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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to bother the doctor about heavy periods?

71 replies

madamedesevigne · 11/01/2022 14:00

I’ve been having an increasingly hard time with my periods over the last couple of years. They’re not painful but they’ve lengthened to about 6-7 days.

I could deal with that, however, if it wasn’t for the sheer volume of blood for the first 3-4 days. Every time I go to the toilet it’s like the lift in The Shining.

I can’t do tampons or Mooncup (please don’t suggest these). I wear the thickest sanitary towels available to humanity. Just went to the shops for 20 mins and by the time I made it home I’d almost soaked right through. This means that for those days, I basically can’t do anything that involves leaving the house. Lockdown and working from home has been very useful and has masked the problem to some extent, but is there anything a doctor can do or is it One Of Those Things?

OP posts:
PastMyBestBeforeDate · 11/01/2022 15:25

To second a pp if you aren't intending to try to have children then an ablation could be the answer. I was soaking through a massive tampon and brick size towel in 20 mins and an ablation stopped my periods completely.

Forestcantrun · 11/01/2022 15:34

You are not bothering anyone! Please see your GP. I lasted until 39 with crippling periods becuase I thought I could manage and ended up with an ablation which did cut down on the bleeding followed by the mirena. Personally I wouldn't touch a mirena again without a General Anaesthetic but it has improved pain on about 80 percent of occasions. Tranexemic acid might be the game changer for you.
Good luck and please contact your GP.

Original poster
madamedesevigne · 11/01/2022 15:36

Thank you all. I really wasn’t expecting such a unanimous vote in favour of contacting the GP! It’s heartening to think that there may be things they can do to help.

OP posts:
oneglassandpuzzled · 11/01/2022 15:38

I rejected a Mirena coil for years and I was wrong. I have one now, much later in life, and realise that it would have made my life much better. I spent afternoons half-asleep or frightened to leave the house because of the flooding.

oneglassandpuzzled · 11/01/2022 15:39

@NeilBuchananisBanksy

GP. But be prepared for them to give you the hard sell on the Mirena coil- I had a huge battle with them. They were trying to get me to have it to try before referring me to gyne. I refused and insisted on investigations to find out a cause, not just deal blind with symptoms. They seem to be on commission for them.

I've got fibroids. Now under gyne and they are still trying to get me to have the coil. I'm still saying no..... I want them to treat the fibroids.

Or because they have positively benefited so many of their patients, like me? I was heading towards a hysterectomy. Not any more.
NeilBuchananisBanksy · 11/01/2022 15:48

I do appreciate that other have benefitted from the coil, but in my view Drs are quick to suggest it and there are huge numbers of women who don't get on with it.

Women shouldn't have to fight to have investigations on account of them refusing to have one specific treatment option which only controls bleeding, doesn't actually address the issues.

I've tried other methods with the same hormone and they made me bleed continually. I'm not willing to try a coil with the same hormone which I can't then take out myself if it has the same effect. Especially at the moment when arrives are so stretched and women can't easily get them taken out by a professional.

I did my research. The coil works for some but not others and as a patient I should be listened to. When they were telling me about it they made zero mention of the side effects. I had to mention them and my concerns and even then they were trying to fob me off.

Beowulfa · 11/01/2022 15:50

@NeilBuchananisBanksy

GP. But be prepared for them to give you the hard sell on the Mirena coil- I had a huge battle with them. They were trying to get me to have it to try before referring me to gyne. I refused and insisted on investigations to find out a cause, not just deal blind with symptoms. They seem to be on commission for them.

I've got fibroids. Now under gyne and they are still trying to get me to have the coil. I'm still saying no..... I want them to treat the fibroids.

They are indeed financially motivated to push them: www.imperial.ac.uk/news/146546/gp-incentive-scheme-increases-long-term-reversible/

I know some women rate them highly, but I am uneasy about the ethics of schemes like this.

Wombat98 · 11/01/2022 15:54

I had a coil, it was fab for me. But not for everyone, apparently no-one knows if it'll suit you.

Definitely get them sorted tho, life-changing not having to deal with heavy periods. Wish I'd done so years sooner, might have had a career.

DontWantTheRivalry · 11/01/2022 15:54

I have horrendous periods. They last 5 days and the first 2 days are horrendous. I constantly leak through clothes, I have a lot of cramping pain and I can soak a sanitary towel in an hour or so. I ask pass lots of large clots and when I go for a wee the bowl is like a blood bath afterwards - the blood just never stops coming. I’m also very anaemia and take tablets three times a day and the cause has been put down to my periods.

I have been to my GP numerous times and I keep being told to have the Mirena. I have said no as I’ve had one twice before and neither experience was positive so they seem to have just washed their hands of me.

I had been for ab ultrasound scan (external and internal) to check for fibroids I assume and i was told the thickness of my womb lining was perfectly normal. However, I’d had this scan about 4 days after my period had ended so of course I didn’t have a huge womb lining. I asked if I could have another scan just before my period was due (I’m very regular) so they could properly assess my womb lining at the point my period was about to start, but they said it wasn’t necessary.

So yes….basically I have just got to get on with it. On average I have to throw away 5 pairs of underwear a month due to leaking and I have to sit/sleep on towels to prevent any leaking onto the mattress or sofa covers.

Whilst I’m on my period I don’t get in other people’s cars in case of possibly leaking, and I avoid leaving the house at all costs for the same reason.

