Reasons for Spotting; Good or Bad and What Do They Mean?
Cycle Balance Natural Progesterone Cream at Cycle Balance Cream . com and Happy PMS Natural Progesterone Cream from Happy PMS Cream . com There are many reasons for spotting. Spotting can be in pregnancy or outside of pregnancy, in menopause or peri-menopause. Spotting can be a sign of early pregnancy or a sign of cysts. Spotting can be brown, red or pink. At reasons for spotting we address the questions that are most asked on the subject.
So let’s talk about spotting and why YOU are experiencing it. It is scary right? Most of the time, it does not need to be. There are times though, when it is a sign of impending miscarriage and we have to be honest with you about that one, but it is not the case as often as you might think.
The most important thing is to figure out why YOU are having this problem; right? Let me say that on THIS site when we refer to a new life we do not use the term fetus except to clarify of for the sake of those searching for terms that lead them here. We prefer the term “new life”.
Let’s start with a list of questions:
* Are you pregnant? See our article listing Pregnancy Spotting and Spotting in the First Trimester.
* Do you wonder if you might be pregnant? You will want to visit our page Signs of Pregnancy.
* Do you have a history of miscarriage? Try reading Spotting in the First Trimester.
* Do you know the last time you ovulated? See our article about Implantation Bleeding
* Are you currently trying to conceive? Hormone Levels and Spotting in the First Trimester.
* Have you had your hormone levels checked?
Menstrual spotting does not have to be mysterious or scary. Most spotting episodes have to do with pregnancy but certainly not all. The suggestions we make are natural and often pregnancy nutrition rather than just a quick fix. Nutrition in pregnancy is important but preparing yourself for pregnancy with nutrition beforehand is what is most important. Healthy babies are more likely born to healthy parents.
Whether you are spotting light red, brown, brownish discharge or your bleeding is changing color over time, the long and short of it will have to do with hormones. The most common answer to fluctuating, low or high estrogen or progesterone hormone levels will have to do with the quality of your eggs. More often than not Natural Progesterone Cream is a probable answer to leveling hormones naturally. I’ll be as bold to say that since 1998 I have been helping couples overcome infertility, perpetual miscarriages and hormonal imbalance on the internet and this is the one item most women should NOT be without on the night stand; natural progesterone cream. Our two favorites are: HappyPMSCream.com and CycleBalanceCream.com
So, let me say this about spotting is one of those subjects that web writers would like to sound definitive about but there are many reasons for spotting before, during and after ovulation and / or conception. Let’s explore them and remember that with ANY kind of spotting at all the answer will come soon. Basically, there are many reasons for spotting and always, yes always they have to do in some way with fluctuation in hormone levels. I have spotted through most of my pregnancies AND my miscarriages. It is all too common. Once I discovered natural progesterone cream, I did not spot during my last 2 pregnancies. Oh how I wish I had known about it sooner.
The phrases found in this article may sound very close at times and they are in definition but it is because many women write to us using different terms. I want to say that as someone who had 7 miscarriage in the middle of figuring this all out, I believe I understand better than most of the people you will talk to on this subject. The fact is, when you spot IT IS SCARY!
The biggest difference in what the spotting colors and reasons are that they fall at different times of the monthly cycle.
Cycle Pro Balance Progesterone Cream is suspended in natural cold pressed oil and has 500 mg per oz of natural progesterone. Happy PMS progesterone cream has 600 mg per oz of natural progesterone (is not cold pressed but is suspended also in essential oils). These are the two creams we recommend most. They are mentioned often on our site because of this.
We also recommend the Fertility Tracker saliva fertility monitor to track your fertility and even help determine where you are in your pregnancy. OPKs ( ovulation prediction kits) are commonly used to help aid in detection as well.
We have several good articles on hormone levels, what normal hormone levels are and how to improve them through nutrition and lifestyle changes, but here we will try to stick to addressing spotting. Spotting is caused by either too much of one hormone or too little of another hormone. That is the crux of it all.
Let’s start at the beginning of the cycle to get to the heart of spotting. What if you are expecting your period but instead you see that you have brown spotting? Now you know that your period has always been bright red and yet the brown spotting alarms you because you have never seen it.
Have you experienced this before? Do you think or hope you might be pregnant and your dreams are a little shaken by this? There is a definite difference between brown spotting and red or even pink spotting. Brown means that the blood is “old”. It means that either it happened a few days or so ago and is just working its way down, or if it is more than just spotting and is brown, it can mean that your uterus is not contracting properly in order to expel endometrial blood.
Women who don’t ovulate regularly will also experience this before they finally begin their periods. If you do not ovulate regularly then you ought to consider LH strips, hCG pregnancy strips and a fertility monitor of some kind to help determine when you might ovulate next. Despite the claims, none of them are infallible. Don’t be in the dark about aspects you need to know about fertility. We have many articles about natural fertility and how your body works.
