Expert: Pat G - 7/28/2009

Question
Hello. I got an abortion July 10th. I had spotting but I didnt bleed or cramp until 5 days later on the 15th. I am not going onto my third week and still have cramps and bleeding. i am also passing clots (not large concern ones), but it never happened in the last two weeks. I take 800mg advil every 4 hours but it seems the cramps get worse at night when im sleeping it take about an hour for the pills to kick in at night. is this normal? i have no fever or any other symptoms.

Answer
Hi, Tricia,

You didn't say what kind of abortion you got. It makes a difference. If you had a pill abortion, this kind of bleeding is to be expected. But if you got a surgical abortion, I'd recommend you see a doctor (not the one who provided the abortion, someone else).

There's nothing normal about getting an abortion, so to talk about what's normal doesn't really make any sense. That said, it is common for a woman to experience stronger contractions or cramps when she's tired. I'd be a little cautious about medications like Advil. The reason is that if they are working by relaxing the muscles of your uterus (which would cause the cramping to subside), they are preventing your uterus from clamping down, and the bleeding will continue. I'd again recommend you see a doctor, who can address the issue of the cramping, hopefully, without slowing down the process of your uterus going back to normal size. Also, he should check and make sure you didn't retain any tissue. I hope everything will be OK, and please let me know how you do. Take care!