To think Im too damn old to be suffering with periods this bad?

[LumpenproletariatAndProud]

In my teens my periods were horrendous, painful, heavy and every 2 weeks.

In my early 20's they calmed to light 3-4 day long periods. I went on the mini pill and it stopped them altogether, bliss.

I had a child, I stayed off the pill and they were still light, short and painless.

I have another child and they returned 8 months post birth. They were horrendous, went to doctors, had a polyp and got it removed.

That was 4 years ago, today they are still horrendous, a second scan last month showed no return of any polyps, smear and STD test is clear and periods are every 30 days like clock work.

Yet they are so heavy. In an hour I got through 4 super plus size tampons. 10 minutes after changing one I was flooding right through it, the clots are the size of half the palm of my hand, and Ive had to just sit on the toilet before to let it run out because there was simply no point using a tampon as minutes later I would flood.

I have a prolapse uterus and bladder, thats the only thing thats 'different' I can no longer use a moon cup et al because of this.

I went back on the mini pill thinking it would stop my periods again, but has it bollocks. The combined pill makes me insane and menefenamic acid does precisely fuck all.

Im sick of bleeding, Im sick of spending a fortune on Spatone because I get really ill otherwise. Im sick of periods.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Willebrand_disease
www.nhs.uk/conditions/von-willebrand-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx
You should get tested for von willebrand disease, an inherited blood clotting disorder. it causes increased bleeding from vascular areas of the body. Both sexes can have it, but women bleed more through periods and you can get very anaemic. I found out I had it in my 30s. Good luck, DDAVP and transexamic acid helped me.

Oh and it is quite common, estimated 1 in 100 people have it, but it tends to go undiagnosed. Other symptoms are easy bruising, bleeding gums and frequent nosebleeds, and heavy bleeding after surgical procedures

I suffered the same, could not even leave the house on day 1 & 2, they got better after each child, my youngest is now 7 and around aged 3 they started to become heavy and revolting again, had to plan my life around the, ruined more clothes, bedding, leaking all the time despite huge tampons and pads etc HATED IT and was distressed about it. I had endo and laser surgery about 14 years ago. Had a Mirena Coli fitted four years ago and I could shout from the rooftops on a daily basis how brilliant it is, how liberated I feel and how having no periods at all has totally transformed my life! I've had no issues eg: spots, spotting, weight gain etc Sometimes I notice a little breast tenderness and I get a big spot or two but that versus feeling and looking like utter death each month is a no brainer. I'd get one put in, if it does not suit they can whip it out.

THE BEST INVENTION OF MODERN MEDICINE HANDS DOWN!

OP I meant to say, I totally feel your pain, until you've spent endless hours on the loo filling it with loo roll, poo and blood no one can understand, I used to get bum ache from the hours spent on the loo, whilst sobbing, it's fucking awfull. Get a Mirena!

Hi I had the same - periods very heavy and couldn't leave the house. I went to doctor and after a scan turns out I have fibroids. Also had a full blood count and had anaemia. You must be anaemic with all that blood loss, I know I felt dreadful.
Luckily I'm preggerz but the bleeding did improve after a few months of four iron tablets a day.

you might have fibroids My friend suffered with very heavy periods for years & that was the cause They were only discovered after she miscarried & had to have two d&cs.

I'm on day 9 now and suddenly started flooding again. Ffs this is ridiculous!
I asked about the mirena, she did recommend it but it releases the same hormone as the mini pill. If the mini pills not stopping it then can the mirena.

For those who suggested fibroids, RTFT or the OP . Seriously though I appreciate you posting, it's effing horrible isn't it?
I'm actually a bit worried about it now.

Lumpen a lot more people will have lighter, shorter and more normal periods with the mirena and around 40% will stop altogether (after the initial few months of things being irregular) versus 10-15% on cerazette.

Are your smears up to dates.

Im booking an appointment for the mirena, this is fucking ridiculous. Im in loads of pain and flooding through super plus tampons ever 30 minutes and its day 10.

Im calli the doctor now, sod this. I feel ill for God sake.

And my smear is due in Jan or Feb, its the beginning of the year and up todate.

Can you get it put in when you are bleeding? Because I don't think this is going to stop any time soon and aid quite like to get it put in ASAP.

Ok booked in 15th October, I hope Im not bleeding still then otherwise I'll have withered away!

Did you ask if they'll put it in if you're bleeding? I think they can.

No I didn't ask but when I Googled it they said they preferred to do it when you are bleeding.

