For the Ladies Only...

[DikkiNeon]

Hi all,

I'm almost 2 weeks post op and I noticed yesterday I was having some vaginal discharge.. kind of like when it's the end of your period.. It's brown but isn't like a yeast infection and doesn't stink. I'm on the Depo Provera needle and have been for over 10 years so I haven't had a period and have never spotted while on it either ( I know the risks of the needle, don't need a lecture.. ) If I had a period, I could kind of understand it where our horomones are all out of whack, but could this just be blood left over from the surgery that finally found it's way out? Makes sense it's brown since it hasn't really had any oxygen to keep it red.. Has anyone else had this issue? I'm going to make an appointment to see my family doctor this week for other reasons anyway, but it would be nice to know if someone else had this issue..

Thanks for your help

[N2DVN]

I was on depo too and that happened to me too. it went away after a couple of days.

[Picusue]

Surgery affects your hormones whether or not you have periods.

[DikkiNeon]

Thanks ladies.. afrer encountering some of the things that I've incurred since the surgery, I almost feel like I wasn't given enough information but I suppose everyone is different.. I'm thankful for finding this group as I'm sure I'll have many more questions along the way

[Michael Smalley]

Thought I'd chime in here being a prenatal/OB nurse. There are studies out there looking into the bodies response to trauma and invasive surgery. Here's a link to one. I'll highlight the pertinent section:

The stress response to trauma and surgery

"Gonadotrophins

The gondotrophins, LH and FSH, are secreted from the anterior pituitary. FSH is responsible for the development of ovarian follicles in females. In males, FSH maintains the spermatic epithelium.

LH stimulates growth and development of the Leydig cells of the testis which produce testosterone. In females, LH promotes maturation of the ovarian follicles and the secretion of oestrogen. It also stimulates the formation of the corpus luteum from the follicles after ovulation.

Testosterone is a steroid manufactured from cholesterol in the Leydig cells of the testis. It has a negative feedback effect on LH secretion from the anterior pituitary. It has important effects on protein anabolism and on growth, in addition to its well known role in the development and maintainance of male secondary sexual characteristics.

The significance of changes in pituitary gonadotrophins following surgery requires further study. Testosterone concentrations are decreased for several days, while LH concentrations show variable changes.51 In female subjects, oestradiol concentrations decrease for up to 5 days postoperatively."

Evaluation of stress-related hormone... [Clin Exp Obstet Gynecol. 1999] - PubMed - NCBI

So there does seem to be a direct correlation between hormone levels and invasive surgery. You said the blood is brown but given where the surgery is done, via the abdominal wall and into the stomach, not touching the internal reproductive organs at all, I would doubt it's surgery related discharge and most likely a fluctuation in estrogen and progesterone levels brought about by the surgery.

If it continues I'd suggest asking your surgeon.

Best wishes!

[DikkiNeon]

Love the insight on this!! Thank you so much! I was a little worried when I saw a make reply, not thinking you could be in the medical field, but I'm glad you did. This is very interesting information. Thank you Michael for posting

[Michael Smalley]

Love the insight on this!! Thank you so much! I was a little worried when I saw a make reply, not thinking you could be in the medical field, but I'm glad you did. This is very interesting information. Thank you Michael for posting

My pleasure.

I am always happy to aid if and when I can. I like to put the ol' nursing degree to good use.

And welcome to your new life, this is only the beginning of good things to come. I'm a few weeks ahead of you and already seeing great things as the cm and kilos come off.

[sunshinebc7]

DikkNeon I have an IUD and am experiencing the same issues. After reading Michaels post makes a lot of sense to me, thanks Micahael. I'm 4 weeks post-op and havne't had a period in 2 years until after my surgery.

[beachbum]

I had the same probem, called the surgeon and they thought it was related to blood thinner shots. Called ob/gyn they thought it was the shots also. When the shots stopped so did the brown spotting.

[DikkiNeon]

Last blood thinner shot I had was while I was still in the hospital so I don't think it's that. But the browns have slowly decreased. It's not completely gone but I think it will be within a couple days..

[Lucy61]

search the site for homones that have gone wild - when I had surgery they explained that women should use extra birth control because the pesky ovaries kick into overdrive and that you should avoid pregnancy in the first yr after surgery

[DikkiNeon]

Good to know Lucy.. Not that I've got em knocking at my door, I don't have to worry about pregnancy, but how the horomones are effecting my body.. I'll be definitely looking into that.

[lindmar]

Same thing happened to me, but I'm post-menopausal. I think I had that discharge for about a week and then it tapered off. None for the past 2 months now. I had surgery in MX & never did ask the doc about it.

[Michael Smalley]

I had the same probem, called the surgeon and they thought it was related to blood thinner shots. Called ob/gyn they thought it was the shots also. When the shots stopped so did the brown spotting.

You'd have to have some bleeding for the Heparin to affect you. If you're not on your cycle and have it controlled via an IUD or shot (and have been doing so for a long time and haven't had breakthrough bleeding in many months) then there's really no bleeding for the injection to affect.

[MomMaestra]

I started a week before surgery and then continued for 2 days after. Got home and started again for 5 days, stopped 5 days, started again. And they are heavy. I wish I had the other problem of stopping them...totally ok with that! I was peri-menopausal before this so I could go 3 months without and then a light one...I'm calling foul on this one.