To ask what is normal for a period?

[IknowIAM1985]

So I started my period on Good Friday. Today it's Monday and I'm sat on the loo I've passed some small clots and I'm dripping blood into the loo!

I've just had some ridiculously painful cramps which accounts I guess for the passing of the clots and the now dripping blood.

I am utterly exhausted and I have the worst PMS. The week before my period I'm often ready to leave my kids and husband and run away! I feel so hateful of the world.

AIBU to think this is not normal for a period?

The key is what is normal for you.

You'll get people come on here and tell you that what you're experiencing is normal, and that's nothing they bleed buckets each month etc. But if you've never had that before, it's out of the ordinary and should be checked out.

I had a sudden change in my periods recently and went to the doctors about it. You can get medication to slow the bleeding. Don't just put up with it - if it's not normal for you, then you're perfectly justified in getting it checked out

(I'm an endometriosis sufferer having been fobbed off for 10 years with doctors telling me my pain was 'normal' I've been left infertile after 2 rounds of surgery so I'm fanatical about this stuff)

Great answer from Ungoogleable. And not only is it about what's normal and not normal FOR YOU, it's also about what you feel able to deal with.

I had the most unbearable (as in take-your-breath-away) shooting pains during my periods as a teen. Assumed it was normal as I've always had heavy periods. Eventually, during an examination for something else, my GP realised I had an ovarian cyst the size of a melon. The resulting surgery damaged my ovary and therefore my fertility. If I hadn't put up with the pain as 'normal' it would have been discovered earlier.

Anyway there's lots that can be done for heavy periods, you don't have to suffer in silence. Mine went crazy after I had a copper coil fitted (palm-sized clots, scream-inducing cramps, having to change tampon-pad combo every hour or so etc) and I was prescribed mefanamic and transexamic acid which made them lighter and helped me manage the pain.

Don't suffer in silence!

Exactly what Ungoogleable said.

There is no 'normal' for a period, only what's normal for you. You mention a DH and DC so presumably you've been having periods for a fair while?

Is this normal for you? Or totally unexpected? If the latter then book a GP appointment tomorrow.

Having just been diagnosed with uterine fibriods after enduring years of what I had deemed 'normal' periods that included the whole cycle you describe plus severe anaemia as a result of sustained blood loss, 8-12 pads a day, change of clothes halfway through work day (you start regarding non permeable clothing i.e leather as less a statement and more a blessing), indescribable period pain, leg & hip pain and the humilation of sitting on plastic chairs to save ruining fabric so regularly, I would say go to your Dr's and ask for a referral.

Clots are not anything to worry over . It means your blood is healthy as it's clotting in the vagina as normal blood should (clot.)
Dripping when on the loo is 'normal' for many women.

As others have said if this is a big change then it's worth keeping an eye on.
If you are 45 + or so it may be peri menopause and par for the course unfortunately- heavier periods as a result of haywire hormones.

I think you're right. I think I did have heavy periods like this as a teen.

It was a bit scary just now as the cramping literally took my breath away and I rushed up to the loo and passed 3 10p sized clots and literally blood was dripping out of me.

That is not normal for me.

I will see how the rest of this day goes.

I can't take any medicine really to slow blood flow due to a family history of embolism. A pulmonary embolism that resulted in my father's death.

I will book a GP appointment - thank you

Ridiculous painful leg and hip pain.

If your at filling a pad an hour then your need to get medical help today.

I've always bled heavily enough to leak, and blamed myself for poor personal management before realising that I am unusually heavy.
I now use tranexamic acid to reduce the bleeding- when someone described it as 'crime scene' bleeding I sighed with relief!

I find a menstrual cup much easier to manage now than tampons, I never run out or get caught short like I used to. Fabric pads as back up, even better. I no longer take a cardi to work to sit on, just in case

You feel unusually tired and have PMS, so the GP should be able to suggest something to help. If the GP doesn't take you seriously, see a different GP.

Glad you're getting lots of good advice here.

Don't let your GP fob you off. Like peachgreen I was found to have an ovarian cyst after my GP fobbing off my abdominal pain as 'normal' for years. I'm so angry that I let it go on for so long as I didn't want to bother anyone with 'just period pains'.

Take it easy today, you're losing a lot of blood so you'll need to drink lots of fluids and take things slowly. I find that lying on the sofa when I'm bleeding heavily helps a lot, rather than rushing around. Take care of yourself.

