Expert: Pat G - 6/17/2010

Question
QUESTION: Is it normal to get your abortion 4 months ago and still not get your regular period? ( Only bleeding for a week right after abortion)

ANSWER: Hello, Mira,

I don't have enough information to answer your question. The obvious answer is that nothing that happens after an abortion is normal, especially failure for your period to be restored. Obviously, if you are still pregnant, you'd know it. However, I need to know how far along you were, what kind of abortion you had, that sort of thing. Then I may be able to be more specific. Please take care, and let me know.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I was 6 weeks along in my pregnancy.It was those 5-1o minute procedures. Is it normal to not get your regular period after 4 months after the abortion?

ANSWER: Hello, Mira,

Thank you for the additional information. It was a surgical abortion, looks like. Like I said, there is nothing normal about what happens after an abortion. I have had a few women tell me they didn't get periods afterward, but not very many. Offhand, I don't know what would cause this, unless scar tissue formed across the opening to the cervix, and the blood can't get out. If that is the case, I would be concerned, because retaining material your body is supposed to discard can cause auto immune problems in some cases. So it would need to be fixed.

I am assuming you are not still pregnant. Pregnancy after abortion can cause the same situation. It's when they miss the baby, and don't end the pregnancy. But like I said, 4 months after an abortion, you'd know you were still pregnant. 6 weeks is rather early to get a surgical abortion. They do sometimes miss the baby, because the baby is harder to find. They don't always check everything like they're supposed to. Sometimes they'll do what you call a menstrual extraction that early. If they did that (hand suction), then I would be concerned about possible infection, and that could be a possible cause. You should be checked for infection anyway. I'd also be concerned about swelling and inflammation in your uterus.

Do you have any symptoms of pregnancy at all, other than lack of a period? Have you tested for pregnancy? Not knowing you are still pregnant would be more likely if you are overweight. If you are somewhat thin, you would be able to lie on your stomach on the bed and definitely feel a lump, and probably feel movement as well. So I'm guessing that the cause of lack of a period is something else. I suppose it's possible they took too much of the lining of the uterus, so that it won't make the part that is shed monthly anymore. Are you taking any kind of birth control? That can also stop a period. Also, do you get other fluids from your uterus at all? Do you feel any other symptoms, such as symptoms that would indicate you are having a period, or about to have one? There is also the possibility that the abortion disrupted your hormones so badly that they won't produce a period right now.

Other than that, your best bet is to go to the doctor and let him figure out why you aren't having your periods. Don't go back to the people who did the abortion. Find someone else, preferably someone who thinks abortion is not acceptable, because such a person will have better medical judgment. Diagnosis can always be tricky, but they don't have a conflict of interest problem. People who do abortions don't want to admit abortion hurts women.

So if you go to the doctor, please let me know what you find out. Please take care of yourself, and don't hurt your body anymore.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Although, I'm sure I am not pregnant I did the pregnancy test, the store bought ones and they said positive even after like 2, 3 months. I have symptoms like throwing up a little in the morning,like after i brush my teeth. Sometimes it feels like my period is coming, I get a slight stomach cramp. But before even on my regular period I never had any severe cramps. I'm normal weight, 130 pounds. I don't feel any movement in my stomach when I lay down. When I went to see the doctor after my abortion, he checked that my cervix is closed and said everything is fine. He also did a pap test and everything is fine. I'm scared that my period won't come and I don't know what the doctor will do?

Answer
Hello, Mira,

Since you said the tests show positive, it would seem like your pregnancy hormones have not subsided. It is unusual for them to go on this long, but this would explain why you aren't getting your period. You won't get it until all those hormones are gone. You might find it helpful to learn how to tell when you are fertile. This way, you have another sign to look at to see if things are returning to the non-pregnant state. When a woman is fertile, she will have mucus which is transparent and slippery, and stretches like a raw egg white. You can observe this when you wipe after going to the bathroom. Fertility may return before your period does. So please be careful. To learn more, go to this web site:

http://www.fertilityuk.org/

Take care of yourself, and please don't take any more chances with your life. Let me know how things go.