Almost weekly flooding.. anyone had similar?

[Myotherface]

In my late thirties, three kids with normal deliveries. Had an ultrasound a year ago due to really heavy bleeding that wasn't stopping and they found a 3cm fibroid. The bleeding stopped with cerazette but have since stopped it when I got my five years old mirena swapped for a new one. On my old mirena I didn't get any periods for the first three years. Now I'm getting normal, light periods but also flooding almost weekly. Last week I was sitting in an armchair reading when suddenly felt this gush of blood. Armchair ruined, same with jeans and my knickers were full of pretty big blood clots. It's previously happened during my therapy appointment. Now I'm anxious it'll happen somewhere really awkward plus worried about what it could be. Last cervical smear was normal a year ago. Anyone else had similar? I'm thinking it's probably the fibroid but can they bleed this much? And why always the sudden flooding?

Hi @Myotherface, sorry you're going through this. We're just giving your thread a bump in case anyone's around to give you some advice and reassurance.

I feel for you and have had similar issues re flooding and ended up having ablation surgery (nothing else worked). Flooding can and does have an impact on day to day life and such bleeding too can make you become anaemic.

You need to see a gynaecologist re this issue and asap. GP can and should refer you but if you can pay for an initial consultation then make contact directly asap with the local private BUPA or Spire hospital.

Fibroids can and do grow and can cause heavy bleeding to arise and this is likely to be the cause. What has been tried to rectify it has clearly not worked out either.

Definitely hot it to your GP.

It needs treatment.

As you already have a Mirena, it sounds as as something else is going on.

I doubt it's the fibroid as the Mirena should keep that small- the hormone it has in it does keep the lining thin and stop fibroids growing so much. A fibroid would only be an issue it had grown a lot. 3cm is small. The reason they can cause bleeding is when they are big they increase the surface area so more blood.

As PP says, if you have £250 you can probably get a private appt in a week or two. Otherwise push your GP for a referral.

They might give you Tranexamic acid meanwhile or Norethisterone to stop the bleeding so do see your GP.

Thanks for the replies. I've called the gp this week just gone and they've referred me back to gynae. I have a prescription of tranexamic acid but it's not very helpful as the flooding episodes are impossible to predict and start and stop within five seconds. I don't mind the bit of bleeding in between periods but it's those sudden floods that soak through my pants and down to my knees are something I wouldn't want to be surprised by at work, in a swimming pool etc..

The fibroid was already causing bleeding a year ago when it was only 3cm. They really couldn't find anything else. All the inflammation markers were normal,std tests normal, hysteroscopy didn't find anything abnormal apart from the fibroid, normal ovaries, cervix,endometrium etc. Normal smears. I really can't think what else it could be apart from the fibroid. The only thing I've wondered about is whether it could be that the fibroid blocks the cervix somehow and traps the blood that's slowly bled into the uterus. That could explain why there's a huge amount of blood within a few seconds and then nothing for days. Never heard of anything like this though so not sure if it's anatomically possible.

@AttilaTheMeerkat was your flooding similar in that it was very sudden with lots of blood and then nothing straight after or for days after?

I bled continuously for some 4 months and over time I began to bleed more heavily and without any real warning. After flooding it eased up a little but it did not entirely stop.

In my case tranexamic acid did nothing but northisterone prescribed by the gynaecologist did help . However when I ran out of tablets a couple of days before ablation surgery was scheduled I started to bleed again. Further northisterone prescribed did not work.