Nightmare periods and PMS

[HGranger]

So my periods have always been a nightmare. When I was younger I went through a period of being on for 3 week snout of every four, which led to sex issues with my partner. I had loads of tests and they found nothing wrong. I tried loads of different pills which didnt help, went on the implant which also didn't help. It improved for a while before I had my daughter, but recently has been a nightmare again.
Long, often heavy periods, lasting over a week, often with up to 5 days of spotting beforehand. In the last few months I have had a day of excruciating pain BEFORE I have even started, more like contractions than period pains. At that time of the month I often struggle with cystitis and/or thrush. I also have what I assume are ovulation pains mid month and a short cycle of 23 days. None of which does wonders for my sex life!

I also have horrid pms. I have a history of depression and anxiety and both post partum. In the lead up to a period I have no sex drive, want to be left alone, am anxious, short tempered, the works. I'm currently not on hormonal contraceptives, as they seem to makes my depression worse.

My husband blames all our arguments on my 'time of the month' and says I'm horrid 2 out of every 4 weeks.

I'm at a loss. I am a healthy weight, I eat pretty healthily, I don't exercise lots but do some and have a toddler so that's basically a work out at the gym. I don't know what to do! Anyone else in the same boat? Any thing that might help. Please!

Hi I’m like you. I’m trying magnesium and starflower oil but also these arent really helping that much 💁‍♀️

EloiseDublin123. Thats rubbish. I was hoping to find a herbal remedy that would help.

What medical advice have you sought to date?. What has your GP said about all this?. Both the PMS and ongoing problems with your periods should be properly addressed; you should not have to blithely put up with this at all.

Any tests done that are over 6 months old should be discounted. What tests did they do at the time?. If they for instance did blood tests and ultrasound scans neither would have detected endometriosis and that is a common cause of ongoing and severe period pain and heavy bleeding. Has anyone ever mentioned endometriosis to you?.

Herbal remedies will be of little to no real use at all and besides which you need a diagnosis first and foremost. You need to see a gynaecologist here as endometriosis may be the root cause of your ongoing symptoms. As well as pain it can also cause heavy bleeding to arise.

Do not put up with this, seek proper answers and do not ever be afraid of being persistent to get these either.

Mirena coil will sort out the bleeding issues. And it's very low hormone. I've reacted badly to all other hormonal contrecptions. But Mirena has changed my life.

My periods were awful right from when I started age 9, crippling pains that made me feel sick, I started with PMS age 14, my mum said I was a monster for two weeks every month so bad the doctor put me on antidepressants. I went on the combined pill age 18 & took it back to back without a break for about 10 years, when I stopped, my periods took ages to start again but when they did I was flooding every month, horrific pms, pain as bad as being in labour. I had ds at 37 & afterwards for about 3 years my periods weren't too bad but then were as bad as ever. I was diagnosed with endometriosis at 44 & the gynaecologist said I had probably had it from being a teenager, every part of my reproductive organs & bowel was covered & stuck together. I had a hysterectomy & my remaining ovary removed, best thing I ever did.

The Mirena coil however, is not a licenced treatment for endometriosis if it is present. The cause needs to be established here as well as treating the symptoms.

Thank you everyone for your advice. Endometriosis had never crossed my mind to be honest. I will be sure to go to the doctors. Thankfully I gave been tracking my periods for a long time using Flo because they were so long, it felt like I was always pre menstrual, menstrual or just finished

Let us know how you get on. You will need to be persistent in order to get answers and in your case I would certainly be wanting a referral to a gynae.

Don't believe all the posts that tell you a mirena will solve your bleeding issues! It does for a lot of people but not all. I have fibroids and it was put in to help with the associated heavy bleeding and whilst it made it a bit lighter I still take tranexamic as well and I had spotting and bleeding more days than I didn't for a year. Interestingly in the last couple of months I've had 2-3 weeks of no bleeding between periods following an epic bleed that had me in A&E but it's still bad when I'm on and the damn thing is coming out imminently!

If you are sure you don't want any more children, I can recommend a hysterectomy, I had mine done keyhole & was only in 16 hours in total, went to theatre at 6.30pm, back in bed by 8.00pm & I was home before 9.30am next morning. You may have to argue to get it done as the NHS don't want to spend the money & they will push you to have a mirena coil, but if you can argue that the hormones in the coil don't suit you then you should be able to get referred to have it done. I had horrific PMS, I was totally psycho every month like an unexploded bomb, getting rid of my ovaries sorted that straight away, i have hrt patches but only use them for hot flushes & don't change them as often as i should do, i wear a patch for maybe a month before changing it instead of twice a week & sometimes can go 6 months without needing to use any. I had my hysterectomy when i was 45, at the time i was really fighting against having it done but it really was the best thing to do.

I found these guidelines helpful, Agnus Castus did the trick for me. It has evidence based info on all the options.
www.pms.org.uk/assets/files/guidelinesfinal60210.pdf

I’m always harping on about acupuncture. It can do things western medicine can’t or needs drugs to do. Look it up. Cost me 6 sessions at £50 a go to fix mine. It’s lasted half a year so far.