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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to want to stop my periods entirely?

61 replies

NotBrittaPieHonest · 18/02/2014 10:20

I'm just so sick of them. More than a quarter of my life I'm bleeding. I hate it. Without any medication it is a painful bloodbath.

Meclafenic Acid and Tranexamic Acid only worked slightly, I'm on cerezette and that is just making them slightly lighter (but still just as long and annoying) and I can't take the normal combined pill because of other meds. I get all grumpy and restless too, and my mental health is pretty unstable anyway (I have bipolar)

Cerezette seems to be utterly killing my sex drive, too, which is awful. I can't live without sex but I just can't seem to get...there.

Can I not just have some form of switch...switched?

I can't even have any more babies because the whole thing got slashed to bits having DD1 and so DD2 had to be my absolute last baby.

Apparently I have a little 2cm fibroid in there too.

I just hate it. Proper hate it.

OP posts:
Dwerf · 18/02/2014 13:21

I would love to get shot of my periods. Not heavy enough to warrant medication but often 8 days long and my cycle is about 23/24 days. I spend a third of my life bleeding.

t's a pity I can't just rock up and demand an ablation, I was sterilised years ago.

BettyOff · 18/02/2014 13:36

Wild there's no reason at 50 you can't have a mirena, in fact many more people having them in at 45+ get no periods at all with them. Plus it'd see you through until after your menopause in all likelihood.

Dwerf the general consensus is that if your periods are causing a significant worsening of your quality of life then it's worth doing something about them. It may still be worth talking to your GP about.

NK2b1f2 · 18/02/2014 13:42

I'm in a similar position and may just find the courage to ask about ablation (not so keen on the GA). I can't take the combined pill, bleeding doesn't stop on progesterone only, and my cycle is moving closer to 3 weeks, with at least 7 days of bleeding. I have a long work commute and simply cannot drive that long on some days due to the heavy bleeding. I've made up excuses to work from home or phoned in sick with an invented illness... Sad. Writing it down makes me realise this is ridiculous and I should get some help.

NK2b1f2 · 18/02/2014 13:44

I swear if men had periods they would have found a way to abolish them years ago Wink

Eatriskier · 18/02/2014 14:15

I'm about to make a visit to my gp about mine and this ablation stuff sounds interesting. I've been complaining about mine for over 15 years. Initially mine were very heavy bleeds, long lasting and excruciating pain. Now they are that plus full of giant clots and I'm nauseous often with them.

Down the years I've tried:
Depo injections - lessened things but periods still present
Combined pills - no change, major migraines but at least I had some control as to when they came
Progesterone only pills - lessened things for 6m at a time but always returned to 'normal'
Mefanamic acid - reduced pain only though that's all its supposed to do I thought
Pregnancy - actually did stop them so I tried it twice!
Mirena coil - first one lasted 4 months before my uterus ejected it, I bled everyday. Some days light some heavy but improvement overall.

Tranexamic acid - far fewer clots in size and quantity however every time I cut myself it didn't heal and I ended up losing 2 nails and some nasty scarring. This was after only one cycle...
Mirena coil - Second also lasted 4 months before meeting the same fate as the first, but this time I only had monthly periods for the first 2.5m and could manage with a pad and tampon. Then I had 3 heavy heavy blood flows in a month then 2 weeks of solid heavy blood and a ramp up of clots. After coil ejection I shed clots the size of my palm for 3 days before emergency Doc gave me more Tranexamic acid.

Thanks to another thread here though I realised a combo of a mooncup and a nappy meant I could leave my house for 30mins Confused

Needless to say emergency Doc was appalled and has told me to shout in the middle of my gp surgery until someone finally listens to me.

Dwerf · 18/02/2014 14:19

I might mention it when they drag me in for somethng else. I'm going to have a laundry list by the time I go in there :D

WildThong · 18/02/2014 14:52

Ok at the risk of sounding thick Blush
What is a Mirena coil?

NewtRipley · 18/02/2014 16:08

Wild

It's a plastic-coated coated coil that works in a similar way to the normal coil PLUS it releases a small dose of progesterone. So it prevents the building-up of the womb lining and implantation. Each coil can stay in for up to 5 years (longer if you are past-45, AFAIK)

I am not a Dr but that's the essence of it

NewtRipley · 18/02/2014 16:09

... although as you can see from the above posts that it doesn't work that way for everyone

tvstand · 18/02/2014 16:20

Having my ovaries has totally stopped my periods. No hormones, no mooncup, no spotting, nothing.

