mooncup question - dont look if you are eating

[milknosugar]

have just read that a mooncup holds a third of the amount of blood you should lose in an entire period. has anyone found this to be true? over the last 2 days it has overflowed at least 5 times, with who knows how many other empties. wondering if i should go to the doc, my periods have always been this heavy

I can't wear a mooncup in the first 2 days as the flow is too heavy. I guess it holds a third of the average woman's flow, so some will be more, some less.

Everyone is different - yes I would go to your doctor - your periods would be classed as extra heavy and you may be able to get some help

i always knew i was worse than average, but that has shocked me a bit and rather explains why i feel so awful! have you ever thought about having anything done to sort it out?

docs have always dismissed it in the past, glad to know ianbu - i feel i can waste their time with my trivial womens matters if other people think its very unusual

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How long before your cup is overflowing? For me in the 1st 2 days the cup is simply not enough and have to wear a pad as well. But have been using it for over 6 months now and periods have got lighter and less painful but not sure if that is down to the mooncup.

As to a third of the amount of blood- is that blood only or all other stuff that comes with it as my period is much much more then just 3 full cups IYSWIM

I found this:

In a randomly selected group of premenopausal women, the most common amount of menstrual flow (measured in a laboratory from all collected tampons and pads) was about two tablespoons (30 ml) in a whole period (1;2). However the amount of flow was highly variable?it ranged from a spot to over two cups (540 ml) in one period! Women who are taller, have had children and are in perimenopause have the heaviest flow (2). The usual length of menstrual bleeding is four to six days. The usual amount of blood loss per period is 10 to 35 ml. Each soaked normal-sized tampon or pad holds a teaspoon (5ml) of blood. That means it is normal to soak one to seven normal-sized pads or tampons (?sanitary products?) in a whole period.

How is Very Heavy Flow or Menorrhagia defined?
Officially, flow of more than 80 ml (or 16 soaked sanitary products) per menstrual period is considered menorrhagia. Most women bleeding this heavily will have a low blood count (anemia) or evidence of iron deficiency (1). In practice only about a third of women have anemia, so the definition of heavy flow can be adjusted to be more like nine to 12 soaked regular-sized sanitary products in a period (2).

first 24/36 hours I need to empty mine at least every 2 hours or it overflows, after that I barely need to empty it (I do it every time I go to the loo, but don't need to in terms of fullness).

have been doing it every few hours but it has overflowed in that time. i have 4 kids and its just not that easy to get time off to go to the loo so often!

using a pad aswell so am coping but i read that and thought maybe i could get the docs to do something now i can give them actual info on amounts, have been fobbed off before with advice that it looks more than it is on the pad.

am tall, have kids but not perimenopausal. must be losing more than 150ml a day, usually lasts 3 days then goes down to a normal level for a few more days.

am partly just annoyed to have them back, have had over 2 years without one due to bf and its been lovely. now they are back they are just like they always have been, in a few months i assume they will start getting really painful aswell (has happened the other 3 times) and that makes a huge impact on my life, have fainted several times and dont want to be doing that around the kids. so will make docs appointment next week and not be fobbed off! thanks everyone

I hope you can get help - miserable that you have been fobbed off
it sounds like you may well be lacking in iron apart from anything else which will make you feel grim

yes, have been eating lots of dried apricots recently to try and up iron levels but if they are that unusual i think i would be better off getting some help! have always been lacking in iron, assumed it was because i am veggie but maybe not