Black blood/discharge 8 weeks post ovarian cyst removal

[Fozzie83]

Hiya,

I had an ovarian cyst removed 8 weeks ago, biopsy results benign, yippee! And an endometriotic cyst diagnosed.

follow up bloods last week showed my CA-125 had gone from 100 to 60 and surgeon advised another test in 4 months. I was a bit disappointed they weren’t normal again.

Then this week bleeding has started and it’s black. I don’t have periods usually as I have a coil.

could something other than the cyst cause my levels not return to normal?

I got in touch with my gynae surgeon this afternoon via email and he told me if it’s still happening after the weekend to contact him again, but no extra info as to why.

Now the irrational worrying has started!

Any post laparoscopy ladies out there who had black vaginal bleeding a couple of months after surgery?

thanks for reading!

[RedCat24]

HiI was advised black blood is blood that has been inside a little longer than necessary and has oxidised and not to worry unless it's still happening after a few days

[Americanexpat]

Hey Fozzie83, I second what RedCat24 said - black blood is old blood. I’ve had many endometrioma cysts and have had dark brown/black spotting with all of them. I had it post-operation as well and I think it’s just the body expelling residual contents of the cyst.

Also about the CA125 - I wouldn’t freak out. I’ve been told by doctors this can remain high in women with endo (even post-surgery).

[BloomingMarvellous]

Ca-125 is a wide ranging biomarker which is present in some forms of cancer but also raised with endometriosis. It can be used as an indicator of the stage of endometriosis by some specialists but it's not common practice.

Understanding that endometriosis is a widespread condition affecting the whole is key, rather than just the lesions is relevant in as much as it's an indication of the illnesses presence and activity level. It's not just going to go away because some endometriosis lesions are removed. Hence lots of us tackle the disease ( which may likely have an auto immune root) using the anti inflammatory approach as well as surgery to keep it under better control.

Great info on the processes around endo can be found in Katie Edmonds book Heal Endo . Totally worth the time exploring xxxx

[Gemsstones]

I had a breakthrough bleed that sounds similar to that quite a while after ovarian cyst removal. I was really worried about it at the time but for me it was a one off so I’m sure it was linked to the ovarian cyst removal.