Marie Stopes - RPOC - D&C - Blood Transfusions

[Ronnie211097]

This has possibly been the worst weekend of my life, but also the weekend that saved my life and ended my misery of bleeding out and almost bleeding to death. My life was saved on Saturday following a month's battle with abnormal heavy uterine bleeding and being sent backwards and forwards between clinicians who have all told me to 'bear with it', 'manage it at home' and 'monitor it'. Following a failed medical abortion, I also had a failed surgical abortion it seems with 4cm of RPOC left in my uterus. Following a heavy period of bleeding of bright fresh blood, the tissue went down to 2.5cm but the bleeding continued and it was not going away. Despite coming back to A&E and my GP making it clear that the bleeding is not subsiding, I have been fed tranexamic acid to leave the office as soon as possible. I was also fitted with the coil at the same time as my surgical abortion which I had taken out at the start of this month as it aggravated the bleeding.

It was not subsiding and I felt getting weaker and paler. I have been asking for blood tests which have all been rejected due to me having a blood test exactly a year ago. I had some bloodwork done at the hospital when I went to A&E for the first time but I was not given iron supplements or anything to help me with my already settled anaemia - which was not reflected to me. I was sent home once more. The bleeding was not settling, I was soaking through pads insanely quick and the clots were insane. Nothing was helping.

This Saturday I lost so much blood in the morning that I began to see in tunnel vision and had to be taken to A&E urgently and got to A&E at 10. I was only seen by someone 7 hours after waiting and bleeding out, only to be told that gynaecology had been waiting for me since 2pm. I got there at 5.37pm despite my bed being ready for me. Bloodwork revealed my haemoglobin levels were 52 - a woman my age, 24 years old should have 120. My HB level during the time I went for a scan for the first time was 92 which was already below and borderline anaemic yet nothing was said to me. All the Drs were surprised I was still alive and standing upstraight.

I was admitted immediately and underwent an emergency D&C under general anaesthetic as well as being transfused four units of blood. I feel a million times better today and have the energy to share my experience with you as it has been the worst experience of my life with everything that could have gone wrong, going wrong. The blood transfusion saved my life and I left the hospital with very minor bleeding post op, tranexamic acid, antibiotics and iron supplements.

The moral of the story I guess is do not let your Drs fob you off and tell you to 'get on with it' or 'let your hormones settle' and if you have the choice of D&C - go for it because it can save your life. Do not let your Drs fob you off. My mental health has reached a breaking point because of all this but I am so thankful to be alive and well.

I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully help other women who went through a similar thing. xx

Hi, I know this post was from a while ago but I’m just wondering how you are feeling now and what happened.

I’m going through a similar situation now, had medical abortion which was incomplete, had a really heavy bleed soaking through, went to A&E and was told I have retained products but quite small. Was told it will just pass but have ended up with an infection and now they want to do D&C to remove products.

This whole thing has been awful and I’m so worried it’s effected future pregnancies.

Sorry to be replying so late.

Hi I'm also going through abnormal bleeding & scheduled for D&C April 12th- Tested negative for pregnancy. Diagnosed with Complex Endometrial Hyperplasia without Atypia- and they also prescribed me Tranexamnic Acid & although it did help clots but bleeding is still prolong and painful. I'm glad I ran into this post- cause I'm super nervous about D&C- but since you said it saved your life. I'm hoping it will save mines as well. I'm 39 and don't have kids so they put me on Medroxyprogesterone for 3 mnths. Pls someone help.

@Pearly2022 @Hannahcat1990 ladies… DO NOT FEAR. Know that you will be looked after and the procedure is the best thing that can happen to you. I’m still scarred emotionally and anything that’s “abnormal” down there sets me off to massive anxiety, but it was the best thing that’s happened to me as it literally saved my life. Please message me in priv if you need to chat.

