Anyone awake? I'm so mortified and embarrassed

[FlamingLama]

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?

Oh OP I totally get this.

Once you’re back and feeling stronger along with going back to the GP (you don't say what you've tried but tranexamic acid has been life changing for me if you haven't tried it yet) I recommend a couple of pairs of periods pants.

I've got the super extra heavy flow ones, I use with a menstrual cup but it's very hard to leak out of them as so much of the pant is absorbent. They're really great for reassurance. You can get swimming ones too.

Hope you feel ok

These things happen. The majority of house keepers are women and so they'll understand.
Have you ever tried period pants? I find them to be really good for catching leaks.

I used to own a hotel. Please don’t worry . Sheets go to a laundry and I am sure the mattress will have a cover . I saw much worse than a bit of blood including a guy who shit everywhere and wiped his arse on the curtains! I used to find if I went swimming the flow stopped in the water though it was a bit heavier after. Enjoy the rest of your break .

I really sympathise OP. I had horrendous periods too, but am another who had the Mirena coil fitted at age 44, when I could no longer cope with them. I would fit a fresh tampon and pad, but was literally 'flooding' by the time I went back downstairs. My periods stopped from that moment. It was bliss!

Have you tried a mirena?

.....oh and don't be embarrassed. Do what others have suggested and strip the bed and leave for housekeeping to change. I'm sure they'll understand.

If it makes you feel any better, OP, I'm away for the weekend with DH, DD and the dogs. One dog got so excited on his walk earlier that he ended up knocking me over and as I went down I wet myself. Properly wet myself.

Don't let it ruin your weekend, you didn't do it on purpose and the hotel has seen WAY worse.

I’ve also worked in a hotel as housekeeping and oh my gosh - I can’t explain how unfazed by this I would have been. It happened so frequently and I didn’t bat an eyelid. Unexpected poo in unexpected places, yes. Wee in the kettle, yes. The person that cut off all their hair and shoved it down the side of the sofa cushions… well, I hope you’re okay. Period blood is part and parcel of changing bedding so please try to put it to the back of your mind and take comfort that this thread has been unanimous in reassuring you that it’s not a big deal

Honestly, try not to worry about the bedding. The hotel will have seen this all before. You could go for a lovely Indian head massage, manicure and pedicure and enjoy those treatments without any worry?
Then Monday, make an appt with your GP and ask them about tranexamic acid. It literally has changed my life. I was you, 3 years ago, put up with heavy periods since the age of 9 until I was 47.
Take care OP, have a lovely breakfast and lunch.

I've worked in hotels. Period blood is nothing compared to the sick, shit and piss I've dealt with on sheets.

I too suffer with flooding at night and when it happens in hotels (travel a lot fo work) I breezly call (or go down to) reception and say 'I've bled on my sheets over night please can I get a sheet change'. Nothing to be embarrassed about theae things happen and the term bled could mean nose bleed so nothing specific.

If you take the sheets off yourself just leave the stain visible so they HK staff can treat it before going to the laundry.

Ah bless you OP, I used to work as a hotel cleaner and honestly if didn't even register usually as stuff like this happens so often! I agree with others to try and push for more medical support with them, sadly as it's a womens only issue it's always low priority and misunderstood, but no doubt there is something that can help, just a shame we have to fight for it.

You can buy bed wetting sheets/pads in varying sizes. At the pharmacy. I got them for my OH after an operation so if his bandage leaked it would not damage the sheet. I give one to my daughter to use if ever a visitor in a house as she bled on the new bed in the new house of a relation once. She was 16 at the time and mortified phoning me back home about what to do. They are about two foot square. Very handy for many women who travel.

I hope you are back to sleep by now. Please do not feel bad about it, it happens. You talk about going to the swimming pool, if you are somewhere hot do not even think of sunbathing or being exposed to much heat as you would bleed far more than you normally do.

The way I managed my heavy periods and holidays was to use the more absorbent tampons plus a pad, then changed the tampons every 2-3 hours.

I share your frustration about not being heard, the main hurdle is by passing the bloody GP but once past that, things get easier. My advice is to start a diary of how bad your period is, for example if you say “I use 8 high absorption tampons plus 3 pads during the day” they will know you need attention fast.

Something that I am still seething about is that my Gp (or the dozens of GPs I saw) didn’t even think about prescribing Tranexamic Acid tablets that really help reducing the amount of blood you loose, instead they kept giving me iron tablets for anemia and telling me that I was near menopause so it would resolve on its own in a year or two, 10 years later… I have not missed a single period yet.

Aww it’s ok, these things happen, I used to flood too. The best thing I did was having a Mirena coil, to control my periods, for me
I stopped having them completely. Life changing.