Thanks everyone. I've had a cuppa and on the sofa. Cramps subsided. Was a bit of a shock. Not filling a pad every hour.

Thanks so much for your advice.

I've always had horribly heavy periods so am used to them but after my 4th was born I used to be housebound for the first 48 hours of them, the pain and the loss was that bad. My worst day came from standing up in my dads lounge and just feeling a whoosh and blood dripping everywhere.......my poor dad wanted to ring an ambulance!! I went to my GP who referred me to gynae and a scan showed I had horrendous scar tissue from 2 c sections and a very thick womb lining. I was given a Mirena coil and I can't tell you how much it changed my life. I barely get any loss now and am a changed person because of it.

I'd get it checked, better to know that it's just normal for you. It's pretty grim being a woman at times .

I've had two sections too. That's a worry.

That's literally how it felt the cramping then a gush!

Yep it's pretty grim. I'm exhausted! Feels such a waste of bank holiday Monday

I can't take any medicine really to slow blood flow due to a family history of embolism. A pulmonary embolism that resulted in my father's death.

we aren't talking about drugs that cause blood clots. The drugs we mention stop the cramping and release of prostaglandins that cause pain.

If you can take ibuprofen then that can reduce blood loss as well as the pain. My periods got noticeably heavier when I had an ovarian cyst. If things carry on feeling worse than normal do go and see your GP.

As someone said its what's normal for you
My normal is cramps that go down my legs, I flood/gush when stand up and if I go to the loo there's usually a pool of blood by the time I've had a wee. But my periods have always been the same and I have a copper coil

If you soak more than 1 pad an hour please call 111 instead of waiting for a GP appointment. Clots are scary but pretty normal unless they are absolutely huge. I passed orange sized clots and was advised to go to hospital (and to take the clots with me...ugh) and was put on a drip.

Thanks everyone I'm ok I think. I'm changing pad every two hours. Still some clots but no more painful cramps. I've put a beef casserole in the oven and felt well enough to cook - although I guess a casserole isn't exactly cooking! But it's quick and I'm craving beef!

You are probably abit anemic hence the craving of beef.

Would second, third and fourth all those who say you have to base it on what is normal for you.

I have uterus didelphys (two wombs) as well as having just been diagnosed with endometriosis and your symptoms would be normal enough for me. I can actually feel myself losing clots and it makes me dizzy and nauseous. My periods are managed with codeine (prescribed), paracetamol and mefenemic acid (along with anti cramping pills which people usually use for IBS - I forget the name).

Recently I had been losing bigger clots (one was the size of a small satsuma) and went to the dr and the first thing he asked was if it differed in anyway from normal (my medical history shows the crippling dysmenorrhea and clots). When I said yes, it was checked out straight away. (Fibroids)

I don't have children because of the combination of the above. Also because I appear to be "terminally single" (as put by a 'friend')...

Conversely, I always crave the M&S beef casserole (with dumplings) on day three of mine (the codeine time has usually passed by then and I am no longer throwing up).

Good luck with everything and I hope all is well. (I wish periods were recognized as "proper sickness" in my working establishment - at the moment I save 10 holiday days a year just in case)

Absolutely agree with everyone saying think about what's your 'normal'. Mine is heavy to the point of fainting; I have endometriosis and manage it with mefenemic acid like a pp, and doing absolutely nothing but the bare minimum on those days aside from work and getting the DCs to school; if i swim, run or exercise I faint every time. For my friend her 'normal' is a few light days, one heavy day then done. It's totally relative to your previous history, but please seek help if there's anything worryingly different.

(the codeine time has usually passed by then and I am no longer throwing up).

I read this as codeine makes you sick? is this right? if so ask your GP for cyclizine to take at the same time as codeine. Wonderdrug that is. Stops me feeling sick pretty much instantly. I have been on opiates for a while and currently on oramorph which makes me feel a bit sick but those help so much.

If I read that wrong then ignore me, but its great fore any kind of sickness really.

Nothing to add to what's already said- just hope you feel better soon passing clots is so painful I do regularly (all normal no concerns from GP) x

Mollie Do you mean Buscopan? WONDER DRUG. You can get it over the counter and it really helps me.

You don't need to put up with horrendous periods, this isn't 1817. I thought mine were normal until diagnosed with an enormous cyst. Lost an ovary and a tube aged 26. Go and make your voice heard to your GP. Don't suffer in silence. Heavy, painful periods aren't normal.