Brown Blood?? Period or not???

[butterfli1302]

Okay so first a little background: I have PCOS and HPV (Subclinical - not the warts..the one that causes cervical cancer). Doc said I'd never have kids..well it took me a long time and I did it...I had a baby back in 2011 after 2 miscarriages...well I had my mirena taken out January 15, 2013. I had a period on January 18, 2013..so since the period was so fast, I figured my pregnancy had cured my PCOS (Also with the fact I had my first period exactly 6 weeks after delivery...the 2nd period...exactly 4 weeks later, then i had the mirena inserted). Well the thoughts of the PCOS being gone quickly disappeared when I didn't have another period..I finally had one around July 6-12 medium to heavy flow and normal red...(I was in hospital when I had this period..I had been taking metphormin and docs think it caused me to have abdominal cramping and diarrhea...but I've taken the metphormin for years in the past for the PCOS) So..anyways..I stopped the metphormin...and something weird happened on Aug 24, 2013...I started having a dark brown discharge...very light..onlu when i wiped..no need for tampon, pad, or panty liner. Sometimes it would have a VERY LIGHT pink hue to it..but never much..and it lasted EXACTLY a week. I even went to the doctor on Aug 26 to have it checked out..all doctor said was "You have blood in your pee.." (LIKE DUH!!! I'm Bleeding outta my vagina you twit!) & "It's nothing but old blood!" (Naw, ya think??!!!???!!) Idiot Doctor! Well I didn't have time for another trip to doc because I was head to beach on Aug 28 for my Bday on the 1 of September. I woke up on Aug 31 and no more bleeding...so I waited a few days and took a HPT..negative (I took one bc I heard a lot of people say that brown (old) blood could be a sign of a fertilized egg implanting or signs of a miscarriage if followed by bright red, clumpy blood. Well I had no bright red, clumpy blood...so I thought I was pregnant..but I wasn't..and so I've kind of just let that occurance go. Well...a couple of days ago I started spotting the same brown blood...yesterday morning it was much more and even had some red in it..so I put a tampon in...I took that one out after 6 hours and put another one in...and when I took that one out 6 hours later..it only had a few spots on it..I didn't wear anything when I went to sleep last night..woke up this am and my blood has magically stopped! Could this be implantation or a really messed up period...I don't have the time to go to the doctor for them to just tell me its old blood! But I do have a doc appt on Friday 10.11.13. I hope I get some answers. Anyone have any ideas??????

[butterfli1302]

Well I do have poly cystic ovarian syndrome...I've known I've had it for about 12 years now..but I think once was just a fluke but twice...with it happening twice with just around 6 weeks between occurances...it makes me a little nervous

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Brown vaginal discharge is most often associated with old endometrial tissues. In other words, if your period is late you might get a brown, rather than red, discharge. It could also mean that for whatever reason during your last menses the entire uterine lining failed to make a timely exit. This brown vaginal blood with discharge can also be due to your old blood retained after periods or it can possibly be implantation bleeding in case you are pregnant.
Other causes could be polycystic ovarian syndrome, diseases of pituitary gland, hormonal imbalance of estrogen and progesterone and uterine abnormalities like fibroid and  cervical dysplasia.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.