Will I ever stop bleeding?

[ShowOfHands]

I have had a lifetime of predictable periods. 28 day cycle and manageable. Over the last 18 months or so, they've become slowly closer together and I now have a 21 day cycle and bleed for 8 days, often heavy with flooding and clots and it's more painful. I don't think I'm ovulating anymore either as I used to have clear signs.

I'm currently 16 days into bleeding and for the first 13 days it was so heavy. I'm on norethisterone from the GP to try and stop it but after 3 days, it's slowed down massively but still there when wiping.

I'm clearly anaemic and the GP has given me iron tablets and referred me for blood tests for everything she can think of (no appointments for 2 weeks for that), and ultrasound but that will take a few weeks and she's recommended a Mirena but the GP can't do them and the clinics have a 6 month waiting list and will only give them for contraception. So I have to lie given that DH has had a vasectomy and I don't think I'm fertile anyway.

Meanwhile, I swing between thinking this is normal and just the perimenopause and being terrified that it's something sinister.

I am so so so so done with bleeding. I feel grey and lifeless and exhausted and I don't understand what is happening and if it will ever stop.

I don't even know what I want from this thread.

9 years since my hysterectomy and it's the BEST thing I've ever done. Fibroids gone, months and months of bleeding gone! Wearing white trousers, no fear of flooding and endless medication stopped.

By the start of the 6 week school hols you'll be well on the road to recovery. First 4 weeks were slow and steady but then I just improved day on day.

You'll be fine.

Thank you both for your positive, personal replies; they really help.

I don't know if I'll ever wear white trousers as I'm likely to drip jam on them. But I fully intend to skip past that bastard sanpro aisle every supermarket trip for the rest of my life.

Oh OP fingers crossed for you, hope everything goes well tomorrow!

Babe, if anyone deserves things to be straightforward then it's you. I am absolutely positive that everything will go perfectly.

Don't forget that you're going to be looked after by a really highly trained team with decades of experience between them. 💐💐💐

Will be thinking of you tomorrow. I had mine just over 2 weeks ago and it still feels weird to wear underwear without a pad. This is the longest I’ve been without bleeding for so long I think I’m still just waiting on it happening again so not sure when it’ll finally feel real. I’ve been reminding myself of how much money I’ll save by not needing any of that now though!

I was like you when it came to the worry and anxiety of it all beforehand but everyone on the day was so lovely. I did tell them I was anxious too so that was written on my notes and the whole thing went smoothly so I’ll keep everything crossed for you. Take all the pain relief offered after, it really helps. Be kind and gentle with yourself during your recovery and don’t compare it to others’ recoveries as everyone is different with how long it takes.

Thank you so SO much for the positivity and encouragement.

I'm feeling so tearful and wobbly tonight. DH is off to work imminently and I'm going to spend the night alone before he comes and gets me in the morning.

I'm usually positive and confident and a coper. To feel so anxious is I know just a result of this last year but I don't like it one bit.

I can't wait to be a couple of weeks down the road and feeling that it's behind me.

Thank you so much and @Tarkan here's to your continued fabulous recovery 💐

We’ll be here if you find yourself wobbling overnight. 🥰 My DH works nightshift too so I know how the little mind gremlins can creep in when you’re home alone and overthinking everything.

I was bad for it the night before mine and managed a grand total of 45 minutes of sleep. Possibly why it took the whole recovery room to help wake me up when I was coming round from the anaesthetic as I’d been having a great sleep with lots of crazy dreams during that. 🙈

Can I ask you a couple of questions @Tarkan ?

How long did you have a catheter? When were you able to get up, showered and into your own clothes? How long in hospital? Anything you didn't pack and you wish you had?

Honestly feel free to ask away @ShowOfHands

My surgery was a robotic one and all went without any complications so I was just in hospital for one night.

My catheter was removed before I came round from the anaesthetic. I stayed in the hospital gown while I was there so I only got dressed when I was getting ready to go home. Definitely take comfy soft clothes for that and I also recommend a pillow to go under the seatbelt on the way home too.

I had massager things on my legs to prevent blood clots at first so it was much easier to just stay in the gown because of those. I just put on my dressing gown to protect my modestly when I had to go to the bathroom for anything.

Because I got home the next day I just showered once I was home as I felt more comfortable doing that in my own space and DH was able to help me which I would have felt weird about in the hospital. I had to keep the wound dressings on for a bit so time-wise doing it at home was easier too. I had baby wipes with me to give myself a basic clean when I needed it though.

