My life is being ruined by heavy periods

[ImFree2doasiwant]

Sounds dramatic I know. But I am t the end of my tether with it. I have lived with it for well over 2 years now. Saw the GP when my maternity leave was finishing as wasn't sure how I would cope at work.

There have been times when it's not quite as bad. And indeed in general it's improved. But, I am bleeding for weeks at a time. Months in fact. Heavily. Losing large clots. Having to waddle to the loo. Have to use the accessible toilet at work so I can properly clean up. Been to the loo 3 times in the last 10 minutes to change a fucking massive pad that was full.

I'm severely anaemic. Exhausted. I do have underactive thyroid which I think may be the cause but who on earth knows? I know the bleeding us even worse if I run out of thyroxine for a few days.

I've had a scan, showing nothing small ovarian cysts and thickened womb lining, GP seemed unconcerned but has referred me to a Gynaecologist. I've had a letter back saying "No appointments available ".

I've had tranexamic acid. Which doesn't work (as predicted by the GP)
My sleep is disturbed as the feeling of losing the blood wakes me. I've done 3 extra loads of washing today - bedding, pjs and bath mat and washable pads.

Has anyone had this and what did you do? I'm desperate. I even said receny that at least I had no real pain and bingo, now I'm getting pains. I have no idea how I can go on like it.

ImFree2doasiwant that sounds awful - I know on my heavy days I was emptying an overflowing cup every hour (didn't often have clots admittedly) but was lucky enough to have a proper bathroom with sink at work and just avoided anywhere else for a few days. Sleep was a nightmare as I had to empty every 2-3 hours for the first couple of nights!

My doctors said I just had to put up with it as was obviously someone with heavy periods. Pretty rubbish. I hope you manage to get something sorted -- and soon.

This sounds awful OP, I’m so sorry.
When you say you can’t afford private, do you mean for treatment or for an initial consultation? If you could get the initial consultation done, they might be able to transfer you to their NHS list. My friend did this and she said it made the world of difference. I think the consultation was about £450. I realise this may not be possible.

Thank you. I feel like I'm just saying ",nope" to everyone's suggestions, but honestly, I've been trying all I can. I've been back and forth to the GP. I've spent a fortune on reusable sanitary products, mooncup, pads, pants.

I'm going to call the Drs (again!) in an hour or so once they've got the Monday morning rush out of the way

Have you ever had the combined pill? I only started with super heavy periods when my GP insisted on stopping it when I got to age 44. I used to take packets back to back without a bleed every 4 weeks.

@Nat6999 who was your private consultant? It's a route I'm looking at going down.

And agree with the op and others- if I could remove the coil myself I would try it, but they won't and it could be a year with it with symptoms before they would allow it. I'm not prepared to do that.

The GP won't prescribe the combined pill, age and medical history.

Why puts you off the coil? I’ve mulling it over to deal with endo and I’m scared of the ‘fitting’ but people keep telling me I’m ridiculous 🤷🏻‍♀️

FFS sorry about all the typos!

@Stinkyjellycat

They are like marmite- there are lots of women that have them with no issue but lots of women who do, but are told to give it 6+months to settle and generally get fobbed off. You can't just remove it yourself either. I know my body, no other hormonal treatments have ever worked to stop my bleeding and I really don't think this will. I'm not willing to be another experiment for months on end. Life is hard enough at the moment.

In my experience there is a very hard sell on it but what I want is to be diagnosed with why I'm having significant symptoms, rather than given something which might control symptoms but might not.

My gyne glossed over the side effects of it which I was unimpressed with.

^ exactly this.

NeilBuchananisBanksy I saw Mr Faraday at Claremont Hospital in Sheffield, he also works at Rotherham & Barnsley Hospital, he is lovely, he operates on Thursday & Friday evenings there. I had my hysterectomy op on Friday at 6.00pm, was back in bed by 8.15pm & was home by 9.30am next morning.

[quote ImFree2doasiwant]@mrst777 the GP sounded very dismissive of the thickened lining and said it varies dependant on time of the cycle etc. She didn't seem overly concerned Tbh.

I'm almost used to it now I think, which is awful as it affects me more days than it doesnt. Even on the break I had receny, I didn't trust it so was wearing pads , taking them and changes of clothes out with me.[/quote]
@ImFree2doasiwant

My GP said to me she didn’t know the significance of a thickened uterine (womb) wall but she would email the gynaecologist for their advice for which I got an appointment within the week in July.

I asked the gynaecologist if thickening was due to timing of the cycle and she said no ~ it will stay thickened, throughout the cycle, for the reason that was causing it.

A thickened uterine wall is very significant and does need investigating. It could be a fibroid within the thickening that is causing it ~ they can remove the fibroid which will stop the bleeding. There are other reasons why this happens and they need ruling out. I was reluctant to have the mirena coil fitted but as my gynaecologist said you can’t leave the thickening it has to be sorted out. I am being mindful of what I am saying because I don’t want to worry you but it really needs looking into. I am happy to tell you about my condition then you would have a name to mention to your GP ~ if you want me to.

How did you get on with the GP?

You keep pushing for that gynaecologist appointment. You absolutely do not need to suffer like this.

I think you need to make sure you're thyroid is treated properly - why are you running out of thyroxine? My periods have improved tremendously since getting stable on a dose. Still heavy but much more manageable. The other thing for me was sorting out the anaemia. In my case it was absorption problems caused by undiagnosed coeliac disease, but anaemia is a vicious circle, you bleed more if you are abaemic which then makes you more anaemic.

I've tried trans-acid - useless. Mine is caused by fibroids.

I went privately to get diagnosed and treated because I knew it would be months for an NHS appointment- the actual appointment with the gynae was about £180.

@NeilBuchananisBanksy
Thanks for this, it’s really helpful.

Give the mirena coil a go, it is 5 minutes to fit and honestly has changed my life, heavy bleeding half the month to no bleeding, it’s brilliant.

@MooseFlake

I have endometriosis. I take the mini pill back to back with no breaks. All but stopped my periods.

It's wonderful.

If you're not ttc then just stop your periods. You don't need to suffer like this

Yes, same here, Azalia.

@ImFree2doasiwant

The GP won't prescribe the combined pill, age and medical history.

Just a mini pill back to back will stop periods. Progesterone only / mini pill is what i take. I had flooding that frightened the life out of me in january.

Following as my 18 year old DD is having exactly this problem. She has been put on the pill after a month long period which was like a slasher movie and her period this month was only a week but it was still a bloodbath - she was having contractions to pass the clots and flooding through period pants, a Tena pad and 2 night time pads in half an hour. She felt that her (male) GP wasn't taking her seriously so I suggested that she photographed all her pads on her phone so she can hold them up and play him a slide show at her next appointment (zoom). I am now pushing for a gynae appointment for her as it is impossible for her to concentrate at school kl knowing that she will flood onto the chair every lesson.

Thank you @Nat6999

@OwlOne I took the mini pill for 9 months and had constant bleeding on it. It's great it worked for you and others, but sadly it doesn't work for everyone.

@hopeishere

I've tried trans-acid - useless. Mine is caused by fibroids.

I went privately to get diagnosed and treated because I knew it would be months for an NHS appointment- the actual appointment with the gynae was about £180.

What did the gyne do to treat you if you don't mind me asking?

NeilBuchananisBanksy Bloody predictive text, it is Mr Farag

I was the same, my ferritin was at 12, and I could barely function. Mirena has been a miracle for me, periods gone from awful (needing Tena nappy pants and still leaking overnight), to just a liner!!! Plus of course iron supplements, but no longer need those, incredibly.