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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To go to A&E

230 replies

OnNaturesCourse · 13/03/2023 09:01

Unbelievably heavy period for me.
Day 3 of it literally falling out of me. I am bleeding through lil lets ultra in about a hour, sometimes 2.
Small clots too, size of a 5p.
Last night the cramps started and I am in a bit of pain from them which is not normal for me at all.
Eventually I fell into such a deep sleep I didn't hear any alarms going off this morning, or the children waking up.
Usually I have heavy periods but this is just crazy. I stood up off the toilet last night to try and have a look and it was running out of me.
Sorry TMI but I'm worried and feel horrible.

OP posts:
Spidey66 · 13/03/2023 10:56

Thatwastheweekthatwasnt · 13/03/2023 09:40

This is dangerous advice

Show quote history

Why is it dangerous? Tranxemic acid is a common prescription for heavy periods.

Heavy periods can be a symptom of fibroids, which are picked up by scans. I had heavy and painful periods when I had fibroids (since had a hysterectomy).

Regular heavy periods can cause anemia, the treatment of which is iron supplements.

It needs advice from a GP before investigation and/or treatment but none of the advice is wrong per se.

emmathedilemma · 13/03/2023 10:57

Ibuprofen can help to reduce heavy bleeding too if you can't get tranexamic acid in time. I had a similar incident (with a previous diagnosis of fibroids) and I rang 111 who sent me to A&E but as I was already in the system of awaiting a gynae appointment they didn't do anything other than check I wasn't pregnant (didn't need a test to tell them that but they were insistent!) and they sent me home to keep taking tranexamic acid.

steppemum · 13/03/2023 10:57

purpledalmation · 13/03/2023 10:39

@steppemum You don't seem to understand the mechanics of periods. The blood she is losing has taken 4 weeks to build up and take iron from the entire blood supply. So this blood is not from a vein or an artery. The blood is essentially older blood and not from her current circulation. It is a lining built up over 4 weeks before it is shed. Of course she may be anaemic as she has had many very heavy periods. Very little can be done at the moment but she needs the tablets prescribed blood tests for anaemia and an USS for the cause such as fibroids. If she is dizzy because of anaemia it's A&E but we can't diagnose that. Her GP I hope asked the question. I suspect your mum had very long standing heavy periods and over time became severely anaemic

This is crap.
One heavy period like this can and does cause severe anaemia.
I have had it!
The blood is coming from your body, the blood is not stored in the uterus like a little bag and once it is all used that is it.

Several people on this thread have said they were hospitalised with these symptoms because their blood loss was so severe.

The NHS guidelines say that if you are soaking through more than one pad an hour then that is enough to go to A&E.

The OP is breathless, tired, and pouring blood.

Why do people think that because it comes out of your uterus we should accept anything that the body throws at us?

OP please, get more urgent medical attention. Your GP is not dealing with the NOW but with what might happen next month.
If you phone 111 they will send you to A&E. What does that tell you?

Bepis · 13/03/2023 10:58

If anyone was losing this amount of blood from another part of the body, it would be a medical emergency. I don't want to scare you, but it's always best to get checked.

Gleeisweird · 13/03/2023 10:58

OnNaturesCourse · 13/03/2023 10:52

I didn't think I could call 111 when GPs are open

You can, 111 is 24 hours for a reason!

beAsensible1 · 13/03/2023 11:02

you need to be swearing a tampon super and a large night time pad.

seems like just a heavy one, i'd maybe pick up an iron supplement from holland and barrat if you're feeling tired and take couple of painkillers.

not an a&e issue, i wouldn't waste your time tbh

CanOfPop · 13/03/2023 11:03

The reason lots of us think it is different with a period is because many of us have personal experience of exactly this. It is very common to have periods like this with peri menopause.
Like the OP I got prescribed transemic acid and referred for checks for fibroids.

Coffeellama · 13/03/2023 11:05

beAsensible1 · 13/03/2023 11:02

you need to be swearing a tampon super and a large night time pad.

seems like just a heavy one, i'd maybe pick up an iron supplement from holland and barrat if you're feeling tired and take couple of painkillers.

not an a&e issue, i wouldn't waste your time tbh

What would you class as more than ‘just a heavy one’ then?

CanOfPop · 13/03/2023 11:05

And at 35 this could well be peri menopause.
But she has talked to the GP and has been referred for a scan. The scan will check if there is anything else going on like fibroids.

CanOfPop · 13/03/2023 11:06

@Coffeellama A pad every hour or every 2 hours is pretty normal for peri menopause for lots of women.

