Period from hell is this normal

[Sunnyday1203]

I am 52 and have no other symptoms of the menopause other than last 6 months periods have started to become a bit irregular. Had a couple of months without one and now having period from hell. Have a sharp pain in my lower right side, back pain and am going through tampons, soaked 3 last night and woke up covered in blood, sorry tmi. Just wondering is this normal. Am feeling a bit peaky and shakey atm

It's 'typical' if not normal. I had this for a long time and used tampons and pads, maternity pads underneath me and a towel too overnight. Get some tranexamic acid from your doctor and that should half blood flow. Also worth taking an iron supplement as that's why you'll be feeling shaky. It's horrible, I feel for you, but try not to worry about it.

Thanks for that Paris. I was beginning to think it was my appendix playing up when the pain began. Ho hum. Think Iron supplement is a good idea.

If your sharp pain is still there it might still be worth seeing a doctor - I got sent to A&E when I had pain like that as they were worried about my appendix but it was ovary/period pain. Sounds like too much of a coincidence to be your appendix but you never know.

Take care.

Exactly Paris. Just feel tired and struggling to work, sure it will get better in a couple of days

You have all my sympathy. Five weeks ago I had a two-week bleed, as in a full period for two whole weeks. My lower back has been aching so badly I thought I'd thrown it out but bleeding again today so I think/hope it's probably period-related.

I have the same shaky/peaky feeling, plus irregular heartbeat/palps now and again. I'm always a bit low on iron but had to stop supplements due to terrible heartburn/reflux. I hope to get back to them soon, esp if the two-week period is to become a regular feature.

I also seem to have lost 20 IQ points.

The best thing I've done is to buy a bunch of washable cotton pads. They're very difficult to bleed through and have more or less eliminated all sore/itchy/irritated skin issues. Wouldn't go back to tampons now.

As pp said, tranexamic acid is ace, it really reduced the heavy flow that was making it hard to stay clean.

I wish I could go back to the very convenient three-day periods I had for so many years.

Good luck to you op.

You will one day, and then they'll disappear I've had quite a few light ones over the past year or so and am hoping that's the end of the awful ones. It's hard to believe it will end when you're in the middle of it sometimes. A mirena is an option maybe?

I haven't had good results with hormonal bc or a coil (albeit the old copper kind used 20yrs ago) so Mirena's not for me. The insertion alone (never mind the whole project of having it removed if you don't like it) is enough to put me off. But I do see it mentioned a lot on MN so I guess a lot of people are using it.

I used to think I'd miss my period but it's doing its best to change my mind.