Periods that last two weeks after LEEP procedure. Normal?

• By chrissysm (Inactive)
• Reply 3568123
• November 24, 2012 at 9:53 am
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I had something similar although I had a CKC done, and never fully recovered from it. I had a week of brown spotting, then my real period, which became increasingly heavy. I thought it would stop but it just worse, for me. Insist on an ultrasound to see what would be causing this.

• By bklyn077
• Reply 3569957
• November 25, 2012 at 6:16 am
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Hello ladies I had leep/cone surgery done in May and I too have experienced a change w my period. It's come heavy for the first 2 day with clots passing out of my like I just had a freaking baby, which is very frustrating, but by the 3rd day it has lighten up tremendously w no clotst, and it will last for 5-7 days, but by then Im wearing very thin pad or even a panty liner, weird. I know it was the procedure that changed everything for me, the cone surgery take part of the cervix away leaving it weak and that part of your cervix is gone forever. The cervix doesn't heal with new cervix, it just heal with new cells. So yes my period has changed I just hope in time the clots lighten up. Sometimes I think about going back on birth control pills to avoid my period each month. Good luck, and if it continues go back to see doc as he recommends. We as women go through so much, but we r strong, beautiful people of the universe. To all who continues to fight the battle keep fighting. God bless.

• By Nature_Isle
• Reply 3571050
• November 25, 2012 at 3:16 pm
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I had a cone biopsy done at the end of October and I am still bleeding, almost a month later. I am menopausal. It has actually gotten heavier as the weeks went by. I will be contacting my doctor tomorrow, as I think this is unusual.

• By meggy40
• Reply 3653337
• December 27, 2012 at 2:02 am
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So I saw my doctor recently for the three month follow up pap since LEEP. He told me the tissue he removes from LEEP was normal. I thought that was weird. It sounded like I didn't need the procedure at all and he just chopped away some good cervix. When I told him about the two week period, he acted dumb and said the LEEP does not cause that. Are you on birth control? I said no. He asked me a million questions that have nothing to do with it. I cannot believe I'm the first person to ever experience this and from your responses I can see that it's true. Why does my doctor play dumb and not take responsibility. Is this something I can sue for? I had no idea this would make me bleed for two weeks. This changes my quality of life and I am pissed. So now he sent me off to get a vaginal ultrasound which I did this morning. Plus I went to the lab to get my blood drawn. I think he's just wasting my time with all of this. So he did my pap last week and I bled when he did it. He said my cervix is already fully healed. He seemed surprised by the bleeding during pap. He said he could offer freezing of the cervix which would stop the two week periods, but that's just more chopping of good cervix. I don't understand how chopping off more cervix could fix the problem that chopping of the cervix caused in the first place. Now I feel like I can't trust him. I don't know what to do. So I told him I'd like to wait another three months till my next pap and see if my spotting subsides. Please someone out there tell me that this will end and I will go back to a normal seven day period.

• By Juliepat
• Reply 3654897
• December 27, 2012 at 5:11 pm
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Hi Meggy,
No this does not sound normal after leep.

I was told bleeding for about 21 days, in tapering amounts, and thats pretty much what i experienced. That bleeding was just the body healing itself after leep.

I have had bleeding about 14-21 days out of 30 days for the past year or so. I am 42. Doctors said it was menopause and did pap and colposcopy routinely until finally finding cervical cancer.

Hugs,
Julie

• By chrissysm (Inactive)
• Reply 3655063
• December 27, 2012 at 6:33 pm
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I ultimately had a total hysterectomy as my dr could not figure out why I would hemoraged every month and bleed for 21 days. I'm 43 though with 3 kids and a single mom now. Slowly recovering but my pain is gone, cancer was contained and slowly getting my life back.

• By meggy40
• Reply 3655124 · In reply to 3654897 by Juliepat
• December 27, 2012 at 7:09 pm
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Hi Julie,

Thanks for the replay. If this is not normal after LEEP then what is it? The doctor makes it sound like this has never happened before which makes me think he did something wrong. Also, what is interesting is that the part of the cervix he took off was completely normal tissue. I didn't even need the procedure and now I am left having 14 day periods which affects my quality of life. I don't want to be rude to him, but I want to just say what the hell did you do to me to make me have this problem. He said the cervix has already done all the healing it's going to do. He offered another freezing of my cervix to fix the problem. How is that going to fix it by cutting off more good tissue. Unbelievable...I just want to cry.

• By Juliepat
• Reply 3655289 · In reply to 3655124 by meggy40
• December 27, 2012 at 8:22 pm
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Hi Meggy,

Could this just be menopause for you?

