Almost constant bleeding in peri

[user1471526265]

Hi,

Just wondering what is normal or if there's any such thing as normal with regards bleeding frequency in perimenopause.

I have been bleeding almost constantly for months now. It's not particularly heavy at any point, maybe one or two days per "cycle" but my cycle seems to currently go something like this:

Bleed for 10 days
No bleeding for 3 days
Bleed for 7 days
No bleeding for 10 days
Bleed for 22 days
Etc etc.

It's just random and frustrating, and.....

Actually, for a few years my periods were getting further and further apart. I could go 3-4 months between periods. Thought I was coming to the end. And then it changed to this.

I recently made a gp appointment about this and other things, but it was a 2 week wait. Stuff came up in the meantime and so I had to cancel.

I'll probably try to get another appointment, but it will be January at this point, and well, as I started to bleed again today I thought, is this normal? Should I be worried?

Sorry for the essay, and thanks if you've made it this far.

It could be worth looking into the merina coil. I’ve just had one fitted so can’t comment on the effects yet but had it due to my periods getting heavier and more frequent and I know lots of people get very good results from it.

I also had an ultrasound which revealed a polyp in my uterus that was removed at the same time. Apparently these can cause the heavy/frequent bleeding as well. It’s definitely worth getting to gp. I had a long wait to actually get seen by gynaecologist but was prescribed two types of tablets in the interim. I can’t remember the names but one was for heavy bleeding and one for pain.

Oh i also got progesterone only pill while i was waiting m. I didn’t actually stay on it for long but it seemed to help the frequency of the bleeding, and this effect remained even after I’d stopped.

Thanks. I might ask about the merina. I'm in Ireland and have health insurance so think I could be seen relatively quickly if the need arose. Our healthcare is unfortunately failing at the initial stages of getting to the g.p. A few years ago I could ring in the morning and get a next day or even same day appointment.

I had this and ended up in A & E, being very anemic and dehydrated, and was Very Told Off by the doctor who said that I should not have left it so long to see him. I had 2 days of medication which stopped the bleeding and it never came back. Wish I'd seen him sooner, but had always had heavy periods and was used to just getting on with life . . .

Wow Notquitegrownup2. Were you bleeding very heavily? I don't tend to be too heavy most of the time so I didn't think I would end up anaemic, but I guess it is possible. I consider it more of a nuisance than anything really, but definitely think I should get it checked all the same.

Yes it was very heavy - heavier than usual, but I was busy and just got on with it, thinking it would stop soon. I do tend to battle on and not bother the gp but it was surprisingly very easily dealt with. Hope you get sorted soon too.

I have the same. Just when I think it's gone then it's back. I had it a few years ago and it stopped. But this has been going on for at least 8 weeks.

Hi FancyNewt. Did things just stop for you last time or did you need to see a gp? I've an appointment on the 13th January. Can't believe I have to wait that long. Anyway I think I will ask about the mirena. I must do some research on it first tho as I couldn't tolerate hrt or the pill way back.

When you say 8 weeks do you mean you have been without a break for 8 weeks? I get some breaks, but could be a few days to a week or so and it starts again. Been this way since September. Prior to that I'd had fairly regular /monthly periods since February or March after 3 years of them getting further and further apart (up to 17 weeks at one stage).

I had this and so did a lot of my friends, seems quite common at the start of peri. It was the first sign anything was up with me as I had been period free for over 20 years on the mini pill suddenly started bleeding again.

Got checked out with a scan and a smear and everything was ok just peri, have been on HRT but have decided to have a break from it.

I would speak to your GP and get everything checked just to be on the safe side.

God I would hope I'm not just at the beginning of peri. I'm almost 50 & have had erratic periods for the last 5 years. I honestly thought I'd nearly be done by now. I have longterm health issues anyway (nerve damage with chronic pain and vertigo after a bad crash) & don't know how much more I can cope with. If I was told by 52 you'll be done it would be OK, but the thought that this is an early stage in peri and I could have another 10 years of this, I don't think my marriage will survive for starters.

