Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

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:

PermanentTemporary · 06/02/2022 09:08

I'm posting from a hotel and bled over the sheets on Friday night with my newish boyfriend. I'm ashamed to say it didn't occur to me to think much of it. I'll strip the bed and fold the sheets now I've seen the advice on here, but as others say I think you should focus far more on getting help for your debilitating periods. I hope you can enjoy the day

ittakes2 · 06/02/2022 09:12

Just undo bedding and leave on bed folded without blood showing - theyll be popping straight into wash.
Also acupuncture sorted my need to sleep on towels.

thinkingaboutLangCleg · 06/02/2022 09:12

I hope you’re feeling better this morning, OP. I’ve done hotel work and, believe me, menstrual blood on the sheets is no big deal. Have a lovely relaxing day. Xx

BabyInTheJungle · 06/02/2022 09:16

I was a chambermaid in my late teens and honestly even as a squeamish 18 year old this wouldn't have bothered me. Especially if there was a tip

Hope you can get some better answers from the GP, keep on that them. In the meantime;

Period pants (you get swimming pants too) are amazing and life changing. If a heavy period wear with a tampon and other days just wear to give you peace of mind.

Mirena coil has changed my life! I'm so glad I went ahead with it.

Good luck and enjoy your treatments today x

Houseofvelour · 06/02/2022 09:19

Sending you a hug OP. Leaking in the night is always a pain in the ass.
Like others have said, this will not be the first or the last time that someone gets blood on the sheets. I wouldn't worry too much.

I've always had tsunami periods and found that a massive pad and heavy flow, night time period pants really helped to stop me leaking onto the sheets.
I've since gone on the mirena coil and I still have 12 day periods but they're super light.

Motherofgorgons · 06/02/2022 09:21

Sorry not RTFT but I have very heavy periods as well. Got a scan and it's several fibroids pressing on my uterus. I have been given meds for them and am considering a Mirena coil. Please see your GP and insist on a scan. You should also be taking iron.

katepilar · 06/02/2022 09:24

I would worry if it was soaked into the bed/mattress. Why cant you just wash the sheets?

katepilar · 06/02/2022 09:27

@ittakes2

Just undo bedding and leave on bed folded without blood showing - theyll be popping straight into wash. Also acupuncture sorted my need to sleep on towels.

well you dont want to put blood stained bed linen straight into wash, do you. it needs to be cold water to rinse it out and I assume the hotel washes sheets at high temperature.

5128gap · 06/02/2022 09:32

Can you not just rinse it off, keeping the clean parts as dry as possible and then dry off an the towel rail or with a hairdryer?

Thisisconfusing · 06/02/2022 09:33

You need to change your GP. I have adenomyosis and endometriosis which caused really horrendous periods. There are a range of things you can try - for some a straightforward prescription can help a lot ( some have been mentioned). But for others like myself the mirena was the miracle I needed . My GP was very sympathetic and after the usual tablets didn’t work I had a gynae referral . For your GP to dismiss it without understanding the cause or trying to help is awful. Good luck I know how much this can impact your life .

JuicySatsuma85 · 06/02/2022 09:42

My husband has Crohn’s disease. You should see the state he left our Honeymoon Suite in when we got married. Yikes.

Tip for the future…period pants. If your period is that heavy…postpartum version of period pants. I use the ones from Modi Bodi. Where them wi a pad and tampon if it makes you feel more confident but don’t become a recluse for 5 days once a month until menopause.

NobodyKnowsTiddlyPom · 06/02/2022 09:44

I feel for you OP. I’m lying here reading your post having been ambulanced to A&E yesterday morning because of such horrendous blood loss and hand sized clots that it was making me lightheaded, dizzy and out of breath.

I won’t go anywhere on my period any more because they’re so life limiting. I can’t have a coil because of other health issues but it might be a solution for you? It thins the lining right down so that even if if doesn’t stop your periods completely, it makes them much lighter.

Tranexamic acid is also worth asking for. You take it on your heaviest days and it lessons the flow quite a lot.

Definitely get your GP at any rate - ask for a female one if you feel males ones are being dismissive. I’ve had awful experiences with dismissive GPs in the past but persevered.

BoodleBug51 · 06/02/2022 09:46

Ask your GP about a Mirena coil, OP.

