Naproxen - will it help stop heavy bleeding with periods?

[reastie]

Have been prescribed this by GP, she told me it's to help limit blood loss during my periods as they have been very heavy since having a copper coil put in and it's made me really anaemic (iron level is currently 7). I'm reading about the drug online though and all I can find about it is that it helps period pain and not actually anything about it making blood loss lighter, but obv I'm no medical expert and she is! I know she can be quite, erm, forthright in her opinions of what is and isn't the best thing to do and I'm just a bit concerned if this drug doesn't help limit blood loss during my period there's no point in taking it. Can anyone shed any light?

Would also be very interested to anyone who has taken it on the side effects - it seems upset stomach are high on the list and I can't take any more upset - my stomach is already so sensitive from all the iron meds I'm trying to take

I have taken it for inflammatory pain that was really severe and relentless - day after day for months due to immune condition. It was marvellous and really helped the pain. I always take it with omeprazole as I am very sensitive to gut upsets with NSAIDs.

sorry I don't know the answer to your question but my G.P prescribes it to me for my joint pains.

hopefully some one more knowledgeable will be along soon :)

Thanks guys. It's looks like it's main use is for joint pains etc rather than stopping bleeding. I found online somewhere that it can help a bit with heavy periods, but not everyone I think and apparently so does nurofen if taken in the correct way, so I'm not sure why she tried me on this and not just plain old nurofen initially

I take it long term for jaw pain and i still have very heavy periods.

I have never heard of it being used for periods before.

Mike apparently I have to take it at the first sign of AF coming and take 500mg twice a day for the length of the period. I think the dose for pain is half that (?) so maybe you don't take enough for that????

Hi Reastie, I've always thought of it as a painkiller too. (which it is very good at)
No idea about the blood loss though. I think people often get prescribed something else for that - something acid?

I'm on iron too, horrid isn't it. Spatone seems to have very few side effects for me if that helps...and I never felt funny taking naproxen, nothing I noticed.

Thats the dose i'm on.

Lighter periods would have been a great side effect.

Hope it works for you.

Reastie - I have been prescribed the same dose as you for painful periods and headaches. It is good for pain relief but I don't feel it lightens the flow :( for the you need transenimic acid, think that's how you spell it! Not sure if you can take both together. Hope this helps.

reastie

I would be asking the GP for a referral to a gynae now in your circumstances. Its not addressing the cause as to why this is happening (both endometriosis and fibroids can cause heavy bleeding to arise). It is certainly in your interests to find out exactly why this is happening rather than the GP just giving you a prescription.

In my view some GPs simply do not have enough expertise in this area and mess women around in ignorance.

Thanks all, interesting what you say and no one has actually come on and said it helps their blood loss . Think I guess I'll try it this month and if no major difference go back to another GP. Attila I know why I'm bleeding alot though - it's the copper coil, so I'm not sure what a gynae can do about that short of take it out, and this is quite literally the very last contraception option we are on. Like when the GP spoke to me she mentioned 2 drugs, one she would prescribe me and another she would prescribe if the first didn't work, both of which were called something acid. Now I'm wondering if she's prescribed me something different to what she intended to .

I just found this 'Naproxen decreases platelet aggregation and prolongs bleeding time' . So - does platelet aggregation mean amount of bleeding???

The drugs your GP was talking about are tranexamic acid and mefenamic acid . Reastie your supposition may be right , though the others are also NSAID and good for your problem. I would phone and leave a message for GP

I have taken it for knee pain and still suffered with very heavy bleeding. I don't notice any difference in bleeding when I am taking or not taking it.

NSAID's ( of which naproxen is one) are said to lighten flow as they reduce prostaglandin production. First line would usually be Tranexamic acid i think though.

Definitely worth giving a go.

For reducing bleeding you want traxenamic acid or nefemanic acid. I'm on the latter (for kidney pain) and it helps with periods too!

You definitely need tranexamic acid. It works very well for me in reducing my periods by about half. No more flooding. More clots as the meds clot the blood as it comes out to prevent the flooding.

Are you symptomatic with the anaemia. When I was 7 I was admitted to hospital to have a 3 unit blood transfusion and had a gynae referral to work out which option would be best for me long term. I have finished my family so was offered the pill, tranexamic acid, mirena coil or thermal ablation. Tranexamic acid is enough for me now but I imagine I will eventually move on to mirena when I've got over the mental block about having it inserted.

eight i've been very tired for quite some time, but always put it down to having a toddler who was tiring work before I knew I had anaemia. I've also been getting alot of headaches (but put that down to tiredness too!). I work part time and struggle to do anything much outside of when I work as it exhausts me so much. I've had to give up the gym as I'm so tired. My body often feels achey and heavy and I do get out of breath more than I should for my lack of fitness. Tbh I've had 2 weeks off work these past 2 weeks and I'm dreading going back as I'm so shattered all the time. I also notice I'm much more tired (not in a hormonal way) during and straight after AF. And FWIW having my coil insterted wasn't as bad as I worried about. I had a failed insertion pre DD with earlier mentioned GP but went to contraception clinic at hospital and found them much better and more experienced.

So it seems like naproxen might work a bit, but also it probably isn't the best cause of action . AF due later this week so will stick with the naproxen to see if it helps but assume I'll probably need something else.

Reastie I'd thoroughly recommend seeing your GP again. I went from the symptoms you describe (and putting it down to a fulltime job and two kids) and it suddenly went to palpitations, breathlessness on climbing stairs, aching pains when I did anything and it got to the stage that I got depression. I literally couldn't think of anything, couldn't remember what I was doing and couldn't make up my mind about anything. I'd start sentences and forget what I was saying, by baby-brain like really and also noticed my hair was falling out. I went to GP about that and they diagnosed depression, I asked for a blood test too which came back at 6.8 haem and they took me straight to hospital that day for a transfusion.

If you notice a worsening of symptoms it may well be worth getting straight back to your GP. Hope you feel much better soon

Thanks eight it's funny as my 'baby brain' head has been worse lately and I often type on the computer a different word to what I think I've written, I've really noticed my train of thought isn't working so well too. I'm a teacher of a practical subject meaning I'm dashing around my teaching room all the time so I can't exactly take it easy at work. I've been taking floradix and trying to eat iron rich foods and just hoping that's enough (my tummy can't tolerate iron meds). Apparently though my iron levels in my blood are only a bit lower than they should, it's the stores that are so low, so maybe that's why I'm surviving on a daily basis.

I know this is an old post but just wanted to add that my doctor give me this to slow the bleeding down and it has helped wonderfully!