to ask you what a normal period is? (sorry if TMI)

[Caronaim]

8 days, one of which will be almost uncontainable for a few hours, using highest absorbency tampon and towel, and changing both every 30 mins.

I've just read another thread about anaemia, and a poster said she had three days bleeding, which she wasn't sure if that was heavy. Surely that is minuscule?

Also, do heavy periods really cause anaemia? As most of what you lose isn't blood. And if you are anaemic, do your periods get lighter? So which indicates anaemia, heavy periods or light periods?

[mywholelifeisaheadache]

Yes heavy periods can cause anaemia no yours are not normal
Mine are like yours but i have fibroids which is what causes it.

Get a mooncup for use on your flood days and see your GP for treatment

[PotatoLetters]

I will use 6-8 super towels or tampons each day for the first 2 dsyd. Then it will slow down. Lasts about 6 days in all.

[whooshbangprettycolours]

Mine are like yours and I'm having an ablation to stop it. You can't conceive afterwards (or it's very unlikely) but it can stop periods or make them very very light.

[upthedamnwotsit]

Mine are six or seven days and the first two days are awful and really heavy- even with the largest tampons I could flood at any moment so I have to be near a bathroom just in case. Using the mooncup it's less risky. After those first two days it's manageable.

[ohtheholidays]

Yours sound very heavy.I would make an appointment with your DR.

Mine went completely off the rails a few years ago and I kept flooding it was awful.I went and saw my Dr and he put me onto a hormone tablet and it worked within a month.

[LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726]

I thought mine was heavy but not that heavy, not as bad as yours. Mine's like potato's, sometimes wotsit's.

I've just failed 'giving blood' for the second time with low iron so maybe there's a link. I'm going to get an appointment for a prescription for tranexemic acid, I have no idea why it's prescription only.

Hope you get it sorted.

[Liara]

Mine are very light - around 5 days but only rarely would I need to change a tampon (regular) in the middle of the day - usually if I put one in in the morning I will be fine until the evening.

I still get anaemic sometimes.

[ginmakesitallok]

Mine are about 5-6 days, super tampon with pad for pretty much all of that, changing every 2 hours at heaviest, about 4 hours other times.

[flora717]

I dip towards anemia when my period is here (I struggle with iron levels). My periods are relatively light. I've always thought it was the hormonal fluctuations affecting me (my various digestive issues are worse in period days), rather than any blood loss itself.

[lljkk]

Changing every 30 minutes sounds truly debilitating to me.

They told us in school that 5 days was about avg. I imagine

[flora717]

Posted too soon. Heavy loss (which I have had before) should probably be checked out. And I imagine exacerbates anemia (cells being busy/ replaced etc).

[ButterflyUpSoHigh]

Mine last about 5 days.

Day 1 Heavy, slight backache and diarhoea
Day 2 Quite heavy
Day 3 Slight bleeding
Day 4 and 5 Some discharge just use a pantyliner

Regular as clockwork 28 days normally but have been missing the odd month out recently.

[WaitingForMe]

According to the NHS it's anything short of hospitalisation (actually scrap that, I was prepped for surgery before they realised it was just period pain). You're a woman, grow up and deal with it!

I barely dare leave the house on the first day. I was once admitted to hospital with suspended appendicitis (the prep for surgery period). I have begged DH to kill me.

This is all "normal" it seems.

[ReallyBadParty]

Mine are a fucking nightmare for days two and three (sometimes randomly another day) with battlefield like blood, clots and hideousness. Mooncup full every two hours, with additional three pads at a time to stop leakage.

Then ok til stops after 6-7 days.

[ReallyBadParty]

And sometimes on the random day just blood gushing out, need to sit on toilet til can contain it.

[Mostlyjustaluker]

About 4 days, only changing regular tampon every 8 hours. Very occasional more often. On the fourth day I often use a light tampon. Day five Iay need a panty liner.

[Skiingmaniac]

Similar to last poster:

Day 1: gradual start with mild pain
Day 2: heavy with medium pain - requiring super tampax to be changed 3-4 hourly
Day 3: medium to light with no pain
Day 4-5: light bleeding tailing off or spotting with slim tampax or panty liner only

I thought this was about average.
Sorry you are struggling - sounds like a GP visit needed.

[Mostlyjustaluker]

Now reading other posts and thinking I should not have posted. Sorry you all have such a rubbish time.

[Dimplesandall]

Goodness, Mostly! Only every 8 hrs?! im on superplus for 2-3 days, chaging as much as every 1.5 hrs then peters out rapidly over 4 days.
Poor you, OP. That soundz intolerable. Definitely check it out.

[OurMiracle1106]

When I had normal periods aged 16-17 I was 4 to 5 pads a day for three to four days. 3 pads for a day then a liner for a couple more days more for my peace of mine (used to put one in to three days before I was due)

I would think that was normal back then. Never late. Never more than two days early. Slight cramps as I came on and then nothing til next month

[Caronaim]

Thank you everyone for answering. Very interesting. I had no idea there was so much variation.

[WhenTheDragonsCame]

Mine last 2, some times 3, days and are really heavy. I can go through a super plus tampax in less than 2 hours. Then nothing for a couple of days before a small amount which just needs a towel.

I went to the doctor and he seemed to think it was related to my under active thyroid that he diagnosed at the time.

[daughterofliz]

Until recently (they're getting really far apart now, I think I'm in perimenopause) my usual pattern was like this:

Often but not always a tiny smudge of blood on toilet paper about two days before the real start.

Day 1 and sometimes 2 (depending on what time of day it started): use long towels, probably need to change about 4 times in the daytime, two long towels slightly overlapping would see me through the night with no leaks.

Day 2 (if there was a full day 1), 3 and sometimes 4: probably change 2-3 times in the day, not much flow at night after day 2.

Day 4/5/6: hardly anything, often one towel lasted all day, but unwise to stop wearing anything as there could be a late few drops.

My cycle had been 3 weeks 4 days for years, ever since they came back after DS2 who is now 16. Before DC it was bang on 4 weeks and probably slightly heavier. I don't get period pains or PMS.

[FindoGask]

About five days. They've got heavier since children (or maybe just as I get older).

Day 2 is usually worst now - used to be Day 1. I have a mooncup and empty it every couple of hours on Day 2. Lots of pain usually - backache, abdominal pain, bloating. Then Day 3 is no pain and moderate bleeding, then Day 4, 5 and occasionally 6 just tailing off.

Nowhere near as bad as some of you have it! I think it's about normal. The only thing that bothers me cycle-wise is a weird mini-bleed/sore boobs thing I've started to get on about day 14 of my cycle.

[apostropheuse]

I had terribly heavy painful periods, lasting 8-9 days. In the end what helped was going into the doctor's surgery and breaking down in tears when I explained to him that I was wearing a super tampon as well as two night-time towels - one at the front of my underwear and one at the back. An hour after my shower and putting on fresh protection my mother, who happened to be visiting, had to point out to me that my trousers had saturated up to my waistband at the back.

Thankfully he took this seriously and prescribed tranexamic acid. It was a miracle cure for me. After that my periods reduced to normal flow lasting 4-5 days, with normal amounts of cramping.

I know that when I was sterilised after my fourth child they discovered a fibroid at the top of my uterus, so perhaps that was something to do with it. Also, I went on to have an early menopause (aged 38) so perhaps there was a hormonal involvement.