Heavy periods and work

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I have very heavy periods and fill my pad and tampon within an hour. I work from home but I just can’t concentrate i keep going to lie down but when I get a call I dash back to my office. I’m just full of fear and anxiety also at this time of the month.

I feel like a failure as I fall behind on my work during this week and I just dread my period every month.

how on earth do you all manage this?

I'm a nurse so can't often get to the toilet on time but thankfully have sanitary products to hand. I wear a 30ml cup and a maternity pad and change the cup minimal every 2 hours when I can. Though interestingly I bleed less when working and running about, if I'm on shift the first day of my period it's usually less than normal but when I lie down after my shift the bleeding will be terrible and I will have to be up 3 x during the night. Its also better when I take ibuprofen.

Still have leaks constantly, my colleague had to rescue me from the toilet with a pair of trousers from the student cupboard last month because I had blood down to my ankles.

OP- you need to have the Merina Coil fitted- this is for very heavy bleeding and will resolve it 90% of the time. Go to your GP and get an appointment arranged ASAP. It will take 3 months to take effect normally.

Yes, I use the Tena pads too. I know they're not intended for heavy periods, but there is nothing else out there. I have PCOS.

I've already tried being on the mini-pill, which gave me 3 catastrophic migraines in a week. I'm not risking going back on it. Nor do I fancy the coil.
I'll struggle on.

Tranexamic acid, a bucket sized menstrual cup and period pants here, although the tranexamic acid does the job really to make things manageable

Please go back to the doctor and insist on an alternative treatment and/or investigations because the IUD isn't allowing you to live a normal life with periods like that.

Mine used to be the same, investigations showed I've developed fibroids over time which were likely the cause. I literally couldn't leave the house for 2 days a month because I'd flood everything I used to try and catch/contain it. The rest of my period would be heavy and often result in leaks, but those 2 days were horrific.

The mini pill has worked really well for me. My periods immediately got lighter (normal levels of heavy) before disappearing entirely after about 6 months. I haven't had a period for coming up on 5 years now - it's literally transformed my life!

I know it's a battle, and it shouldn't have to be one. But please keep seeing a GP until you get this sorted, and/or referrals to specialists for additional investigations.

Mine are similar. Yes, I’ve been to the doctor. None of my available treatment options are good and I’m in perimenopause so I am hoping to just wait it out.

I Take naproxen sodium. Different country, that is what we get recommended instead of transemic acid. I also keep a heating pad on my back at my desk. For some reason my back helps more than my front for me. I also take advantage of the fact that my work doesn’t mind if I flex my hours and work a bit less on my really heavy day(s) and make it up during the rest of the week.

I also get heavy periods, and just had a fibroid ultrasound, tranexamic acid is the next thing I want to try.

I don't work from home, I work on construction sites and on my really heavy days (2-3 days at the start) I use the highest absorbency tampons together with thick pads purely to get to work without leaking (20 min drive). I ditch the thick pads when I get to work for thinner ones but change both pretty much on the hour to make sure I don't get any leaks during the day, which I wouldn't want working in this industry

Same here! I remember a child telling me I'd got red paint on the back of my skirt and on another occasion I left a big patch of blood on the chair in the Head's office. I also remember flooding in the middle of a lesson and had to leave sharpish while the TA held the fort. In the end, I went to the GP and ended up having an ablation. It changed my life and I haven't had any periods since then.

I had horrendous flooding periods for years due to fibroids and it was shit. Periods could go on for two or three weeks and were awful. Cycles very short too so I got very little break from them.

Go to your GP and ask for referral to gynaecology.

Also, enquire about Tranexamic Acid because it can reduce the flow on the heaviest days. It works I believe by slightly increasing clotting. I took it for several years and it did help for quite a while but seemed to become less effective over time. I don't know whether or not it is suitable for everyone.

The mirena coil is often recommended. It works for some women and sometimes stops their periods completely after a few months settling in. Not for everyone though. It didn't work at all for me and I bled for over a year on it. It's gone now, thankfully.

For sanitary protection, the only thing that worked at all for me was Tena lady pants (i.e. the incontinence ones - adult nappies). They are expensive, but were the only thing that allowed me any sort of comfort or confidence to go about my day with the flooding that I was getting.

I did have to have a fibroid removed and a couple of months after that had what seems to have been my last period. That was almost a year ago so I am hopeful that the menopause has now kicked in and rescued me (at the age of 57). If anything returns or I have any further problems then I will be insisting on a hysterectomy.

Minera worked like a dream for me.
However, if it doesn't work, it's simple to remove (nurse at GP did mine). Body was back to normal, had a period two week later then got pregnant the month after that (reason I had the coil removed).

I had awful flooding and periods that would last for weeks - I was often being urgently sent to hospital for blood transfusions and also iron infusions and it affected me mentally too as I was so exhausted all of the time and it wasn't unusual for me to have a 4/5 week heavy flooding bleed and then finish my period and then start the whole thing again the next week.
Had scans and gynae referrals and all sorts of meds and nothing really worked and I was almost suicidal - finally I changed my GP and she has managed to find a drug that works for me called Desogestrel - it was slow to work at first and she had to put me on Provera to give my body a break from bleeding (I've also been on Norethisterone which was a godsend to give my body a break too) but now I've been on the Desogestrel since October and I don't have periods at all.

I definitely agree with PPs who have advised Tena underwear - it was a gamechanger for me and meant I could do things without constantly having to rush to a toilet and it also gave me added support at night as I didn't have to keep getting up and dashing to the bathroom at silly times through the night - I'd line the tena pants with a night-time pad and it helped me get a semi-normal sleep).

I really hope you get sorted. It's an awful thing to deal with and so many people (many women included) don't realise just how debilitating it is

Make an appointment with your doctor.

I occasionally have extremely bad cramping on the first day of my AF and it is so unbearable. I remember having to sit out one of my A-Level exams as I just couldn't even stand up!

Some things that really help:
Feminax tablets
A hot water bottle
Bananas
No caffeine on first 2 days of period
Extra lie in
Loose trousers
Moon cup!! - I swear by these, they're more comfortable than tampons

Some of my friends like period pants but I haven't tried these yet!

Try not to be too hard on yourself. If you're only feeling 20% of your usual self, and that's all you can give at work, you're giving 100% of what you possibly could. Just hang in there x

If you haven't already done so, speak to your GP as I'd suggest you need some investigations to get to the root cause.
Speak to your employer too. They should be able to refer you to occupational health who can recommend reasonable adjustments be put in place to help you.

Definitely a doctors visit . I had a Mirena coil for years which totally saved me . No periods at all and as a bonus went through the menopause without noticing as I wasn’t having periods. My daughters have problems too, tranexamic acid and Modibodi period pants really help.

Tranexamic acid, mirena coil, progesterone pill, none worked for me. Apparently a womb ablation would have been the next step. Had several scans but no fibroids etc detected.
But as I also have PMDD I am on medically induced menopause and awaiting a hysterectomy and oopherectomy in the next couple of months.
2 years ago I didn't realise that it wasn't normal to flood through a heavy tampon and pad in less than an hour, and went to the doc as had migraines in the lead up to my period. It has taken a while for them to go through all the options and a year on the waiting list for gynae at the hospital but it will have been worth the wait.

Mini pill - I took Cerazette aka Desogestrel. Didn’t have a period from early 30s until now and somehow managed to swerve menopausal symptoms too.