To collect all my menstrual stuff in a bottle?

[MOIST]

Just to see exactly how much there is lost?

I have a new cup so I'm a bit intrigued by it all. Does anyone else have a FemmyCycle? It's a shit name but it's a special 'low cervix' version for fat old people with a falling out uterus.

Anyway. Having taken to bleeding what feels like 4 litres every month I'd like to know how much it really is so propose a bit of a collection.

Bertie that is ridiculous! Go & see your GP please.

Prior to my blessed ablation I would go through the biggest size tampon there is (Lillets Ultra? In an orange box anyway) plus a pad in 20 minutes. Had to wear black trousers to leave the house. They referred me to gynae who agreed to the ablation and checked my iron levels. Expected to wait for 6 weeks minimum but once the results of my ferritin came back at 6, they had me in within days.
I did consider trying to measure it but it was clots falling into the loo.
Easy to measure now 0ml.

just to say i am finding this thread fascinating! and bertie, please seek medical advice!

Bertie Seriously half a litre is not normal. make a gp appointment please .

8.30pm 25ml
Running total 494ml

I am pretty shocked by my loss. I knew my periods were heavy but I tended to compare them to my sister who told me horrific stories about hers (fibroids) and has blood transfusions because of them. I felt reasonably lucky. Add to that the fact that I have found a way to manage probably means I have been ignoring the possibility of long term damage.

I googled anemia symptoms today and realised I have lots of them. Terrible headaches, breathlessness, sometimes dizzy, palpations, tiredness, hair loss, ice craving, brittle nails. I assumed it was age but I could be anemic. I have been having periods like this (sometimes worse) for 10 years since my last child.

Oh Bert. I have heavy periods (but how heavy???? ) too, and I get awfully anaemic. I've also had the transfusions. Then I took ferrous sulphate for an age, but now I'm mostly ok with Floradix, which is delicious, but not enough for you I suspect.

I'm transformed. My hair has grown back, I'm magically fitter - ie less breathless, I am less tired and sleep better.... Will you book a GP appointment ?

Yes I will make an appt with the gp. It will be very useful to be able to tell him exactly how much I am losing.

I BET he will say that you've counted wrong.

I mean cos (I have a bee in my bonnet that...) female issues get minimised, I'm not calling you a liar!

Bertie if you're in your mid-late forties & your GP suggests it's your age & your womb's just going berserk dysfunctional uterine bleeding is a thing please point out that you might be having periods till you're 55 & insist upon a referral.

Dr Christian is a paedophile apologist. Not a nice person at all. Openly tweets.

This thread is fascinating, I'm dithering over buying a bloody mooncup just so I can join in ffs.

8.30. A pathetic 2ml.

I'm a 3 tablespoon person this month. Most odd.

9.30 an easier to cope with 10ml
Total 504ml

I don't get any pains so assume that my heavy periods can't be caused by fibroids or endometriosis?

I love this idea! I feel really strongly that are totally disconnected from our bodies and taught that menstrual blood is yuk and best dealt with swiftly, cleanly and under the radar - think all the no one has to know you're having a period. Whilst we might want to advertise it, we shouldn't have to hide it either - to do minimises women's issues. It's all natural part of the human cycle. Go for it!

New cup is a revelation - after being torn to shreds by the mooncup I've got a Meluna, and first go with it and it went in without too much of a fight. They do a range of sizes so their small cup is actually genuinely small (I'm looking at you, mooncup )

I'm hoping in 8h time to see SOME kind of flow in the cup, as if I have a bleed this month we can take my IUD out and get on with my fertility treatment!!

Bertie fibroids don't cause pain if they're the usual sort in the wall of the uterus. Ones that dangle into the cavity can hurt.

They just make the womb bigger so bigger lining so more bleeding.

Endometriosis hurts.

Fibroids can hurt. It depends where they are in your uterus and how big they are. Fibroids can press on your bladder or bowel. It's like that constant, heavy feeling you get when you are heavily pregnant and everything is bloated and uncomfortable. Not acute jagging pain, but a constant presence.

Anyway. 500ml blood loss is RIDICULOUS. That's what you'd give at a blood donation session and they only let you do that 4 times a year. Agree also that finding a sympathetic GP is the key to this, my (female, mid-40s) GP was amazing when I presented to her with heavy periods and fibroids and saw me through the entire process from tranexamic acid to Mirena and an eventual hysterectomy.

Please please PLEASE see someone - be assertive, ask for a referral and keep pushing until you see a consultant gynaecologist. Good luck.

Also Bertie there is a strong genetic link to developing fibroids so if your sister has them, there's an increased chance you do too.

You have given me confidence try another cup. I like previous poster really couldn't cope pain of mooncup really hurt getting it in and out. Smaller one sounds good!

Day Three: 14.5ml.
Running Total: 53.5ml.
= about 6 tablespoons /2 generous shot measures.

This was a light period for me, really only 2 days of proper bleed whereas it's usually at least 3. This cycle has also been highly unusual in that I had ovulation pain the day before my period came, and that's never happened me before. I'm wondering if I might be peri-menopausal or it could just be a once off. I'll see if next month is any different.

Anyway, even a light period for me was double the amount the bloody nun in Sex Ed claimed was normal.

Bertie - you are officially over the PPH marker.

I'm rather hoping I've stopped pouring like a tap and feeling all weedy. Despite my moment in choir I feel much better. And my new cup is more tolerable with practice.

Bertie I had anaemia due to heavy periods a couple of years ago (and they are not as heavy as yours) . Although i was at the lrbrl where they would have given me a blood transfusion if i were in hospital, as i hadn't collapsed I had iron infusions instead. They were great and within a few months i felt like a different person. In my case the anaemia had crept up over the years so it hasn't come back yet but I am on the lookout for it - there are certain staircases at work where I analyse myself when I climb them.

All I was offered was a mirena coil but the GP said she didn't see the point at my age ( well thanks). I am 52 with no signs of menopause yet. I don't want a coil anyway so I am hoping that menopause and anaemia will race each other and menopause will win.

Day 1: 8h of the cup, 3ml....

5.15pm a perfectly comfortable 17ml
Total 521ml

This has really opened my eyes and I now understand why I haven't been feeling great. Boy do I feel stupid for not realising the connection before.

I suppose we just plod on with it because there's chuff all we can do about it so it gets forgotten about and shoved to the back. Until we are at breaking point.