of the endometrial layer. Endometriosis is an enlargement of the endometrial layer much larger than normal. The main symptom of endometriosis is when your periods are brown and contain large quantities of clots. A little discharge of clots during menstruation is normal.
7. Cervical erosion - ulcers and damage to the mucous membrane of the cervix from the vagina.
8. Endometrial polyps are benign formations on the endometrial layer that can cause discomfort in the lower abdomen and also cause infertility.
9. Thyroid disease.
10. Diabetes.

External factors

Brown menstruation with clots appears during intense physical exertion, stressful situations, after surgery, abortion and installation of an intrauterine device. Often, similar symptoms are observed as a result of taking oral contraceptives. All these factors have an impact on the reproductive system, as a result, the nature of the discharge undergoes significant changes.

Bleeding in the postoperative period and after abortion

After surgery and abortive measures, brownish discharge appears. They often contain dark clots. Initially, this is heavy bleeding, accompanied by pain, which gradually turns into spotting. As a rule, they are observed within a week.

One month after the operation, menstruation begins. They may be more abundant than usual, but after a few cycles they become normal.

Intrauterine device

Brown periods with clots are observed after the installation of an intrauterine device. Their appearance is caused by the body’s rejection of a foreign body and the creation of an obstacle to the normal outflow of blood. As a rule, after several cycles such symptoms are no longer observed.

If the discharge continues to bother the woman for a longer period and is accompanied by other symptoms, then you need to seek help from a gynecologist. Most likely, you will have to choose another method of contraception.

Contraceptive drugs

The appearance of brown regula with clots indicates an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone. Such changes occur due to the use of oral contraceptives. During the first three months after starting their use, bleeding may occur outside of menstruation.

Emergency contraception can cause such changes. These drugs contain a large number of hormones that affect reproductive function.

You can resort to the use of such medications no more than twice a year. Systematic use of such drugs can have a detrimental effect on the body and lead to infertility.

Signs of normal periods

The starting point of the cycle is the first day of menstruation. After 28–35 days it will happen again. Discharge lasting from 4 days to a week is considered normal. The average intensity of menstrual flow is approximately 50 ml of blood per day. But depending on the day of menstruation, the amount of bleeding is not uniform - the peak occurs on days 1 and 2.

The color of the discharge can also depend on the day of the cycle and sometimes dark-colored periods do not pose a threat. Let's look at the types of discharge and under what circumstances they occur:

1. Dark periods may occur early in the cycle. It’s okay if the first day of this period begins with brown menstruation - it’s just old blood, which is why it turned brown. The next day, the discharge should be more scarlet, and only if this does not happen, then health problems are possible. The first or second cycle in adolescents can also begin with very dark periods. The same symptom is often observed in women during menopause, when menstruation ceases to be regular.
2. Unusual light periods with an orange tint that smear rather than go on are a bad sign. If this is accompanied by a sour odor or similar to rotten fish, then there is a sexually transmitted infection.
3. The pink color of the discharge, which only vaguely resembles the presence of blood, may be normal at the very beginning of menstruation and at the end. The secretion of the glands of the female reproductive system is always released with the blood, sometimes it can be more than usual. Women suffering from anemia may have pink periods all the time. Therefore, if you are familiar with a similar symptom, do not put off visiting a doctor. If menstruation has always been small and with light discharge, this may be a feature of the body that has been passed down through the female line. In this case, your health is not in danger.
4. Red and dark red discharge is considered an indicator of health.

Menopause

During the period of decline of reproductive function, sex hormones begin to be produced in insufficient quantities. For this stage of life, a missed period is considered normal. As menopause approaches, menstrual bleeding disappears completely. Instead, brown discharge containing clots is often observed.

Changing the nature of menstruation is sometimes considered a normal physiological process. In some situations, the appearance of brown clots indicates the development of the disease. Every woman needs to know how to recognize natural changes in the body and be able to distinguish them from a pathological process. Due to this, it will be possible to identify the disease in a timely manner and avoid the development of complications.

