Bleeding after intercourse

[pinkfairydust10]

Hey all lovely people,

I have been coping with endo well of late. Had about 6 laps all found endo in either pouch of Douglas or utersacral ligament. My last lap was over a year ago where they found no active endo as I have the coil which has worked wonders endo wise (difficult hormone wise!) but my bowel was stuck to my stomach due to adhesions. Since op I have had bad times and been given codyromol and transpatch for break through pain. Usually I get awful back ache and left hand side pain. I have coped ok with painkillers. But I have noticed that every time I have intercourse with my partner I bleed and now bleeding is getting heavier every time. Has anyone else had this? I have recently moved so have no gp or gyne now. Am happy with my job and managing pain wise. Just want to ignore and hope it will go away. Could this just be another side effect of endo to put up with? Xxx

[Vicki_Ann]

I have lived with this for over 10 years and nobody seems to be able to a) take it seriously as a symptom that does affect my quality of life or b) fix it.

I even had one partner refuse to have intercourse any more as he had had nightmares I would bleed to death and was convinced I might die.

I'm sorry I don't have anything helpful to add but even though most of my other endo symptoms are reasonably controlled with treatment, this one seems to remain no matter what.

[stevieflp]

Hi I had this many years ago and it is likely to be caused by a cervical erosion. The medical term for a cervical erosion is "cervical ectopy". It is a condition in which cells that normally line the cervical canal extend to the surface of the cervix and, when brushed as with intercourse, bleed. Your GP should be able to easily check to see if this is the case. Cervical erosion is believed to be a response to high levels of estrogen in the body. Mine was caused by being on the contraceptive pill. However, I have since done a lot of research and reading on 'estrogen dominance' and found that this can contribute to any number of female conditions including endometriosis. I don't think it is a co-incidence that I have had PMT, cervical erosion, pituitary microademona and extensive endo over the years!

I also don't believe the ovaries are the real culprit as are often blamed by gynaes - but the contribution of all of the xenoestrogens we are exposed to on a daily basis from cosmetics, toiletries (including toothpaste), household cleaning products and BPAs in plastics, particularly when food is heated in microwave trays, plastic lining of hot drink cardboard cups and plastic linings in tinned foods. xenoestrogens are not in themselves estrogens but then cause the estrogen receptors throughout the body to react as if estrogen levels are increased.

Have a read up of estrogen dominance and xenoestrogens - there is lots of information available on the web.

I have personally switched to products that do not contain parabens, sulfates, Phthalates or PBAs where possible. There are lots of products available now free of these nasties. I use Method for household cleaning and laundry, Green People, Jane Iredale, Envy, Dr Organics and various other makes for everything else. I heat food in glass and not plastic.

It isn't suggested that xenoestrogens are the primal cause of conditions but can trigger / exacerbate them.

Pharmaceutical companies will say that the levels of these chemicals is negligible in their products - that maybe the case - but it isn't so negligible when taking account of the overall exposure from numerous products. Even in the water supply from ladies on contraceptives and other hormone pills - with the media having written about the increase in male infertility thought to be contributed to by these chemicals and with guys now using an increasing amount of toiletries.

Just food for thought and something you may wish to look into yourself.

Treatment for cervical erosion was a simple cauterisation which sealed the cells and I did not have any further bleeding once healed.

All best wishes

Frances x

[amelia89]

I saw my GP last week about the exact same thing. I've had painful sex for 2 years but never bled after it until recently. The GP told me it's either yet another symptom of endo, vaginal dryness or cervical erosion, which someone else has mentioned. He's told me to not have sex for a couple of weeks to let anything heal, then try again, if I bleed again he mentioned having a look for any cervical erosion, he described it as just like a smear test.

Hope that helps! I think most of the time it's just better to know that other people have had similar experiences