Hello. I'm counting down the days til the procedure. 7 more days and I can't wait- I'm still bleeding on Day 12 and of course I suffer from Anemia- I did pop Tranexamic to control the bleeding til procedure. So did it lessen the bleeding after procedure? Please tell me.. help

@Pearly2022

Hello. I'm counting down the days til the procedure. 7 more days and I can't wait- I'm still bleeding on Day 12 and of course I suffer from Anemia- I did pop Tranexamic to control the bleeding til procedure. So did it lessen the bleeding after procedure? Please tell me.. help

So for me, the bleeding was caused by retained products of conception and whilst I was bleeding out, the tranexamic acid did help a little but not much. I was very severely anaemic,like yourself, as you probably read from my post. Once the procedure was done, I had transxamic acid pumped into my veins for 24 hours and the bleeding did stop which was predominantly due to the success of the procedure. I was given 3 days worth of the pills and antibiotics for a week. The bleeding stopped sort of immediately. I can't remember bleeding for longer than two days after it was all done.

The procedure will go absolutely fine! I was under for 15 mins. :)

I have abnormal bleeding/ uterine lining is thick.. and heavily bleeding. Awh I'm so glad to know procedure went well with you. I'm praying mines will be successful as yours..oh that's nice to know it'll be 15 minutes- Im scared to be put asleep too. Im a mess lol

@Pearly2022

I have abnormal bleeding/ uterine lining is thick.. and heavily bleeding. Awh I'm so glad to know procedure went well with you. I'm praying mines will be successful as yours..oh that's nice to know it'll be 15 minutes- Im scared to be put asleep too. Im a mess lol

Honestly, I'm the same. I was so scared to go under. I suffered with all sorts of medical anxieties, you name it. It was the worst period of my life. But it was over so quick and the benefits of the procedure definitely outweigh the risks! It's all for the better and the recovery time is super quick, too. Listen to your Drs and take their advice. It's really good that you finally got the procedure date and can get ready for living your life normally again. Please message me whenever.

Awwh thank you so much Ronnie for making me feel at ease a little for the procedure. Yes I definitely want my life back. It's been a nightmare- it has robbed my life I feel. I've just been home bleeding and in pain- and on all meds. I hate meds. I can't wait to get off meds. I don't like the hormone pills given to me- Medroxyprogesterone I hate it

@Pearly2022 I totally feel you... I hated taking the meds too. I was given norethisterone, tranexamic acid, mended amici acid - you name it. I was a wreck and hated my life so much. It was going on for over a month and I've lost my will to live. I knew that my final trip to the hospital was a gamble between life and death. You will be absolutely fine - the procedure is so quick, the recovery is super quick too and you shouldn't have any pain or discomfort after it. You will be looked after and in good hands. How bad is your bleeding now?

Bleeding is being managed by Tranexamic acid right now. I hate that feeling when blood comes out and you feel that heart drop- Anemia and of course I'm scared of losing a lot of blood again- I did have transfusion one bag of blood just a mnth and half ago and here comes this period that just robbed that I feel. I'm trying to hang in there 7 more days! I'm praying every second to pls just stop bleeding or just lessen bleeding til Procedure date 7 days only/ I'm so paranoid

@Pearly2022 The feeling when the blood comes out honestly made my heart stop each time it happened. My bleeding was so bad I could just stand up straight, and I had a puddle of blood floating all down my legs onto the floor. It was honestly like an open wound bleeding. It was non stop and I had no energy for anything. They will likely prescribe you very strong iron supplements for a week or so, depending how anaemic you are. The side effects are not great but they only last for as long as you take the supplements.

Oh myyy. You are a strong woman. Your a trooper. I hate the fact that you/we have to go through all this.. I'm so glad your better now. Yes suffering from Anemia isn't fun- the symptoms is what gets me.. I'm so ready to do the D&C & possibly IUD & stop the bleeding - I need a break! 6 more days til Procedure.. I'm still bleeding Day 14... this is stupid. Gynecologist world is dumb- they wait til you have issues til they will even try to fix you. Although I'm bleeding not much but still when your anemic you don't have that kind of energy or blood to lose. Urghhhh 6 more days!!!!!!!!

I had the copper coil and it aggravated my bleeding even more and I had it taken out when my bleeding was at its worst. I had the combined bill a week after the procedure as I found it far better and the thought of an IUD cringed me out! How is your bleeding now? I can remember vividly I bled from 1 October 2021 to 14 November 2021... it was HORRIBLE.

