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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be really shocked about periods

198 replies

Belindamaee · 16/07/2017 18:48

My periods have always been what I considered normal.

Small amount of blood. Definitely not enough for any leaking. One normal sized pad will do and I could keep it on all day before changing it but change it every few hours for sanitary purposes.

If I buy a tampon it will stay in for about 5 hours without leaking nor needing to be changed.

There just isn't much blood. No pain. Nothing. In fact, I forget I'm on my period.

I do however have horrid symptoms prior to my period so it evens out. Awfully sore boobs, water retention that makes me look a stone heavier, headache, low mood.

So I don't have it easy!

Anyway, this has come up as my friend was telling me she has to use a pad with a tampon as a tampon would leak if it was just used on its own. She said she has to lie flat in bed when using a pad because otherwise she would leak and she has to change her pad every three hours.

I was wondering what was normal?

AIBU to think my circumstances are more common than hers? Or do my periods seem unusually light?

OP posts:
joojoobean99 · 16/07/2017 19:08

SafetyBird - it's aspirin that thins the blood, I actually find ibuprofen reduces the blood flow by about 25-30%.

RedSandYellowSand · 16/07/2017 19:11

limon Tampax website states you can wear day or night, but should change every 8 hours. So unless you are planning a lie in, I would imagine most people can wear a tampon overnight.

Weebitty · 16/07/2017 19:13

before my first child my periods lasted 2 days tops. ultra light... could do a towel the first day and not need to change but did. they are now heavier after second child... maybe last 4 days. the first day I need to be aware and change every 3/4 hours but I don't think I'd leak. one difference I've noticed is I never ever used to bleed at night... no pad needed nothing. now I do and if I stand up I get a little gush

WicksEnd · 16/07/2017 19:13

Tell your friend she needs some traneaxamic acid from the GP you too @Lunchtimeburrito. Virtually stops the bleeding, no clots or cramps, wish I'd been put on it years ago. Need to rule out other causes first but I take it on my heaviest days and it's fantastic stuff.

MistyMinge · 16/07/2017 19:14

For those with heavy periods - I took tranexamic acid recently as I realised I was going to have my period whilst on holiday. I got it over the counter at boots. It did help reduce the flow. I had read about it on here. Wouldn't have known it was available otherwise.

Elledouble · 16/07/2017 19:16

I've known people at both ends of the scale. Mine have always been medium to light (now almost non-existent now I have a mirena) but have occasionally lasted a long time - went through a phase of two-week periods and one awful eight-month one when I had the implant. One of my best friends at sixth form had periods lasting only two days, but she'd bleed so much she'd faint and throw up and all sorts.

Oh the joy of being a woman...

AnyFucker · 16/07/2017 19:19

Unfortunately I am allergic to tranexemic acid and gave myself a stomach ulcer using ibuprofen

Op, I can trump your friend several times over in the flow/clotting stakes

For a few hours on day 2/3 I need superplus tampons changed every 20 mins and pads as well. I have set an alarm for 3am or the bed would be soaked in the morning

I should probably have a hysterectomy but can't face it

I used to be like you then peri menopause got me. Make the most of it.

TurquoiseTranquility · 16/07/2017 19:22

Yours sound quite light OP, but I wouldn't worry unless you're having fertility problems. As others have mentioned, most women would envy your situation!

Heavy or very irregular periods are much more of a problem. Heavy bleeding (esp. with spotting before or after the period) is often due to endometriosis which in itself can be horrendous, or other conditions. Before kids, I used to bleed quite heavily for 7-8 days. After pregnancies, my periods are now a bit lighter, shorter and more regular. Still, once I had to visit my gyno (standard practise in my home country) while on my period and she asked if I always bled so heavily. I thought I wasn't, especially compared to what I used to be like!

laundryelf · 16/07/2017 19:26

Everyone is different, mine were every three weeks, very heavy, super plus tampon and pad, changed every two hours more often if exercising. Each period lasted 7/8 days with light spotting on last day. I used to faint quite a lot in the first 3 years of starting my periods. Went on the pill at 15 to help it a bit. It's annoying that so few effective treatments are available, I had a D & C twice, tried various tablets then Mirena coil after having children, I bled for six months, spotted for two then finally got the GP to agree to remove it as I had given it a "good try". High blood pressure ,& migraines meant no more pill. I struggled every month trying to cope with DC and feeling crap, awful cramps and feeling sick.

Finally at 39 I had a hysterectomy, what a relief! Going through a tough time with menopause now but at least I had a few years of feeling normal and HRT is helpful.

Lunchtimeburrito · 16/07/2017 19:26

I'm the same as you any can't take tranexamic acid. Had polyps removed last month, gynaecologist said it may help (it didn't!!) so I'm left with the option of mirena, ablation (want it under local, had it all booked under a local then my gynaecologist backtracked and said he will only do it under general) or hysterectomy.
I'm 44 so maybe a peri menopausal thing as well?!

Shockers · 16/07/2017 19:29

I flood regularly (it can spread to the knees of my trousers within a couple of minutes when I'm out) and am anaemic. I feel dizzy, have headaches and incredibly painful cramps.

I use night time towels all the time (can't use tampons) and change them each hour on the first couple of days, but the flooding can happen without warning. My periods have been like this for 20 years (I'm now 51). Other than polyps, my doctor can't find anything wrong with me.

