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Original poster

Anyone awake? I'm so mortified and embarrassed

218 replies

FlamingLama · 06/02/2022 05:00

I'm away for the weekend in a really nice hotel and I struggle with really heavy periods. Slept with a tampon in which I changed before I went to bed and a huge verging on nappy like pad on. Woke up amd the pad has wriggled out the way, tampon has overflowed and there is blood on the beautiful crisp white linen. I want to pack my bags and leave now. I brought my own towel with me from home to sleep on but dh said I was being ridiculous. Sat here so upset.
I'm so sick of my horrendous periods. No Dr takes them seriously and I'm expected to put up with them. They make me horrendously anaemic too. Now this. I'm literally never leaving the house whilst I'm on again.

We've had such a great weekend and this has ruined it. I want to go home. I've had other health problems too so this was supposed to be having a relaxing weekend and I can't sleep for fear of it happening again. Just sat here crying. I know I won't be the first person to have their periods on the sheets but I'm so embarrassed and I took massive precautions and it still happened.

Do I phone reception in the morning and tell them?

OP posts:
DropYourSword · 06/02/2022 05:05

Please don't let this spoil your weekend. It's really not your fault at all. It's just a bodily function you have no control over. I promise you, hotels will have had to deal with WAY worse things than this before.
Yeah, phone reception and tell them. Don't be mortified. Just be matter of fact and apologise. Then move on. Don't let it ruin anything for you.

Copperas · 06/02/2022 05:07

I’m sure you are not the only person this has happened to. Please don’t feel bad about it - hotel staff will have seen much worse. Can you put something under the sheet to protect the mattress? And much sympathy about awful heavy periods

Rtmhwales · 06/02/2022 05:08

I feel for you. But honestly it'll have happened hundreds of times. They can bleach them and if it doesn't come out they just toss and restock with new sheets. It's part of life unfortunately.

Try not to feel awful and let it ruin your weekend. And I don't think personally I'd call housekeeping. I'd just try to get on with my holiday.

Just think of it this way .. if someone said the same thing happened to them would you judge them or think they should feel horrible? Obviously not. It wasn't intentional. You're being way too hard on yourself.

DoItAfraid · 06/02/2022 05:09

Please see another GP - get a scan to make sure its not a fibroid or something and get some meds (mefenamic acid?) to calm your periods down.

Sorry you are upset.

JemimaPyjamas · 06/02/2022 05:10

I’m awake!
So sorry to hear it. If it was me I’d be mortified too but, you know what, when it’s someone else it’s so much easier to be logical and sensible.
If you were the one working in the hotel you’d not be judgemental at all, it’d be just one of those things. And DropYourSword is right, they’ll have had much much worse!

SNUG2022 · 06/02/2022 05:11

Do not be mortified. This has happened to me. I wouldn’t ring reception. I'd just strip the bed and do an exchange with the cleaners when they're in the corridor. Or of you do ring reception just request clean bed linen. Don't say why. Don't let it spoil things.

RefuseTheLies · 06/02/2022 05:13

Don't be embarrassed. My daughter once had explosive diarrhoea in a super fancy hotel when she was about 3. We had to phone housekeeping at 2am because it went all over not only me and my husband, but also over every bit of the beautiful white bedding. Housekeeping came, were lovely, stripped and changed the bed, and that was that. V professional and no guilt. Somethings can't be helped.

KosherDill · 06/02/2022 05:13

Sorry this happened and your partner isn't supportive.

Please don't worry about the hotel. They truly have seen it all and stuff like that is factored in to their housekeeping strategy.

You could phone down before checking out & alert them but meantime put your towel under you and rest. It's not a huge deal. And frankly compared to the feces and other things they routinely deal with on sheets, probably preferable.

Get some rest. You really have done nothing wrong. It happens to all of us in hotels.

I once took a sleeping pill & couple of wines and fell asleep naked with no covers -- awakened to find wine and flowers had been delivered while I sprawled in my stupor. Not a pleasant sight to behold. Point is we are vulnerable in hotels but nothing to die over. Staff are understanding.

LadyPropane · 06/02/2022 05:14

No need to feel embarrassed about this at all. It's a hotel! They will get many calls every day from guests who need their bedsheets changing, most of whom will have a much more embarrassing reason than you do!

However I'm not surprised you are pissed off that you're never taken seriously when you visit your GP. I really hope you are able to make some headway with a different doctor. Don't be fobbed off.

lljkk · 06/02/2022 05:16

How should OP tell them?

i would leave a generous tip.

My dad had bad vomiting bug in an upmarket hotel -- Step-mum had to chat to cleaning staff & was honest that the toilet area was foul. She tips generously normally, and especially tipped generously for their ad hoc cleaning.

ShippingNews · 06/02/2022 05:16

If you are leaving today, don't tell reception. Just leave the sheets as they are. Believe me, and I speak from experience, the staff who do the rooms see all sorts, and blood on the sheets would be low on their "shock , horror" list of things to find. No need to worry !