Tbh if anything I had packed too much. I had a book which I didn’t touch and my ward was really quiet and my bay away from the corridor so I didn’t need the earplugs and eye mask everyone recommended for me. I would still say to take those as every hospital and ward will be different.

I do wish I had taken slip on shoes for going home rather than my ones with laces. DH had to tie them for me and he didn’t do them as tight as I do so they felt weird when I was walking out of the hospital. I had decent mule type slippers with me so at least when I needed to wear those to go to the bathroom I could slip them on easily.

I also recommend lip balm and tissues, the air in the hospital really dried my lips and nose out so they were very handy to have.

I wasn’t very hungry when I got to the ward so I only nibbled on half of the toast they gave me, dinner was shortly afterwards so I struggled to eat that. I then ended up hungry through the night but thankfully DH had bought me some Percy Pigs and they were honestly the best tasting Percys I’ve ever had. 🤣 They kept me going until breakfast.

Actually that’s one thing I wish I had with me, some salt and pepper for seasoning the food. 🙈🤣 There was nothing wrong with it other than that. I had porridge in the morning that could have done with some sugar but I just mixed in some jam they had given me and it was much better then but my soup for lunch definitely needed salt and pepper.

I've just been and packed salt and pepper! I've bought a pair of fake crocs (they're loathsome) as several people on a forum mentioned they're easy to put on and you can wear them in the shower if necessary. DH will be working when I'm in hospital and I've told nobody I'm having the surgery so can't get anybody to bring anything if I forget it. I've packed some sweets, crackers and dried fruit for snacks.

Did you bleed much afterwards? I'm so used to bleeding all the time that I've packed industrial quantities of pads and period underwear as that's just my norm nowadays. I'm hoping it won't be as bad as I'm fearing.

One bit of good news was a call from the physio team today (they don't work weekends so have to ring in advance of Friday surgeries) and they said I'll have a private room with en suite. Which is a shock because our local hospital is the worst in the country but I'm not complaining. Ridiculously, I've been so anxious about the tales I've read about people farting merrily in their sleep post hysterectomy that I've been frightened I'll refuse to sleep through embarrassment. A private room might alleviate some of that concern.

Did they say when you can have a bath again? And did they give you painkillers to take home?

I actually didn’t have much bleeding at all afterwards which I found surprising. The doctor had warned me that there could be a gush but I didn’t have that and compared to the constant bleeding I’d been going through it really wasn’t that bad. I know everyone can be different so having stuff with you is a good plan. I just used the hospital pads but they’re so bulky they get annoying.

Private room sounds amazing! My only other time staying overnight in hospital was after having my eldest and I had a private room then so I was really worried about being on a ward, it was a relief to have such a nice quiet one. You will get disturbed for obs at regular intervals so just try and sleep when you can. I found the oramorph in hospital very handy for helping me sleep after having it. 🤣

I wasn’t told when I could have a bath, I figured it would be ok once my incisions had all healed up and I still have one where the stitches are hanging on so I was waiting for them to come out before I think about that.

I’m already on cocodamol for chronic pain so the pharmacist came to see me before I left and he was happy to just have me take my regular medication at home rather than them prescribing anything else (and tbh it sounds like it would have just been codeine with me having to add paracetamol to that anyway so makes more sense for me to stick to my regular meds there).

I was also put on blood thinning injections so I was shown how to do those and given all of that and a sharps bin before I left. I was also meant to be given a spare pair of compression socks which they forgot about so if you need those make sure you get spares. My doctor can’t seem to get the same ones so I’ve resorted to buying some off Vinted (they’re exactly the same as the hospital ones and only £1 a pair plus postage so not like they broke the bank anyway LOL). I don’t know if this is something everyone gets or if it was just because I’m higher risk for blood clots that I got all this though.

Good luck OP!

Good luck op! I was where you are now in December. Honestly, it has been life changing in a good way. I did Have to do an iron infusion privately post op. Honestly I have no regrets, particularly as they found endo cancer in the histopathology (seems all was caught).

Solidarity OP. I went from a similar 28 day no big deal cycle to periods lasting 10-12 days with flooding and constant clots. I tried the mini-pill but that just made it so much worse, 3 ‘periods’ of 12 days in the space of 45 days, and on the 3rd day running of crying while I rinsed out my pyjama bottoms I made the decision to stop taking it.