So unless I agree to have a Mirena this is just my life now.

AnneLovesGilbert · 11/01/2022 16:05

I wasn’t offered a coil but I booked a phone appointment, requester tranex as I’d used it in the past and was off the phone in 2 minutes.

She should have suggested it when felt like I was dying of raging anaemia earlier last year and had completely forgotten about it. Got on high dose iron which helped loads but still had a full 24 hours of flooding on period day 2, literally wouldn’t go out for more than hour with a moon cup and heavy duty washable pad. But it’s all changed now a few cycles in and no flooding at all.

Changeforthis79 · 11/01/2022 16:13

I know you don't want a mirena but this is my experience...I was exactly the same as you, I couldn't leave the house for at least 3 days with massive flooding and huge clots. I said no to the mirena coil for 5 years as I really don't like messing with hormones,I've been on various pills and they just don't agree with me but then I had a period that was just so much worse than usual and I just thought I cannot go on like this. I had a mirena fitted out of desperation and then I bled lightly for almost 3 months so then I was upset I'd made a mistake. However on month 4 my period completely stopped, never had another one!

Twizbe · 11/01/2022 16:22

I've also had to bay away the coil many many times. Thankfully during the last gynae appointment I had found a cervical ectropion which will react to hormones and just bleed.

I'm on the waiting list for an ablation and can't wait.

Auldspinster · 11/01/2022 16:24

I had the same as you. Tranexamic acid helped with the flow. I had a mirena which worked for many years but I got a fibroid which displaced it. I was referred for an endometrial ablation but my fibroid was too large so they did a trans cervical resection of my endometrium which removed it mechanically instead of zapping it. Best thing I ever did.

Confrontayshunme · 11/01/2022 16:25

I didn't bother the GP for 4 years, then got a female GP who gave me tranexamic acid and it was life changing.

MarshmallowFondant · 11/01/2022 16:31

Another one saying go to the doctor.

I had fibroids, I completely relate to everything you said about the flooding and blood loss. I was regularly soaking through a pad and the largest size of tampon in an hour, and sleeping on towels to save the sheets and mattress. Just horrendous.

As others have said there are lots of things they can offer you and yes they probably will start off suggesting tranexamic acid or Mirena, or both.

I had a Mirena and it worked really well for a couple of years and very much cut down the bleeding, combined with the tablets. It didn;t stop the fibroid growing though and eventually the fibroid got so big it displaced the Mirena and it moved out of my cervix so didn't work any more.

In terms of the fibroids, they can also do things like ablation or embolisation but it will depend on how they are attached to the uterus and whether you're planning more children.

I ended up with a hysterectomy, full open procedure as my fibroid was so large, but others have it vaginally or keyhole and it's far less invasive.

So there are lots of things you can try. And you should not be fobbed off at all. I would start by going back and asking to be referred to a gynaecologist and also for ultrasound to see how your fibroids have changed since the last time you had a scan.

runningfromtheoutlaws · 11/01/2022 16:34

Go to the gp. I has my womb lasered for this reason, hardly have periods now.

superplumb · 11/01/2022 18:58

I'm considering the coil but after laser on cancerous cells and a womb biopsy I'm so worried about the pain. Didnt realise you could get a general anaesthetic

runningfromtheoutlaws · 11/01/2022 19:13

@superplumb

I'm considering the coil but after laser on cancerous cells and a womb biopsy I'm so worried about the pain. Didnt realise you could get a general anaesthetic
I had done under GA and didnt need PR afterz
UserBot989 · 11/01/2022 19:18

I agree, they will hard sell the mirena coil. I said no and asked for the pill and they sent me away. I had to go back and again they pushed the coil on me, although I had declined it a few times at that point. I had to say that there was no way on god's green earth am i getting a coil and eventually they put me on back to back progesterone only pill.

I also have something called tranexemic tablets which I used before the pill sorted out the very heavy flow, these tablets put a stop to the heavy flow thankfully.

Blackopal · 11/01/2022 19:22

Please do see your doctor and ensure they give you a blood test. I dealt with this for years and finally ended up with such low HB I was admitted to hospital for several blood transfusions.

Women's health is an area where some Gps can be very uninformed or resistant to investigate until it is an emergency.

Mine was caused by fibroids, I have had a hysterectomy and am very glad to have those days behind me. I was the same age as you when all the trouble happened by the way.
Best of luck Flowers

AuntyMabelandPippin · 11/01/2022 19:23

Just went to the shops for 20 mins and by the time I made it home I’d almost soaked right through.

This exact same thing happened to me. It was the finish of me just getting on with it.

I'm 12 years past a hysterectomy and it was the best thing I've ever done for my health.

See your doctor. It's not 'bothering' them, it's their job.

DontWantTheRivalry · 11/01/2022 19:31

To all those who’ve had a hysterectomy….what was the recovery period like?

Lentil63 · 11/01/2022 19:32

No! Absolutely not!

KatherineJaneway · 11/01/2022 19:35

I would recommend a mirena. Fitting was far less pain than my monthly periods and within 6 months my periods stopped. Haven't had a period in almost 10 years. It is a rough few weeks but worth it.

Groovee · 11/01/2022 19:43

I got tranexemic acid tablets. I eventually had an ablation so no periods now. I had completed my family but it was the best decision to have one.