Original poster
FlamingLama · 06/02/2022 05:17

Thank you for being nice. I'm just sat here crying.
We are supposed to be going to the pool tomorrow and for treatments but I don't think I can trust a tampon and I don't want to get caught out again.

OP posts:
FrenchFancie · 06/02/2022 05:21

I used to chamber maid as a student and this happened regularly, so please don’t worry.

If you want to be nice to your chamber maid, strip the sheet off in the morning, fold it and tell reception or housekeeping that there is blood on the sheet. It will go into a cold wash separately from the others. Hotel sheets are usually white so that we can Chuck a load of bleach at them as necessary.

Trust me when I say this will be a non- event for them. Nothing will ever beat the time I found a human poo on the coffee table, this wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow!

As for your periods, see a different Gp - it drives me potty that women are expected to just put up with these issues, there are treatments which can help and you shouldn’t have to fight for them!

Try to enjoy the rest of your weekend, I hope you got some more rest xx

KosherDill · 06/02/2022 05:22

A good tip handed to cleaning staff isn't a bad idea.

OP, put down a towel to protect the mattress and get some sleep. It's really ok.

penni00 · 06/02/2022 05:25

I am awake! I would request the bedding be changed - you could just say due to a medical issue the sheets need changing or even just that the sheets need changing - you don’t have to explain your personal stuff to them. It could have been a nose bleed by your partner! The hotel must get used to this sort of thing - they will have experienced bed wetting etc… I think it is good that you haven’t let your issues stop you so far, so please don’t let them stop you having your weekends away now. Please remember they won’t look down at you like you are imagining. If they do then that is their problem and feel sorry for them that they are so petty and unsympathetic! I hope you are feeling a bit better now x

LaughingLemur · 06/02/2022 05:26

Please don't let this ruin your weekend. And definitely go back to your GP and insist on a referral. It took me years to do this but when I eventually did they found out I had polyps and having them removed changed my life. No periods for 3 months and then far far lighter periods.

smileyplant · 06/02/2022 05:26

Please don't worry it happens all the time, I'd phone housekeeping in the morning and I'm sure they will sort it discreetly. I'd def challenge the doctors and if you can pay for a private gynaecologist consultation - will be £200-300 but they can be so helpful to know what is normal. Have a lovely day in the pool today Smile

zoopigi · 06/02/2022 05:27

Oh I feel for you 🌹 I'm.not in the uk, but first I was on tranexamic acid for heavy periods, then hysteroscopy nto clear it out, two years ago. I just had a hysterectomy yesterday, do hopefully that will be the end of my woes. Change doctors, you shouldn't have to suffer with this

loislovesstewie · 06/02/2022 05:31

Another one saying ask/tell your GP that you want to be checked properly for fibroids. My friend had them, and she found exactly the same happened as you are going through to the extent that she couldn't leave the house some days. She had a hysterectomy and her health improved about 1000%, so please make a fuss with your GP.

Moonface123 · 06/02/2022 05:43

l have had mirena coil fitted, no periods since, it has been a Godsend to me.

tootiredtospeak · 06/02/2022 05:49

It sounds crappy but they will have seen worse. I would rather deal with that than someone who had been sick everywhere. I feel your pain. I am peri menopausal on my period and have covid. Everytime I cough we come out and I am bleeding stupidly heavy at the same time. Been up since half 4 sat on a towel trying to reduce to damage to my bed or setee. Its gross any annoying but not my fault and this isnt yours. I probably wouldn't risk the pool of I were you but would be having the treatments for sure.

BakedTattie · 06/02/2022 05:50

This happens all the time, don’t worry. If I were you, I’d just strip the bed in the morning and leave it all in the bath if there is one. Trust me, blood is nothing compared to what they usually find on bedsheets Envy (not envy) I once found multiple used condoms, not tied but just left to leak out. And a pair of mens shit covered boxer shorts with shit smeared all over the bedsheets (and the carpet randomly) he didn’t even mention it to me.

Is taking the pill and staying on it for a few months at a time an option? I only take a break every 6 months or so, and this is totally fine,
Confirmed by my doc and pharmacist. Just gives you a bit of a break from the bleeding.

NeverChange · 06/02/2022 05:50

This happened me too before I was diagnosed with endometriosis.

I think you need to be more concerned about your health than the sheets. You need to book an appointment with a gynaecologist to see what is going on as that amount of bleeding is indicative of something not quite right.

If you are staying a few days, strip the sheets and room service will change it. Don't worry, as embarrassed as you are they have probably seen worse. Menstrual blood is at the thin end of the scale!!!

mathanxiety · 06/02/2022 05:51

Peel off the sheet, fold it, tell housekeeping there is blood on it, and leave a tip.

In future, don't listen to advice from men about whether you need a towel to sleep on.

Take a photo of the sheet and the soaked tampon to show your doctor who doesn't think you have a problem.

FlapsInTheWind · 06/02/2022 05:54

Mefanamic acid will change your life

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