My lovely GP referred me for a scan but our waiting list is upwards of 9 months so I went private (luckily we had the money available) and was seen within a week. Nothing untoward found so glad to have that peace of mind.

The GP took bloods and diagnosed hypothyroidism and I’m a month into the medication now. Touch wood but this is the first proper period since I started taking it and it seems to be tailing off after 5 days. Still heavier than I was ever used to but no flooding this time either.

I hope a solution of sorts is found for you sooner rather than later, it’s a miserable way to exist.

ETA I just read your updates OP. Wishing you all the best x

When you're in bed and want to get up, roll onto your side and then push yourself up, that helps so you arent using your tummy muscles (you may know this).

Make sure you rest, I watched nearly the whole series of The Big Bang Theory for 4 weeks. You're told not to lift anything (even the kettle) so please don't do too much. The anaesthetic also made me very tired, they say it takes quite a few days to leave your system.

Good luck and come back and tell us how you're doing 🤩

Fuck a doodle doo.

Please think good thoughts. I'm pretty nervous. But I presume they make a qualified surgeon do this? It won't be a keen porter with a can do attitude or anything?

Good luck OP. The surgeons do this all the time and very successfully. You'll be absolutely fine. Thinking about you and excited the end of this horror show is in sight

Sending love and hugs to you today @ShowOfHands

I had the absolutely loveliest surgeon for mine so I hope you get the same. Tbh all the team looking after me were great and they all put me at ease.

I hope you don’t have too long to wait to go in (in fact I’m really hoping you’re in already). I was second on the list for the day and that was quite a wait it seemed.

Please don’t feel you need to rush to update us afterwards as well. Take your time to come round and just rest up.

You’ve got this and the end of the bleeding is in sight!

Good luck - this is the start of a huge huge new life chapter for you

I've been scheduled to go down third. First woman went down 90 minutes ago and they told her she would need 2hrs. Same for the woman 2nd on the list. I can't imagine I'll be taken down any time before mid afternoon at this rate.

Apart from being horribly anxious anyway, it does now mean I'll have no visitors today as DH has to be at work at 6pm so by the time I've had the op and I'm back on the ward, it will be too late. I feel quite upset and alone as a result.

I'm also starving and thirsty!

Oh the hunger when I was waiting was awful. I really felt for the woman after me because of that too. We were at least allowed sips of water with the SipTilSend protocol, but if your hospital isn’t doing that then that sucks.

It’s not the same as someone in person I know but we will be here whenever you feel up to typing again at all. People on MN really helped me get through so much of the worry I had leading up to mine and with other issues around it (mine was cancer related) and it is nice to know that even strangers around the country wanted the best for me.

Lots of un-MNetty hugs to you.

My sister had similar and was diagnosed with adenomyosis after a scan

I'm allowed 50ml of water every hour. But it's 32 degrees and I've had no proper fluids since 5.30am. I'm dreaming of custard. And home.

You've been lovely and it's helping so much. Feeling alone is making the anxiety worse so having women in my phone who care is making a difference.

Oh that’s really hardly any water at all when it’s that warm. Urgh.

Hopefully in a couple of days you’ll be home drowning in as much custard as you want. If you get offered any at hospital then it’s a lie, the only thing their custard seems to have in common with the good stuff is the colour. Although it still wasn’t as bad as the weird pink stuff I was given at another meal. Still no idea what that was meant to be. The main courses were decent at least, it’s just the desserts that were awful.

I’ve also just remembered the weird man who walked into the SAU when we were there waiting to be taken down. He had turned up a day early for a procedure and was hoping the doctor could “squeeze him in”. He kept trying to take his shoe off to show all the nurses his foot and eventually they sat him down in a seat and brought him some tea and toast. Well once the smell of toast hit all of us sitting there starving it was torture knowing we couldn’t have that. I can laugh about the weirdness of it now but I don’t know if he realised how many hungry women were staring him down while he was eating. 🙈

That really made me laugh!
I was nil by mouth when in labour with ds as I'd already had an emcs previously and things weren't progressing as they should. I was in a bay for a while and the man accompanying the woman next door to me had a bloody McDonald's and bags of Haribo. Not things I'd normally crave but I'd have bitten off his hand to get to his Big Mac. As they administered my spinal for the inevitable emcs, I didn't have the brain space to be nervous, I just kept rambling about my need for carbs.