Expert: Sound Advice - 11/20/2006

Question
I had an abortion 4 months ago. I was 12 1/2 weeks into the pregnancy and the clinic still performed a "routine" abortion. The post-op bleeding was normal the first 3 weeks. Then I started having very heavy bleeding; I was going through roughly 4 maxi pads per day and changed a super tampon every 3-4 hours. This lasted about 1 week and then stopped for a few days. The bleeding had continued like that for weeks. It finally slowed down and eventually stopped for 1 week.Then I had sex with my boyfriend and for 1 1/2 weeks following intercourse, I had a lot of very light; bright pink colored blood. Yesterday I had sex with my boyfriend and he was sure to be very gentle given that I was having all of these problems. About 20 minutes after that, I was bleeding very heavily again. Today I have changed my super tampon every 2 hours and have had to use a maxi pad just in case. When I removed the tampon, it is completely saturated and a release a large amount of blood. I'm really worried but want to know if this is at all normal in some cases. Can you help?

Answer
Ok, I must say first, do not panic.  As for my advice, It would certainly concern me. Generally, bleeding will/may occur for 2 weeks and then your regular period should kick in between 2 and 4 weeks after the abortion.  Make an appointment with a doctor (one you can trust since you'll probably have to admit you had the abortion).  I should tell you that doctors usually are very trustworthy people, but if there's a family doctor that knows your parents, it may be easier to switch.  Also, try to get the appointment soon, like tomorrow.  There's a good chance that it is not serious, but I wouldn't hold off on consulting a doctor.