“Why am I discharging more than usual?”

Discharge can be normal if it has no odor and is not discolored. If it has an odor, is thick and discolored (yellow or green), or white and clumpy, these can be symptoms of a vaginal infection. If you have associated fevers or pain, these could be symptoms of a more serious uterine infection that needs urgent care. It is important to get an evaluation, you should call your doctor to schedule an exam.

Normally, people have a slight increase in discharge. But you have more than usual. You need to have a check up. It may be due to infection or other rate causes.
Good luck.

Anjan Chaudhury, M D, F A C O G

Many things can cause this including frequent sexual activity, bacterial vaginosis and vaginitis, or a retained tampon. Get it checked out with a provider!

You ask a simple question that could have a variety of answers based on more background information. But the most common reason is a change in the balance of vaginal bacteria. There are approx. 30 bacteria that live in harmony in the vaginal vault; they all have a role to play in cleaning up menstrual blood, rebalancing the alkaline pH of semen back to the acid pH of the typical vaginal vault and to help show the rebalance of bodily fluids when we ingest antibiotics which will preferentially kill some bacteria while allowing other bacteria to flourish. So the most basic answer to your question is that your body is trying to rebalance the pH in your vaginal vault. This may need to happen from an increase in sexual encounter with an increase in exposure to an alkaline pH of semen. This may also need to happen with irregular bleeding or spotting that triggers ‘clean up’ and balancing to occur in the vaginal vault or if you were recently on antibiotics and need to rebalance. Another commonly overlooked reason is the increase in dietary sugar which can trigger overgrowth of yeast in the vaginal vault; this would likely result in an irritating and itchy vaginal discharge but not always in its early stages. And there is also the discharge of a strep carrier; many patients carry strep in their respiratory system which can trigger more frequent strep throat occurrences but they can also carry strep in their vaginal vault; this is problematic with pregnancy and delivery but it can also be problematic with hormone changes, including adolescence, polycystic ovary hormone swings, perimenopause, menopause and even post-menopause. Balance is a marvelous thing that we take for granted; but the body does a lot of hard work to do this and sometimes we need to recognize that the body is working a little harder than it should and we need to recognize the triggers for the imbalance and help.