To be really shocked about periods

[Belindamaee]

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?

It's what's normal for you - is normal!!
My late mum had dreadfully heavy periods. Basically had to stay in bed the first day or she would flood. TBH if that was now, she'd be straight to the GP/gynae. She must've had something going on down there esp as she took 10 years to conceive!! They made her very anaemic too.
Mine on average have always lasted a week, first day or so heavy - changing super plus every 4 hrs - then last few days spotting only. seems like DD is similar to me so far although mine seem to have got lighter recently which could be peri-menopause I suppose.

Always incredibly heavy and long periods. Being investigated and nothing is wrong. Sometimes that is just your normal.

You shouldn't leave a tampon in that long either. TSS risk.

Huh? The recommendation is no more than 8 hours, not 5.

I wear a pad, change every 2-3 hours for about two days, then on very light. Wouldnt have to chamge for about 6 hours but do, for hygiene reasons...

When on, i leak in the bed....

@Anyfucker, my hysterectomy was done vaginally, so no stitches etc to cope with. Recovery was a lot quicker than I expected and the benefits of not having to deal with the awful PMS and heavy very painful periods are great. I actually didn't fully realise how awful I felt until I didn't have to deal with it anymore.
They found two small fibroids when my hysterectomy was done and the gynaecologist said they had probably caused most of my problems.

Mine are heavier since having kids but still on the light side. I do occasionally leak at night and sometimes flood in the morning but I only need to change tampon every 4-5 hours at the heaviest and I only have to use sanpro for 3 days. After that, I just have a little spotting when wiping.

My mum has always had very heavy periods which lasted over a week. She was eventually diagnosed with fibroids and having the Mirena coil helped her significantly.

Flow varies greatly between women. Count your blessings that you're at the lighter side of things as it can be really debilitating to have heavy periods.

I'm 48, perimenopausal, and my periods are like Niagara Falls. My bed looks like a crime scene in the morning.
It's not painful, at least.

Did you never notice that tampons come in a range of sizes? Of course there are different kinds of periods!

Heavy and painful here, crippling PMT beforehand. I wear pads at night and it can be a bit of a race to make it to the bathroom in the morning.

Anyfucker have you considered an endometrial ablation?

The lining of the uterus is destroyed so no more periods.

I had mine done 3 years ago. At that point my periods were horrific. My periods were already heavy, I then had to start taking warfarin for a separate issue. Once I started bleeding it didnt seem to stop and I was hugely anemic.

The surgery was done in a day. I was back at work after 4 days.

Before I had my dd, my periods were horrendous, I was bedbound for around 2 days because everytime I'd stand up I was "flooded", it didn't matter what pads / tampons / mooncup / as many things as I could use together, I would still be flooded. The pain was awful, cramps that felt like labour pain, migraines, back pain etc, they would last around 10 days, thankfully superplus pads / tampons would work after the third day.

Since I've had dd, most periods I hardly need to bother and at most I need a mooncup that doesn't leak. Most nights whilst I'm bleeding I can sleep naked with no pads etc.

All womens periods are different and they can change dramatically also.

OP, I'm similar to you, without the PMT. I have been lucky with periods, and I'm grateful for it.

I'm 40 now, so braced for the good times to stop. But ashamed that it's only the last handful of years that I've truly realised how dreadful it is for some women.

The first few days of my period are so heavy I need both a tampon and pads, and change close to hourly. I also sleep with a waterproof mat under me and take a change of clothes everywhere I go. After those initial days though, I have such a light period it is painful to wear a tampon and I get away with just a liner which I frequently change although I wouldn't soak the first one if I left it for the rest of the week.

I can spot for a week with terrible mood swings going from rage to crying in minutes,bleed for 2 days with cramps and legs hurting then stop a day then bleed for 2 more,the next month can be no pain and straightforward cycle.the doctor tells me that is normal.I've been sterlised about 9 years.I don't have sterilised friends to ask if it's same for them.

Like Gnome I've had endometrial ablation. My periods were like the scene in The Shining were the lifts open. Fucking horrendous and could fill a Mooncup in an hour.
After the op my periods have become sooooo much lighter. Took a couple of cycles to settle but I'm so happy I've had it done.

Definitely recommend it AF.

I have PCOS and a copper coil and mine are fairly light and sparodic (that'll be the PCOS)

We're all different, maybe somewhere between the two extremes you mention could be considered 'average' but what is normal anyway?

Plus I think that at different times of life what was once thought normal may alter to a new 'normal'.

Mine were always fairly heavy, even as a teenager and I worried about whether my towel would cope with it. Coming up to menopause they got worse and tablets were prescribed to make them lighter and then, thank heaven they stopped altogether, Do I miss them? Not at all. Since the menopause I've never felt better. No more anaemia, towels, tampons and very few painkillers. Fabulous.

It all depends, really. What's normal for one women might not be normal for another. Your light periods could be a sign of severe problems just as easily as your friend's.

For anyone with heavy periods, actually for anyone with periods, mooncup is a gamechanger. I wouldn't go back to tampons ever. A mooncup will hold way way more than even the ultra-est tampon! And no skanky bit of string in your pants.

Can I ask how old you are ? Have you not ever had chats with mates about periods before now?

Is it very unusual to not discuss the actual amount of tampons you use in an hour? You act like the OP is 12 for not discussing the contents of her mooncuo with her mates.

I don't have any hang ups about periods but I've never found it come up in conversation in rl, other than discussing cramps. Mn you get threads like these but that's where I'd discuss it mostly

Mine were like yours although I experienced much heavier ones when I had a coil inserted for about a year (I got it removed for that reason). I realised they were light because my haemolglobin levels were nearly at the top of the normal range despite being vegetarian.

I recently had a hysterectomy but before I did, I couldn't wear tampons or mooncups (tried them ALL) due to pelvic floor issues and had to use pads. On days 2, 3, and 4 I had to use two pads side by side in a pair of "boyshorts" style pants because otherwise it would just flood right past one pad.

Mine we're hideous. Horribly painful, very heavy, lots of clots. Flooded through tampons, had to wear pads. Mefenamic acid helped with the pain but didn't eliminate it.

Then after I had my son I had a mirena coil fitted and I no longer have periods. It's amazing.

Periods have always been horrendously painful and super heavy for me so I destroyed furniture with leaking, got anaemic and had to wear toddler nappies for days as nothing would hold back niagra falls. I have bicornuate uterus and PCOS, as well as fibroids. I decided to have an endometrial resection...it is a deeper form of ablation. Recovered quickly and while there have been post-op complications, as a procedure - I would highly recommend it to anyone to who feels their family is complete.