The Shot You Should Have Forgot - Black Discharge With Frequent Cramps

Woman is experiencing a lot of black discharge and cramping after giving birth sex months prior and then having a birth control shot. Her period has become extremely irregular and often. Is this an issue to be concerned about?

Case #: 648

Concern：

Hi, I’m asking this for my wife. She had a baby about 6 months ago, and since then she has had a lot of black discharge and an unusually high amount of cramps. Her menstrual cycle has not been regular whatsoever. It fluctuates from about every 1-2 weeks; which to me is really often. I am a little concerned about this. Neither she nor I can afford medical care at the moment, and we would like to know if this something that we should be concerned about. She had a birth control shot shortly after the child was born, but it was the one you were supposed to get every 3 months and she has not had it since early January or late December. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thank you.

Discussion：

My first suggestion is to make an appointment at Planned Parenthood, or any other free clinic you can find. You can find help there without having insurance. It’s usually even free. I think that these issues are the result of the birth control shot interacting with your wife’s post pregnancy body; however, I think you will need a professional prescription to stabilize her body. The black discharge is the least of your worries in this instance.

Black discharge is simply old blood; because your wife is cycling abnormally, her body is continually holding back blood that should have been released. This results in a dark brown or black discharge at her next menstruation. In my research on your problem, I discovered that continuous bleeding is one of the side effects of multi-month shots, even after stopping birth control; it occurs because the hormones of the body unbalanced. For now, let’s discuss what you can do to normalize her levels and get her cycling appropriately again.

Anti-Progesterone

It seems that your wife’s body is not currently producing enough estrogen to counteract the amount of progesterone currently in her body. I assume the birth control shot your wife received was Depo-Provera, which is solely comprised of a synthetic progesterone—progestogen. I believe that her body is currently overcome with the levels of progestogen, and doesn’t have enough estrogen to stop her body from continuously menstruating.

Without enough estrogen to check the roller coaster of progesterone, her body is continuously rushing through the menstrual cycle. For now, the best thing you can do is to try to raise her estrogen levels.

This will cause her body to concentrate on growing the endometrium—the lining of the uterus. So long as that process is occurring, the body will not menstruate. It might take anywhere from 2.5mg to 25mg of estrogen daily to control the bleeding, and because the unbalance is heightened due to the influx of progesterone from Depo-Provera, I think it will require more rather than less. It is very important that she not receive another shot until her menstruation has been stabilized, or the problem will be exacerbated.

Stock Up on Supplements

When you see a doctor, she will probably prescribe some type of estrogen supplement, but she will closely monitor your wife to see how it effects her bleeding, and whether she shows any danger.

In the meantime, until such diagnosis occurs, I recommend an herbal aid designed to help your wife’s body filter out the excess hormones, and to increase the presence of the hormones it so desperately needs. This compound contains plants with properties that mimic estrogen in the body, as well as helping to detoxify the liver and increase circulation. This formula will begin to ease your wife’s sufferings, and your own.