Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
General health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Lengthy Periods

41 replies

cleanasawhistle · 30/04/2014 11:25

I have been bleeding for 20 days.
Daft question but do I need to see a doctor ?

I am 45 and definately not pregnant.
I do have a coil but have been using one for years with no problems.

OP posts:
AttilaTheMeerkat · 30/04/2014 13:38

Yes, do see a doctor. Any changes from any previous "normal" to the menstrual cycle should always be checked out medically.

Original poster
cleanasawhistle · 30/04/2014 18:59

Thank you, think I'm just putting it off

OP posts:
Original poster
cleanasawhistle · 06/05/2014 12:43

I have now been bleeding for 26 days.
I went to see a doctor on Friday and I am waiting for a scan date.
The doctor gave me a perscription to take 3 tablets a day which are supposed to stop the bleeding...they haven't.
I am going for a blood test on Thursday too.

Anyone had similar ?

OP posts:
BuzzardBird · 06/05/2014 12:48

I am going through this at the moment. I am 47 and was thinking it might be the menopause? The GP keep sending me letters because I am overdue a smear but I have been like this a few months and can't predict when I can get a smear done. Am going to phone GP now and go anyway I think.

Original poster
cleanasawhistle · 06/05/2014 12:57

I hope you get it sorted.

The only comment my doctor made was that he didn't think it was the menopause.

OP posts:
BuzzardBird · 06/05/2014 13:11

Well, if nothing else your thread has inspired me to make the appointment. I am seeing GP at 5pm. I would have gone on for years without this thread. I don't know on the menopause either because my fertility was tested last year and was found to be high. I also take iron tablets with my multi-vitamins so will be surprised if he says "anemia". Did your GP mention anemia?

CointreauVersial · 06/05/2014 13:17

Cleanasawhistle - I had a 29-day period last summer (I was 46) and that was the last one I ever had. The one before that was eight months previous. It was hellish; 29 days of constant heavy flow left me drained and anaemic, so you have my sympathies. Luckily, whatever the doc prescribed knocked it on the head.

An ultrasound scan of my ovaries (to check that there was nothing more sinister causing it) showed that they had shrivelled to nothing. I am having lots of hot flushes, and have just realised that I am coming out the other side of several years of murderous moodiness. The conclusion of my GP is that I am very much menopausal, and blood tests bore this out. Fingers crossed I am now past the worst.

Original poster
cleanasawhistle · 06/05/2014 13:26

BuzzardBird I am so pleased you have made an appointment,hope things improve for you.

CointreauVersial the menapause was my first thought so it through me when the doctor said he didn't think so.I have thoughts going round my head .Yes I hope you are past the worts too.

Thanks for posting ladies.

OP posts:
Original poster
cleanasawhistle · 11/05/2014 19:04

I have now been bleeding for 31 days.
Today I have period pains and a pain in the top of my left leg.
My scan is next Saturday,I wish it was sooner...feeling scared.

OP posts:
CointreauVersial · 11/05/2014 23:31

Oh blimey, OP - still going? It probably is just a peri-menopausal thing, but hope the scan gets to the bottom of it. Fibroids is the other thing suspected I imagine.

Original poster
cleanasawhistle · 12/05/2014 18:30

Yes still going....
Been in a lot of pain yesterday and today and feeling shattered.
Hope its over with soon.

Hope everyone else is ok x

OP posts:
CointreauVersial · 13/05/2014 17:15

OP, if you are in pain, you probably should get yourself seen sooner rather than later. That isn't normal.

LadySybilLikesCake · 13/05/2014 17:25

Has your GP checked your iron levels?

I'm guessing your GP gave you Northisterone? Tranexamic acid helps with bleeding, do you have any of this? I have crazy periods and silly random bleeding (I have fibroids) and I've found magnesium, zinc and vitamin D really help. I do agree that you need to get seen by someone sooner rather than later though. The chances of you being severely anaemic are very high and it's going to feel worse as you're still bleeding. I think you should go to A&E to be honest. They can check your blood while you're there and if you're so low you need a transfusion they will arrange it. They can sort out an urgent ultrasound if they need to, just tell them you've been bleeding for almost a month and you're exhausted and in pain.