My gyn-ob was REALLY happy that she did not just freeze my cervix without a leep during my last colposcopy. without the leep, they would not have collected the cells confirming cervical cancer. It may have taken my doctors over a year to figure it out for me because it was not at the surface, but further up in the neck of the cervix, in the glands.

But this more in-depth colposcopie exam only came after I switched doctors. For years before, I bleeding during my gynecological exams... and the doctors thought not much of it, maybe an infection. Because only 1 in 147 women get cervical cancer and my paps were just abnormal cells.

A year ago, fed up with these useless doctors and many exams, I considered just not going to my gynelogical exam. Now that I have Stage 1B cervical cancer, I am glad I hung in there.

My point?
1. it could just be menopause
2. find a second opinion who is determined to get to the bottom of the mysterious bleeding .... and
3. don't skip your gyn exams.

BIg hugs,
Julie

• By Gods_lil_Yankee
• Reply 3676360
• January 4, 2013 at 10:17 pm
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That is IT!!!!! I had my leep done last July 2012, and since then my period has NOT stopped. It is periodically lighter, and heavier at times, however it does not stop. Apparently Gynecologist are all aware of this, as mine seems to be saying the same as others have been telling them all over the internet blog after blog, "The leep and irregular periods are not related"..."hmmm sounds odd", and seemingly pretending to not know what the problem could be. I am so angry about being completely dismissed, while spending hundreds of dollars having other test to find out what is going on, when these damn doctors know that it absolutely IS connected. REALLY??????????????????? I mean ladies, keep reading, all over the internet blog after blog after damn blog women are writing the same thing, while our doctors are blowing us all off. My quality of life has been compromised, and to think it could have been prevented. The part of my cervix that the doctor took, also was clear of cancer. What is going on here? I am certain to get to the bottom of this for me. I am only 36, want more children, and cannot imagine going through menopause at this young age. I am furious. I hope the rest of you get a little angry too. We cannot stand by and let this happen to us. Any of us!

• By meggy40
• Reply 3676732 · In reply to 3676360 by Gods_lil_Yankee
• January 5, 2013 at 1:46 am
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Hi Gods lil Yankee,

Thanks for validating my issue. I am angry too because I feel like my doctor is treating me like I am so stupid. It is obvious to a child that the LEEP is causing this as it has never happened in the past. How can my doctor act so dumb and think I am buying it. I try to be respectful and work with him, but I am getting really sick of the lies. Now I went in for the three month pap smear and I bled a lot during the procedure. He said looks like you have a sensitive cervix and that might be what's causing your long periods. Yet he never mentions that this has ever happened to anyone else and acts surprised by it. As if it is not normal and is blaming my "sensitive cervix" for it which only makes me wonder what he did wrong to make it so sensitive if this doesn't happen normally. He will never admit he did anything wrong. Now he says the only way to stop the bleeding is to freeze my cervix which will take a thin layer off. I said what are possible complications and he said oh just less cervical mucous which could make it more difficult to conceive. As if the LEEP hasn't done that already. I don't want more surgery as he seemed to screw up the first one. In fact he did a colpo before the surgery and found absolutely nothing to biopsy. He even asked me if I had HPV in the first place. I was uninformed at the time and just said WHAT? He didn't continue to explain anything to me and just said we have to do this and I won't ignore your primary doctor's colpo results. I trusted him and I went along with it. Stupid me for trusting a damn doctor. Now that I found this site and started reading, I am understanding that I did NOT even need LEEP in the first place. My primary doctor did a colpo with a biopsy and yes there was a little something there, but he took it all out. It was so mild. I had no idea what all of it meant at the time. I was just crying and scared and did whatever these MEN wanted to do with me. Oh no big deal. Let's just cut off your anatomy even though you don't really need it so I can fatten my wallet and screw with your life forever. Damn right I'm mad.

After the LEEP he told me the cone was normal tissue. I said hmmm, and he got mad. He said that means we got it all out. Got what out? Normal tissue? What a jerk!

So today he calls me to tell me the results of my blood tests and invasive vaginal ultrasound. He said everything was normal. Yeah I could have told him that. Then he said well keep track of your periods for me and I will see you in another three months. Think about the freezing so we can make it stop. He's so casual about it like it's no big deal. I don't have any kids and I am 41. I am not married and I am not sure if I will ever have kids, but I certainly don't want to take that possibilty away by taking out more good cervix. Uggg I am so stressed and dissapointed in this "doctor".

