Why does my period always conspire against me?

[WeiryWeiry]

We've planned a day out tomorrow, bought tickets, DH swapped shifts etc, all looking forward to it.

My period was due Saturday but is now clearly warming up for a grand entrance :(

I have never heard of this - how much do you take and when? If I could reduce the amount of bleeding that would be absolutely amazing.

I take it from the day before for till day 2. (Drink milk or eat something first as you would normally for ibuprofen). I take two three times a day (normal dose for an adult on back of pack). I’m over 50 and only tried it this year….what a fool I’ve been because for me it’s brilliant!

I only discovered ibuprofen late too.

I found it took the edge off the first few horrendous days making them bearable.

Really interested to try ibuprofen. My periods have just started to become a bit irregular - how do you know which day it starts on, to be able to take it the day before? I am guessing you need regular, predicable periods to be able to do that.

I just start when it starts if I miss it. I have no idea if it works for everyone but so far so fucking amazing for me

@MistySkiesAfterRain

Bit of an old wives tale but having tonnes of raspberries or raspberry leaf tea tones the uterus and can make flow lighter.

The uterus lining, not the actual uterus.

Interesting re Ibuprofen, I used to take that a lot when younger as I had painful periods. Then they got less painful so I stopped but they were heavier then.

My period came on last weekend, when we were away. We went to an outdoor music gig, stayed in a B & B and visited dh's family on the way back.

Music - the pub garden had seats with white cushions,

B & B - white bedding,

DH's family - cream sofas!

I was ok, just doubled up on sanitary protection, but I can never relax completely in case of leakage, on other people's furniture on a 'heavy flow' day! 😳

Ibuprofen? How can I be 46 and only hearing of this for the first time?

I’d be interested to know if it works for other people. Will you report back?

I’ll definitely try it on my next period in 4 weeks time. I had a leak on the sofa in our holiday accommodation a couple of days ago - fortunately it came out after a lot of scrubbing - but I am completely fed up of these heavy peri menopausal periods. Fingers crossed that the ibruprofen works.

My period arrived today ironically - 3 days early 🙄 x a million. So I will definitely try ibuprofen next month. Agree @VikingNorthUtsire - how can I be 47 and only just learning about this?!

I must definitely be entering the peri phase, as my periods are somewhat erratic now. I hope I can manage to take the ibuprofen the day before it arrives.

I used to get terrible, debilitating cramps as a teenager. Things got better and then after childbirth, my period would come and go with me barely noticing. But now the cramps seem to be ramping back up. 😔

The receive wisdom is that women dread menopause, but I can’t bloody wait for this whole shebang to be over, and to never have another period again.

I’m the same @SmackMyAssnCallMeJudy - 52 here and I’m still as regular as clockwork. Loads of other peri symptoms though The day I get my last period will be a very happy day - hate hate hate them.

Meh

Eh?

Did anyone try ibuprofen in the end?

I’ve never not tried ibuprofen so I have no idea if it’s different.

I’m just used to alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen across around days -1 to 3ish.

Before I had my baby I’d throw some Buscopan in too for luck.

Jealous of those who don’t have painful periods!

In my experience, ibuprofen lessens the flow but tends to make it drag on longer.

So a normal period for me is:
Day 1 - light bleeding
Day 2-3 - heavy bleeding
Day 4- moderate bleeding
Day 5 - light bleeding / stopping

However, if I take ibuprofen my period tends to be moderate/light on most days but it goes on for 7-8 days instead on 4-5.

I thought I was over it at 61 but I still get 'spotting' very very slight which is lovely considering how heavy they used to be. I know it is still a period and not anything else because I have been so bloody tearful about EVERYTHING. In fact I am more of an emotional mess than before. Also bloody tied. A week before I came on I would eat for England, then when I was on, food made me sick. I still feel like that but every time it comes around (rarer these days) I forget, realise how tired I am and how emotional and think "Oh yeah".

Don't miss the heavy flow or the cramping, or the tired heavy legs, Thank you!

I take tranexamic acid (on prescription) which dramatically eases the flow and really minimises cramping.