You’re 23, you don’t have to tell your parents anything and your doctors can’t without your permission. Tell them you are worried about odd vaginal bleeding and need to go to a doctor.
They probably already know you masturbate, it is a pretty natural thing but I get not wanting to tell them - if you really don’t want them involved ask a friend or take yourself but go.
I haven’t looked at the photos either, don’t need to, you are freaked out and that alone makes a doc visit worthwhile. It could be anything or nothing, you won’t know until you are checked out.
Calling other posters names is not allowed in this forum. Use the BBQ Pit for that. Do not call names or insult other posters again.
Furthermore, If you’re going to post any photos that are gory or/and offensive, you should probably put them under spoilers (which I’ve done for you) to make the ease of clicking on them harder to do.
And lastly, the SDMB is not the place to ask medical advice. I know you said you will make an appointment with your doctor, that is what is best to do.
First… I hope it’s nothing serious and everything checks out okay.
And as Thylacine has already mentioned, masturbation is perfectly normal.
There’s an old joke about that… 90% of men will admit to masturbating, the other 10% are liars.
(I’ve always heard it in reference to men, but IMHO, it applies to everyone.)
For that matter, it has the potential to actually be beneficial in that it’s a good opportunity to ‘check under the hood’, so to speak.
You know, check all the fluids, inspect the fan belt, make sure the battery is still fastened down and the connections aren’t becoming corroded, etc.
Sure, this isn’t the place for it, but she is scared and worried and wants to be reassured. I can totally get that, it’s not attention grabbing.
Here’s my advice. Don’t come to the conclusion that it is serious - it could be you had a big zit and popped it or something else innocuous. The horrendous stuff gets all the press - a lot of stuff is just the body doing something weird and then it sort of comes right again.
Keep you doctor’s appointment on Monday. Meanwhile:
If you’re feeling sick go to the ER.
If you are feeling otherwise okay do one of these:
phone a close friend and tell her (or him). The board is great, but nothing beats someone actually being there for you.
if you feel you can’t tell anyone, distract yourself. Go for a walk. Go out with friends. A film. Anything. Do NOT stay on the internet googling symptoms. You will go batshit insane and you will not find anything conclusive. If you’re not feeling bad, accept you can’t do anything till Monday so do something else to take your mind off it.
For your next meeting with the doctor don’t be reticent. Tell them about the speculum mishap.
In googling similar scenarios the main answers seem to be injured or irritated vaginal tissue or PCOS related symptoms.
This answer seems to come closest to your general scenario. It sounds like the heavy bleeding is due to injuring your vaginal walls with the really vigorous deep penetration you described. The lighter stuff is just a symptom of PCOS and the blood being flushed out. As an aside if your hymen is not completed opened or is only partially open this can cause similar issues also.
Please, please tell me you haven’t used the speculum since.
Has the bleeding slowed down at all? If not, I really don’t think you need to go to urgent care. On the one hand, it does sound like you just burst a polyp, but continual bleeding like you described could be dangerous.
PCOS and endometriosis often cause endometrial tissue (the lining of the uterus that’s made to catch the fertilized egg and help it build the placenta) to grow where it shouldn’t, including over your cervix and along the walls of your vagina. As your hormones wax and wane - and PCOS means your hormones swing wider than a woman without PCOS - this tissue sometimes liquifies and comes out as “spotting”. Both the deep vigorous penetration and the muscle spasms generally brought on by orgasm can forcefully expel this tissue, too.
Since it stopped on its own, it is very unlikely to be a medical emergency. Should you see a doctor? Yes, because if you’re bleeding a lot, they need to check out why and treat it. If it is the PCOS causing crazy hormones, they may want to remove or shrink some of those cysts on your ovaries. If it’s the endometriosis causing excess endometrial tissue, they may want to remove some of that excess tissue, either with medication, or laser surgery or other techniques your doctor can tell you more about.
So, deep breaths, calm down, and yes, call your doctor to make an appointment. If you don’t want to tell your parents why, you don’t have to, or you can be vague and say you’re having some spotting and want to get it checked out.
If you start to run a fever or you have pain in your abdomen or pelvis, then you call your doctor again and see if she wants you to go to the ER. If you have pain and bleeding that doesn’t stop on it’s own in about 15 minutes (and isn’t period blood), then you go to the ER.