@Pearly2022 just checking how you are?

Day 16 bleeding but still on Tranexamic and Medroxyprogesterone- I feel like the Medroxyprogesterone is giving me all side effects. 4 more days til procedure. I will not continue on Medroxyprogesterone after scraping. I can't. I'm considering birth control pills to help with bleeding. I'm not sure about IUD. Anyone ever been on birth control pills or IUD? Which one preferable. I'm still having excruciating pain. Taking Naproxen, ibuprofen, and Tramadol- just switching between those meds. Been in bed for the past 3 days. Feels so weak and tired. I just can't wait

4 days seems so far out. Especially when

Whoops hands accidentally hit post- but as I was saying time goes so slow when your waiting. Gyno has got to be better than this- making us wait and bleed and suffer is not right.

@Pearly2022 I know... the waiting around is what made me even more anxious when I was going through this. It will fly by, and by the time you blink, it'll be the day of your procedure. Is it in the daytime?

With regard to contraception, I'm opposed to IUDs, predominantly because they're outdated, uncomfortable and require quite a lot of effort even though they're in for however many years. I went for the combined pill as it's the easiest for me, personally, to manage. I still get a monthly bleed and the side effects I get from it aren't bad. Everyone is different though, and will react differently to contraception. You're going to have to find the one that suits YOU. I totally agree with you though, gynaecologists won't look after you unless you're severely ill... this seems to only be the case in the UK, too. In other countries, gynaecologists are so responsive and look after you even with minor issues.

Yes, I was thinking about the combine pill too- I think that will work better for me. Counting down the days. I'm just afraid to bleed more during procedure as my hemoglobin is already low as each day passes. I just want to feel good again. I don't even want a period at this point. I'm tired of being tired. Thanks Ronnie, you've helped me feel ok with going into this procedure- wish many more people would be open to talk about this kind of stuff. It should be a natural topic as it is..

I'm not sure what time yet/ they said they will call on Monday to let me know..

@Pearly2022 aw I'm glad you feel better about the procedure. Honestly, the procedure was the easiest part of it all - what we went through with the bleeding is the hardest part of it all. You're doing amazingly and it'll all be over soon. Please do keep me updated. Here for you xx

3 more days love! Yes the bleeding is the worse part and I'm also scared to bleed after the procedure as I'm already anemic. Heavy bleeding is the nightmare. I'm not so much afraid of procedure- it's the bleeding as you said. Ronnie, thank you so much for making me feel like I'm not alone cause I've been feeling alone until I came across your post. I feel that this is as real as anyone can get! I hope they scrape everything out til it's super thin- don't want to deal with the bleeding anymore even during recovery lol I'm done seeing blood honestly. 3 days and I feel miserable. I'm trying to hang in there for dear life

@Pearly2022 I'm so happy you've found some comfort in my post and I hope you're feeling a little more confident. If it makes you feel better, I bled out 4.5l of blood overall (that's how anaemic I was - I was 10 mins away from cardiac arrest) and during the procedure I only lost 15ml of blood (as stated on my discharge letter), so it was really non invasive! I think once they remove the culprit, your womb will stop try to clear itself out, as it does hence the bleeding. It'll be totally fine. You are not alone. I thought I was very much alone because nothing more could go wrong at that stage, as my life was misery. It makes me happy knowing I have a fellow friend out there. :) hang in there, my love. It'll all be over soon!!

Oh my.. your story just touches my heart. You are very special and strong, brave, and courageous- and genuinely a good hearted person to be sharing your story and to try to help others like me feel comfortable. I just called the after hours answer machine- as I told them today ALOT of clots are coming out and they said those are old blood and that's not considered Losing too much blood from clots unless it's water or stringy they said or feeling faint then go to ER- what's a waste. I wish these doctors would help people immediately vs being in grave grave danger. Oh my it's breaks my heart knowing you lost that much blood and by ready your post you seem sooo strong minded. I'm just laying here on my heating pad sweating and just waiting patiently for that day. I don't even know if the D&C will even correct it. It's a temporary fix sounds like to me.

I'm also glad I made a friend like you through this..:)