Sister very very bad periods, docs not much help, what could it be?

[Coldhands]

My sister is 23. She has suffered with her periods since she was 15. They are very very heavy to the point where she will have 2 pads on and within 10 minutes bleed through onto the sofa. Not very regular I don't think, she bleeds for a long time at a time. She has the implant and is on the pill and has only just stopped bleeding. Once she had to have 2 blood transfusions due to losing so much blood and she loses clots as well.

She said her doctor is at a loss what to do with her now. I think it is appalling that she has never been referred to a gynaecologist. Sister said several friends have mentioned endometriosis to her which she now thinks could be a possibility as what she is going through just isn't normal.

Does anyone have any similar experiences and what was your outcome? I have told her to go back to the docs and ask for a referral but she is also in the Navy and is away a lot at the moment so don't know if this will happen.

I would suggest she talks to the doctor attached to the Navy; get her to explain that the GP is useless and she needs a gynae appointment ASAP. No woman should ever put up with that. I was a heavy bleeder too and had lots of tests and ended up on depo which stopped my periods but it does have side effects

She definitely needs to be seen by Gynae. 2 blood tranfusions because of her periods that's shocking that nothing has been investigated. Tell her to demand a referal.

I know. I was talking to her on Wednesday and I didn't realise she had never been referred. All they do is try different pills and now the implant. I think she had one before but they had to take it out and now they have tried another one. Also surely you should need to be on the pill and have the implant.

she needs at least a scan, complete hormone profile and maybe a lap to see what is going on.
She has to insist she sees a consultant.

Hi Coldhands,
It sounds like your sister has fibroids. Classic symptoms are very heavy bleeding, clots and flooding. Once you have a fibroid removed you honestly feel like a new person. To figure out if a person has fibroids they do an internal scan and you get an answer straight away. Also they can prescribe medication to prevent clots and reduce the heaviness of a bleed.

I hope that helps.

Mrs Snow

Yes, she needs to insist on a referral.
Has she ever been checked for a blood disorder? I know there are some that can cause this type of thing, but don't know much about it.

Could be endometriosis, but could also be other things. Does she have a history of any sort of abdominal/pelvic pain?

Thanks for your replies. I'll mention fibroids to her.

Not sure about pain tbh. I'll have to text her as shes going away soon and I don't know if I will see her again first.

I was also going to mention a blood clotting disorder; can't remember the name.

just googled it ;von Willebrand disease.

I'm surprised she hasn't been referred before, especially after two blood transfusions.

She MUST got referred to a gyno to have a lap to see what exactly is going on in there!

My first guess would be fibriod or endometriosis - many women go un-diagnosed for years, the only way to tell for sure is a lap...she must go to the doctor and DEMAND to be referred....check our the Dr Foster Website www.drfosterhealth.co.uk/consultant-guide/ to look for a NHS consultant who specialises in gyno/fibriods/endo in her area. She must tell her Dr she wants referrign to this Dr - the GP can do this.