Methods for diagnosing the disease

The main diagnostic method is ultrasound to examine the kidneys and reproductive system in women in order to exclude or confirm the presence of pathology in the ovaries, uterus, and pituitary gland.

If dark brown discharge begins, an MRI may additionally be prescribed to examine the thyroid gland.

It is important to identify the true causes accompanied by negative symptoms, the main symptom being dark periods. Diagnostic methods may vary. First of all, the gynecologist will study the anamnesis and medical history of the patients, conduct an external visual examination of the genital organs using mirrors, take a smear for cytology in order to study the vaginal microflora for the possible latent course of an infectious process or gynecological disease.

Light menstrual flow

It is believed that the concept of “light periods” does not exist. After all, menstrual fluid is the cells of the upper layer of the endometrium lining the uterus, which has many red blood cells. But they are also complemented by the mucus produced by the reproductive organs, which has light shades. And if it predominates in monthly discharge, this is almost always evidence of problems with the genitourinary system, including:

• Infections and inflammations. For example, candidiasis produces a cheesy mass that irritates the mucous membrane and therefore causes itching of the genitals. Because of it, cycle disorders may also occur, then a woman may mistake this discharge for menstruation, which it is not. Yellow menses with a putrid odor occur with venereal diseases;
• Hormonal disorders. In such a case, the culprits may be not only the hormone-producing ovaries, but the pituitary gland, adrenal glands and thyroid gland;
• Cervical erosion or other inflammation. One of the symptoms is watery periods or with white clots. They will not be like this throughout the entire menstruation, but in its first days, the active secretion of watery mucus can cause legitimate anxiety;
• An exacerbation of a viral infection not related to the reproductive system can provoke the appearance of whitish discharge during the expected period. If the cycle is also disrupted, the woman is sure that her period has begun;
• Endometritis and endocervicitis in chronic form mean pathological changes in the cells that form the basis of menstrual flow. In the first case, they grow into the muscles of the uterus and affect the lymphatic vessels. Therefore, menstruation is observed to be liquid like water, especially at the beginning and end of the process. They look like dirty spots on the gasket;
• Chronic stress can cause a delay in menstruation along with large amounts of clear leucorrhoea, which can be mistaken for the beginning of a new cycle. In this case, it almost always gets confused, so mistaking them for regular blood flow is not surprising.

If you start having white discharge instead of your period, this is most likely a sign of pregnancy. A fertilized egg needs protection from infections, to which the body is especially susceptible during this period. Therefore, the cervix actively produces mucus, which is such a shield. But even in these circumstances, white discharge can be pathological, because pregnancy does not guarantee the absence of diseases.

Problem identification and therapy

Self-medication and copying other people's diagnoses are useless here, because without the help of a doctor you will not be able to determine what disease led to dark brown blood during menstruation. To identify the problem, the gynecologist will first need the results of an ultrasound of the pelvic organs and the conclusion of blood tests for hormones. Then, during the examination, the doctor will take a smear for tumor markers to exclude the possibility of malignant tumors appearing in the body.

If the problem lies in hormonal imbalance, then the doctor will prescribe Duphaston or Utrozhestan 2 tablets per day with an interval of 12 hours between doses. The drugs are taken from the 14th day of the cycle until the 26th, then the use should be stopped until the next 14th day of the cycle. These drugs normalize the level of progesterone in a woman’s body, which was not enough to create a sufficient amount of the endometrial layer in the uterus, due to which menstruation is scanty and has an unnatural color.

The doctor prescribes the duration of taking the hormone individually. Typically, 3 months are enough to restore progesterone. If the deviation from the norm is not large, the course takes only a month.

If cysts occur on the reproductive organs, the gynecologist may prescribe surgical intervention, or consider it possible to get rid of the disease with the help of medications.

Doctors recommend getting checked by specialists for inflammatory or infectious diseases once every six months.

In cases where pathogenic organisms are detected, both partners will have to undergo treatment, otherwise it will not have an effect.