I have had in Perim menopause. I use modibodi 24 hour pants. Haven’t had a leak over night or a leak when flooding during the day since. I even wear them swimming. I use a tampon, put a fresh pair of modibodi pants on under my costume bad had no issues. Changed my life!
I know this won’t help you with today but definitely try some for the future.
I would definitely go for your treatments. Explain you’ve got heavy period and can the put down an extra towel in case you leak. I’ve asked that before I found out the modibodi period pants worked for me and everyone was always fine with it.
If they can’t find a cause for heavy periods (make sure they check your iron levels too as I was anaemic which made me feel dreadful) then you could consider a progesterone implant birth control (unless your ttc) as they often completely stop periods. I am opting to currently life with mine now as the modibodi pants mean I don’t have to worry anymore and in fact sometimes forget I’ve got my period till I go to the toilet.

OP

Sheets in hotels are white for a reason.

They have mattress protectors for a reason.

I know it is horrible but it happens.

Take the advice of those on here who have been chamber maids, fold the sheet, tell them - or leave a note and personally I'd probably leave a tip as well.

Go for a swim and a spa treatment, no matter how heavy you should be able to do a 15 min swim and OK you might not want some treatments but a facial and a manicure you can have while dressed.

See the GP for tranexamic acid tablets. Worked wonders for me when I suffered the same way as you did / do without them.

Honestly. This happens all the time.

Take the sheets off when you leave, and put them in a pile. They all get boiled washed anyway.

Massive sympathies though, it's horrendous and people don't understand how constraining it is.

Assume you are on Tranexamic acid.

Get back to your GP obv but in the meantime while you are waiting for that take 400mg ibuprofen 4x daily for the first few days of your period. It can reduce bleeding but make sure you don't take it on an empty stomach and not long term. Also have you tried a menstrual cup? I had a major issue with tampons after my first baby because I seemed to flood rather than leak and the tampon couldn't absorb quickly enough. I still have to wear a large cup during the night plus a nighttime pad but most of the time I make it through the night. Takes a few months to get used to thought.

Also go and enjoy your hotel breakfast and stop being embarrassed about something that you literally cannot control. There are no muscles to hold in menstrual blood, there's no way you can train your body not to shed it off. You have taken double precautions and its an accident. Id strip the bed and put it in the bath and say to or leave a wee note for the staff and tip nicely!

I don't see any reason to tell the hotel staff, just strip the bed, fold the sheets discretely and ask for a change of bedding. They won't ask for a reason.

It's fine OP it happens, they will have seen it all before.

Honestly, don’t worry about it. Let’s put it this way, my first ever Saturday job was as a chamber maid. I walked into a room once and there was shit smeared all over the walls, bed, floor, headboard! It was foul. When chambermaids say they’ve seen it all, they really have. This is a natural bodily function, you didn’t do it on purpose and they’ll have seen it before. They’ll deal with it discreetly and you’ll get nice fresh bedding.

Do NOT be embarrassed. This is human biology and nothing shameful.

When it happened to me I just called reception and said - very politely but bluntly - “I’m sorry my period leaked so I need a linen change”. I stripped the bed myself so they didn’t have to handle to bloodied sheets. I am certain that a bit of period blood is not even in the top 5 ‘grossest’ things people leave on hotel sheets.

Please, PLEASE see your GP and refuse to take no for an answer.

Head up high! Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Another ex-chambermaid here. We’ve seen it all before and it happens. It actually happened to me staying at a friends in their spare room.

As PP said, just strip the sheets off and ask reception if you can have your bed remade with fresh linen. No need for details. Then tell/leave a note for housekeeping that sheets have blood on them so they can cold wash them.

Just adding to the advice- go back to GP and insist on an ultrasound plus a referral to gynaecology. It's not just something to put up with. I'm currently under investigation for fibroids and have the same. No man would put up with this. I'd also not recommend a coil until you have had investigations to find out what's going on.

Can I also suggest period pants. They have been a lifesaver for me. Get ones that are fully absorbent all up the front and back (I use cheeky wipe ones). You can then triple up with tampons and pads.

@Moonface123

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

Same for me.

OP the hotel will have seen it all before, don't worry about that at all.

Re the periods, Mirena stopped my periods entirely after a few months, and made my BFFs periods lighter, so may be a possibility.

My teen DD has heavy periods and uses period knickers. You can get some heavy duty ones - unlike a pad, they won't wriggle away.

She likes Modibodi ones best but even M&S do them now.

You just give them a rinse and then machine wash them. You can even get waterproof bags for them for storage till you get home.