Is there a point I go to A&E?

[DesignedForLife]

I've had heavy periods most my life, they've got gradually heavier over the last 8 years, but in the last year (since giving birth) they've been very heavy, using night towels all day and changing sometimes every hour. I've seen GP 5 months ago and they referred me to gynae, no medicine as I'm still breastfeeding. Acknowledgment letter from hospital but no appointment. Saw GP again last week, she's arranged ultrasound and blood tests and will try to chase up hospital (I know from a friend that there is a huge backlog there ATM).

I'm in my period now and heavy as usual, not too bad overnight but this morning I've changed pads three time already and I feel shaky and wiped, and trying to juggle two boisterous toddlers. Really struggling to cope.

[TiesThatBindMe]

Cross posted there. Glad to hear you're ok.

[RideOn]

Glad its a bit better.
Might be worth taking lots of green veg/iron rich foods, avoid cups of tea with meals, spatone sachets etc for your iron!

[DingleBerries]

Just as an FYI the mini pill had me bleeding horrendously heavily for 10 long horrible weeks.

I did actually go to A&E. I didn't realise that it was the pill causing it, it wasn't my period and I was concerned and felt very ill.
I stopped the pill and I stopped bleeding within 2 days.

Bloody awful.

[DesignedForLife]

HughLaurie - no not had any investigations yet, waiting for appointments to come through, I do wonder if it's something like that.

[stopfuckingshoutingatme]

Pregnancy hormones can do very funny things to fibroids so definitely check it out OP as and when

Also - I wish I discovered the mooncup earlier , as visceral as it is / it carries SOMUCH blood for a heavy period . Glad you feel better

[flumpybear]

Those betraying the A&E thing - how would OP or you know if the blood is mentsrual blood or just that she’s bleeding out - only a medic would actually know so just step back - if you could see an open wound gushing you wouldn’t say sticky plaster and don’t bother a&e ..... no because bleeding out is an ‘e’

[flumpybear]

Berating.. not betraying 🙈

[TammySwansonTwo]

I have endometriosis. My periods have been like this pretty much since they started. Since my twins were born they've been more painful than ever which is saying something (am already on a lot of morphine for the endo pain).

You need an ultrasound and if/when that is clear, you need a laparoscopy.

I was fobbed of by gynae and GP for 10 years. It got to the point where I would collapse during periods - out cold, at work or in the street or at home - because the pain was so severe. I would pass out and then wake up screaming. Ended up in ambulances more times than I can count. Usually they'd give me IV morphine and send me home. After about the 10th admission a doctor agreed it was insane to live like this, did a laparoscopy the next day and my endo was diagnosed. I would have waited years longer if it weren't for that chain of events. As it is, I had irreparable nerve damage from years of unmanaged pain.

A&E is under pressure because people are being let down by first line services. I mean, you've been left in this state by your gp and a bloody gynaecologist FFS. They should be taking this more seriously, to be honest. Heavy bleeding of this magnitude can be very dangerous.

My first concern would be some kind of infection- unlikely as it comes and goes with your cycle but should be ruled out. There are absolutely options for managing heavy bleeding while bfing - your GP can prescribe them. Personally I wouldn't have a mirena ever again but transexamic acid is safe I believe, or the progesterone only pill.

A&E is abused by people all the time - this is potentially a very serious issue if your bleeding is that heavy, and could definitely be a medical emergency if you've become severely anaemic.

If you have an out of hours GP service I would try that. If not, it may be your only option. You should not be expected to suffer like this and those trivialising the issue have clearly never experienced how ill this makes you.

[DesignedForLife]

Thanks Tammy and Flumpy.

Tammy I think that half the problem- I've been fobbed off for years, my periods have always been heavy (my mum told me off as a teen for how many pads I used), I then didn't have periods for 8 years due to anorexia then they came back with vengeance, heavier but manageable, but the pain would have me curled in a ball. The pill worked for a few years but no one would investigate. Then childbirth, things were fine after DC1 but after DC2 they've just got progressively heavier, but no pain, go figure. I was using a mooncup but can't use it at the moment because of another issue. I kept a tab one month and I know I lost over 200ml over 3 days a couple months back (apparently 40 over whole period is normal) and they've been heavier since then. So for the people berating at what point does that constitute an emergency?

If anyone else reads this and is having the same problem they need to get checked out asap, there are several reasons women can bleed profusely that are absolutely an emergency, e.g. Infection, unknown ectopic pregnancy etc. These are things not to be messed with as they are life threatening.

Meanwhile I'll trundle on and wait for my referral to come through, but if I start soaking pads again I might well have to bother A&E. I won't put my life at risk and I've seen personally how quickly things can go wrong.

[TammySwansonTwo]

I totally understand. I used to wear a night time pad inside a pair of Tena lady pants and sleep on a folded beach towel. You wouldn't be in a crisis situation if doctors had dealt with this in a timely fashion years ago.

[deborahjackson333]

Have been dealing with very heavy periods and large clots .. and have to deal with flooding a lot of the time. Went to my gp who referred me for ultrasound.where we discovered i had a 6cm fibriod.was referred back to hospital for a biopsy.the thing is i have bled very heavily for 5 wks and doubled in pain ..constantly flooding on to my clothes ..and just to let u know i wear 3 nighttime towels which i have to change every 40mins / hour.have went back to gp were she has taken me off the hormone tablets i was on and given me a stronger one ..along with antibiotics ..pain killers and iron tablets and folic acid ... i have bled so much i am shivery..having bad headaches ..struggling to keep food down..abdominal pain and it seems the bleeding is getting heavier .. i have no energy and feel i might need blood transfusion ..as this is not normal to bled like this .. 5 times this week i have had to come home from work saturated right through ... does any one know what i should do as the tablets aren't working and am losing the will to live ..this is affecting my life in a big way .. and again was going to go to a & e ..

[jane2210]

Don’t take this posters advice!

Hi encase anyone is reading this thread..

I was bleeding heavily during the night, to the point I was using nappy lots of clots. If I had taken notice of this poster I could have worse case died.

Waited hours because of reading idiots saying it’s not an emergency and it was a futile thing to do. Eventually Called 111 was told told to go immediately.

Collapsed as I walked into A&E ended up having a blood transfusion! So yes, if your period is drenching a pad in 1 hour go to hospital!