I'm sixteen years old; I've had my period for three years now and I'm getting really really freaked out with my periods lately. I'm not sure who to talk to, since it's a little embarrassing and I don't want to see a doctor yet because I don't know if it's serious.
My periods have been extremely wacky for the past six months or more. I do believe I'm anemic, because of my dizzy spells when I move too quickly and the constant dark circles under my eyes--no matter how much sleep or food I get. Of course, I have had this problem for a couple of years now, so I highly doubt that the anemia is my problem.
The only thing I can think of that would affect my blood is that I went in and got vaccinations five days ago (Oct. 16th, 2012). I got my second Gardasil, a Flu shot, Meningitis, and a TB test (it was negative). None of the pamphlets listed orange menstrual blood as a side effect; small headaches, fatigue, and sore muscles were it, maybe a little redness here and there. Three days ago (Oct. 19th) my period began; at first, it started out like usual, with dark red blood like you see when you cut your finger, average thickness. This is completely and utterly normal for me; small clots here and there, nothing unusual.
My period dates have been irregular for the past six months or more. I can go six or seven weeks without one, sometimes I'll start one right up two weeks after I just finished one. My periods have been getting heavier and heavier; the length varies from a week and a half to just three or four days. I always get moderate cramps on either side of my stomach a few days before and a single day during it. (My cramps are between my hips and my middle-ab area (around my bellybutton) and they aren't continuous along the stomach but just on either side. I attribute this to my ovaries.)
Never, ever, has the color or texture of it changed, so I never thought about taking birth control to regulate it. But the blood is thin like water and a light orange color. I just went to the bathroom to change out my pads (I stopped using tampons today because I thought that might have been the reason). It's now coming out a little thicker than normal and still that bright orange color, almost neon. I haven't changed my eating or sleeping habits; I'm eating all the same foods; I haven't experienced any unusual cramping. So what the heck's going on?
I went and did a little Google research. Most of my results were horribly unhelpful, and basically scared me out of my wits. Cancer? Uterus decay? Infertility? All of these are scary things to contemplate, so I looked for something a little bit simpler. I found that if it has a jelly-like consistency, then it's just cervical mucus*...if not, I should go to a doctor. But it didn't explain to me WHY.
So, here I am. What should I do? Where do I need to go? Is it just some random vaccination side-effect, or something more serious? Help?
*http://voices.yahoo.com/menstrual-blood-colors-textures-they-mean-10904609.html
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Hi DoctahGirl, So I went all over the internet looking at this issue and the common denominator in all the reports of this bright orange blood during the periods does in fact seem to be anemia. If you are anemic then you should talk to your doctor about how much Iron you need to be supplementing with and if that needs to be increased around the time of your menstrual cycle to compensate for the loss of blood. It can be other things but since you are not having any other bizarre symptoms my guess is that this is what you're experiencing. I am not a doctor by any means, this is just a guess based on what you said and what I read during my research. I hope this helps. Good luck.
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