When you see your doctor, ask her to give you some information - either in writing or verbally - about PCOS, endometriosis and benign vaginal bleeding. That should all have been explained to you when you were diagnosed, but it sounds like you were young and maybe not listening, or they gave the information to your mom and she didn’t share it with you.
When you do see your doctor, tell her everything, even about the speculum. She can’t diagnose you properly without all the facts. Trust me, she won’t be shocked, doctors have heard everything.
Also, put the thought of cancer out of your mind. You said you had 2 negative paps in the past couple of years. Don’t worry so much.
Lastly, maybe go a little easier on the self-pleasure. That thing needs to last you your whole life. And I don’t mean the vibrator.
(Oh, and I did look at the pictures, and while I’m sure it was scary and looks like a lot of blood, and any amount of unexplained blood coming out of your body is worth checking with your doctor about, it’s, in medical terms, not a large amount. Maybe 30mL…maybe. Blood looks bigger than it is, because it spreads.)
Why would they suspect that bleeding meant masturbation? That’s a really weird thing to assume. If someone came to me and said “heavy vaginal bleeding” I’d think it was a bad period. Maybe fibroids. Or a miscarriage. But my first thought wouldn’t be that she’d been masturbating. That wouldn’t even be my tenth thought.
Why can’t you just go to urgent care today without bothering your parents about it?
Also, if you’re regularly masturbating vigorously enough to make yourself bleed, maybe consider switching it up a little. There are lots of ways to get off.
According to the OP and the post right above yours, is she not making the appointment on Monday? So, not actually getting in to see the doctor on Monday?
On the chance that I’ve read that wrong, I’ll apologize for adding to the billion posts- go see a doctor. You are clearly worried out of your mind. Take a book and go down to your local emergency room and get in to see some kind of medical professional. Tell them everything, including the speculum and the masturbation. Without all the information, how can the doctor be expected to make the right diagnosis? For your own peace of mind (and perhaps your health), do something now instead of waiting for a doctor’s appointment that might be weeks or even months down the road.
When you call your doctor’s office, you need to make it clear that you’re calling because you’re experiencing non-menstrual bleeding. If you make it sound like you just want a regular checkup then the next appointment may be months from now, but if you’re actually experiencing potentially troubling symptoms they will try to get you in sooner.
And as others have said, you need to be honest with your doctor if you want to get help. If you don’t trust your current doctor enough to tell the truth then find another doctor, but you’re wasting everyone’s time by going in and not admitting what you’re really concerned about.
So fun story from a guy:
I was having a problem about 5ish years ago with blood in the toilet after I would take an epic dump. And I would always freak out about it. So one day I screwed up the courage to do see my doctor. She took a peak between the cheeks and said, “Oh you have a hemorrhoid here. You really need to drink more water, eat more fiber and don’t sit on the toilet trying to wrestle a poop snake.”
She probably said it nicer.
So a month or so goes by and I, being one of those people that are terrified I’m dying of everything, actually follow her advice. I have a next appointment and she says, “Yup, it’s gone down, make sure you use good toilet paper and quit reading on the toilet dork.” I haven’t have a problem since. Just occasional spots of blood due to over vigorous wiping or when I have Taco Bell.
Most likely, you will be fine.
I can’t believe I’m the first one saying this. Seriously Dope?
Maybe you are the first person saying it because it’s an idiotic thing to say. Seriously. I mean, there’s lots of idiots around but I guess the other lame flirters had the sense of shame needed to stay out of a vaginal bleeding thread.
I think it’s hard for any of us to say what’s going on without doing a pelvic exam, so I do think that going to see a doctor is a smart idea. I would be honest with the doctor about having used a speculum and seeing something weird previously. Using a speculum isn’t that weird - I think most of the modern generation of ob/gyns would probably be glad that you wanted to understand your body better. I think it’s far better for women to be comfortable using a speculum rather than the frighteningly common scenario where some women are so squeamish about touching themselves that they sometimes “lose” things like tampons in their vaginas (even though things like that can’t really go far).
Abnormal vaginal bleeding is a very common reason for women to come to the ER (back when I used to rotate through a busy ER we would usually see AT LEAST one vag bleeder every shift - often more than one), so if you are worried enough that you want to get checked out before Monday then I think it would be reasonable to go to the ER. If you have to tell your parents, I would just tell them that you’ve been having abnormal bleeding and not get into any more details than that. I don’t think your parents will assume that it was because you were masturbating, especially since you have PCOS and that in itself can cause abnormal bleeding.
