Perimenopause & Feeling incredibly unwell for 2 days every month during my period. Anyone else?

[MozzarElla84]

I am early forties and for the past 3-4 years my periods have become dramatically worse. There is the amount of bleeding (flooding and clots) but i feel genuinely ill for about 2-3 days every cycle. Mostly the day before and then the two first days of bleeding, which are always heavy.

I suspect it's a combination of extreme hormonal swings during these days and the iron deficiency worsening everything. It's horrible. I feel so tired and weak and short of breath during these days that i barely function.

Desogestrel pills do not work for me unfortunately, next step is either a mirena coil or uterine ablation, alongside getting my ferritin up. But it's such a long road...gentle iron works well but still messes with my gut, even taking them every other day. Gp won't refer for infusion as my hemoglobin is still fine.
HRT is not prescribed here as much as in the UK and there is a maximum of 5 years here, so I want to wait in case it gets worse, and my other perimenopause symptoms are manageable for now.

Anyway, i am sure i will get there slowly but I was just curious if other ladies experience the same thing where they just can't function and have to stay in bed for most of the day??

And for those getting the mirena, did it helps with the hormonal ups and downs as well as the bleeding?
I have had a mirena about 20 yrs ago but expelled in (so painful!😵‍💫) So I am trying to work op the courage

Thanks in advance!

What are gynaecology services like in your country?. Given your current symptoms it’s of mor benefit for you to see a gynaecologist for further evaluation. You should not have to put up with this. I would not have a repeat Mirena fitted given your previous expulsion of it. It’s also offered because it’s cheap but it only treats the symptoms, not the cause.

Thank you!

Gynaecology services and healthcare in general are high standard i think (Netherlands) but we don't have regular/annual gynae appointments like in some other eu countries. (Smears etc are usually done at gp practice). I have been to a gynae for investigations 1,5 year ago and everything looked good so she also said it is hormonal and symptoms haven't changed since, so no reason to assume otherwise.

Gp said mirena or ablation are the best options in my case. I could push for HRT but like i said it's possibly better to save this for later if other options dont work. Ibuprofen definitely helps with the bleeding but not with how ill i feel on those days.

What is surprising to me is that i feel like death warmed up those first two days, incapable of anything, and then ok after that I just don't understand how the difference can be so enormous between those two days and the rest of my cycle so i am wondering what is the main driver behind that (hormonal drop or blood loss?)