Tubal ligation, painful periods, clotting, pregnant?
Question
Hello I am 31 year old mother of five beautiful children. I had a tubal ligation after I had my last child, who is now five yrs old. When I was 19 I was diagnosed with mild dysplasia. I have not had any problems until recently. Every other period is so painful. It hurts in my legs, it is so bad. I also have an extreme amount of rather large sized clotting. I have wondered if my Fallopian tubes can grow back and could I possibly be getting pregnant? I have never had a menses put me in bed before from pain. I have also had a pink brown discharge that happens a couple days after my period is over. I am concerned but I wanted to ask your professionals before I arrange an appointment with a doctor. I am waiting on my husbands insurance to go into effect (60 days from now). Should I be concerned and can I afford to wait the 60 days until we get insurance back?
Answer
Last Updated: August 27, 2023
The changes you describe do not sound like pregnancy.
Although there can be tubal sterilization failures, they are not too common (about 18 pregnancies for every 1000 tubal sterilizations). If you did become pregnant, with an early miscarriage, one would expect your menstrual cycle to be delayed.
Your symptoms sound quite troubling though, and of course, need to be further evaluated by your physician. The question is how urgent are the symptoms. Warning signs that you should not wait for the insurance to go into effect would be fever, increasing pain, a positive home pregnancy test, heavy blood loss with weakness or lightheadedness, or pain that continues even when your menses is done. If these are not occurring, and your symptoms are tolerable, I would recommend at least setting up the appointment date now for when the insurance would be active, as many doctors may have a wait for new patients.
Dr. Lynn Keenan
Answered By:
