Heavy and prolonged bleeding.

[Furryface]

Hi. I'm 52 and periods have been reasonably regular. I started light bleeding about 4 weeks ago and it went on and off each day up until a week ago when I have had a very heavy period with blood clots. Have been having clots for a while so not too concerned. No pain at all. The bleeding is not tailing off like normal though. Using extra large tampons and pads. I'm not feeling unwell really, just tired and low in mood. Very tearful and angry and it's worrying me now.

I'm making an appointment with GP for tomorrow. Has anyone else had something similar? I've got a bit of health anxiety so that doesn't help. Thanks very much.

I had unusual and slightly heavy bleeding but i was already without any periods for several months at that point, into the menopause. So the bleeding was unusual.
Like you, it was painless, nevertheless worrying.
Ultrasound scans and some more probing later we found that it was uterine polyps. They were removed under anaesthesia as day case.
It's great that you are seeing docs tomorrow.
Best of luck.

Thanks Dunno. Yes will see how tomorrow goes. This has just come out of nowhere but I guess 52 is the right age for this kind of thing.

Yes furryface it came to me out of nowhere too but since it happened now (twice in fact, in two consecutive years), i am more aware and it's something to be mindful of and pay attention to.
If you don't mind my saying so, i realised optimum nutrition is a great help.
On both occasions one year apart, I was seen by the same consultant in Guys Hospital who mentioned the importance of balancing the hormones and recommended mirena coil (HRT) which i didn't want.
However i agreed that we need to balance hormones essentially, to prevent it from happening year after year. Correct food is a help somehow. That's my humble opinion.
Best of luck.

Funny you should mention correct food! The worse I feel the more I eat. I feel totally driven to est sugar and then am putting on weight. Need to get this bit sorted.

For me the trigger was lots of processed food, red meat, ham etc and quick fix convenience food as i had lots of stress coming from every angle and i lost my energy and will to cook fresh food, cook healthily. I lived with convenience food. This resulted in excess oestrogen which is the bad kind. Reading about it, i realised i needed plant based oestrogen eg lentils, peas, broccoli, carrots etc and i found that making the effort in that department i started to feel so much better.
Yes what we eat influence our health so much.

How did your appointment with the gp go?

...if i may ask - i should have said.
You don't have to share the outcome of your appointment of course. But if you want to share, I'm here .

I feel for you as I’m going through a similar experience. I’m 48, been in perimenopause for about 7 years. Last year only had 7 periods and all lasted about 5 days. I’ve just had 112 day gap from September to January and been bleeding for the last 20 days. It was light for a week then just got heavier with a constant flow. I’ve been to the GP and been prescribed tranexamic acid which has calmed things down. I’m worried sick despite reading that this can be the norm when close to periods finally stopping. Good luck at your appointment :-)

Tiredness may be due to anaemia, so worth getting iron levels checked. Also make sure your diet contains plenty of vitamin c as this helps with absorption of iron.

Hi Dunno, sld and Shangha. Went to GP this morning. She wants to examine me so needs bleeding to stop so prescribed Norethisterone. This is a progesterone thing. I've looked at side effects and it sounds horrendous so I'm scared to take it. She didn't want to give me HRT because I'm not having hot flushes! Had blood tests for anaemia and thyroid. Also referred me to depression and anxiety clinic.

I don't feel like any of this is dealing with the problem really. Does anyone have experience of Norethisterone? Thanks for your support.

Sld, poor you. It's horrible isn't it. I do feel worried that there's something else wrong too. Have you stopped bleeding now?

Just take the Norethisterone and ignore the leaflet on side effects. ALL medicines have a list like that, even paracetamol and hayfever remedies!

I took Norethisterone for 5 years as part of HRT. Unless you are very unlucky, you should be fine.

i am just about the other side of this....

last year or so periods have been getting horrendous, and was sick to death of it, esp after I had six months off and was overjoyed to be done and then had a month of bleeding like niagra fucking falls with TMI chopped liver yikes!

GP was extremely helpful ...i was prepared to be fobbed off but after a few months of malarkey getting an appointment (not GPs fault, a hospital failing) I have a new mirena, a gynae referral for likely polyps, and vagifem to ward off any vaginal atrophy.

I did get an appt at the Menopause clinic too, and felt they seemed very keen on the anti depressant solution, lots of leading questions about anxiety/stress/unhappiness, but otherwise they were giving all the options and the risks, they like to tell you about oestrogen/hrt and strokes quite a lot but I did feel the suitable options were laid out for me to pick from rather than be told what they were going to do

I do think that ADs are rather a weird solution tbh when essentially it was awful periods, missing hormones and an elderly bajingo that is the problem

I think because I had the six month of no periods, they then flag up any subsequent bleeding as unexplained so maybe that helped shimmy things along...who knows?

ps You need to find another GP. Her behaviour around HRT is out of date. Do not take ADs because NICE says they have no place in the treatment of menopause symptoms (where depression is a new symptom.) see the sticking thread at the top here and read what it says.
There is no need for your GP to examine you; you ought to be referred for an ultrasound scan. That would show a fibroid or anything else like that. Unless she is also a gynae, she's unlikely to find anything when examining you. You need to ask for a referral to a gynae for the heavy bleeding, or push for a scan, or seriously think about a Mirena which is what a gynae will suggest.

