Lightening heavy periods

[Marasme]

my period is due on the 28th - when it starts, it s basically like floodgates are opening, day or night, and I always soak through clothes and at least an item of soft furnishing, which makes sitting very worrying, especially when not at home.

After 3 days it usually calms down to a light period. This is like this since DD2, now 5.

We will be sleeping at family on 28/29 and sitting on white sofas (and sleeping in fresh bedding on top of a towel :s ) and I am already stressing about it. I am also iron deficient so keen to not have all my ferrous fumarate gained iron go down the toilet.

Do you have tricks to lighten period? things to do or avoid? I was given tranexamic acid last month, and it did not do much, but I have 6 tabs left. I am not on the pill/coil. I always use tampons+pads but this has been sometime insufficient in the past (flood and stain).

You need to see a gynae and be properly investigated. I had all of this, due to a huge fibroid. I had tramexamic acid, progesterone, iron. At the end I was wearing ds' s nappies, passing clots the size of satsumas. Ended up with a blood transfusion and then a hysterectomy. Mine started off as flooding, and got steadily worse. For the practical side of Xmas, take some nappies, huge knickers and those bed wetting mats for children. Also your own sheets,.dark coloured towels & bin bags. I remember running to the loo & it looking like a crime scene. I do feel for you, but get on the list for a gynae appointment in the new Year.

Hmm, my advice would have been to delay the period but you need to start taking the pills 3 days before your period is due, which is tomorrow. Can you get out to a pharmacy today? I've only ever bought them using Boots Online which involves a basic questionnaire which is then reviewed by a doctor, so I'm not sure whether you'd be able to get them from a pharmacy today.

I think in the circs I would double up on pads, change every hour, wear two pairs of pants and two pairs of leggings if you can, and then take the view that only mad people have white sofas in any case.

thks for the reply - the GP confirmed it is "normal heavy". I was refered for radiology earlier this year to check for endometriosis and they saw nothing noteworthy (regular and TV scan). I guess they would have spotted fibros? Have not seen a proper gynae though but scan was clear so GP dropped it.

I can't get to pharmacy til the 27th...

re white sofas - I totally agree. Non-wipeable, fabric, white sofa

we also have baby blue fabric non wipeable office chairs... Mine has some ghosts stains. I was once frantically trying to get a stain out of it with white board eraser fluid :/

go back to GP and make more of it....I want to say more of a fuss but really...unable to sit down/go to bed/ ruining clothes IS NOT usual and should not be acceptable, so "fuss" seems patronising.

I went to GP recently with a similar issue, plus a New to The Menopause chat/update and the doc could not have been nicer, or more helpful and was nicely vexed that I had not been in sooner "no need to put up with this NONSENSE you know" when I had been expecting "it's your age dearie, trot off and don't come back till you break a hip"

As far as pads go, the Always eight hour night time ones proved best for coverage and absorption....although eight hours in their dreams, at least I felt I could sit down without leaving the sofa like a slaughter house floor in a mess.

I take ibuprofen. It reduces my flow to manageable. You have probably already tried that though.

ibuprofen - i have only tried it to manage cramps, not flow. I ll read and check if it can go with Tranexamic acid or not. What dosage do you take?

i heard that menopause bring heavy periods - hopefully I am not there yet (37)!

GP wants to put me in mirena... I am reluctant TBH.

I take the dose on the packet for day 2 and 3. Those are my worst days. Though in the last year my flow has got slightly less. I'm 30. I have always had heavy periods.

I have been lucky to have not really suffered with cramps, only a few twinges here and there. I have started to get some clots again though after not having them for years. Is that a cause for concern in itself?

clots - not sure. Only started having them after my second c-section! the GP mentioned that tranexamic acid is an anti fibrinolytic which should lessen this...

I think you need to see a different GP! A scan would, in most cases, pick up any fibroids but endometriosis can only be identified by surgery, it will not show up on a scan. I had heavy periods and was diagnosed with a small fibroid a couple of years after my son was born. During the next few years I had further investigations, including further scans and two hysteroscopies (where they take a biopsy of your womb lining). Latterly I had surgery to remove a cyst and check for endo (thankfully none found, just a whole load of scar tissue from c-section). My point is, heavy bleeding, esp at your age, really needs to be investigated as far as possible, particularly if you're at the stage where you're iron deficient. Some women do just have heavy bleeds and a cause can't be identified, I suspect it's to do with a hormone imbalance which they like to treat with a sledgehammer, like the coil! I did my own research and came to the conclusion that I had a hormone imbalance and high estrogen (relative to progesterone) so treated it with a supplement called DIM (and various others), diet & exercise, which was effective. I'm sure I've also read that low iron can actually make bleeding heavier so keep gubbing the supplements!

