A different bleeding question

[tenofcups]

I'm not really "worried," but I am trying to figure out what's going on and maybe someone has been through something similar?

On day 18 of my cycle, I started to spot. I have now been bleeding--somewhere between spotting and a very light flow--for 7 days and it doesn't appear as if it's going to stop.

Seems far too early for my period (which usually starts on day 28-32). From the little I've read of implantation bleeding, this doesn't seem like that. Also doesn't seem like enough blood to be a miscarriage.

We had been TTC, but are NOT trying this month as I'm in the middle of changing health insurance and wouldn't be covered for pregnancy if I got pregnant before the new policy went into effect. I'm not entirely sure when I ovulated since I wasn't actively charting this month, though I can guess it was somewhere around day 14-16.

Any ideas what this might be or if I should be worried? Any help much appreciated!

[BTB]

Are you certain you ovulated *last* month?

[tenofcups]

//QUOTE// Are you certain you ovulated *last* month? //END//

I *think* I did--based on CM and an OPK. My sleep is all over the place so I've found that temping isn't very helpful for me and I haven't done that recently. But I know I had what appeared to be a perfectly normal period at the end of last month.

I want SO badly to be pregnant--just not right at this minute because of those damn insurance issues...

[BTB]

The kind of bleeding you describe - light, but prolonged - is the typical pattern of sloughing endometrium that has slowly outgrown it's hormonal support, instead of the heavier, shorter AF-type bleed that characterizes the hormonal floor being pulled out from underneath it, so to speak.

Both CM patterns and a +OPK indicate that ovulation could occur soon, but neither confirms that it has taken place - only a temperature rise can do that. If you find that you rarely have a chart somewhat resembling a biphasic cycle, it could be that you're not actually ovulating, even if your body is gearing up to do so, giving you EWCM and an increase in LH detectable by OPK.

[tenofcups]

Thank you for checking back--I was hoping you would! :)

I'm not sure if I'm following--if I'm understanding correctly, basically then this could just be an unusual version of a period? (I know you can't confirm that from just a few exchanges on a message board, but it seems that you're saying that's a possibility?) For the record, I'm also 41, close to 42, and my cycles have definitely changed over the past year or two so I'm not nearly as consistent as I used to be.

Just for the hell of it, I will take a pregnancy test tomorrow too, though I really don't think that's it.

[BTB]

I'm not sure if I'm following--if I'm understanding correctly, basically then this could just be an unusual version of a period?

Not exactly. A 'period' technically only refers to bleeding which occurs after ovulation if the egg is not fertilized. That's bleeding which is the result of a sudden drop in hormones.

There can also be bleeding without hormonal change if the lining of the endometrium becomes thicker than the current hormone levels will support. Imagine a tree the trunk of which is only big enough to take nutrients to leaves 30 feet out: day by day the tree grows, and the few leaves that grew past 30 feet fall off. There's never very much falling off in any given day, because there's only a day's worth that's past 30 feet (since whatever was past 30 feet yesterday fell off then). If there were a sudden change, however, like winter coming, all the leaves would suddenly drop. That's the difference between anovulatory bleeding and a period (ovulatory bleeding).

I hope that makes sense, and the tree analogy's not too weird. I'm a bit low on sleep these days and I can't think of a better example right now. I know it has no relation to how trees and leaves actually work, and I hope that doesn't make the general gist of it useless.

I don't know for sure that's what's happening, just that it is the most common cause of light prolonged bleeding. A pg test is a good idea. If the bleeding gets heavier, is accompanied by clots, pain, or fever, or recurs, I think an exam's in order, to get to the bottom of what's going on.