Please tell me about your periods at the start of Menopause, in hospital and panicking.

[fruitable]

Hello

I am sat in A&E after 3 days of very heavy bleeding. Doctors have suggested menopause (I’m 45F) or endometriosis, awaiting blood results now but doctor has said they are just to test levels.
I’m spiralling and thinking the worst, a close friend has cancer which was connected to her periods, uterus etc.
Would you mind sharing your experience pre-menopause. How your periods changed, did they get heavier? Painful? Clotting?

I’m very worried.

TIA

In my 40s, my periods got longer and heavier and incredibly painful. I lost huge clots and the bleeding was like a tap. Eventually, I started a period which didn't stop and ended up in hospital several times.

Turns out I had fibroids. I wasn't menopausal at all.

There are many, many causes of heavy periods, nearly all completely treatable and most of them nothing scary. Is there an on call gynae you can speak to?

Thank you for the reply. No on call Gynaecologist, it’s very busy here. They have told me I will be send home with tablets to reduce the bleeding and another to ease pain. If bleeding continues for more than 5 days I am to book a GP appointment for referral to gynaecologist.

I’m almost 40 and my periods are shorter but hellish 🫣 I barely make it to the bathroom in the morning before all hell breaks loose and a sneeze is game over

Fibroids here too; had horrific bleeding which made it extremely difficult to leave the house even for as little as half an hour and impossible to go to work. Bleeding for 3 weeks out of 4 and huge clots the size of my fist which would flood any sanitary protection in seconds. Tranexamic acid took the edge off thankfully but didn't want to overdose for three weeks in a row.

Knew I had had fibroids for a while, but had no periods on Mirena - then all of a sudden periods returned with a vengeance.

Surgery sorted me out, and thankfully I didn't have to wait too long for it.

Yes - younger than that though. I was late 30’s, and went from barely noticeable periods, certainly no pain, to flooding, ( like I was wetting myself only blood) huge clots. Aching burning pains down the front of my thighs. Sometimes only a 10-15 day cycle too, having been 28days always previously. GP prescribed Trans Acid which helped. Was like that for about 2yrs, then became very light and a 60-90 day cycle by the time I was 43/44 Then started HRT which kick started a monthly regular light cycle for a year or so, now back to 120 day plus cycle so I’m hopeful an end is in sight!
My GP’s first thought for treatment was the coil which is apparently very effective in most women to stop bleeding, but I didnt like the idea of it. It can also be part of a HRT regime if thats something you might want to explore.
Hope you feel better soon.

Thank you, so I need to google fibroids as an option! I know nothing about that

Bump

Please go and see your GP asap. They can refer you for an ultrasound. I know I wasn't given a gynae referral until I'd had the ultrasound. And at the point of referral, the wait to see a gynaecologist was 51 weeks.

The sooner you see the GP, the better because waiting times can be long.

My periods got much much heavier in my mid 40s. Progesterone stops the womb lining building up in the second half of the month but it starts to get very low, whereas oestrogen, which causes the lining to build up, can sometimes spike in a kind of last hurrah. Hrt should stabilise things. Obviously other possibilities should be investigated but it's likely to be peri perhaps exacerbated by fibroids as pp suggested.

She’s already in hospital?

I always had regular, light, painless and manageable periods (very lucky, I know) until perimenopause when they became painful and very heavy and some of the clots were huge. I’m very squeamish and found the clots difficult to cope with.

DON’T READ IF SQUEAMISH- I passed a large clot in the shower once that looked like a squid. It wouldn’t wash down the plug hole and I had to break it up 🤢 The only upside was that I also missed a lot of periods so would often go several months without one.

Many friends have had similar experiences with periods changing quite dramatically in mid 40s, so yes, this is really common in perimenopause. Definitely worth seeing the GP and asking for a referral anyway to make sure there’s nothing else going on.

Thanks again for the replies. I was discharged last night with the two medication, called my GP this morning but they were not able to offer an appointment for 3 week!
I have booked a private gynaecologist appointment for tomorrow . Similar to previous pp, with the bleeding like a tap, also passing clots but no bigger than a 50p yet!
Wonder what to expect at the appointment tomorrow..

I am aware thanks!

Having been through this myself multiple times in the last 18 months, the hospital patch you up, stop the bleeding using a drip and send you away with medication to reduce bleeding. The route to investigation is via GP referral.

At my first gynae appointment, I'd already had an ultrasound so not sure if they will do that.

I - and nearly every woman I've spoken to on here and irl - had a hysteroscopy and biopsies taken out first gynae appointments. They did a pelvic exam and full history as well.

Mine which never were much anyway, max 2 days of light bleeding just stopped dead at 45.
Others I know had incredibly heavy bleeding.