Spotting the Whole Time

[Lisa K.]

Anyone else spot all the way through and after? Did it ever stop? I've been having heavy spotting and it's been a thick brown substance. Very unpleasant. I'm now 8 days after my completed Whole30.

[Karen]

Are you on hormonal birth control at all? Have you been checked out by your doc to rule out any infection?

[Lous47]

I'm not fully doing this yet, but have converted to Paleo this week, today is day 7, woke up this morning with spotting. Am wondering if this and everything else I'm experiencing is just part of the withdrawal/change for my body

[Karen]

A drop in hormones can trigger spotting, but it typically sorts itself out after a few days. If you're on the pill and it continues, you may need to switch to a different dose pill. At least that's the common approach I've seen (I'm on a message board for endo, where many of the women are on BC).

Something as minor as bacterial vaginosis can cause constant spotting, though, so if it continues, it may be worthwhile getting it checked out.

[midgetinthebox]

I have had this problem constantly whenever changing my diet. I am on nuvaring and typically continuous cycle, so when it happens I'll let my period happen and it seems to help reset my body and the spotting will stop. I'm going to be doing the whole 30 January but eat paleo already so I'm hoping this isn't going to happen next month.

[jennrider]

Dark brown spotting sometimes means your progesterone levels are low.

[Lisa K.]

Thanks for all of the info guys. I have endometriosis so I am on Nuva Ring and I don't take a break for my cycle - I continuously have a ring in. Anyway, I have stopped spossting but I have also stopped eating clean. I am going to start back up again tomorrow and see if it happens again.

[Pomme]

I was coming to this forum to see about posting about breakthrough bleeding -- I'm on BC, day 6 of W30, and am having some significant breakthrough bleeding (a.k.a. spotting). Good to know I'm not the only one. I'll wait and see how things go.

[librarianjess]

I also came here looking to see how common this was. I am also on hormonal BC (first week of my cycle) and began breakthrough bleeding this morning. I feel somewhere between normal and PMS-style bloated/crampy. I have no reason to believe it ISN'T related to my diet, as I almost never spot and am having no other symptoms.

[Pomme]

Thank you for posting here, librarianjess -- my spotting has turned into a few days of bleeding and gross period feeling, so I'm really curious about a correlation. I am in the final week of the cycle, however. Also, I normally take the pill for three months straight with "periods" about that often. I just had a period break in December, though.

[chelle81!]

oh boy, I'm glad I found this ... today is day 15 and I started spotting this morning ... I've NEVER spotted before in my entire life, so it freaked me out ... do you think I should just wait it out or go see my doc asap?

[LA28]

I actually had that happen for almost 3 weeks during my second whole30. I got checked out and it was all fine but I def think it was from the drastic diet changes. The doctor said it would clear up after my next period and it did.

[KelKel]

Anyone else spot all the way through and after? Did it ever stop? I've been having heavy spotting and it's been a thick brown substance. Very unpleasant. I'm now 8 days after my completed Whole30.

This exact same delightful treat is happening to me right now. I'm only a week in, I'm towards the end of my implanon, normally just get very very light periods. But yay for seeing other ladies having the same issues. Hoping it will sort itself out ASAP, I'm bored of wearing daggy undies.

[Jackolantern]

New meaning to the words tiger blood, lol. I'm on the nuvaring too (since September) and just started spotting today (day 10) for the first time in my life, the night before I take my ring out and 3-4 days before I get my period. I've also been on metformin since then and my doc said it could take at least 6 months to start working. So maybe that's part of it.

[tonic]

On the pill here, and on Day 10 I started spotting, a whole 8 days early. Today Day11 and still spotting plus heavy cramping which sucks. I am hoping once next week passes that it fixes itself when I am suppose to have my regular period.

[Nicole M]

Glad to hear that I am not the only one. I have been on the same BC for years and my cycle is like clockwork, with no spotting. I go 3 months continuous, and next week is actually my period. I'm on day 8 of W30 and the spotting started yesterday. Its strange! I was starting to get paranoid that I am preggo!! Eek!!