Sorry I realise that might sound like I'm attacking you. I don't mean it to come across that way. Just frustrated with the whole thing. I guess, in all honesty, I was hoping someone would come on here and say, oh yeah, I had that for 6 months and then, bam, no more periods.

It stopped after 9 weeks last time. I had.a scan and smear.

This time it's been constant apart from one day off here and there. I'm going to call the doc this morning as I'm feeling miserable about it. I was anemic before so heaven knows how I am now.

I'm definitely quite far into peri. I had a 6 month break with no periods this year so I am hopeful I'm at the end.

I'm scared they'll want me to have a hysteroscopy examination which is partly why I'm putting off talking to the GP. I know that sounds ridiculous, but you hear all these horror stories about them and I hate smears let alone a camera shoved through my cervix. I'm really not up for any of this gynae stuff. 😱

@user1471526265 did you get this sorted ?

I was given transaxemic (sp?) acid in December and it finally stopped after 3 months of non stop bleeding. It started again a month ago and is till going. I'm calling the GP in the morning.

Hi @FancyNewt, it seems to have sorted itself out for the moment. I had one horrendous period in early January. I can only describe it as flooding. I had to sit with a towel under me at all times as was soaking through everything in less than an hour. Made a Dr's appointment but by the time that came around the bleeding had stopped. I've not bled at all since (around 7 weeks now).

I had bloods done after the gp appointment and due to see her again in just over a week. I'm hoping this was the last hurrah and I'm done with periods, but probably unlikely. She did mention about going on the merina coil alright, though I've never done well with hormones (the pill or hrt) so am a little slow to go with something I can't just stop taking myself if necessary.

Thank you @user1471526265 . I have a copper coil in that is due to be removed this year so it could be linked to that, although not sure how that cause so much bleeding. It's like I have a period that won't switch off. Fortunately not heavy, just persistent. Totally fed up of it though.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about the coil but would have thought any continuous bleeding would have been when you first got it, not, presumably, years later.

I hope you get some answers. It's very frustrating. I know 2 of my aunts had terrible experiences. They used to bleed so much, one aunt ended up replacing her car seat. I imagine there is a lot more can be done these days though.

Bloods came back today. I'm severely anaemic. Never needed iron supplements in my life. Guess this is a result of the constant bleeding. I just hope it doesn't all kick off again as soon as I get my levels up.

Just wanted to say I've had a similar issue in the last year, with constant heavy bleeding for months, I didn't want to be pushed into the coil and quite honestly they should do a hysteroscopy and biopsy to find a cause first, which I had, it ruled out cancer and fibroids but I had a thick womb lining, I've had an ablation done which thins the lining out and the bleeding is now lighter and less frequent.

My friend had all that done a few years ago but it unfortunately reverted to the heavy bleeding again. She ended up with the coil and hrt patches.

Thank you both. I'm on week 6 of this episode following a month's break with a 3 month bleed before that. I honestly don't know how I am walking around.

I feel your pain @FancyNewt After a bit of a break I started with spotting yesterday afternoon, and this progress to heavy bleeding /flooding overnight. Woke up to my bed looking like a crime scene. Could really do without the added work.

I'm back on here because I was at the gp yesterday. I've been prescribed hrt spray instead of the patches that didn't agree with me. So far, 2 sprays in, I'm absolutely shattered. Like, really, REALLY, exhausted. I took to my bed earlier this afternoon for a few hours and just about to go to bed now again. I don't know if this is a side effect of it. I definitely didn't have this with the patches.

I know too that I have been anaemic but I'm a few weeks in with the b12 and iron and have been fine with them (had some constipation initially!) so I wouldn't have thought it was that causing this bone crushing exhaustion today.

There always seems to be another obstacle or set back in just getting through the days.

It's great fun being a middle aged woman, isn't it 🙄