Hell on earth periods? Carrie vs Texas Chainsaw Massacre

[ThreeBecameFour]

I am at the end of my tether after a really embarassing incident at work where I leaked onto my work chair. Through my skirt. In a new job. It is absolutely mortifying. Leaked through a super plus tampon and night time pad. Which I had been wearing an hour. My periods last about 12 days the middle 6 being like this on a 31 day cycle - ish. Without being too gross it is a bloodbath with some chopped liver thrown in. I have 2 kids last born in August last year. I was fobbed off at my GP recently but had a blood test which was apparently normal. I can't go on like this. It is draining and this episode has tipped me over the edge. I am so embarrassed . It isn't normal is it? I have been wondering if I am peri menopausal. I am 39. I get terrible mood swings. Rage Tears. Is it PCOS which I had signs of when trying to conceive. Or fibroids? I am clutching a straws as my GP doesn't take it seriously. How can I make them see this is actually now debilitating!? The cramps are bad too. It has been like this since having my last baby. Someone help me! I am going crazy trying to deal with it!

Please revisit your GP and insist on a referral to a gynacologist. If they won't refer ask if you can have a transvaginal scan as at least this would flag up fibroids, thick womb lining (which was what I had) etc after which they would have to refer you to gynae.

Nothing but sympathy here. Had similar. Very, very heavy periods plus I was on warfarin. Flooded embarrassingly during a first aid course. Had to go home and change trousers. Really mortifying.

If your family is complete then something to consider is an endometrial ablation whereby the lining of the uterous is destroyed.

Mine was done using the Novasure method. No periods for 3 months and I have just had my first which lasted 3 days and required no more than a normal pad. This despite being back on warfarin again.

Get back to the GP and start pushing them to get this sorted. It is difficult though. My GP just didnt understand what I meant by flooding. .t took an unrelated crisis for it to finally be addressed

Spilling not spiking!

I promise I don't have it in for your colleagues

Just on to second the I ibuprofen suggestion. It's made a big difference for me. Fingers crossed will make tomorrow a bit easier

You also should mention how it is seriously impacting your quality of life and state of mind. I really sympathise it is horrendous I know. x

Hahaha! Brilliant! Maybe you know something I don't !

I will make sure I make a GP appointment again ASAP and ask for more help. I had the blood test results last week. But it has really got out of hand now so I need help. Thank you a for your kindness and sharing your experiences.

What was the blood test for? Hormones? Anaemia?

Hormones. Showed nothing out of the ordinary. However pre getting pregnant I know you need to have hormone related bloods taken at certain times and my PCOS can screw results. GP wouldn't listen...

The GP who missed mine was female, interestingly. She was fixated on me being a stone overweight so missed the fibroids despite it being a classic presentation. My luffly male GP picked it up when I became very anaemic. He's a bit podgy too so not as judgemental .

Haven't had a period since November 2013. God that feels good.

But could be other stuff since you have linked it to your last pregnancy, you need a proper gynae not your gormless gps next bright idea.

You can get tranaxemic acid at the pharmacy counter of Boots - worth trying tomorrow? But also yes get to GP.

My perimenipausal periods have become horrific - on one memorable evening I overflowed my mooncup three times - I could feel it sloshing into my pad. I was at a party with one - fortunately working - loo...

ThreebecameFour

If your GP is not taking you seriously do change GP practice. It is not worth persisting with a GP like this.

You need a gynae referral urgently because the cause of all this needs to be properly determined. Many GPs to my mind are simply not up to speed at all when it comes to such issues and only try and treat the symptoms.

What you are describing could be indicative of endometriosis (or fibroids_) being present; the heavy bleeding, cramps and clots (chopped liver like appearance would suggest endo to me) are suggestive. Endometriosis does not show up either on scans or blood tests. It is usually only diagnosed through a keyhole surgery op called a laparoscopy.

PCOS does not cause such heavy bleeding to arise; that would cause irregularity of periods.

I have endo and your periods sound like mine. Please go back to your GP. I am sorry you've had such a rough day at work because of it.

I could almost gave written your post a yesr ago. I kept going back to my GP telling her about how heavily I was bleeding. I tried the Mirena, Tranexsmic Acid, Norethisterine, and Ibuprofen. Nothing worked, I was having to change Ultra tampons every half hour, wearing maternity pads, and experiencing periods that lasted 16 or 17days every month.

I eventually kept a very detailed diary if my period one month (approx amount of blood, protection used etc) and took it to a different GP who immediately referred me to a gynae consultant.

I had 2 hysteroscopies, and a scan, which showed a large fibroid in my womb. Had it removed, periods are now 3 days long, really light and I feel do much better.

It also turned out that I was anaemic from the blood loss, and that has now been sorted, so I have lots more energy.

Please do go and see a different GP.

Totally agree about the anaemia. I hadnt realised how anaemic I had got as a result of heavy periods. I assumed my utter exhaustion was simply down to being fat & unfit.

Because of a separate health problem I had some blood tests done including testing for anaemia. Normal test result is 13. My test result was 6! The hospital immediately phoned my GP and barked at them to get this sorted. It was actually quite funny to hear a nurse basically bollocking a doctor!

They were seriously talking about blood transfusion to resolve the anaemia.

If you have such heavy periods then I would think it is highly likely you are anaemic.

Second having a blood transfusion. It was ace. I had pink knees for the first time in years.

Oh yes, you feel like a new person afterwards! I had two- only thing is had to stay in overnight as I had four bags. One funny thing was I immediately stopped crunching ice- was like a switch had been flipped! Had been buying party bags for ages and crunching them all day- apparently is a weird but common anaemia side effect!

I had periods like this for 7 days of a 21-24 day cycle, it was horrific.

Tranexamic acid helped but you can only take it for 3 days at a time which wasn't long enough. Anyway I would womb ablation - fantastic absolutely worth it if you've finished your family.

Funny how people who've never suffered don't seem to undertand just what a massive impact it is on your life in every way. I didn't used to sleep as was constantly waking up due to flooding etc.

I had to leave work in a mess this week, had bled all over my jeans, passed a couple of big clots, just legged it really (thankfully I drive, wouldn't have fancied the bus!). I had a laparoscopy and hysteroscopy a couple of years ago that diagnosed adenomyosis but at the time it wasn't causing me that many issues so I didn't take it any further. Anyway, went to GP this week and she was v sympathetic, has prescribed tranexamic and mefenamic acid, blood test for anaemia and TV scan for fibroids. I told her I didn't want Mirena or anything hormonal and she didn't argue. So we will see - fingers crossed it gets sorted.
Your GP sounds like a shower of shite in comparison, frankly, don't be fobbed off with symptoms like that. Good luck

Go to GP and just ask out right for a referral to a gynaecologist. I can't believe how long I had been moaning to doctors who always tried to solve a different problem! Once I determined that was the path I wanted I had an internal scan, diagnosis of a cyst and womb thickening, referral to a consultant and 2 weeks later a laproscopy where signs of endometriosis was found and removed too. 3 months later my symptoms very similar to yours have been eradicated and I have periods 4 days long now with 1 day of mild cramping! Absolute game changer for me and energy gained is brilliant.
Again, it just didn't seem to cross my doctors mind to refer me, and once I demanded the referral she knew exactly who to recommend and the best hospitals for the job. Odd.