Phone reception, ask for a plastic bag to put the bedding in, and don't give it a second thought. They'll have seen far far worse.

downbythewoods · 06/02/2022 09:47

I was a chambermaid and this is no biggie. You don't have to do anything but if you want to, and are embarrassed, just strip the sheets and bundle them in a pillowcase. Then leave them for the housekeeping to replace or request a bedding change. You don't have to say why, but again, if you feel compelled, just say it's a medical issue. Don't let it ruin your weekend. As for treatments, maybe go for a manicure or something non invasive. Hang in there, but definitely go and get a second opinion from a doctor. x

Mollymalone123 · 06/02/2022 09:47

The exact same thing happened to me xx I put the sheet in the bath tub and rinsed in cold water and left a big tip xxx I was mortified too xx I then went to see gp and he referred me-I had already spent the day out at an historic area visiting toilet after toilet because I bled through pads in half an hour.I eventually had an endometrial ablation and it was the best thing I ever did!

Thomasina79 · 06/02/2022 09:47

When I was going through the menopause I had really, really heavy bleeding every couple of weeks. It was ruining my life. I was offered an endometrial ablation procedure to remove the womb lining which transformed my life. No more heavy bleeding. It can only be offered to women who don’t want any more children, so might not be the answer for you.

This sort of bleeding g is awful and you should not have to put up with it.

oakleaffy · 06/02/2022 09:48

@FrenchFancie

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

That's a really good idea to strip the sheet off. A y hotel worthy of the name will use mattress protectors, so the blood will not go through to the mattress.

I once read an article in a Lad's magazine {FHM?} about cleaning experiences in Hotels... a bit of period blood is nothing!

Molten poo everywhere seemed to be the thing...and a Gay chap said in his youth he and a partner did ''Golden showers'' on a posh hotel bed, which I thought was really not on...thinking of the poor person who had to clean it all up.

LH1987 · 06/02/2022 09:48

I have done many summers cleaning hotel rooms when I was younger. This happens all the time and doesn’t bother anyone cleaning rooms or doing laundry. It’s just expected. Trust me, people are sometimes disrespectful and leave mess in the bathroom etc and this is annoying!

Sorry it ruined your night away a bit but try to put it out if your mind.

endlesssighing · 06/02/2022 09:49

Oh bless you! Don't even blink about it.

Strip the bed before you go out and leave it in a folded pile on the bed. Ask reception for a linen change.

Cleaners deal with spills/accidents/messes every day and a bit of period blood on a sheet will be NOTHING they haven't seen before.

Tilltheend99 · 06/02/2022 09:50

@DoItAfraid

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.

This!

I can relate to using a tampon and a nighttime pad and having flooding after an hour. Was wearing red or black trousers at one point as the inevitable stain would be less noticeable.

My period once started unexpectedly on a flight abroad and had to spend hours with a cardigan tied round my waist.

Anyway long story short: just accepted this was normal due to lack of interest in my symptoms from male doctors.

Luckily moved and a male doc at my new surgery actually bothered to feel my pelvis and (after getting referred to gynaecology specialist and panicking about possible cancer) turns out I had a massive fibroid that had been bothering me for what must have been best part of ten years.

Symptoms include very heavy periods, sometimes leaking small amounts of urine, (from pressure on bladder) feeling like you have a urine infection due to wanting to pee all the time, constant anaemia, (fibroid is like a little vampire sucking your blood) feeling bloated or like you are never able to loose weight, flooding, I used to have a strange feeling of being really stretched when lying flat on my back, being quiet windy.

There are other reasons that could be the cause like endometriosis. Defo demand to be taken seriously (hard I know) and ask for a scan to rule out a route cause.

The medication you can take to reduce heavy periods is Transexamic acid. I couldn’t take it as it didn’t agree with me but hopefully someone else on here is able to tell you about if it is helpful.

billybear · 06/02/2022 09:51

i had this few years ago had my womb lining like cooked.cant think what it was called day case under general,then now have a 2 day dribble,its amazing,see a different gp its not ok,it drains you

Carriemac · 06/02/2022 09:54

Don't worry this is not an unusual situation for the cleaners and they won't be faxed by it. I had this , finally a female GO referred me for an ultrasound And I had fibroids - had the scraped out and a more a put in and end of problem immediately

Hawkins001 · 06/02/2022 09:55

@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.

Do I phone reception in the morning and tell them?

This may not help, but it's a normal function of being human, yes a bit embarrassment, all the best op

SirVixofVixHall · 06/02/2022 09:59

As everyone says, the hotel will have seen this many times before and won’t think anything of it at all, they will just change the sheets.
Also you need a better GP, do not be fobbed off.
When I had horrendous peri meno flooding washable pads or period pants worked much better than anything else. If you haven’t tried period pants, Modibodi make little shorts for overnight heavy periods, might work better for you than towels. They are much more comfortable than big towels.

ThreeLocusts · 06/02/2022 10:02

@mathanxiety

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.

This. I used to make beds in a hotel, they will have seen worse. Fingers crossed you finally get proper medical care.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9