*Warning* pic attached - does this period clod warrant dr appt?

[PeriodClots]

I'm struggling with heavy periods. In my teens/20s they were light and irregular. After having DC in 30s they because very regular and were a normal flow/length. Now I'm 40s and the last couple of years they've got very heavy. On 1-2 days of each cycle I can't really leave the house due to excessive flow. This pic is of a max absorption tampon (lilets orange box) and was after 1 hr 10 mins. I have to change every 1-1.5 hours and each time the tampon is saturated and a big clot comes out with it.

I feel weak during the days of my period for this reason but my Dr surgery is dreadful for being unable to get appointments and I don't know if there's anything they can do? So I don't want to waste hours trying to get an appointment if a Dr will just say this is normal?

Yes, you definitely need to visit the doctor. I had clots like yours, it turned out I had fibroids.

I have had them maybe half that size at worst, I just put put with it,
as I was given meds but did not want to take them.

I think you are at the worst end of clot size, they will not say it is normal if you show that pic.

Plus it hurts for an hour or so badly right? until it plops out with a gush.

This is a one off per month or multiple?

@Berlinlover whilst I've heard of fibroids I'm not at all clued up on what they actually are, I'll have a google

@coldcallerbaiter it doesn't usually hurt, just feels like my internal organs are all going to fall out. Unpleasant rather than painful. But I pass 10-12 clots like this every period. I hate to think how much blood in total. This one is the largest I get most are 1/2 to 3/4 the size of it so still large.

Ugh, poor you. I don’t miss that. Mirena coil sorted me out. Norethisterone tablets can help as well. I still needed to take them for a little while until Mirena started to work its magic.

Get thee to a doctor!

This is what happened to me a year or so before menopause started.

Ok pain or organs falling out! Yes I know the feel, it’s like mini labour.
I got maybe 1-2 per period month. Yours is extreme then.

The worst thing is it kind of holds off your period flow and when it comes out the blockage is removed and it is like a whoosh of blood, it has been so bad I soaked my car seat or clothes. It’s distressing.

It might be worth meds for it , depends on the cause. It could be fibroids coming out or alternatively it is your actual period and is too fast/ much flow, so you get clots as it bunches up whilst waiting to come out.

Ooooof, you poor thing. I never experienced anything like that so I'm just expressing my sympathy. I hope you get some medical guidance soon, but we know that can be really hit and miss.

My periods have followed a similar trajectory to yours and the heavy, clotting ones in my 40s are all down to the peri menopause. I started HRT about 2 years ago and they are now much lighter. I still have the odd day when I am heavy and have large clots, but not every day. Could be worth having a chat to your GP about the way forward.

Perimenopause - a delightful experience, NOT! When periods can get heavier and closer together and the flow varies. Watch for the moment you think it's nearly over, then a sudden gush can happen when all you've got on is a panty liner. Had occasional big clots, but sounds like yours are frequent. Worth checking with GP, it can make you anaemic. The stuff you don't get told about perimenopause, until it happens!
It's crazy there aren't specialist NHS clinics attached to every health centre, given that half the population go through menopause at some point. A classic case of women getting let down by poor service daily.

Yes save the photo and show the gp

You need blood tests and an ultrasound and a referral to gynae

If you have the means to go private to see a gynae do so. I suggest this too as gynae waiting lists can be miles long. That is well beyond normal bleeding. I had similar sized clots snd was offered ablation surgery. In my case constant fluctuating estrogen and progesterone levels were to blame.

Thanks everyone you've been really helpful. 55 mins after that pic I changed tampon again and had a clot almost as big again so I have 2 pics less than an hour apart to show the frequency and size of blood loss. I actually do have private healthcare through work so yes maybe that's my best option, I'll investigate what it covers.

@PeriodClots I had a hysterectomy this summer after years of clots like years. I did have an ablation 6 years ago, which offered some respite but over the last two years, my periods returns.

It's been life changing!

Please let us know what the doctor says.

Keep taking pictures and gathering proof.

I had clots bigger than that but even so it's very large. I'm having surgery tomo, can't wait.

I have clots like that sometimes, and I have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome).

I usually have smaller clots, but occasionally I'll get honking big ones on e in a while.

My periods are always heavy.

I had an ultrasound scan to confirm PCOS.

I was offered a mini-pill as medication to control it, but sadly it gave me catastrophic migraines, so I had to stop taking after a week.

Now I just manage as best I can.

I've heard about the Mirena coil helping, but I've heard so many horror stories from people having them fitted, and also not sitting right inside them and being on pain. It put me off.

Agree that it’s probably peri. Especially if with flooding.

But do get checked out.

I have heavy periods and have been told to go to A&E if I need to change every hour or more.

I would call 111 and ask for help.

Clots are a nightmare and really hard to manage. I have had a similar issue albeit with smaller clots and when to the gynaecologist to rule out fibroids and a thickening of the uterine wall. I had none of the above. I am 48.
I was given transamin to take at the start of my period and this medication has been very helpful and has made things much more manageable.
You must see a dr though, this is a nightmare.

another peri person who went through this ....Mirena has been fantastic for me, as you are right, it starts to affect things like feeling able to go out the house.

I'm past that stage now but it is grim - poor you. A Transexamic acid prescription might well help. I suspect you will be anaemic too given the amount of blood you are losing and the downside to that is that you bleed more.....

My advice is to photograph and date stamp every time you take a saturated tampon out/pass a clot. Then when you go to the GP if you get one of the idiots who tells you that there is no way you are losing that much blood you can whip out the photos and force them to look as you scroll through your phone - also take a box of the tampons with you and show them the details on the absorbency to prove its not the same as a mini lilet. It all sounds a bit like overkill but so many GPs seem to have learnt at med school that women lose no more than an egg cup of blood over the course of a whole period.

As much as I hate for others to be suffering the same it's good to know I've got company on this. I haven't been able to phone GP yet but will do so tomorrow, and yes I'm armed with the (grim) photographic evidence. I don't fancy the mirena due to friends with horror stories but some of you saying it helped might make me think again if GP suggests it. The ladies I know who had them were all for birth control so maybe that's different 🤷🏼‍♀️

I was exactly the same.

@PeriodClots how have you got on?

I have been given an appointment for 3 weeks time. But with an actual Dr rather than a nurse which is where they usually start at my surgery so I think that's a good sign I'll be taken seriously. Not to be disrespectful to nurses, it's just they aren't qualified to help with everything.

I've also googled typical blood loss on period and saw 30-40ml? Is that right? One single tampon of mine would be that amount. No wonder I feel so crappy.

Im not sure hun, google is terrible for setting people anxiety off, it isn't a doctor when is your appointment? My anxiety would be threw the roof If that was me