[30Canandaigua]

i am not on birth control and haven't been for about 4 years. It made me psycho bitch crazy, even the nuvaring which is super low dosage. To help with my horrific cramps I also do not take any pains meds of any kind. (unless I'm in the ER or having a root canal). This has helped significantly. I have normally spotted for years, and it is usually a good indication that I am starting to ovulate. Usually 7-10 days later I have a very heavy flow and it resets. With the whole30 my spotting has decreased, and my flow went from a full box of super plus tampons to 4. That's right 4 tampons! For me- the detox of medication helped a ton, and now the detox in foods has helped more. Might take a few months for clean eating to get your ovaries on the same train though Good Luck ladies!!!

[Mj Slazak Courchesne]

Glad to read that others are having this issue too. I started spotting last week (about day 8 or so into the Whole 30), and I'm not due for my period til next week (on BC). I'll definitely keep watch and then visit the doc if it doesn't reset.

[midgetinthebox]

So I posted earlier about how I usually end up getting break through bleeding when my diet changes. And this of course has been my only negative on my whole 30 (I'm on day 28 now).

I continuous cycle on the nuvaring. I got a period on the 11th so I took my ring out in hopes that it'd just be a normal period then everything would go back to normal. The period lasted and acted normal. 5 days total, 1 heavy day the rest light. Perfect.

BUT then! on the 24th I started spotting! That turned into a full on period. Being only a few days back on the nuvaring I kept it in until the morning then decided to try the reset again. The thing is it's been very heavy for these 4/5 days! Which is very annoying (and also expensive for a grad student to deal with!). I'm needing a refill on my nuvaring anyways so I'm planning on making an appointment with my doctor and talking about other options (I'm thinking mirena).

I saw a great post on another thread here talking about how our cycles work when we aren't on birth control and considering nuvaring is very low dose, I'm thinking maybe it's just the same shitshow going on. I'm sticking to 90% paleo following the end of my whole 30 (4 drinks, 2 off meals (I miss cheese and rice doesn't irritate my gut much), 1 paleofied treat per week) so hopefully after this nonsense everything will be back to normal.

[caitlin]

I had some spotting in the beginning and it went away within the first week. Around Day 27 I started spotting again (about a week and a half early). Tomorrow is my official 30, and I have celebratory plans with friends on Friday.

Does anyone think the spotting is a sign that I should keep with the w30 a little longer and see what happens? If so, would a little wine on Friday mess everything up? I'd hate to be so close to a breakthrough and not go far enough. TIA!

[MrsStick]

My post-BC (just stopped taking it two weekends ago) period and spotting actually went away faster than my usual break-in-BC spotting would, so who knows what's up with my body. I'm worried all the time about my period randomly coming back until my body calms down, but I'm trying to be patient.

[Daisy R]

I'm surprised no moderator has weighed in on this yet. I am on day 17 of my Whole30. I guess you can say I've been "spotting" also. but like someone else said earlier, it's like this brown color thing. I just just had some other stuff come out when I peed, which of course freaked me out and had me run here lol. But I'm thinking maybe my uterus is healing itself and shedding old skin, materials, whatever. Who knows! It's really weird. In the past, I've done a 21 day juice cleanse, which caused my period to start earlier then usually. This is not the same, so I wonder what the difference is. I am also on nuvaring and will be taking our my ring next week, so maybe that is also why this is happening. It's just really weird.

[Kayteats]

Yep, just had the same thing happen to me - light spotting and am on day 13 of Whole30. Period not due for another couple of weeks - and cycles recently have been a lot longer (am perimenopausal I think). Had a natural therapies consultation this morning which said my hormones were a bit out of whack - interesting. Will also be interesting to see what effect this way of eating has on my cycle going forward... not on birth control.

[Carrie]

I just oddly started spotting off normal schedule as well. My last two periods were a bit early each time. I ended my early period on the 30th and now on the 5th I'm spotting and not due for another 3 weeks... I guess just wait it out and see what happens?

[Cassie M]

I've been spotting/bleeding for 19 days now. 19 DAYS, PEOPLE! I was in with the doctor last week and am going back in on Monday morning to get results from the tests she ran. Will let you know what I hear, in case it's helpful for anyone else experiencing incessant spotting.