For those whose periods became heavier/more painful

[Lavenderfields21]

...in the perimenopause, how long did that last naturally before tapering off? I'm trying to avoid the Mirena/hormones due to breast cancer risk and just wondering how long I'll need to put up with this?

I needed a Mirena as I ended up feeling rubbish with low ferritin, and managing the flooding was affecting my work/life.

A couple years and just ridiculously long and heavy towards the very end.

My super heavy periods were due to a large fibroid. I hoped and prayed for 7 years that the drop in hormones in the menopause would shrink the fibroid but no luck

After yet another awful flood in M & S I agreed to have a hysterectomy (I was always scared of the GA so didn't want the op)

Turned out it was an excellent choice! 👌

I had the mirena, after 6+ months of heavy periods stopping my life - I had contractions and pushed out golf ball sized clots without warning. Haven’t had a period since about 3 months after it was put in.

It was transformative, body took months to recover from the trauma of blood loss to say nothing of the impact on my mental health

They got heavier and more frequent until I got the Mirena which sorted out the bleeding straight away. I didn't want the Mirena either but I was having 20-day cycles and I couldn't leave the house when they were at their heaviest.

What cancer risk?

Bled for months on end every day, often so heavy I couldn’t leave the house - lots of flooding - needed iron transfusions to restore iron levels. I also didn’t want the Mirena but after trying everything else I agreed to have one. Like others it has been transformative. Now barely bleed at all after initial 3 months. Feel less hormonal generally. No flooding or unexpected heavy bleeding. Life is much better.

I became anaemic then (after a weekend basically in A&E on oramorph due to agonising unexplained abdominal pain) was diagnosed with adenomyosis. I had the mirena coil fitted.

The anaemia look ages to recover from. Technically fine two months later but really didn't feel myself for another 2-3 months.

Synthetic progesterone such as in the mirena coil has been shown to cause a slightly increased breast cancer risk.

But I also drink alcohol a couple of drinks a week which has a equal impact on my breast cancer risk. Similar risk profile.

Following this. My periods are becoming heavier too and starting to affect my life and energy. Thanks for sharing how you coped with it.

I've had the Mirena in that past and didn't like it. Although it did eliminate my periods which was good. I had the implant fitted instead and with HRT it has reduced my period to spotting evey couple of months which is loads better than the heavy painful random Peri periods I was having.

I needed to hear this 🙌
Stopped bleeding 7 months ago (am 51 now), but prior to that it was horrendous. Omg, the flooding in public, despite wearing doubled up nappies - it once ended up in my shoes! 😭😳
Turns out I have fibroids "everywhere", and the biggest is 20x16x16cm...no wonder I look so bloody enormous 😮
Only treatment option is the hysterectomy, so lots of trawling the internet for positive stories🙂

OP, god yes, sympathies - the periods were all over the place and sometimes they went on for months.
Super heavy, pain, flooding, huge clots and another level really, for about 7 years, but it's because of the fibroids in my case.
On a more positive note (sorry, just realised my post is miserable!) I think both my sisters (no uterine abnormalities) bled heavily for about a year, and then things just tapered right off at the age of 49.
I know quite a few people who had seriously erratic and heavy periods for a couple of years just before things fizzled out. Seems to be more of a representative timespan?
Do you have any pre-existing conditions that might affect your periods?
I didn't know about the state of my uterus until fairly recently - wish I'd had a better GP who could have pushed investigations along earlier.
It was all a bit "well, it's just part of perimenopause, come back in 6 months blahblah..." so I followed their advice, when instead I probably should have been pushing for more help...easier said than done, I know 😬

I didn't/couldnt/wasn't prepared to have a mirena inserted. I'd never got on well with the pill to the point I used other methods and some HRT's had made me suicidal. So assumed the synthetic progesterone was the culprit.
My ferritin was 12 and I felt shocking. It felt like I was constantly bleeding and oh so heavy, there were days I didn't want to leave the house because of flooding.
Saw a lovely female GP at the surgery about the same age as me. She sorted me out with Utrogestan and Estrogel and despite my initial reservations I've never looked back. I took the progesterone continuously to stop the bleeding, which isn't recommended but I had had enough and needed a break..

I never wanted to take HRT either, but sometimes needs must, I certainly couldn't go on as I was. I'd rather have "normal" quality of life and functionality over quantity/awful flooding and accept the increased cancer risk.

I couldn't cope with flooding. Used Qlaira first, then femeston, then oestrogel, then Mirena. I'm now 56 with just Mirena as breast clinic suggested I came off the oestrogen.so far after a 24 months that's been fine. I was very anaemic after flooding which can make bleeding worse so check that out.

But I'd say the benefits of not flooding and other benefits of hrt, including less anxiety, were worth it for me.

Hi , sorry to
read about your cancer risk . I was having horrible periods that gave me low iron , so
i opted for the mini pill , as I didn’t want the mirena because I didn’t want something inside me . The mini pill seems to
hsve stopped my periods .

Mirena has worked miracles for me.