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Go With the Flow

Female has noticed bothersome brown discharge after using hormonal birth control for several months. She notices it after manual stimulation on the fingers of her boyfriend, and also as general vaginal secretions. Instead of her period, this month she simply noticed a heavier brown discharge. What’s happening?

Case #: 1228

Concern：

I have been on birth control pills for almost 4 months. I am almost done with my fourth pack and about 2 1/2 weeks into it I began having a brown discharge. My boyfriend was fingering me and it was all over his fingers and he was grossed out. Ever since then I have continually been having the brown discharge, some days lighter than others. Today I was scheduled to start my period and noticed that the brown discharge was heavier than usual, but no blood. I am sexually active and use condoms. I've been checked and everything seems fine, but I am worried that something is wrong because this has never happened before. Do you have any idea what it could be?

Discussion：

I’m surprised your doctor didn’t tell you what the problem was when you went in for your checkup! You’re not suffering from anything abnormal or worrisome, the brown discharge is simply a little bit of old blood in your normal vaginal secretions. It’s completely safe, and you can even get it to go away if you just alter your hormone levels a small bit.

Haywire Hormones

The reason you’re having this extra blood in your vaginal mucus is due to the hormones in your birth control interacting with the hormones in your body. Your body naturally produces the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone, and these control your menstrual cycle. When you take hormonal birth control, the synthetic hormones in those pills can alter your menstrual cycle, among the other things they do to prevent pregnancy.

It is very common for women on birth control to experience issues with spotting. That’s what’s happening with you. The excess progesterone you’re taking in as birth control has overcome your body’s levels of estrogen, which means that your body isn’t getting the signal to stop flushing the lining of your uterus.

I’m Spotting and I Can’t Stop!

Progesterone drops normally occur once per month—which is when you’d normally menstruate. After that point, both estrogen and progesterone levels are supposed to rise, with the influx of estrogen stimulating the production of a new endometrium in the uterus for a potential egg to latch onto. Without the cleanse-combative effects of estrogen, your body will both not create a thick endometrium (which is one of the side effects of birth control anyways), but will also not get the memo that your period is over and that it’s time to stop expelling that lining—meaning you’re going to have light spotting for the entirety of your menstrual cycle.

It appears that your estrogen levels have been so reduced as to prevent the formation of anything other than a very minute endometrial lining. This is why you didn’t have a real period this month—there’s simply nothing in the uterus worth expelling.

Realign Your Menstruation

In order to stop the brown discharge, and get your menstruation back on track, you need to reintroduce estrogen into your hormonal system. I’m not saying that you should begin taking pure estrogen tablets or anything, simply that your body needs a little more estrogen to help process the extra progesterone. For that I recommend phytoestrogens, such as those found in Flax Seed Oil or Mexican Wild Yams—a natural solution to your body’s craving for estrogen.

Clean and Refresh

Besides that, you should consider boosting your body’s filtration and detoxification abilities. With better filtration, your body won’t store up so much progesterone, leading to less problems with hormone excesses. Better detoxification also helps with vaginal discharge, by purifying the deposits that are then excreted by the vagina. Believe it or not, many things you take in end up in your vaginal secretions—from glucose compounds to THC.

I recommend you try this specific herbal formula to help you with your discharge problem. (TRY: Herbal Tincture for Vaginal Discharge) It contains herbs that stimulate hormone production in your body, a good way to force your body to manage its own hormone levels, as well as herbs that foster better circulation and detoxification. I’m sure that after trying this remedy, you won’t notice that annoying brown discharge any longer. I wish you the best!