Help with fibroids and unpredictable flooding

[MrsPatrickDempsey]

I have been very lucky to have had light periods all my life and have had mirenas for the last 16 years with minimal bleeding- until now. I have a moderate fibroid and have sudden and unpredictable flooding. I am waiting a gynae review and have tranexamic acid which is great but looking for practical tips to avoid embarrassment! Are period pants the answer - wearing them all the time? I could obviously wear a sanitary towel permanently but interesting to hear of options I may have missed.

I wear period pants to avoid flooding. I've some from Sainsburys and some from Modibodi. So I use tampons and those and have only been caught out a couple of times, in the sense that I've flooded so much that the period pants and the tampon together were not enough.

I actually had to wear tena pants. The adult nappy sort. That was the only thing that contained it for me. I could go out and about with reasonable confidence.

You have my sympathy. It's shit, and you feel housebound.

I have had one fibroid removed recently due to the problems it was causing. I'm 56 now and really hoping that mine are stopping, or about to. 🤞

You have my sympathy, flooding can be just awful. Transexamic acid reduced the flooding for me. In the meantime I believe ibuprofen works in a similar way. I wore cheap cycling shorts(legging type fabric) from Primark as an extra layer, and always had pads, and a spare pair of knickers in my bag. I'm in menopause now, no period for several months, hoping that stage is finally done with.

Also was prescribed progesterone, for period pain due to fibroids. You will be getting the same from the Mirena. Not sure it did much good for me. Key thing I think is to keep at your GP for remedies, as you are doing. We shouldn't put up with this crap, and the more we complain maybe the pharmaceuticals will do something about it.

I flooded just last night. I had period pants on but must have forgotten to insert a tampon before I went to bed. It's annoying being a woman sometimes. Period pants alone aren't enough but in combination are great peace of mind.

Thanks - appreciate your responses. It is grim and I am always on edge since I ruined a chair at work 😥.