What determines whether a period is heavy or not?

[QueenofmyPrinces]

I apologise in advance for how graphic my post will be.

I had to attend A&E five days ago (unrelated matter) and routine blood tests showed I was very anaemia, only just over the transfusion line.

I have always had heavy periods where for the first 48 hours it is just horrendous. I have to change super heavy tampons every two hours, they are saturated, and sometimes I will leak through my underwear, my jeans and onto the sofa. I wear sanitary towels as well as the Super tampons and they will also become soaked. I lose lots of blood clots and they literally just fall out of me if I’m sitting on the toilet. Whenever I go the loo, if I look down into the bowl afterwards, the water is just blood red.

After the above going on for 48 hours, things then slow down and I have what I consider to be light bleeding for another three days.

I always knew the first 48 hours of my period were pretty intense but I have never considered it to be typically abnormal either. I just thought that’s what everyone’s period was like when it first appears.

However, after the results of my blood test, and the A&E doctor asking me about my periods, I’m starting to question whether actually my periods aren’t normal.

I’m thinking of speaking to my GP about it but I don’t want to cause a fuss if what I experience is still in the realms of what is considered ‘normal’.

Does anyone have any thoughts or advice?

Please speak to your GP as soon as possible. I always thought I had heavy periods for the first few days but compared to what you go through they are mild.
You are losing a lot of blood during every period so it might be that the GP will want you to take supplements or something.
I hope things improve for you OP.

Speak to your GP. It’s not normal for most women -although I didn’t know that for many years!

It was also normal for me although for two days I was changing more frequently than 2 hours and I would also be up 3-4 times a night but huge clots, lots of leaking, pain & worry about going anywhere. Sometimes the bleeding was so bad I had to phone in sick.

I was on prescription iron (ferrous fumerate) 3 x a day for 12 years.

Tranexamic acid can be prescribed to reduce the bleeding (works for a lot of people) so it is definitely worth speaking to GP. Whilst sitting in gynae dept waiting for an ultrasound the poster said ‘you don’t have to put up with heavy periods’ -what a joke, I’d been under them for 5 years and still no resolution! Thankfully me breaking down and begging for a hysterectomy made them realise I couldn’t take it any longer. Best decision ever, there are other treatment options but none of them worked for me. Speak to your GP ASAP.

Your periods sound exactly like mine! They only became this way after I had dd2 4 years ago. Before that I would use regular or super tampons and need to change every 4 or so hours and even then they weren't completely saturated. Didn't need a towel as back up and never leaked.

My iron tested low about a year ago and the doctor asked about my periods and like you, I said they were fine as I just thought it was my new normal and adjusted to it. After speaking to a few friends I realised that they were on the heavy side of normal. I took ferrous sulphate for a few months which got my levels just into normal. I continued to take it every other day and now just take it during my period. Funnily enough the last 3 months my periods have been more like they were pre-dd2.

You should discuss with your GP and come up with a plan for replacing the iron you might be losing during your period as it sounds like you're losing a lot of blood.

This sounds similar to my mum. Super heavy periods and low iron. She thought her periods were normal for years. Once she realised how not normal it was, her GO recommended the coil. She said it has changed her life (when on period) and can't believe she thought it was normal.

This is what the NHS say:-
"Most women will lose less than 16 teaspoons of blood (80ml) during their period, with the average being around 6 to 8 teaspoons. Heavy menstrual bleeding is defined as losing 80ml or more in each period, having periods that last longer than 7 days, or both. But it's not usually necessary to measure blood loss".

Please talk to your GP and also ask that person for a referral to a gynaecologist. There is a cause for this and that needs to be addressed as well as your current symptoms. Bleeding like you describe is called menorrhagia, its not normal and this has caused you to become anaemic. You certainly should not have to put up with this (and my peri menopausal bleeds due to hormonal imbalances became even more problematic along the lines you describe since last August. Tranexamic acid tabs were not fully effective and I still bled on those as with northisterone. I went onto have ablation surgery)

That's considered heavy bleeding and your GP should get it investigated. Mine got increasingly like this over a couple of years and I thought I'd get fobbed off so kept putting off going to the Dr. They didn't hesitate to send me for a scan and i was diagnosed with fibroids which have now been treated. With your low iron levels i think you definitely need to see them.
www.nhs.uk/conditions/heavy-periods/

Thank you everyone. I have contacted my GP surgery and filled in an online form where you detail what you want to speak to a doctor about, and they contact you within 6 hours.

The hospital blood tests also found me to have very low phosphate and B12 levels so I mentioned that on my firm too just in case it’s relevant.

@Cric

This sounds similar to my mum. Super heavy periods and low iron. She thought her periods were normal for years. Once she realised how not normal it was, her GO recommended the coil. She said it has changed her life (when on period) and can't believe she thought it was normal.

Unfortunately advice until fairly recently would condescendingly tell women that the blood loss wasn't that great--only a spoonful or so each period, and seemed to have been written by medical experts who weren't women. I know so many women who have had almost had to give up work because of flooding and exhaustion. It makes me so cross.

I have spoken to two GPs and I’m being referred for a pelvic ultrasound scan.

The use of Mirena and Copper Coils were discussed but they don’t want to insert anything into me without ensuring that everything is ok anatomically first.

In the meantime I will just endure them and take my iron supplements I guess.