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?

I've just started a lower eostrogen pill to hopefully stop periods (don't need higher dose as hubby had the snip). Usually have a period every three weeks and for two days its full on hourly tampon changes. Spoke to the nurse at our gps who was brill and was very willing to try this. Note I have tried the coil but bled through it so it was a no no. She also suggested having my womb cauterised if this didn't help but wanted to try other alternatives first. Hope this helps.

Mine have got much heavier as I have got older.

It's so disappointing that better products haven't been made to help with leaks. My sister wears Tena pants to prevent nighttime leaks, but I can't bring myself to do this as theyre too much like nappies I have however bought a couple of pairs of Diary Doll knickers which give a bit more security, but look like normal underwear

I have PCOS. During puberty, up to about 18 yrs old, I had very heavy bleeds that would require lots of pad/tampon changes throughout the day. And the pain would have me doubled up. I passed out walking down stairs once it was so agonising. And they'd last around 10 days. It would really have an impact on my life.

But then I started using the Pill and they slowly but surely started getting a lot less heavy and painful.

Then after I had DS1 at 30 I had the coil and now I'm like you OP... I can forget I'm even having a period. Very light, only lasts 48 hrs at the most, zero pain. Only negatives I can report are some mild PMS and bloating before.

I fuckin LOVE the coil!

@TheUpsideDown I'm getting another in 2 years when my current one expires. Not bothered about having children of my own, so will probably keep having them until I hit the menopause.
I do want to donate eggs though, so I might have to suffer natural periods for a couple of months and leave a gap.

You sound as if you may well have a bit of a problem due to the clots e.g. neck of cervix erosion. Have word with Doc as clotting if a problem can easily be resolved with D & C.

'the first few days are very heavy. I can soak through a super plus tampon in 1.5-2hours and wear a pad too incase I can't get to a loo quick enough. At night I try not to move too much or I have leakage. When I wake up I have to sprint to the loo before it leaks everywhere.'

Yep, same. Yours do sound v light to me, OP. Though it's been a while since I discussed flow with anyone

There is no normal as we are all so very different.
Pre children I used to go through super plus tampons and pads like there was no tomorrow. I once approached my GP who (after a fag break -late 90's) told me my body was doing what it should do.
I used to pass out and be really unwell during my periods.
Had a child, then another couple and now have a mirena. Godsend re bleeding but by heck I am a Mardi bugger. Don't know if it is the family load/stress or the mirena but not bleeding all over the place is good for me.
And I mean going to bed with a superplus tampon, maxi maxi pads and lying on towels over plastic. That was normal.

I have dx menorrhagia and I think I've always had it if both your examples in your original posts are normal.
I have fibroids, have had an ablation and they are still heavy.
I'm a slave to my hormones and I can't take anything hormonal either to counteract them as I'm so sensitive to hormonal changes.
I'm hoping my menopause will be swift tbh!

Mine are very light and so regular I can practically set my watch by when I am due. They have always been this way and I'm not on any BC either .Reading this I realise I am very very lucky

First day light / heavy
second day heavy
3rd day medium / light
4th day very light spotting
5day finished / light spotting

Mine were awful, had to wear the most absorbent night time version all day, and doubled up, so one that started at the gusset and covered well up the back (to cover basically my entire bum crack, sorry tmi) then another over the top positioned further forward to come quite a good way up the front, with the wings off both overlapping a little to give the most coverage in the very middle. And i would still leak all the time. I would have quite a bit of clotted material, not big clots but lots of little ones, and i would tend to let out a lot of blood all at once, and it was width wise, despite wearing the widest gusseted knickers i could find with the widest pads, i would always leak down the sides of the wings.
These pads they have today, the bodyform ones, where they have a fitted core where it goes quite slim in the middle then widens out at the back with a bog round bit at the front, would do me no good. The always infinity ones again, the core wasn't wide enough, i needed the actually absorbent core bit to be as wide as the whole pad and my underwear.
Best pads i ever had were Ultrex night time, 2 packs of 8 for a quid in pound shop! Good adhesive, decent absorbency if you change every few hours, better than any top brand at least, long wings, nice wide pads with a wide core, no silly contouring or fitted shape, not scented and no weird designs printed on them.
Even with those though i had to sleep sitting up, could only sit upright, not get comfy or legs up on the sofa or anything, i had to sleep on m sofa/armchair or i'd leak everywhere even if i changed right before bed, i'm not one of those women who don't seem to bleed lay down or in water. I'd retain water also to the point i could not need a wee for nearly 48 hours despite drinking more than i normally do. And had cramps sp bad i couldnt get to sleep or would wake me up, and no painkiller i ever tried touched it.

