Long lasting, brown vaginal discharge

[FireFly83]

I'm 29 years old, haven't been sexually active since January (it's now Sept. 4), have only been with 2 different men in the past 2 years, and something is definitely up with my cycle.  I remember having my period in Feb or March, can't recall exactly which month...and then not again til around Aug 7th...or so I thought.  I had taken 2 home pregnancy tests after being late, and had surgery in mid July, which they performed a mandatory pregnancy test before performing, negative all 3 times.  There was some bleeding, again, about Aug. 7th, for a day or two, thought I was finally having my period, but then it stopped and brown discharge began, kind of as it does at the end of a period.  This went on every day until last Sat, Aug 25th, when I bled again as if I were having my period.  The bleeding went on for a full week.  Things seemed to clear up again Sat Sep 1st, thought my system had worked things out, but then yesterday, Sep 3rd, the brown discharge began again, and as of today is continuing.  Having an abnormal period with long times between has been normal in the past, but never as long as that gap between Feb/March-Aug, then followed by about month long discharge.  I currently don't have health insurance and have been on Worker's Comp for the past year (which is what covered the aforementioned surgery) and am low on funds, as worker's comp doesn't exactly pay much, and is also almost up, without another job lined up.  As money's tight and there's no insurance, I'm desperate for advice from a medical professional or someone who's experienced this or similar.  I've read the discharge can be signs of something as serious as cancer, but I don't seem to be feeling any other symptoms.  Should I bite the bullet and perhaps figure out how/where to receive assistance or wait and see if this clears up?

[FireFly83]

Thank you so very much for your reply, I really appreciate it and I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner.

I've not seen a doctor yet, the lack of insurance makes it fairly daunting, as well as the rather personal subject matter.  That second part is no excuse, I realize.

It's still going on though, and it's bloody more often than brown.  It's been about 2 months and 3 weeks now, and at most it stops for a day, sometimes 2, but that's pretty rare.  Sometimes it's heavy enough to seem like a period....but then it never stops, just lightens.  So essentially after not having a period for about 6 months, I've now been bleeding and/or excreting brown discharge for nearly 3.  It's probably past time to see a doctor, it's just not easy when funds are low and you have no insurance to cover it.  The accident I had last year really kind of threw a wrench in my life ><.  I've never sought free medical assistance and don't even know where to in my area for something like this.

[faafaa]

i experience that also know,do u find out whats going on?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
Brown discharge can be due to ovarian problems, hormonal imbalance, stress, anxiety, crashed dieting, use of birth control pills, change in environment, excessive exercise etc. Heavy bleeding can be due to can be due to hormonal imbalance, fibroids and polyps (non cancerous growth) in the uterus, endometriosis (deposits of the inner lining of the uterus in the pelvic cavity) etc. You might have to go for a complete hormone profile and ultrasonography to know the cause of this.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[FireFly83]

Oh, and some add info...I have been sleeping a lot lately, and on seemingly random days here and there just feel a bit...off.  But, after the accident that put me on worker's comp, I'm also in the worst shape of my life >_>.  So becoming lax in eating and exercise habits could account for the lethargy, and perhaps the irregularity as well.