What do women with (very) heavy periods use

[Marriedtoafarter]

I had been on the pill since I a teenager (due to heavy periods) and have stopped taking it now a year after having DC.

I just had my 3rd period and they are so heavy for 24ish hours, they only last 3 days which is good but when it’s bad I’m going to the toilet hourly to change a tampon and pad as it’s started coming through to the pad.

At night time I have to get up twice in the night and in the morning I have to dash to the loo to change. I can’t imagine what I’d do if I wasn’t sleeping in a tampon as a pad on its own would not manage but I don’t really like the thought of sleeping in tampons.

I will probably ask a dr but honestly haven’t had time to brush my hair let alone book the dr so in the meantime does anyone have any magic products or suggestions?

Tranexamic acid really works for me, so much that if I accidentally miss a dose while on my period I get bad flooding. I haven't noticed my periods lengthening but they've always been very long

Lilets are a better shape than Tampax, as they are more of a plug shape. I used the super super plus orange ones, with long nighttime pads. Still woke up a couple of times to change, but also only one day/night, and only lasted three days.

I use period pants in the day and I usually go through about 5 pairs during my waking hours. I suffer quite a lot with clots between the bleeding so whenever I feel that I’ve passed one I just nip to the toilets and remove the clot from my pants with some toilet paper and flush it.

At night I use maternity pads/nappies.

I also have to use maternity pads/nappies if I’m going to be somewhere which means I can’t access a toilet for a few hours, I.e if I’m going to be on a long car journey.

Agree with previous posters about tranexamic acid.
My periods have always been heavy but became unbearably so in peri-menopause (I'm 49).
I saw a gynae who prescribed me with continuous Utrogestan (micronised progeterone) & wonderfully my periods have stopped. I never want another period!!

Flex cups and period pants

Menstrual cup and nighttime pad.
But then I got the Mirena coil and it solved all my period problems. I highly recommend it.

I routinely now use Tena incontinence pants overnight. Last month it was so heavy I wore one during the day to go to an event I couldn’t miss, and felt fine doing it in jeans with a very long vest tucked firmly into the jeans and a shirt over the top.

My day 2-3 is now painless but insanely heavy. I was in a queue in The White Company before Christmas extremely aware that I was bleeding as much as I previously have during miscarriages and thanking the Lord for products that meant I wasn’t paranoid about leaking in the worst possible shop.

@RandomMess - that’s the first I’ve heard of there being any limit. I’ve been taking tranexamic acid for a couple of years and I often take it to Day 5 or so of my period. I agree with others that it does make periods a bit longer (which is a ball ache as mine are already 5 days at least) but the bleeding is so much less, so it’s an easy compromise for me.

Before I got the tranexamic acid prescription, I was bleeding through a super tampon an
hour. Now I can easily go 4-6 hours before I need to change a super tampon.

Moon cup was a total game changer for me. Also use period pants for first 3 days and nights.
10x better than tampons or pads.

This. Then heavy duty period pants. Game changer.

@DappledOliveGroves I haven't taken it for 15 years but have just checked BNF guidelines - up to 4 days.

Hence an issue for me as I had heavy bleeding for at least 7 days and was constantly anemic, especially as my cycle was only 21-23 days at this point 😭

Agree with the menstrual cup and period pants combo!

I have very heavy periods I use maternity pads lilets ones when very heavy they are massive and thick. Then I use nighttime ones with wings like always when not so heavy

i was prescribed Noresterone after being on tranexsmic acic for 4 months on the trot then they decided not to work.....try heavy heavy bleeding 38 days on the bounce...bloody awful !! noresterone worked...boom have that !
btw...do not ! take out the coil and have the sodding injection...1 of that is all that caused 5 months of grief !!!

Incontinence pants. I have extremely heavy flow though.

This. Periods got suddenly very heavy in the last 6 months. Had a scan and it's fibriods. Gp has suggested the coil but in the meantime I have gone from emptying my full moon cup three times in a hour to once a day. Tranexamic acid is working so well. My periods last longer but as long as I take it on day two and three I don't loose much blood overall. Much better for my iron levels I hope!

I don't like applicator tampons so I use Lilets super plus extra tampons. They are the only ones I can use for the first two days. I sleep in super absorbent period pants but have to get up quickly in the morning as I'm worried they will leak (they never have btw). It's a pain but manageable

There’s a brand of tampons that you can’t get easily in the UK called O.B. Made by Johnson & Johnson. Their highest absorbency is higher than UK tampons. They are a huge brand in Germany. I bought some in Germany and was seriously impressed as I didn’t need to change as frequently as Lillets. They are available on Amazon but expensive by comparison.

Wuka max absorbency period pants are amazing. They hold 12 ultra tampons worth of blood. Not bulky.

You can tell whether people suggest menstrual cups in situations like this that they haven’t experienced real heavy periods! If I put a wine glass up there I’d still flood, never mind a tiny menstrual cup!

Mind you saying that tranexamic tablets made no difference to me either. I needed a blood transfusion and provera tablets 3 x daily.

Heavy periods is serious shit and there would be immediate cure if it were men suffering!!

2 nighttime pads overlapping each other and changed every 90 mins

Transexamic acid is a game changer I can't do without it