Your uterus is a muscle. Muscles contract. Contracting moves blood when “told to”. Your heart does it the same way. Sluggish heart, sluggish uterus; same kind of thing – blood doesn’t move as it should; something goes wrong. Blood becomes stagnant. When progesterone is low the blood is no longer “puffed up” in the uterus and SHOULD begin to shed. Should begin is the problem for some.
Red blood is oxygenated; full of life. Brown blood is breaking down; shows signs of stagnation.
In the case of brown spotting you might want to consider something like red raspberry leaf tea; a cup a day’ll do ya. (Not just the store flavored kind but the real thing.) Rosemary Gladstar recommends that every woman drinks red raspberry leaf tea every day; not just as a quick fix. She recommends red raspberry leaf tea on a regular basis to strengthen and tone the uterus. Read our article about how to use red raspberry leaf tea to make your body ready for labor at the right time.
NOTE: Many will tell you that you should not use red raspberry tea or red raspberry herbal tinctures if you think you are pregnant. This is not true but is more the product of not understanding the herb itself and its uses. Red raspberry does not force any action. It will not cause an abortion. Rather what is does it to strengthen and tone the uterus.
More on this on our page about Red Raspberry Tea and Pregnancy.
You uterus needs to contract properly in order to continually supply fresh blood to the uterus and the endometrial lining. This will nourish your baby right from the start. If however your baby or embryo if you wish to call it that, has not attached then it is not receiving the vital nutrients and it not forming a placenta. Therefore, your body will abort the “lost child” from the contractions. Does that make sense? It is not forcing an action; there is no violence and certainly it cannot be considered an abortificient of any kind.
If however, the brown blood continues longer than one could call spotting, you are NOT pregnant and then it turns into more of a menstrual cycle most likely you fall into the category of the one who has a sluggish uterus. It is having a hard time expelling the blood from the endometrial lining and you also probably have lighter periods in general. Stop and think for a minute if this has been the way your cycles work.
Progesterone levels are up after ovulation. Estrogen is also up. Blood collects and creates an endometrial lining due to estrogen, progesterone fluffs the lining in preparation for a baby. This is what is supposed to happen. The cycle then comes near to a close, progesterone declines at the end of the cycle, there is no longer new fresh blood supply to the area, no progesterone fluffing it up. The lining “let’s go” and begins to shed. With proper estrogen / progesterone balance the bleeding should be fresh and flow right after normal spotting begins.
If your uterus is not contracting strongly enough, the lining does not slough off in the proper way.
SO…..
Another reason for brown spotting, if it is a very small amount is that implantation has happened and in this case you would not see subsequent bleeding. The spotting would most likely shake you up a bit but in this case there is no worry. You would see this around 6-10 days after ovulating.
If you were to see “pink spotting with mucous” consider that you may be having a miscarriage or that you are in danger. The first thing to do, if you are not already using natural progesterone cream is to obtain some and use it. We have three favorites: Happy PMS Cream and Cycle Balance Cream. All too many miscarriages happen, for the simple reason that a woman is low in progesterone.
A miscarriage, a cycle and a full term labor have some thing in common. This is actually the body’s way of shedding the lining when progesterone or hCG drops. In labor, a baby comes with the lining in a sense. The time has come, hCG production drops, progesterone drops, estrogen drops as well and the body begins a process identical to menstruating except for the “largeness” of it all. So blood is the body’s response to lowered hormones; hopefully at the right times.
At InfertilityWorkshop.com we believe every TTC woman should be using natural progesterone cream after ovulation has occurred so that she is covered. In this sense there cannot be too much progesterone. It will NOT keep you from menstruating if you are not pregnant.
Next…. Suppose you have bleeding just before you ovulate or at a time when you should be ovulating. This is called Mittelscmertz and we will talk about that elsewhere.
Of the many reasons for spotting, it is almost impossible to know for sure unless you have clear signs about how your body is functioning at that time or you were to check with a doctor. Often times someone will have a negative pregnancy test and yet the period never comes.
This is confusing but usually points to the fact that a miscarriage has occurred but the uterus is not aborting. This can happen even weeks into the pregnancy.
When the baby is not forming and growing, a week uterus can take weeks to contract properly and sometimes you will ovulate again before you actually seem to miscarry. There is a strong contrast between progesterone and estrogen and the progesterone has not quite dropped enough. This is called a “missed abortion”. It means that your body did not have what it needed to complete the loss.
Spotting in shorter form: Below we define many of the common concerns about spotting at different times during the monthly cycle. Spotting takes on many forms and comes for many reasons. Spotting before ovulation for instance is completely different then spotting after implantation or spotting during the first, second or third trimester.
4 common reasons for spotting below.
