Menstrual bleeding and bf

[NonBlondGirl]

I have found the HP in the area very ignorant anti bf especially after 12 months.

Before I had the DC I had increasing long heavy periods and associated pain. I always got fobbed off despite there being a family history of fibroids.

Prior to my periods restarting this time I would have been pregnant and/or bf for 5 ½ years and only had four periods in that time all normal though a lot lighter.

They started up in June normally enough.

Since then I have been under a lot of stress due to serious injury to DH and one of the DC developing a chronic condition which is manageable once we got it stable. Since then my periods seem to be in the habit of starting lightly for few days, stopping then restarting abut week after first bleed very heavily and lasting 6 days.

I am struggling to get GP appointments for kids round School, Nursery times and DH is already having time off for his appointments so can not help at moment so can not see me getting down there this month at least.

I really want to bf youngest DC till 2 having felt pressured to stop bf earlier with older two children though I did having get past 12 months.

So Questions:
-Could this be down to bf which is still all over the place or stress or system settling down after long break and if so when should I start to be concerned?

-If they suggest the pill to settle things down/regulate would the full pill interfere with bf still? ( GP will not know as they claim it could not affect bf when DC was a few weeks old) and would mini pill be possible option?

-If its fibroids would bf be making it worse? (previously told bf was to blame for my stomach muscles having separate during pregnancy and I should stop bf to help sort them out ? which I ignored and just did exercises) and if so would another 8 months bf really make it much worse?

-Would other treatments proposed affect bf ?

I'd appreciate any advice.

Thank you for starting this thread, I am BF DS2 who is eighteen months old and my periods are all over the place. I get the same thing of periods starting, stopping then starting again. They are also heavy, and sometimes two weeks long or just three weeks apart. There's no pattern. I keep intending to make a drs appointment to discuss it but our drs surgery make you call between 8 and 8.30 to get an appointment which is always when I'm driving to work or doing the school run ...

Hope someone knowledgeable comes along soon!

I def have fibroids which I attribute heavy bleeding to & have decided not to have them treated yet whilst still wanting to have kids, but the bleeding is controlled by taking tranexamic acid tablets - trade name Cyklocapron -whilst menstruating (this would work for any heavy bleeding not just due to fibroids). I just get it on prescription & take at the first sign of bleeding then period is managable. I took this whilst breastfeeding as it was deemed fine (although not officially condoned my advisor did actually check the drug transmission rates through to breastmilk & found to be acceptably low given the overall benefit). I would ask about that when you can get an appt.

I breastfed for as long as poss as I believed the hormones released would help to stop fibroids growing but not really sure if it does actually help too much after the early weeks & after periods return.

I have not taken the pill for years as I couldn't find one I got on with & suspected that it contributed to developping the fibroids in the first place - either causing it or accelerating growth, due to messing about with hormones. But I do know it or Mirena is commonly recommended for period control with or without fibroids so may of course work for you.

It would certainly help to find out the case re fibroids, although there is no urgency. There is no reason for them not to investigate if you are still bf-ing as usually just requires an ultrasound, although any invasive treatment would probably interfere with bf-ing. Make sure you are tested for iron levels, as obviously heavy bleeding can cause anaemia. Chinese medicine is supposed to good for menstrual probs - herbs not good if bfing but acupuncture prob ok.

This is obviously fibroid-centric given my experience. If you have time & money you could get your hormonal profile looked at in detail as there is likely to be some sort of imbalance but it may not be worth it whilst still bfing as I guess that could skew things.

Hope you get some relief in some shape or form!

Dunno about the bf, but IME stress can sometimes have quite a big impact on the menstrual cycle. If I was under a lot of pressure (eg during uni exams) I could miss periods, or have them for much longer than usual.

Well I can tell you a little bit about what you can do:

(1) Have an anaemia check - obviously this can cause excessive bleeding.
(2) Request nefamic acid and tranxemic acid (both fine with breastfeeding which can reduce the length and flow of bleeding).
(3) Some people find a mirena coil helps - didn't work out for me for other reasons, but 1 in 5 have no periods and it's fine with breastfeeding. Or the mini pill is fine too (progesterone only).

For all hormonal contraception there may be a change in the milk supply initially. I've tried mini pills and coils and they had no discernable effect (though I had sore boobs for a week with the Mirena). But you can get through this - you just need to try and feed a bit more often and your supply catches up very quickly (ie under a week).

In terms of fibroids, it is my understanding that for each period you have the more adhesions you are likely to have. Ergo you want to either stop the periods or make them as light as possible. Hence my suggestion of drugs or contraceptive methods to achieve this.

Stress can have an effect on menstruation in two ways: (1) You take less care of yourself, eat crap, exercise less and thus either gain weight or are badly nourished so your periods may be worse
(2) Your perception and mood may be altered so everything seems much worse. (This is not saying it's not real pain or real heavy periods, but it always feels worse when you are having a shitty week and then on top of everything along trips Aunty Flo ).

I would strongly suggest you go to a family planning clinic not a GP for advice - they will have dealt with contraception and periods exclusively, be better at fitting coils/prescribing the right pill for you and be a lot more sympathetic than your general GP. (Sorry GPs that may be reading but it's true).

Thanks for all the replies.

cakeforbrains - your welcome - I don't know about you but not knowing if it's normal or something else isn't helping.

AngelDog - I've never has a problem pre-DC with stress and cycle but given the sheer amount I've been under - maybe.

elvisgirle and whomovedmychocolate thank for the info - prior to DC one GP had mentioned tablets to control the bleeding but then decided the pill would be better and it wasn't worth investigating further and I had a bloody awful -horrific- time with the pill and no further help. Knowing what to ask for would be a huge help and knowing its o.k with bf as GP won't.

Take point about anaemia - can't get tested anytime soon - involves trip to hospital for blood to be drawn - can't do that in time have between pick-up/drop off for DC so need DH around to help so will try and take care with iron intake.

I would love to go to the family planning clinic but they don't deal with over 25. They've told me and know a 24 year old who nearly got turned away.

Will look again at Mirena coil.

In mean time will get DCs and DH sorted - and will try less stress and more looking after myself to see if that improves things.

If not then will try and sort out some kind of solution to get to see GP about things and try and resist temptation to just ignore and put up with.

Thanks all .