Any ladies on warferin or other blood thinners who have had periods on it about please?

[SleepyDopeyGrumpy]

I came out of hospital a couple of weeks ago after stopping the pill due to pulmonary embolisms on lungs. I am still in the first 6 weeks of being on warferin and had been really nervous waiting for my period to come.

I thought i had started about 2 weeks ago but it was only a day of spotting which went away again and i have been waiting to come on properly. I had sex yesterday (Sorry if TMI just including everything in case relevant) which was only the second time i had dared to since the hospital stay and coming off the pill and i as soon as it was over i started bleeding like a normal period and the day and night passes as it normally would have before the warferin and coming off the pill.

I put a tampon in this morning and normally i could have left it for about 4 to 6 hours before i would have changed it due to cleanliness not because it was full i never really bled heavily before. Today however i wet to the toilet after about 3 hours of having it in and discovered it was full and i had leaked a little. When i removed it i just kept wiping away blood for a solid 2 minutes until it was gone. I decided not to put another tampon in and have put a pad on so i can check how much blood im loosing in the next couple of hours.

So im not drip feeding - Last Wednesday i had to take the MAP due to a condom breaking and they said it could bring on an early period but i didn't come on for another week and a half after that. They didn't say that it could affect my actual period just that it could bring it on.

Im not sure if this is normal when on blood thinners, after taking the MAP or what but i dont have my INR test until the end of next week so cant really drop into clinic to ask. Sorry its long i just wanted to give as much info as possible to anyone who has had experience of this kind of thing :-)

Hi, I'm currently taking daily Fragmin injections as I had a pulmonary embolism in my previous pregnancy.. As I'm pregnant again now (hence the fragmin) I'm not having periods. But I was still taking fragmin after my DS was born and then switched to warfarin once I'd stopped breast feeding. Anyway point is, when my periods did return last time, because of the warfarin they were quite heavy, well alot heavier and a day or two longer each time than I usually had pre pregnancy..
I'm assuming that this was an effect of the warfarin as once I stopped taking that my periods returned to 'normal'..

Thanks i was wondering if it was a common side effect of the warferin but wanted to make sure.
I wish i knew what my normal was but ive been on the pill apart from pregnancy's for 10 years and often used to run packs together so dont have a clue what my normal period would be like.

I'm on a similar medication after having heart surgery two months ago. I've had two periods since tarting it and they've both been extremely heavy. In 24 hours I went through 18 nighttime pads. I was scared, like you, and rang my Dr. Unfortunately I can't take anything to reduce the bleeding because of the risk of blood clots. But she sent me for a blood test and am now on iron tablets for anemia. It sounds like the warfarin is causing the heavy bleeding. I hope it doesn't last too long. How long do you need to stay on the warfarin for?

6 months is what they have said.
I have bilateral pulmonary embolism on both lungs.

Hang on ignore the 'on both lungs' statement that is what bilateral means lol

i had blood clots in pregnancy,, was on warfarin for 6mnths after birth, it did affect my periods just had to wear pads instead of tampons to try and avoid leakages....
i now cannot have any kind of contraceptive pill as it could effect my blood,,
is this what the doctors have advised you aswell??
dunno whether to have a coil, or just tell hubby to have the op!

I would give the clinic a ring.

They may want to check your INR earlier than planned, just to make sure it isn't too high.

It can take a while to stabilise when you first go on warfarin.

They will be able to talk to you about the blood loss too.

Have they given you any advice about contraception?

Once your treatment is finished, you will need some further tests to see whether you have any kind of condition that makes you more prone to clotting.

This is really important as you should not be using hormone related contraception.

Yes im not allowed to go back on any form of hormonal contraception which is scaring me as like i said in my first post the condom split the other week and i ended up taking the MAP. I dont want to be stuck using condoms which i hate for the next 30+ years i know its a minor problem but its driving me insane.

Unfortunately bastard periods are very common with warfarin. I'm on warfarin, and have stuck with bad periods for seven months, during which time I became a little anaemic (Hb 10.5). I have now been allowed a Mirena. I have had it for only three weeks, so it's still settling at the moment. I have bleed constantly since it was inserted, but not as heavily as my normal period. I'm a bit about my coil, but at least I'm trying something that will probably help.

I know that you're not allowed any hormonal contraception, so probably that isn't the answer for you. I was told nothing containing oestrogen, but mirena was ok - but I haven't had a clot. Maybe an endometrial ablation could be a solution if your family is complete.

I suggest that you go and speak to your GP. When I did this, she called the haematologist and together they came up with a way to help me. They didn't expect me just to stick it. Most people on warfarin are much older, as I'm sure that you've noticed at the clinic, but just because you are unusual, it doesn't mean that you need to suffer.

I booked an appointment with my doctor who basically handed me a leaflet with everything except sterilisation and male and female condoms crossed off and said "here is what you can do from now on"

Im 25 and i have two boys from previous relationship under 8 and im not 100 percent sure im done with having kids as my partner does want one of his own one day.

Ah, you're still a young'un. I'm an old gimmer 39, and my family is completed.

Your GP was rather uninspiring with his leaflet . Hopefully, you will only be on warfarin for six months, and this will just be a short blip. The copper coil is a non-hormonal contraceptive, but it can increase bleeding. It probably would not be a good idea now, but perhaps once the warfarin course is finished.

Maybe if your GP has not been helpful, then your next stop should be the warfarin clinic, as 3littlefrogs has suggested.

Yes i think i will have to go elsewhere than the docs for sure as he is a bit rubbish considering he didn't even catch the PE in the first place i had to demand a chest xray in A&E after suffering for 2 months with lack of oxygen to lungs!

When you finish your course of warfarin you will need an appointment with the haematologist, a battery of screening tests, then appropriate advice regarding contraception, future pregnancy etc.

This will be arranged by the anticoagulation clinic.

You will just have to be very careful and use condoms until then.

It might be worth asking about the mirena coil. As far as I remember it is ok wrt hormones, and is as effective as sterilization.