Buy tena lady “nappies” essentially for night time. Put a couple of extra pads in too! This saved me from the worst of post partum bleeding (I know this isn’t what you have) and I don’t know why more people don’t recommend them. Not sexy but will make you more relaxed at night. I still wear one on the second day of my period at night as otherwise it’s bloodbath central.

Other pps know way more about how you should approach getting this sorted long term, but as a short term fix this may help you have a better sleep.

Sounds very similar to me. I find that I can reduce the flow slightly to manageable by taking ibuprofen from the day it starts.

A note for later: I read a lot of horror stories about the mirena coil on here, but decided to give it a go anyway, and it really has been amazing. I definitely think it's worth a try.

I had super-heavy periods with a copper coil between DCs: emptying mooncup hourly and having to use pads as well (though I usually only had a couple of days of it that bad - I nearly passed out a couple of times).

Now with the mirena, I still have periods (the GP was surprised, apparently most don't have anything at all) but they're so light I'd call it spotting, compared to before. It's been revolutionary. And I've had no unpleasant side effects at all. I really do recommend it.

As for this week - I found the Always incontinence pants utterly bomb-proof for the post-natal aftermath! Might be worth a go?

i ll pick some Tenas and ibuprofen from Asda. My DH knows i ll be strategizing ahead of white-sofa-gate as we ve had to manage "leaks" in the past. Glam!

Interesting re iron deficiency and heavy bleed - I ll go read up on this.

GPs at my practice (village single practice) are all super keen to get me on contraception. They won t look past it. I ve had bad experiences of the pill in the past and not keen to go back there.

mirena - sounds tempting based on this experience- I need a serious think!

I have heavy periods (not quite to your level, but soaking the super plus plus tampons in an hour flow) and Mirena was amazing! Didn't stop my periods but made them so much lighter. No side effects at all. Something to consider?

I had very similar periods although in my case it was due to a fibroid. Once it was removed my periods went back to normal.

I tried the Mirena but it just made my periods heavier. Tranexamic acid had no effect. I used to take Noresthisterone to delay my period if we were going away or I had a big event.

I found maternity pads were best. I also slept on a doubled-over towel.

Good luck!

I had an endometrial ablation in July after years of iron and ferritin issues and heavy periods.

I tried the mini pill but it only made things worse.

The T acid stuff didn't help at all and I had 18 months of hell.

Others have been successful with the mini pill or the mirena coil. But nothing worked for me and between Jan and July this year I bled Daily. Life is so much better now!

Ibuprofen taken at regular intervals works to lighten flow.
Take the maximum dose from the time your period starts.
My doctor recommended it after I had a coil removed and I was sceptical but it does work.
Also, if you're really desperate and you will have to think about what clothing you're wearing as it's not as discreet as pads but a small nappy works a treat!
I was told this after I'd had my second dc and wasn't too bad at this point but it makes you feel really safe! Bizarre but safe!

I’d take a sheepssking rug and sit on it - proclaiming boil

Towel in bed
Large tamping and pads
www.mothercare.com/items-for-mum/mothercare-maternity-bed-mats---10-pack/757329.html These for the bed

Rather than a nappy - look for inconvenience pants from boots, then put pad inside

I get v heavy periods too. To deal with them practically I have switched to using a cup and a reusable pad. The cup catches the clots and so the pad copes better (although when it floods it does need v regular emptying).

I have also seen a consultant and am now on tranexamic acid. It seems to work better each month and I now only take it a few times and it has made a dramatic difference. I have also been prescribed mefanamic acid, but found the side effects too severe so have switched to ibuprofen. This is also meant to help reduce the bleeding.

I have endo, but had an internal scan where they found a small polyp they think could be the root of the problem. I plan to have it investigated/removed and a mirena coil put in at the same time.

Hope you manage to get yours under control. I was having to leave work because I was bleeding through straight after changing a pad. It was embarrassing and I felt so unprofessional. It's so much better now.

Lots of good advice here about managing over the next few days.

I had very heavy periods caused by fibroids in the uterus wall preventing the uterus from clamping down.

GP was useless, equating heavy with long rather than flooding. Diagnosis only came about because of an unrelated problem which showed up the extent of the anemia.

Cure for me was an endometrial ablation. Only possible if your family is complete. It's been a godsend. I have had one light period in 3 years.

Family is complete - so will look into all options. I might need to see another GP as for the ones I have seen at the practice, the solution will be contraception, especially mirena.

I went to Asda and picked up incontinence pads and baby bed pads stuff - so this should help.

I'll dose myself with ibuprofen and will take it from there...

Thanks all for your tips!

Mine used to be really heavy, bled through everything. In the end it took two night sanitary towels at all times so I was covered front to back plus a tampon. Bed times I still used a tampon, I've always woken for a wee at least once so would change it and go back to bed during the night.