He did not act in my best interest at all. My cervix was normal and he chopped it off anyway. What kind of doctor does that? When I was asking him questions he got irritated and said we can discuss all this at the next appt. I regret ever getting this LEEP done and now I am thinking of getting all my records and hiring an attorney. What a mess!

• By chrissysm (Inactive)
• Reply 3676756
• January 5, 2013 at 2:07 am
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It is not normal. I ended up bleeding for months only to have adencarcimona polyp and had a hysterectomy in October. It was my only recourse. But I'm cancer free right now.

• By Nature_Isle
• Reply 3676798
• January 5, 2013 at 3:04 am
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My cone was Oct 31 cone and my bleeding stopped in early December. Then I got a period last week after being menopausal for almost one and a half years. I think it is the cone and will be following up with my doctor, although her initial response is that it is not because of the cone. I am still feeling hot flashes even during the period. I really hope this period will not continue.

• By Lydia999
• Reply 3678209 · In reply to 3676732 by meggy40
• January 5, 2013 at 4:20 pm
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Meggy,

Did you have CIN2 or CIN3 (= moderate or severe cervical dysplasia) diagnosis before LEEP? From what you described about your doctor, I would suggest you change doctor.

Many women have changed period patterns after LEEP, ie, the amount, the duration, the cycle length.... it's not unusual. I, too, had 3-5 days of brown discharge before the onset of period, which is said old blood from last cycle. In the first two or three cycles after LEEP, Periods were heavier than average and more painful, too. Also, one tends to have light spotting during/after pap smear. My doctor explained that my cervix is shorter and inside of it is more exposed now and that might explain for it. It's been 2+ years since my LEEP, and all the changes staring after LEEP kind of eased away. Hang in there. Life will eventually go back to normal.

• By meggy40
• Reply 3678354 · In reply to 3678209 by Lydia999
• January 5, 2013 at 5:22 pm
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Lydia,

Thank you for your comments. I don't know if it was CIN2 or CIN3. It all happened so fast I don't remember anything. I just know my primary doctor said my cervix looked pretty good and he just saw one tiny spot and got it out during colpo. That biopsy came back and he said you should see a specialist. He asked me if I wanted him to check further up to see if there's more disease. I said yes and the results came back negative. I believe whatever there was it was taking out during the colpo. Still he sent me to the specialist and when that doctor did a colpo, he saw absolutely nothing to biopsy. He even asked me if I had HPV. I didn't know anything about this disease before coming to this site and I just did whatever he told me to do. I trusted he would do what was in my best interest. He said I won't ignore your previous doctor's results and you need LEEP. I went through with it and afterwards he told me the tissue came back normal. I said hmmm, and he got annoyed. He said that means I got it all out. But it was obvious to me there was disease to get out in the first place if all the tissue was normal. So he just took out perfectly good cervical tissue for no reason. And now that I am reading and getting educated about all of this, I am realizing that he just destroyed my cervical mucous glands which will make it difficult for me to get pregnant. Why would he do this if there was nothing to biopsy. Is it normal for a doctor to do a LEEP when he doesn't even find anything to biopsy during a colpo. My God I feel so dumb. I didn't think I had to go to school to learn all about this to make sure my doctor doesn't butcher me for no reason. I trusted him and thought he would do or not do whatever was in my best interest. Cutting a normal cervix is not in my best interest and I am just distraught by all the complications I have been experiencing.

Thanks for sharing your story and that gives me hope that one day I will go back to only bleeding for one week instead of two weeks. It does affect the quality of life and what's irritating is the doctor refuses to blame the LEEP for it. If he would just be honest and say this happens to a lot of women and it's quite normal, I wouldn't be upset. But he never mentioned this as a possible complication when I asked him about this before the surgery. He said LEEP doesn't cause this. Well it obviously does. I think I should get a second opinion.

• By meggy40
• Reply 3678359 · In reply to 3678354 by meggy40
• January 5, 2013 at 5:24 pm
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Also, when I went to see my primary doctor and he looked at the results of the cone, I asked him if I even needed the LEEP and he said probably not. So yes the cone biopsy was all normal tissue. How common is this that a surgeon cuts when he knows the cervix is normal.

• By Lydia999
• Reply 3678598 · In reply to 3678354 by meggy40
• January 5, 2013 at 7:05 pm
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meggy,

It is not normal for a doctor to perform LEEP when he can't find lesion usually indicated by white staining after vinegar treatment. Did your first doctor do ECC? It's very likely that your first doctor already removed the affected tissue when he did biopsy. That means you had a very small infected area. Some women, including myself, have massive affected area so we needed LEEP. Biopsy is just a small sampling.

