I have been trying to get pregnant for the last six months I am due on my period in eight days time and have had a little spotting and brown discharge. Any ideas?

@sunshined - I totally agree about getting something like that checked out. I had some abnormal vaginal spotting for a few months before I went to the doctor.

My exam was already scheduled so I waited until then to say anything about it. I just thought it was due to changes in my hormones.

I went through a couple different tests and they discovered I had polyps on my uterus which were causing the spotting.

My doctor said the chance of them turning into cancer was very small, but the best thing to do was remove them.

This was done as an outpatient surgery, and I haven't had any abnormal bleeding since I had the surgery done.

Whenever I have my annual female exam, I have vaginal bleeding and spotting. This is not abnormal, and they always tell me this will probably happen.

It is not bad and always clears up within a day a two. I think it is important to get checked out anytime you have something that is not normal or expected.

Sometimes it can be something quite serious, and the sooner you have it checked out, the sooner you can know how to treat it.

Our female bodies are very complex, and even though we can have vaginal spotting from hormonal changes, there are also times it is more serious than that.

@orangey03 - I have heard of drinking cranberry juice to help with a urinary tract infection, but have never tried pineapple or yogurt.

I get these frequently, and have tried drinking cranberry juice, but still have to go on antibiotics to completely get rid of it.

Usually the first sign that I am getting one is some vaginal spotting and irregular discharge. When this happens, I know that in a few days I will be at the doctor giving a urine sample.

Many times I wish I could just call and tell them what is going on since I always know what the symptoms are. My doctors always says she needs to see me though to make sure nothing more serious is going on.

My vaginal spotting has always been the same thing, but I never realized there were so many other causes for this.

@cloudel – It sounds like you have a urinary tract infection. I get them quite often, and I usually have a brownish-pink discharge, along with overly frequent urination and pain.

You really should see a doctor to confirm this, though. It could always be something more serious. He will likely take a urine sample before doing anything invasive, and if he sees bacteria in your urine, he will just send you home with antibiotics. You probably won't even have to have a vaginal exam.

If you are determined to treat it at home, there is something you can try. Drink at least one 8 ounce glass of cranberry juice a day. You can also take cranberry extract supplements.

This will make your urine so acidic that the bacteria cannot cling to your urinary tract. I learned this trick after getting several infections. Pineapple and yogurt will help do the same thing.

I've been having this pinkish-brown discharge lately, and I'm worried that something might be wrong. I've never seen this before, but it sounds like the discharge mentioned in the article.

I've also been having to urinate a lot more lately. I get cramps really low in my abdomen from time to time, and I always feel like I have to urinate, even when I don't.

Does anyone know what might be wrong with me? Do I need to see a doctor, or is it something I can fix at home?

@ceilingcat – Wow, I didn't know that you could get spotting just because you took your birth control pill at a different time of day than normal! You must be on a high dose or something.

With my birth control pills, I only get vaginal spotting if I forget to take them for about two or three days. This happened to me last week, because I had family visiting, and my normal routine was disrupted. On the third day, I saw spots of blood in my underwear, and the first thing I did was check my birth control packet.

I never knew there were so many different vaginal spotting causes! I definitely think a visit to the doctor is in order if you're having spotting a lot though. I personally wouldn't worry about it if I had spotting one month and then didn't have it again for awhile. But if it was happened all the time I think I would be worried.

It seems like spotting is caused by hormonal changes, and a lot of different things (pregnancy, illness, birth control pills) can make your hormones change. It might be worth a doctors visit to find out what's making your hormones change.

@ceilingcat - That sounds annoying. I'm on the pill too, but I don't usually have spotting at any time during my cycle. However, before I went on the pill I used to have spotting at random fairly often.

I have endometriosis, which is why I went on the pill in the first place. In addition to vaginal spotting between periods, endometriosis also causes seriously painful periods and painful ovulation. It just got to be too much, so I finally went on the pill. I've been very happy with the results. Now I hardly even get my period on my "skip week."

@turquoise - I'm not sure if I would consider that spotting. To me, that just sounds like part of your period. I thought vaginal blood spotting usually occurred at other times of the cycle.

Whenever it occurs, it sure is annoying! I'm on the pill, and if I don't take my pill at exactly the right time every day, I always end up spotting. I discovered this the first few months I was taking the pill. Now I'm meticulous about taking it at the right time to prevent annoying symptoms! I have an alarm set on my phone and everything.

@alisha-- Both could result in vaginal spotting. Did you use protection during intercourse? If you didn't, you could be pregnant and it might be pregnancy spotting.

Since you don't have any vaginal pain, it doesn't sound like it's an injury from intercourse. It could also be period spotting. It happens a lot to women who have irregular periods.

I recommend you wait for your period next week or visit the doctor right away. If you don't get your period next week, you could be pregnant and need to get tested to find out. Either way, it's wise to get checked out by the doctor to make sure that nothing else is wrong.

Can vaginal spotting be because of irregular periods or because of intercourse?

I've been spotting every day for a few weeks now which is not normal. I'm not getting my period and I'm not due to get my period for another week. My spotting started after my last intercourse.

I'm worried because I've never had this before. I don't know if something went wrong during intercourse and that's why it's happening or if its period spotting. I usually have irregular periods meaning it's never on the same day every month.

I don't have pain or anything like that, although I do feel like I'm urinating more than usual. Has anyone experienced something like this?

I always get vaginal spotting several days before my period and several days after. I think it's just my period starting out and finishing up.

A few days before my period starts, I get light pinkish spotting. It's like a warning sign that my period is about to start. And after my period is over, I'll have brown vaginal spotting for a few days. I've never asked a doctor about this but my theory for why it's brown is that the blood oxidizes at the end of my period since it doesn't flow freely anymore and turns brown.

Anyway, I've never worried about my spotting, I know that it's normal.