Bloooood

[flexagon]

Such a weird heavy period. I had probably the worst cramps on Tuesday that I've had since college, and couldn't do much besides flop around on the bed reading with a heating pad on my lower belly. That sucked. But the weirder thing, or maybe 100% related, is, um, the tissue clumps that have come along a couple of days later. Waking up to the feeling of a hygiene disaster-in-progress is one thing, but in the shower today there was a clump I had to pick back up because it clearly wasn't going down the drain. It was pretty darn solid... more like the body of a small mouse, or the heart of a medium-sized dog, than like blood or the usual tissue-wisps. Perhaps I'll start giving birth to small mammals next.

The functioning of the female body is a central topic in my current book, The Crimson Petal and the White, and I would love to read Michel Faber taking on that little scene. I'm not the writer he is... which might be lucky for you, all things considered.

Comments

[coraline]

yeah those cramps are 100% related to clot sizes, and i'm so sorry. cervical dilation is just never comfortable :(

[flexagon]

Fascinating! Well at least I've learned something.

[angelofthenorth]

Do you have fibroids?

[flexagon]

No, or at least I never have...

[angelofthenorth]

Just wondering because it was how a friend described hers...

[meepettemu]

Sounds very like mine - an ultrasound found a fibroid 4x the size of a standard uterus and I got a hysterectomy as a result.

Also I love that book :)

[melebeth]

Yeah, I am constantly passing large clots, and they're very linked to cramp intensity. (And are the result of my dozens of fibroids.)

[flexagon]

Nobody has ever found a fibroid in my checkups, so I'm assuming this is just a natural variation in my cycle, but if it keeps up I'll certainly ask about it in my next annual prodding.

[apfelsingail]

If it's a one-off, you're probably safe. Although fibroids are really common, they're just often asymptomatic so people don't know they have them unless they actually cause issues.

But yeah, if it happens again- heat, hot tea, stay well hydrated. Cramps are yucky.