Any doctors about? Panicking

[Howldens]

I will try to keep this brief but backstory relevant. Would be so grateful for any words of wisdom.

I'm in New York for work. I am experiencing a heavy bleed (mid-cycle). Yesterday it was so bad that I was bleeding through sanitary wear and trousers every hour. today I woke in pain and heavy bleeding - a big clot plopped out in the shower - like two fingers width & length.
bleeding all day & more clots but not so massive.

im panicking bc about 10 yrs ago i had some retained matter after an abortion but I was on holiday in a developing country, experienced crazy heavy bleeding, passed out & got taken to a hospital, had my womb scraped under general anaesthetic and lots of antibiotics. I think I nearly died- but didn’t ever really get full picture.

because of that I am finding this really scary and triggering. I don’t know if I need to go to hospital - could there be another infection?

I messed up my HRT - oestrogen gel & progesterone tables and I’m currently taking the progesterone at night but should I stop as not sure I’m taking it right.

i went to urgent care this morning - temp & heart rate fine. They said there was nothing more they could do and next step in treatment is A&E for ultrasound & bloods if I wanted to seek further treatment. I’m not sure if i should go?

I feel very very far from home & im panicking.

I think I am fine now (not dizzy like before - can’t decide if I am pale or not) but my fear is I go downhill overnight like last time and I can’t help myself. Last time it was my husband who got me help when I collapsed I but I’m alone here.

I am A HSBC advance customer. I have insurance.

You have messed up your hrt and this has caused the mid cycle bleeding I would imagine, however I am not a doctor. Go to the pharmacy and get some pain killers and explain the situation, they have medication to stop the bleeding. Then rest up for a day or so. Once home see GP.

Be careful about getting onto a plane if you know you are not well. If it needs to be re-routed due to a medical emergency could you be liable for the costs of this?

How are you OP? hopefully you can get a flight home tomorrow

Definitely sounds like it's related to your HRT mix up. Especially progesterone as it can be associated with bleeding, I used to take the mini pill which worked fine for about a year until I started randomly heavily bleeding. I had clots and sudden 'wooshes' for about six weeks until I came off it and it settled down almost immediately. Doc wasn't concerned and just said it was the progesterone in the mini pill that was causing it.

Fly back Deal with it in the UK. You will be chased for the bill you run up and it will not be cheap, it never is in the US. Just get home. Unless you think your life is at risk such as you have a fever and an infection.

I'm not a doctor but I did have symptoms like this in the final months before the menopause - bleeding every 2-3 weeks, gushing, clots, soaking through a "night pad" every 15-30 minutes....

Saw a gynae and they were discussing a uterine ablation but before it was arranged my periods stopped - forever

OP, I have no medical advice to give but under employment law your employer has a duty of care. They should provide you with travel insurance when travelling for work or pay for all costs associated with not having insurance. Call your home office as soon as they open.

I’ll start by making it clear that I’m not a doctor.

i’m 48 and my last period, a year ago, was pretty bad: heaviest bleeding I had ever experienced and lots of big clots. I had to buy some massive disposable incontinence knickers - only thing that did the job. It was unreal.

I hope the bleeding is continuing to reduce and that you can get on a plane. If not, please contact your employer - they should be able to help. There’s also always the embassy route which might be able to connect you to a British doc. You could also try 111 - not sure it will connect you but you can always try. Do also call your bank as you might have travel insurance via your bank account - you never know.

Keep is posted.

They won’t sell tranexamic acid otc in the US. Just take a good amount of ibuprofen and retake until you’re home.

Look up the nearest Planned Parenthood clinic and go there. They might be able to help or point you in the right direction. Good luck.

Go back to Urgent Care (pay out of pocket) and get them to prescribe you tranexamic acid, you can’t get it OTC in the US. The get back on a plane to the UK.

I feel for you, OP. It’s scary being overseas and something like this happens.

If you’re in the US on a trip away from your (uk?) home base working at the direction of your company as an employee (rather than as an independent contractor) your employer is responsible for travel insurance. You need to be speaking fo HR

if you are entitled to nhs care you can use the 111 service online and get advice from a doctor if triaged that way (though heavy bleeding is usually an automatic 111 red flag for ED!)

Agreed.

If you are on hormones and have messed up the timings then it could be a decidual cast.

I've had them a few times now when I had skipped a period using birth control and for me it causes extreme cramping to the point of passing out, heavy bleeding and the passing of large pieces of tissue. Sometimes as a whole cast and other times in pieces.

If you don’t have insurance (sorry but crazy to go to the US without insurance as costs are huge) and you need medical help, then fly home. You will end up with a huge bill otherwise. My DD ended up with an emergency blood transfusion after her first period as bleeding wouldn’t stop, as heavy as you describe, and big clots. It did take 4wks for her iron to drop to transfusion level, but it was apparently borderline after 3wks bleeding, then 7 days later transfusion level. The GP had told me that morning she wouldn’t need another blood test (she couldn’t even stand in shower she was so weak) as iron doesn’t drop that fast. To his credit he did phone me when he was informed she was admitted to hospital to 2 days and apologised. Good luck.

Sorry, but your company will have insurance that covers you. They have a duty of care towards you whilst you’re there, and so if they don’t have insurance, they will need to cover the cost of any medical bills that arise from illness overseas. Have you checked with HR? Line managers aren’t always the best at knowing this stuff - you should have something like ISOS.

Don’t rely on emergency services wiping your bill as suggested by previous poster - highly unlikely. Your will should give you travel insurance.

I have an ovarian cyst and Pcos. I regularly pass large clots, sometimes mid cycle. Periods are very heavy, tampon full within an hour and often soaks through.

I went to the GP recently as I had one clot mid cycle which was about 4cm and tissue like. She thought it might be a miscarriage as I had taken a photo of it but a pregnancy test confirmed it wasn’t.

If you’re in a lot of pain or bleeding continues, try and get home asap. When mine is particularly heavy, I’ve used a nappy as a sanitary towel and wore a baggy skirt or trousers.

Beware if it is a cyst, I used to be a cabin crew and had my license removed and grounded from flying once the cyst exceeded 5cm (it was a solid one) due to risk of rupturing mid flight. I also saw a woman be offloaded off a flight as she told one of the cabin crew she was bleeding heavily down there.

Just something to consider if you do go to the ER in the US and they find something. I once went to Thailand on holiday and hit my head resulting in a heavy concussion. I was told at the ER I wasn’t allowed to fly for a week and had to change my flight.

In the U.S. doctors recommend Naproxen Sodium to lighten periods. It is available OTC and is very cheap.

I’m not a doctor, but I do have experience with heavy periods, including passing random large clots mid cycle. I’m never going to tell someone not to seek emergency medical care while experiencing blood loss because I am not there to judge the situation, but I will say that I don’t think you need to panic.

If it’s a work trip your workplace should have insurance. If not they would have told you to get your own insurance.

Could you do some kind of online private gp appointment?

How are you this morning op ?

Not a doctor but this happened to me several times during menopause. Once it got so bad I phoned 111 and a hormone tablet stopped it within a few hours. Hope you get sorted OP.

I’m not a Dr but have had experiences w mid cycle bleeding and am now post meno so had some horrific peri periods and they would come at random times.
First set of mid cycle bleeding I was in my 20s - I’d gush from nowhere - it was hormonal.
second set in my 30s I had a uterine polyp - again, mega gushing. Had it removed.

I hope it settles down. Unless you’re feeling really awful with it I’d sort it out in the UK. Pad up for the flight, buy some period underwear if you can too.