Anyone else fed up with AFs approaching mid-life? Stay away if squeamish!

[anorak]

I thought about changing my name for this but I can't be arsed. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

Anyone else experiencing irregular/heavy/exhausting periods at an age approaching the change? I'm 45 and so sick and tired of being out of action 30% of the time, having to rush to the loo every five minutes, changes overnight interrupting sleep, and so bloated that I look like 6 months preg. Also suffer from hot flushes and constant wind

Does this have anything to do with having a coil? Would it be better if DH had the chop and I had the coil removed? Sorry for so much detail but I'm so effing sick of feeling like this. I have family history of this kind of problem too. My mother had a full hysterectomy by the time she was my age, and my younger sis has fibroids.

Would like to hear from mums of similar age what is their experience.

Just reporting back on my very first time trying a mooncup!

I'm just coming to the end of my period and have used the new mooncup throughout. I have found it much more comfortable than pads and tampons. I have only used one pad during the whole period and that was one particularly heavy night when the mooncup filled within two hours of my going to bed. At all other times it was not full when I emptied it at the same time as going to the loo.

The nasty itchy uncomfortable feeling of the blood trickling out (sorry for being graphic) simply doesn't happen with the mooncup as all the blood is caught higher up. The sensation of never really feeling quite clean however much I wash did not happen either. I could wear what I wanted.

I do not have the usual dryness and soreness after a week of pads and tampons that suck all the moisture out. I did not have any cramps.

All in all I totally recommend the mooncup, it has certainly made this period a lot easier and less messy and irritating than I can remember for years. It also saves money on buying pads, and is better for the environment.

Hi everyone
I thought I would post on here,just to warn you of a serious side effect of Tranexamic acid.....and whinge about my awful periods....

I was prescribed it for very heavy periods which has caused my hmg to drop to 8 from 13.
The 1st month,the tablets were fantastic....stopped my period completely after 2 days! {I usually have a 2 week period} I was ecstatic!
but,imagine my disappointment the following month,after taking it on the first day of my period,when I awoke in the early hours of the morning with a severe shooting pain in my right calf......the pain was awful and lasted 2 hours...
I reread the leaflet which lists the side effects.....I was so eager to stop the bleeding,I think I just skimmed through it before!
anyway,it said,"in very rare cases,Tranexamic can cause a blood clot....watch out for severe pain in the lower legs! "
I also have high blood pressure,so stopped taking these immediately.Went back to my G.P.....was given Menafamic or is it Mefamenic? acid...
Unfortunately they were nowhere near as effective and gave me the runs...well I could do without that,when I,m already anaemic!
so off I trotted again to the doctors....he finally referred me and after seeing a lovely gyno......{and crying like a baby} I,m having the Mirena coil fitted,and a Laparoscopy and Hysteroscopy.
With that comes a whole new set of worries....
I,m already a crammed bitch and a stone overweight.I,ve Just read many bad reviews on Mirena! but will try it anyway...I,m desperate....
and they wonder why we ask for Hsyterectomy!
I,m only 36 but my family is complete {3 lovely kids} so,if all else fails then a Hysterectomy it is...

I'm 47 and have always had very painful periods with very heavy bleeding.

I saw a gynae consultant about 2 years ago and to cut a long story short he suggested 3 options: miraena coil, uterine ablation or a hysterctomy.

Now, for me, the miraena has worked perfectly and I don't even have periods anymore BUT for anyone for whom the coil hasn't worked and who isn't quite ready for a hysterectomy then uterine ablation might be a possibility.

Essentially, a lasar is used to remove the lining of the uterus. It's more effective than the old D&C apparently. I haven't looked at any of the research concerning the pros and cons so that might be something you'd want to look at if you're think this might be the choice for you.

I just thought it might be useful info to someone here.

Best wishes,

Kath

I have scanned this so sorry if someones said this already. Mirena is a hormone releasing coil, but the amounts involved are absolutely minute, so small that there are virtually no effects elsewhere in the body - it just works on the uterine lining physically next to it.

If its being used by people who have fluctuating natural hormone levels it can be blamed for those effects, but its really really unlikely to be responsible for significant side effects

So despite being unkeen to try another "hormonal" method it is worth considering. It is not like taking the pill.

Mears, I use Tranexamic Acid too, I like the fact I can take it when I want. I am only REALLY heavy for a couple of days, so time my tablets to help with that.

If I could though, I would get the whole bloody lot whipped out. What do we need them for anyway?? Not planning on having any more children. I get quite militant about periods, how we are all supposed to 'put up' with them every month, or more frequently!

They can be so debilitating, and change how we lead our lives for a few days every month. Another womans curse that we have to put up and shut up about. Rant over!

A big "thank you" Anorak for starting this post (I was pondering a name change too but what the heck - it's not anything we can help - and I had a glass of red at lunch ...) - it's really, really useful to read everyone's posts. All of this should be discussed more openly. (I wonder why there is still such a taboo about it given the prevailing culture of openness with regard to almost any other subject???? ... but that's for another thread.) The reality is certainly a tad different from being out walking the dogs, wearing roller-skates, clad in skin-tight gold lamé hotpants ....

I'm 43 and although my cycle is still regular my periods have got shorter but also much heavier and more painful. Without going in to the gory details I'm confined to home day 2-5 and in dreadful pain. Even the strongest ibuprofen doesn't touch it. I then recover for a few days only to be hit by a debilitating sinus headache (severity of bad migraine) and then I recover, all of which takes about 10 days out of each month. If I sound sorry for myself then I am frankly . I'm only putting up with it because we are holding out for baby no.2 although of course we could be whistling in the wind at this late stage .... . I want to retrieve the third of my life that I am currently missing .... .

Just one thing ... ... I'm not sure that having a hysterectomy is the "cure all" it is considered to be. I watched a documentary about it recently. For some women, it has improved their life immeasurably, for others, the weight-gain, depression and total lack of libido have made them regret having the operation. I don't want to cause anyone more worry by posting this but I just think it's useful to note in the context of trying other alternatives first.

Thanks for all the useful information on various treatments - some of which I have never heard of before - Mmsnet is brilliant for this sort of stuff. Power to the sisterhood and all that ....

I wonder how anorak is doing?

I am coming to the end of my year long trial of the decapeptyl and HRT (that cremolafoam was on).

It has been brilliant. Completely stopped my periods, have not had one migraine (because there were tied to periods) and my painful joints/v nasty, itchy skin rashes have all cleared up completely. I'm back at work for the first time in years.

BUT I am only allowed this treatment for a year. The gynae wants me to continue with it but the health authority will not fund it (and they have already made me accept responsibility for anything that goes wrong while I'm on the treatment as it's experimental).

So now I have to decide whether to opt for a full hysterectomy, just go off the treatment and hope the bad periods/migraines/everything else doesn't return, carry on going and fund it myself or perhaps try the pill again and see if I react to it (though I'm not sure this is a good plan). Aaarrghh.

If only we didn't have to put up with all of this!