My subdermal nexplanon implant has been a godsend.

I was similar to you OP.. then age got me.

I now use a mooncup.. amazing things. On very heavy days I'm changing it every hour some of the say, and wake at least once in the night to empty.

They hold around 25ml so I know I loose way more than those random ranges websites give you... Hence the iron supplements..

Ah.. roll on menopause...

Lose ☺️

You can leave a tampon in that long it says so on the packet!! Dont worry!! Unnecessary stress attack!! Everyone had diff periods mine changed after my forst bor and now i get sweats and feel crappy like a week before im on, youre bornal and so is yor mate unkess a drvthinks otherwise anf u onow ur bodies best !!

Should have previewed that before posting i wnder if anyone can actually understand what i have written

Mine have always been heavy and then more heavy after the kids.
Mine stopped me working (although I couldn't currently work as home schooling DS)....I flood. So I could have a fresh pad on then 10 minutes later, flood and leak so in many jobs, I couldn't be just nipping to the loo every 10-30 mins for two full days.

You and friend sound at either end of normal but the time to see the GP is when your normal changes and is detrimental to your daily living.

I'm with you AF. Similar history, also allergic to tranexamic acid, unkeen on synthetic hormones and no way am I having non-essential surgery (ex-HCP). It's not forever.

Mumsky I went vegetarian a while ago. No effect on periods, but symptoms of perimenopause much improved.

Mine were awful. Heavy, debilitating and activities had to be arranged around them. I'm now on Cirelle, a progesterone only pill and they've stopped altogether and it's amazing. No periods at all yay x

I have come full circle. 45 and they're like they were in my teens - very heavy and painful, I get faint and dizzy. Fuck the whole thing

Reading this lot, I hadn't realised how lucky I was. I was like you OP, very light periods and hopelessly irregular - sometimes as long as 6 weeks. No pain but horrible outbreaks of cold sores. Every time.

Doctor was a bit concerned and referred me for hormone tests but they were OK. How heavy are you OP? Consultant said it was probably low BMI (no, definitely not anorexic and never on a diet, just naturally scrawny) and possibly related to weight training and prolonged breast feeding. Some concern that I wasn't ovulating and it would affect fertility. After 5 children, I think that was unfounded.

The only downside was I never actually knew when I was pregnant, couldn't ever work out dates from LMP and as a result several times did potentially harmful stuff in early pregnancy like drinking far too much. Also, because of scanty flow, I kept forgetting to change sponge which is really dangerous. Light flow made tampons almost impossible as no lubrication and they'd get painfully stuck half in and leave strands of cotton wool behind when I yanked them out. Horrible. Dunno whether it's related but didn't really notice the menopause either until it dawned on me that I hadn't had a period for about 6 or 8 months. So I reckon you are totally normal and lucky - we should just count our blessings and sympathise with those that really suffer.

Burrito have you had a scan? You sound the same as i was a couple of years ago. Turned out I had a fibroid!

Since having the DCs, mine have changed to become more regular and lighter. I now have the immeasurable pleasure of knowing to within a few days when it's going to turn up compared to wondering which month it would be.

The flow is light enough that I just change partway through the day for hygiene, and haven't leaked in ages. The really weird thing is that ibuprofen controls the (mild) pain and makes me feel quite normal. Gone are the days of curling up on dirty stockroom floors/ under desks/ on the bathroom floor unable to move because of the cramps around my abdomen/ back/ thighs because the period randomly turned up hitting me with a wall of pain before painkillers could kick in. I spent most of 18-30 on hormonal contraceptives to control it.

If it's a choice of repeating DS2's back to back labour (but not the tear) or the periods of August 99 or Christmas 06, I'll go with the labour because I had the assistance of gas and air and a self hypnosis CD, and it was shorter

I'm glad I went from difficult to easier rather than vice versa.

Since having my DS my periods got very heavy (leaking etc). Spoke to gp, got put on transexamic acid tablets. They really help. So now have maybe 2 heavy ish days and then 2 or 3 fairly light.