This reliance on ADs by some GPs makes me fume. Reminds me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- medicate the patient so they shut up and go away, with their emotions damped down. No wonder NICE has said they have to stop this type of treatment.

I know...I did think it was all a bit 1960s Mother's Little Helper when they used to dish out valium!

Furryface i don't have experience with Norethisterone, i can't remember what medicine i had been given to stop the bleeding but i don't think it was that. However, being a progesterone pill, it'll do the job it's meant to do and will stop the bleeding so i think it is useful to take. Unless you take it for a long period of time, any possible side effects that might affect you, would go away once you stop taking it. So i would take it if it was me in your position.

It's good that blood test has been done for anaemia and tyroid. However they do not give clues as to why bleeding happens in the first place ie hormonal upheavals or polyps or fibroids...

For that, you need to insist on a scan. GP cannot view what's going on inside the uterus, ovaries. In that I agree with PollyPerky

In my case even with ultrasound scan, it wasn't possible to see one side (ovaries-etc). I had a little camera inserted, keyhole surgery style, to view inside and definitely establish the existence of the polyps. Once they could see the polyps and their exact places, they could remove them. That's only a 15-20 minutes procedure, nevertheless required more than the doctor's visual inspection.

Maybe your GP wanted to examine in terms of taking a smear swab which would be useful if you haven't got up to date smear result. But still it wouldn't help the whole picture. Booking an ultrasound scan, is the good practice which you need to get.

Thanks everyone. Sounds like some of you have been through the same. I did feel a bit short changed. To be fair I'm already on Ads so it's hard to tell what is my normal and what is due to hormones. I know I'm feeling worse than ever with anxiety and low mood lately. I can't understand why at 52 she thinks I shouldn't have HRT! I'm just going to ask for it I think. I'm worrying about absolutely everything at the moment and eating myself silly when I'm supposed to be on Slimming World! Have list two stone over time but got another one to go. MrsHomeslice I had to laugh at chopped liver! I'm exactly the same and it's grim. Sorry for TMI but I've had clots falling out past the tampon and taking me by surprise at work! Hideous!

I do think that anaemia makes periods worse when it becomes too bad but of course it just gets seen as a symptom. Did they do a ferritin test as well as the ordinary iron test? Either way I'd get yourself a liquid iron supplement and start taking it now they've done the bloods.

Grockle I was tested for ferritin and folate. Both low. GP did an examination and found a sore on my cervix. She has now referred me under the two week rule and I had a meltdown in her room. Feel sick and can't eat. Bloody terrified.

@Furryface, try not to worry. I know It is easy to say and hard to do but i have been there twice. On both of my polyp removals it was on 2 week fast track and i understand how it feels.
On the first one I had heavy and long lasting bleeding, came out of nowhere. Googling about it was even more worrying.

On the second one, i had strange pains appearing on lower abdomen similar to period cramps but by then I had stopped having periods more than 18 months so again it was unusual. Again, sent with 2 week system and worried sick.

But having two week fast track system is good practice. Believe me you'll have the answers quickly rather than waiting for scan appointment first, and then waiting for another week for the scan results, and then further investigation and other tests etc and prolonging your worries.

Two week system is good practice and it doesn't mean anything sinister either.

Lots of women get sent via two week referral and get their diagnosis and treatment super fast, like myself.

Bestest of luck.

Thanks DunnoWhy, that has reassured me. I don't know why I get myself into such a state. Just so terrified of getting cancer. The bleeding has stopped now so hoping that's a good sign. I'm glad yours was nothing suspicious. You must have been so relieved.

I hope you don't mind me jumping in on this.
I'm now 3 weeks into a very heavy period.
This started on day 84 of my cycle so I had missed either 2 or 3 periods (previously periods were every 28 days like clockwork but in last couple of years have been between 18-32 days.)
Out of the 3 weeks about 16 days have been very heavy with flooding and clots. I am taking spatone to help with anaemia but just wondering how common this is with perimenopause.

Ps I'm nearly 48.
Had a recent smear that was clear and a scan about a year ok (because of pain under right ribs that led to gallbladder removal - although GB removal didn't completely stop the pain.)
Anyway scan report said :

'Bulky uterus endometrium is heterogenuous and may represent either adenomyosis or early fibroid changes. No focal fibroids seen.
Endometrium is thin and normal for day 6. No polyps seen.
Both ovaries appear normal.
No adnexal masses or free fluid seen.'

Bump

Hi dahliaa i would say, the medics are the best people to give good advice on this. I'm a wimp and smallest thing to do with health, I run to the GP. That's what they're there for.
I think you should see your GP, use their time and expertise. I would make a list and go with the list.
Good luck.