It appears 'normal' is a very wide spectrum!

AnyFucker · 16/07/2017 19:32

On an incidental abdominal scan it appears I have two small fibroids "not big enough to cause my symptoms"

Ok then.

SwearyG0dmother · 16/07/2017 19:33

Mine were horrible all my life. Horrible pms with boobs like rocks, awful skin, water retention and the attitude of a particularly angry 14 year old followed by 9 days of heavy bleeding which for a good few days was horrifically painful. I would have to change tampons hourly on days 2/3 and sleep on a doubled up towel to protect the bed. That was my normal which got worse when I developed fibroids. I had a hysterectomy in March and it's the best thing I've ever done. I still get pms but can cope (ish) with that as it's not followed by a hellish period.

AF go for the hysterectomy. If you can have it laparoscopically then recovery is very easy. Three weeks of supreme tiredness and then it was hunky dory . I was back in the gym at 6 weeks!

PurplePeppers · 16/07/2017 19:34

You have what I would call (very?) light periods and yes this is within the normal range.
Your friend seems to have flooding periods and I'm not sure I would put that within the normal range. If I was her, I would get some investigations done (eg endometriosis, fibroids can both lead to very heavy periods). I think she should also keep a close eye on her iron levels as it is very easy to become anaemic when you loose so much blood.

formerbabe · 16/07/2017 19:34

I'm similar to you op. Never leaked. Little to no period pain. The only thing I get is quite bad ovulation pain halfway through my cycle.

AnyFucker · 16/07/2017 19:36

You think so, SG ? Maybe so.

I am averse to non life saving interventions. I see too many things go wrong Sad

youhavetobekidding · 16/07/2017 19:37

OP, my periods are similar to yours, perhaps lighter. I didn't realise we were unusual. Flowers to everyone who has a harder time of it

iveburntthetoast · 16/07/2017 19:41

I'm like the OP, except I get virtually no symptoms at all--at worst I get slight cramps for a day. My period only really lasts 1-2 days & Im 41 with 2 DC's. I realise I'm exceptionally lucky. My poor sister is at the opposite end of the scale and she really suffers.

LumelaMme · 16/07/2017 19:44

I'm probably preaching to people who have tried it all anyway, or for whom it's not recommended, but a relative of mine had dreadful periods (very heavy flow and severe pain for a couple of days a month - she'd look green and as if she was about to pass out - which was untouched by standard painkillers). Tranexamic acid made no difference but microgynon worked wonders. She ended up with what I think of as 'normal periods'.

frieda909 · 16/07/2017 19:45

I started my period at 12 and went on the pill at 17. Up until then my periods had always been very light and very similar to how yours sound, and they stayed that way the whole time I was on the pill. I barely needed a pad or tampon and for a while I even just used a couple of pantyliners each day, because that was all I needed.

My mum and sister both suffered with very heavy periods, though, as did several of my friends, so I definitely knew heavy periods were a 'thing' and that I was very lucky. But I never really 'got' it.

Then I came off the pill aged 30 and got a copper IUD and ohhhh boy. I felt like I was finally getting my period for the first time! Suddenly I understood why other women dreaded getting theirs so much and I realised that I really hadn't been as 'normal' as I thought.

You and your friend just sound like you're opposite ends of the spectrum, but neither of you sounds worryingly light or heavy to me. It's important to realise that such a spectrum exists, and not assume that other women must be exaggerating if their experiences don't match yours.

Despite my light periods I've always had really, really bad PMS. Like, full-on despair and misery for a couple of days every month, and no matter how many times I tell myself 'it's just PMS!' it doesn't help. But my charming ex-boyfriend used to tell me that I was making it up and that PMS wasn't a real thing, because he once asked his sister and she said she doesn't get it so it must be a myth Hmm

TinselAngel · 16/07/2017 19:47

My periods used to be pretty bad, heavy, painful and clotty. I had a Mirena coil fitted about 4 years ago and it's brilliant. No more period pains and almost no period at all- just the odd bit of spotting.

I can't understand why everybody with heavy periods doesn't have a Mirena coil. There was quite a lot of spotting for the first few months, but since then it's been brilliant.

TaliZorahVasNormandy · 16/07/2017 19:47

I have mild symptoms but horrid bleeding and frequently leak through pads.

picklemepopcorn · 16/07/2017 19:48

I had a Mirena and didn't stop bleeding for a year. It's not a magic solution, sadly.

I sleep on a towel...

Stillnoidea · 16/07/2017 19:49

Do i get to be the first to mention a mooncup? Still need to empty mine every hour during the really heavy/flooding part but they do hold more than tampons.

Elledouble · 16/07/2017 19:51

AF my ma had a hysterectomy about 6 years ago cos she was having nightmare periods, asked for a mirena coil, on the scan they did before it they discovered a giant fibroid. Being 50-ish and definitely not planning any more children (dad had the snip years ago!) she just got them to take it all out.

TBH, the day I visited her in hospital when she'd just had it done she did seem to be in pain and she was banging the morphine button as often as it would let her, but she had about 3 weeks recovering and then she was back to normal.

I don't think she has any regrets at all. Never bothered with HRT or anything either.