The following list is in order starting with the first day of your cycle:
1: Spotting at the beginning of your cycle:
This type of spotting is usually due to low hormones, especially estrogen. It is estrogen that is responsible for the contractions of the uterus. Too little and only small spasms will occur; not enough to the work it needs. When it is low your body does not have the same “oomph” to contract and release the uterus to allow the sloughing off of the endometrial lining when pregnancy has not occurred. One way to be more sure is to chart your temps using a Digitial Basal Thermometer so that you will know where you are in your cycle, if you have become pregnant or if you have not ovulated and it is break through bleeding.
Low temps in this case, at this time will indicate that pregnancy has not occurred.
2: Menstrual spotting, Spotting before a period: These two are the same but people use different terms. Again, if you temps are low then you know that you are not pregnant but your body just isn’t able to work hard enough for the bleeding to begin normally. The difference in the color of blood.
3: Brown spotting before a period: Brown bleeding means it is old blood. It means that it is taking time to come down the cervix. If it is just a spot on the toilet paper and it is not long after ovulation then it is most likely from Mittleschmirtz (it is when your egg breaks through – can also cause a tiny twinge of pain on whichever side you ovulated; common among women with ovarian cysts but not always the reason).
If it is after ovulation and the time at which implantation may have occurred then this is possibly the answer. If the brown spotting continues and you are pregnant you might want to consider seeing your OB-Gyn to be sure things are ok. It is not a huge red flag but worth being careful of at least.
The next reason for brown spotting before a period can be that you had a little implantation bleeding and it has finally made it to the toilet paper. This would only be the case if there was a very small amount and then it was gone. Again, this is a great reason for the red raspberry leaf tea during your cycle AND pregnancy.
Implantation bleeding is like Mittelschmerz (spelled in many ways). It causes the slightest bit of spotting from the fertilized egg in a sense, puncturing the wall of the uterus, while “snuggling in”.
When ever you KNOW you are pregnant and you have any kind of spotting it is prudent to consider the use of progesterone cream. You can see two of the three we recommend in the box below and at the top of the page. Talk with your doctor about this and see other articles here about the use and how to choose which one is right for you. Don’t let something as simple and as well known for this situation stop you from achieving your pregnancy goals.
If you have been charting, as mentioned in other articles about BBT, you will most likely know if you are pregnant or if you are just about to start the flow of your period.
Spotting does not always tell you if you are miscarrying. Let me tell you that I have personally suffered 7 miscarriages, which is why I am here trying to help you 🙂 I have only seen spotting 2 times within an amount of time that allowed me to do anything about it. I suffered what is called a MISSED ABORTION (an awful name) at what we thought was 15 1/2 weeks. No spotting until the baby was already 6 weeks gone. It is not a clue you can count on but when ever the body bleeds it is telling you to listen to it.
Let’s move on…
4: Spotting after ovulation, mid cycle spotting, spotting during ovulation, ovulation spotting, spotting near ovulation are all the same; put differently. As we mentioned above spotting after ovulation is often tied to implantation or Mittleschmertz. (the definition is below) The first would be around the time you would be getting ready to menstruate / have your period. You would see this around 5-8 days after you ovulate. The latter would be if you at just ovulated or a few days later and you noticed a tinge of blood. This would be the tiniest bit. Are we being honest here? I hope so. I have many times be looking for any sign and got very excited about even 1 spot.
Amongst my 7 miscarriages, we have had 5 beautiful children. As of 2009 they range from 8 – 17 now and they are an inspiration for my involvement here to help others. Read my story sometime.
Mittelschmerz is also a post ovulation sign which is helpful if you want to know if you are ovulating but not if you are trying to conceive and looking for signs of ovulation for preconception.
Mittlelschmerz gets it name from the pain, a twangy kind of pain in the middle of the cycle. While it is associated with ovulation it is an “after thought” to ovulation. The word mittelschmerz is German and has it roots from “mid-cycle pain”. Many may have felt this pain but never known what it was and actually some find comfort understanding the reason for this twinge at ovulation time. It does not necessarily mean you have cysts but this is a popular reason for the twinge. The name itself has to do with the time and not the symptoms.
So we have covered all but number 9 here. Please click here to go to Spotting in the First Trimester.
1: Spotting during ovulation
2: Spotting after ovulation
3: Spotting before a peiod
4: Spotting after the period
5: Menstrual spotting
6: Reasons for spotting
7: Mid cycle spotting
8: Ovulation spotting
9: First trimester spotting
10: Spotting ovulation
11: Bleeding during ovulation
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Brenda Albano – WholeFamilyHealth.com, Infertility Workshop.com, Cycle Pro Balance Cream.com, Happy PMS Progesterone Cream. com …
I hope you find this information helpful. Read other articles by clicking on links at the top of each page.
This information is private to this website and not for copying or resale without express permission from the author. None of this is meant to replace a doctor’s advice but to educate his patient.
Blessings, Brenda