That's terrible Lumpen.

I have had bad periods on and off more on since aged 10 when I first got them. I've crawled on the floor with agony and although I rarely got clots the bleeding was fairly heavy but not quite as bad as yours, I have to say.

Luckily I had DD 17 months ago and 4 months after she was born had the implant put in, so actually have not had a period yet. I was surprised as I imagined the hormones would really muck up my hormones but it hasn't seemed to be too bad except from weight gain.

I hope the mirena goes OK. I think after I have DC3 (haven't had DC2 yet, but we plan to stop at 3) I will get the mirena.

Best of luck and hope the bleeding stops soon it is so so horrible. :(

Ok Im seriously considering going to hospital. Its day 11 filtering into day 12 and Im going through yet another load of hours of flooding every 5 mins. I feel tired, Im white as a sheet, and I feel dizzy.

I called the doctor, he prescribed the acid (one starting with T, cant think) and Ive just picked it up and taken two.

How long do I leave it before I go to hospital, Im genuinely worried. The clots are enormous and if I sit on the toilet it pours out. Im used to that, but this is day 12 and Im feeling pretty shit, despite the copious amounts of iron Ive been taking...

In my forties I had similar problems. Absolutely horrendous and the doctor sent me straight to hospital after one look at me. They took action to stop the bleeding and a month later I had a minor op so they could have a look at the cause and do a biopsy.

I was shown on the camera what the problem was. As you get a bit older (and I don't think you are that old) your womb lining can become thickened and when it sheds during your period this is the reason for clots, heavy and prolonged bleeding. Unfortunately for me the invasive nature of treatment triggered another nightmare period, and they wanted to use a "balloon" to regulate matters - whatever the hell that is.

Fortunately that was the last period I ever had and what a relief. You need a gynae referral.

Thanks Elsie.

Its calmed right down now, going 45 mins between flooding, which is still not much but a clear improvement so hoping it becomes longer.

Just googled Micronor side effects and it said 'more than 1 in 10 women get heavy bleeding.'

Grrr, so I was treating my already heavy periods with something that causes heavy bleeding equally terribly frigging bleeding presumably.

So stopping taking that, and getting the coil.

I would add that it's worth asking to be checked for VWD if you have any of the other symptoms
NICE guidance

I used to suffer the same. The two tablets mentioned beginning with m & T didn't work.

I have since found cyclo-f tablets they sell from the chemist in Boots. Miraculous stuff!!! Bit pricey but worth every penny.

Worth a try? Horrible few days otherwise :(

I don't have any other symptoms of VWD, thankfully. Thanks for the link.

I will absolutely be looking out for those tablets Ido, thanks.

Its calmed right down now, just normal hourly flooding, which is actually totally normal for me. Relief, I just hope it doesn't happen again tomorrow.

Lumpenproletariat-if this happens again do go to the hospital. I had this for years.
GP gave me the T...acid stuff and progesterone tablets-ineffective. I missed time from work-flooded at work and on the high street.
Eventually I had a blood test for another reason and had the hospital phoning me to go back at once because I was severely anaemic.
For the OP saying "I'm too old for this" - it went on until I was 58 when I finally had a hysterectomy.
All through my 50s I kept thinking it would stop soon.
I would encourage anyone experiencing this to make a fuss and not tolerate it.
I was over the hysterectomy and back at work in 5 weeks-it was less aggro than the final period I had.
For those still planning more children Look at options like mirena coil.
Otherwise I would genuinely recommend having a hysterectomy and being done with it.

Without wanting to hijack your thread, OP, can I ask a question? I don't really feel it warrants a thread of its own.

I'm 35 and for the last four months my periods have become really erratic, painful and heavy - gone from a 28 day cycle to 20 days, or 35 days. This month I'm two weeks late and have all the symptoms that I'm about to come on, I'm in horrendous pain but still no bleeding. I've done 5 pregnancy tests and they're all negative. It's driving me mad! I'm 35. Does it sound like the beginning of the peri-menopause?

Once again, sorry for hijacking!

Ralph there's lots of reasons your periods can suddenly change and peri-menopause is just one of them, and an unlikely one at 35 unless you have a family history of early menopause. Changes in your periods warrant investigation so at least a pelvic ultrasound scan and probably a referral to gynae and possibly a hysteroscopy which is a camera into the uterus to look for polyps/fibroids depending on the scan results. This sounds scary but it's done awake most of the time and takes about ten mins and is generally very well tolerated.