I injections for 6 months first to prove the surgery would work, they did, so it was recommended that I have them removed. I have to take HRT but I'm already on other tablets so one doesn't make any difference.

hellsbellsmelons · 18/02/2014 16:29

Well I'm 45+ and have had an implant for 14 months and no periods.
I love it.
Mini-pill didn't work for me, I just keep bleeding through it.
Had to stop taking the combined pill as I was old and lifestyle etc....
Wanted the coil fitted but they couldn't do it after a bloomin' long time of trying.
Implant lasts 3 years and I'm hoping the periods stay at bay for that length of time as well.
Get to your GP and go through all the options and don't leave until they give you something to stop them.

sadbodyblue · 18/02/2014 16:36

mirena for me was fantastic. took 4 months to settle but periods now very light and regular.

don't put up with with this, go and see your GP.

Reincarnatedpig · 18/02/2014 16:37

I am taking progesterone (provera) and had 3 blissful period free months. Now started spotting again so going to go back to GP to ask for thermal ablation. Hate the idea of a GA but recognize it is the best solution.

Can you go to the gynae dept and see what they recommend? A friend has Mirena and she us very happy with it.

foreverondiet · 18/02/2014 19:23

I love my mirena coil Smile

thedogwakesuptoodamnearly · 18/02/2014 19:45

Another vote for Mirena coil here. I used to bleed through a heavyduty tampon in 20 minutes. It was a bit crampy when it went in but settled quickly. It's reversible, unlike hysterectomy or oophorectomy, and no early menopause worries.

thenamestheyareachanging · 18/02/2014 19:47

Wonder whether you can have the ablation with a spinal anaesthetic rather than a general? Worth asking. My friend had a hysterectomy with a spinal, at her request, so I don't see why not.

DwellsUndertheSink · 18/02/2014 19:56

another vote for Ablation here - I tried everything else, including Mirena (9 months of bleeding) and finally a female, no nonsense gynae agreed to do an ablation ("Oh my dear, we cant have you living like that, lets just sort this out once and for all"). SHe said of Mirena, "Its like Marmite - you either love it or hate it"

Ablation: General anesthetic, day patient, 2 days of mild cramps and 3 weeks- a month of watery discharge - and nothing since. Its bliss! If you have definitely finished your family, its the way to go.

HauntedNoddyCar · 18/02/2014 20:37

Thenames , I asked about a spinal but they said no. GA probably simpler for them.

toolittletimetoomuchtodo · 18/02/2014 21:57

Mirena - I had one fitted 4 years ago and not a single bleed since. Bloody marvellous

toolittletimetoomuchtodo · 18/02/2014 21:58

Sorry prob wrong choice of expletive

Pannacotta · 18/02/2014 22:08

I feel the same and am pushing for an ablation but my GP seems to want me to try Mirena first.
Those of you who have had the ablation, can I ask what you do for contraception?
Would rather avoid hormonal options but appreciate that decent protection is important due to risk of ectopic.
And I agree that if men had periods there would be far better options open for dealing with the associated problems...

TiffanyAtBreakfast · 18/02/2014 22:57

I'm an implant girl. Just had my first one taken out (after three years of having it in) and a new one put in. No periods, ever. It's heaven.

Joysmum · 18/02/2014 23:05

YANBU.

At the age of 40 I had a mirena coil inserted and after 1 month if light intermittent blessing I've not had another period. I wish I'd had it years ago Grin

trashcanjunkie · 18/02/2014 23:46

Hysterectomy. Bloody marvelous, although mine was for cervical cancer, I had it done trans-vaginally, so no scarring, and they left my ovaries, to delay menopause. Healed after six weeks, but felt fine after two. Result. I thoroughly recommend it, and know another person who had it done for excessive bleeding.

DramaAlpaca · 19/02/2014 00:06

Another lover of the mirena coil here. No periods at all now, & it has utterly changed my life. GP told me last week it can stay in for eight years as I was over 45 when I got it in, so it'll see me through the menopause. It's a wonderful thing.