Phos · 13/03/2023 11:07

I hope you manage to get some help but when my mum had this repeatedly in her late 40s she was just told it was "normal" pre-menopause and that she would "just have to ride it out"

purpledalmation · 13/03/2023 11:07

@steppemum One heavy period won't cause anaemia in an otherwise heathy woman. If OP had other issues then she didn't say just that it is unusually heavy for her therefore no one can diagnose here. Her GP has prescribed meds and I would suggest taking them and then getting it investigated. You need to understand how the endometrium works and how the lining thickens over the course of the month and is then shed. It's not pumping from an artery somewhere.

Of course if other factors are in play such as possible miscarriage or injury or long term heavy periods or poor iron intake then of course go to A&E

CanOfPop · 13/03/2023 11:07

People talk a lot about night sweats but the other symptoms are far less well known. I bled heavily for 35 days.
OP you will need to take iron supplements, get them from the chemist or supermarket. But don't take them when you have a period as this can make them heavier.

CanOfPop · 13/03/2023 11:08

@Phos It is normal. But you should have a scan to rile out other issues and transemic acid to help manage them.

kittensinthekitchen · 13/03/2023 11:09

Why do so many people on MN go from "no GP appointment" straight to A&E? Call 111. That's what it is for!!

Smartiepants79 · 13/03/2023 11:09

I would not choose today to go to a&e unless it was truly life threatening.
The doctors are on strike, it’ll be horrible.

Original poster
OnNaturesCourse · 13/03/2023 11:09

I am going thro ultra tampons which are more absorbant than the super tampax ones and have a night pad on too.

OP posts:
TinyTear · 13/03/2023 11:10

purpledalmation · 13/03/2023 10:39

@steppemum You don't seem to understand the mechanics of periods. The blood she is losing has taken 4 weeks to build up and take iron from the entire blood supply. So this blood is not from a vein or an artery. The blood is essentially older blood and not from her current circulation. It is a lining built up over 4 weeks before it is shed. Of course she may be anaemic as she has had many very heavy periods. Very little can be done at the moment but she needs the tablets prescribed blood tests for anaemia and an USS for the cause such as fibroids. If she is dizzy because of anaemia it's A&E but we can't diagnose that. Her GP I hope asked the question. I suspect your mum had very long standing heavy periods and over time became severely anaemic

I beg your pardon? you think period blood is old blood that has been sloshing around for 4-6 weeks??

I think you are the one not understanding the mechanics of periods.

@OnNaturesCourse I would go to A&E or at least call 111 or do the NHS direct online questionnaire for advice

eirlaw · 13/03/2023 11:11

Ring 111 - tell them the amount and the other symptoms and see what they suggest - there may be some urgent care in the area or they may want you to pick up the prescription and see if there is any improvement.

crazylegscrain · 13/03/2023 11:11

How old are you?

I had a couple periods like this. Im 44

It lasts a day

Bepis · 13/03/2023 11:11

Smartiepants79 · 13/03/2023 11:09

I would not choose today to go to a&e unless it was truly life threatening.
The doctors are on strike, it’ll be horrible.

Only junior doctors. I'm currently at hospital and all the consultants are in

Coffeellama · 13/03/2023 11:12

CanOfPop · 13/03/2023 11:06

@Coffeellama A pad every hour or every 2 hours is pretty normal for peri menopause for lots of women.

I agree it is, but this isn’t the OPs situation, it’s every half an hour at the minute and she’s wearing super tampons too. 35 isn’t an average age for peri menopause either.

nameoftheday · 13/03/2023 11:12

Go to A&E, you will be seen despite the strike.

You have lost a lot of blood. It sounds like a miscarriage to me

Good luck OP

LanaDelRabies · 13/03/2023 11:12

A while back a poster here started a similar thread and was met with the usual chorus of 'You can't go to A&E for that'. Some posters however were insistent that she got help. Iirc she called 111 and was told to go to A&E. She was hemorrhaging and if she hadn't gone in the outcome would have been very grave.

I'm not suggesting that's what's happening to you OP, but I do think it pays to trust your gut feeling. You know what your periods are usually like and you also know something isn't right. Call 111 and take it from there.

Good luck 💐

Coffeellama · 13/03/2023 11:13

crazylegscrain · 13/03/2023 11:11

How old are you?

I had a couple periods like this. Im 44

It lasts a day

She’s said twice she’s 35, and also she said this is day 3 of it being this heavy.