I would go to a different Gyn doctor and keep doing 6 month follow-ups. Make sure the doctor orders both HPV DNA test and Pap smear for your follow-ups.

I am sorry again that your Gyn removed your healthy tissue. He is probably not very experienced with this job. When I looked for my gyn, I read their backgroud information and found my doctor who has done colposcopy/LEEP for 40 years. So I knew he knows what he is doing. He must have done thousands of cervical vinegar staining. :) Every doctor has to go through their learning curves, too but hey, if you can, try to avoid to be their practicing material.

• By meggy40
• Reply 3694842 · In reply to 3678598 by Lydia999
• January 10, 2013 at 10:29 pm
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If it's not normal for a doctor to do the LEEP without first taking a biopsy then I wonder if this is suable. I called a lawyer today who specialized in cancer diagnosis and I am waiting on a call back. I have not been able to sleep and I am experiencing a high amount of stress from this. I feel violated and I honestly thought he was looking out for my best interest. Can a doctor see if there is any cancer by looking at the cervix through a colpo exam? If so, then he knew that my cervix was normal and proceeded to tell me that I needed the LEEP. I was ignorant and scared at that point but I trusted him and his diagnosis. It wasn't until after the procedure that I started reading and getting educated and realizing this doctor did an unnecessary surgery that is making me bleed for two weeks every month which is very stressfull in itself for me. I am having horrible shoulder pain from the stress too. Honestly I need to find out if this was malpractise. He compromised my fertility for no good reason at 41 and childless. Can someone please fill me on if I have a case here.

• By chrissysm (Inactive)
• Reply 3694981
• January 10, 2013 at 11:57 pm
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I had 3 biopsies before my cone. I think it's standard to have them done before anything else. I'd like to sue the ex boyfriend who knowingly gave me hpv which left me getting a hysterectomy. But my choice is to move on and be healthy.

• By meggy40
• Reply 3764899 · In reply to 3678598 by Lydia999
• February 1, 2013 at 9:32 pm
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Hi Lydia,

I went today to see my regular doctor who first diagnosed me with dysplasia to ask him about my two week long periods. Omg, it was like I started World War III. All I wanted was a second opinion on how to approach this issue as the surgeon just wanted to freeze my cervix now and I was scared to death to let him cut more of me. My regular doctor came in angry and completely defensive. He just wanted to protect himself and the surgeon and didn't care about me at all. He treated me like I was stupid and again said the LEEP has nothing to do with these long periods. He just asked what the surgeon said and agreed with him no matter what. I could not believe how rude he was to me. I am stressed out that I'm bleeding for 14 days every month. All he kept saying was "WE DID THE RIGHT THING AND WE ARE TRYING TO PREVENT CERVICAL CANCER REMEMBER!!!!" I don't know why he has to be suck a jerk. All I am doing is asking questions before I have another surgery that completely ruins my fertility. These doctors can be such aholes.

• By bwoodman
• Reply 3771412
• February 4, 2013 at 3:37 am
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Meggy,
I signed up just for this website to tell you to PLEASE SEE A NEW GYNEO!! I am saying this because I personally have been battling cervical dysplasia for two years now. I have a very aggressive form of HPV, and I have already had to have LEEP done. Within one year my low-grade dysplasia became high-grade with new low-grade spots around it. I know it can be so hard to find a doctor you trust (I live in a small town and I have to drive an hour away to go see my dr.). Anything other than a pap smear should be being handled by a gyn that specializes in cervical cancer/ovarian cancer (in my opinion). I had my biopsies and my LEEP done by a doctor who specializes in cervical cancer, and even has her own practice. I did a lot of research to find her through the internet. I am so worried about the horrible treatment your doctor has given you! It sounds like they have no idea what they are doing! You are right not to let him freeze your cervix; That is totally unecessary, and a bandaid to the real issue of your bleeding. I am currently myself having the opposite problem of you, after my LEEP I did have a lot of bleeding for a couple of weeks, but then my period and all bleeding stopped completely. I have been having tests done. What I can tell you though, that you obviously have figured out, is LEEP will alter your body forever. It is something that should never be done unless absolutely necessary. My oncologist gyn. refused to do the LEEP on me until I had high-grade spots. She said taking away low-grade spots is unecessary because they usually heal on their own and disappear. Plus, you cannot regenerate cervical tissue, so removing some of the cervix is a big deal. I am so so so sorry you are going through this. I really hope you find a better gyn. and they get to the bottom of the issue.