Is hormonal contraception the only to control heavy periods?

[CreatingHavoc]

This morning I changed my 'super extra long pad with wings' at 9.30. By 11.30 I'd completely soaked it through and it leaked out all over my clothes. This seems to be happening more regularly but I haven't had leakage like today since I was a teen (I'm nearly 38). Sometimes it's so heavy I feel like I should just sit on the toilet or in the shower until it stops! It's normally just the first or second day that it's this heavy and then it is a bit less so but still...

I really would like to make them less heavy but not keen on hormonal contraception. I don't want the injection as it can't be stopped or removed once you had it and I've been on the combined and mini pill in the past and they didn't agree with me (enormous sore boobs and spotting between periods). Is the implant my only option?

Ask the GP to prescribe you

1. Tranexamic acid for the heavy flow.
2. Meformic acid OR naproxen + omeprazole for any pain.

Do not suffer in silence. Get help and keep asking until you find something that works.

Also, the mirena coil is supposed to help too.

Have you finished having children, OP? Because if so, you can have an endometrial ablation - a day case procedure where the lining of the uterus is microwaved or lasered. Thereafter, you have negligible (if any) menstrual blood loss.

Have you had your iron levels tested? I spoke to the GP about my heavy periods and she booked me a blood test. I'm now on iron tablets as I'm anemic and I do think the iron has helped. She also sent me for a scan just to check there was nothing else going on. Do talk to your GP. Mine was lovely.

Is the 'SXL' pad a night pad? Sorry if not a helpful post, but until you get the right medical help, a night one would be even more absorbent. All the best.

@Kingfisher5 my iron is very low and has been for ages (ferritin is only 15, hb is 117) but my gp says that because I'm not technically clinically anaemic they won't prescribe me anything. I really struggle with the ferrous tablets as well so just taking over the counter gentle iron type stuff atm.

I think I need to go back and see a different gp!

Have they checked if you’ve got fibroids as that’s often the cause of heavy bleeding. The mirena made my bleeding worse but eventually I got my fibroids “zapped” and it’s finally manageable. Definitely ask about tranexamic acid but I’d ask for investigations into an underlying cause.

Hmm no idea about fibroids. I'll make a gp appointment and ask about it, thank you!

I'll ask about the tranexamic and meformic acid too.

I was diagnosed as anemic back in Jan. My levels were 3 when they should have been on 13! I have been on those awful iron tablets 2x a day and am due another blood test to see if things have improved. They have definitely helped with the amount of blood loss and I almost missed a period back in April 😁 Although I am 46, so it could be early signs of perimenopause 🤷

I suffered the same and tried to push to find out why my periods were so heavy. Instead they pushed back with contraception. I ended up with the injection after having the same thoughts as you as it was my only option left. I absolutely love it! Been on it 18 months, not had a single period and no side effects. It is worth trying even if you are not keen.

@Meredusoleil oh gosh, 3 is very low for ferritin. 13 is the absolute minimum before they say you're anaemic so even me being at 15 is not great. According to the NICE guidelines, if you are having symptoms of being anaemic and ferritin is under 30 then your gp should treat you for iron deficiency. However, they are not keen to do so for some reason! Daft really.

@Steelesauce thats good to hear that you've been ok with the injection. I'm really hesitant to get it though as worried about getting acne again. My skin has only been spot free for the last year or so.

I was the same. I've always been heavy but since kids it was just ridiculous. Like you I'd have to go and stand in the shower sometimes to deal with the amount.

Tranxamic acid did help but I found it made me feel a bit weird so I only took it at night.

I didn't have fibroids or any obvious cause of the heavy bleeding.

I felt rotten for the first few days of my period. I refused to take hormones though as I'd had bad experiences with the pill. I also didn't want a coil in case it didn't help and I was stuck with it. I also have a cervical ectropion which would have been sparked to bleed on hormones.

In the end I paid to have an endometrial ablation in February. OMG! My life is transformed! I've had two cycles since and although I still get my 5 days of spotting (which I know suspect is the ectropion) my actual period is 3 days and it's barely more than spotting. I realise now just how ill the heavy bleeding was making me.

I'm 38 and have 2 children. I'm don't with having kids, but it's not a solution if you still plan to have kids.

Like I said, I'm on 2x iron tablets a day to treat the iron deficiency!

The thing is, the combined pill suited me very well for many years. But then, as I got older and my BP was getting unreliable and my BMI was going into overweight, the doctors didn't want to prescribe it for me any more due to the increased risk of DVT.

I too had decided after dd2 was born that I didn't want any more children. So when she was 3 and after years of asking, I had a tubal litigation. Really wish I hadn't. Was the worst experience of my life and that's having and both my girls by C-section prior to that!

A lot of my menstrual problems worsened after the sterilisation and that is why I would not only never recommend that to anyone, but I'm also very reluctant to have any more surgery eg laparoscopy or the ablation suggested further upthread.

Whats even worse is, a few years later, during a CT scan to try and find the cause of some abdominal pain I was having, it was discovered one of my clips had migrated and was no longer on my fallopian tube! Ffs. All that pain and for nothing in the end 🤬

I was exactly the same at the same age. Mirena coil transformed my life. I was wary about hormonal aspect as I couldn't take the pill but I had no issues at all and went on to have 3 altogether before menopause.

I just bought ferrous Fumarate over the counter for my low ferritin.

I have dealt with this. Can’t use contraception - I’m Catholic/been told by medical professionals it could cause more problems than it solve
You need to find the underlying problem as to why your periods are so heavy
it could be anemia, PCOS, low progesterone, fibroids or something else.
then you need to have this issue treated.
if it’s anemia the best thing is a iron infusion. I don’t know if these are easy to get in the Uk.
PCOS is often a blood test and also a scan and fasting blood sugar test.
One of my issues with hormonal contraception- coil, or pill is that it’s not finding out what is wrong. Rather it’s stopping the ovulation. This stops the periods being heavy but doesn’t deal with the underlying reason.

One thing to be wary of is that so many GPs are utterly dismissive of claims to have heavy periods. My daughter had this and was bleeding heavily, passing large clots and her periods could last weeks. The only way she was able to get a GP to take her seriously was to take time and date stamped photos of all her pads and make it clear that she'd sit there and show them the lot if need be....