It is an emergency. My GP called 999 for me when I was like this as he was so worried.

Original poster
cleanasawhistle · 13/05/2014 20:33

Thanks for the messages and concern.
I have been feeling a lot better since this afternoon ,the blood flow is much less and the pain has gone.I did lose a lot of blood over the last couple of days including a lot of clots.

I had blood taken last Thursday and results yesterday said normal which I found surprising.
I have an appointment for a Ultra Sound Scan on Saturday afternoon and I have a dotors appointment for next Wednesday so I hope they have my results back by then.
Its now been 33 days,I just want to know why this is happening.

OP posts:
RockinD · 13/05/2014 20:43

I bled for the best part of a year until someone finally figured out that my coil had slipped. Coil removed, coil replaced, bleeding stopped.

Original poster
cleanasawhistle · 13/05/2014 20:49

I was thinking it could be my coil,I asked the nurse when she took my blood and she said unlikely.
I know they can see coils on scans so maybe.

A year of bleeding,you must have been worried sick not to mention totally fed up.

OP posts:
LadySybilLikesCake · 13/05/2014 20:51

Mine were terrible, I ended up needing a blood transfusion last year. I started taking extra vitamin D in October and they slowed. I stopped at Christmas and it didn't stop until I started taking them again. It's very odd.

hellymelly · 13/05/2014 20:54

I have had the same thing three times over the past 18 months. I am 50. My GP thought menopause, but my FSH levels were pretty low for my age (10), and a pelvic scan showed functional cysts on my ovary, GP thinks I am still ovulating occasionally. Anyway I have an underactive thyroid, and the private doc I see for that thinks that it is causing hormonal imbalances generally. She has put me on natural progesterone, and the bleeding has stopped this time, so I am waiting to see if it happens again. I don't have a coil, so it isn't that with me.

FreddieStarrAteMyHamster · 13/05/2014 20:56

Hi op. Hope you're ok. I had a period which lasted nearly 20 days at the end of last year. Usually 5 days at most. No cause found- normal transvaginal ultrasound, bloods, smear, not menopausal. Hasn't happened since.

friendlymum67 · 13/05/2014 21:01

Op - I bled for 5/6 weeks from the end of last Oct to end of Nov, saw GP had a scan, uterus lining showed as 11 mm which is past the ideal threshold of 5 mm - referred to gynae and waiting for hysteroscopy Sad

I am keeping fingers crossed that it is all hormone related as previous to that bleed I hadn't had a period for 15 months! GP won't refer me for blood test to check my hormone levels - no idea why?!

BuzzardBird · 13/05/2014 21:08

My GP appt was a waste of time. I had to insist that he at least gave me some blood tests. He tried to get me to have the mirena despite me explaining I didn't want it. (I think he is on commission as he offers it every time I see him even though I have been celibate for years).
He said it was probably fibroids but not to worry as I would probably go through the menopause in about 8 years Confused I was underwhelmed at the 'help' I got.
I hope they find your cause at your scan.

travailtotravel · 13/05/2014 22:01

I had this age 38 - I bled for about four weeks, but it was apparently due to me being anaemic. I am no medic but I suspect that they mean't I was anaemic as a result of.

Can you take some extra iron, you must be so tired, poor thing.

Original poster
cleanasawhistle · 14/05/2014 18:18

There are a few of us who have gone through the same thing.

I have been taking some iron tablets for the last few days.
Yes I do feel really tired most of the time,could quite easily go for a afternoon nap every day.

OP posts:
LadySybilLikesCake · 14/05/2014 18:27

Go back, Buzzard, and see someone else. There's things they can do about fibroids now but they can cause real problems for you if they just leave them. It's best to get them sorted as soon as you can so you don't go through the next 8 years bleeding like niagra and needing blood transfusions.

hellymelly · 14/05/2014 19:08

OP get your thyroid tested too.