Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Charys on March 13, 2018, 04:59:58 PM
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This perimeno period thing is really getting to me, I actually feel scared of my period coming as I feel I could bleed to death. I know it sounds dramatic ::), but it just scares me and I have panic attacks during it. For the last couple of years or so, and I've posted about this before, it is getting to me more and more over time. I've had bleeding at 23 days and sometimes at 28 days and sometimes a few days later. I know I obviously come into the 'heavy bleeding' category and have estimated a loss of 180 ml or something like that each period, with day 2 and 3 being the worse, but even that changes. Nothing is the same anymore, heavy days have changed, bleeding lasts longer, sometimes shorter, stops for 12 hours then starts again, comes quickly usually in rushes...blah blah blah (I'm sure you've all heard this so many times before)....but it is these 2 -3 bad days that really get to me badly and the not knowing what to expect each time. I wasn't so bad when I was using tampons, but I switched to towels a couple of years ago, as the stop start nature meant tampon insertion was hard at times. (sorry TMI probably) There is no pain involved, and no bleeding between periods, clots if they occur are very small.
I take iron supplements daily to stave off anaemia, as I am prone that way.
Can anyone give me some advice - is this hideously heavy ? Should I be more worried ? Have people have heavier than this ? I guess I just want to hear that I'm not alone, that this is an expected perimeno quantity of blood loss. I would be grateful for any thoughts and experiences.
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I was going to add, I first posted about this last November - and had some fantastic replies which I have re-read, including some links to articles. I don't want people to think that I'm ignoring the comments I've had before, it is more that I'm asking about the 'heavy' element, as nothing describes what 'heavy' is.
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4 me heavy was 10 days bleeding: clots, sudden loss of blood, the need to change pads every 25-40 mins., in the night I would sleep on a thick towel as it would drain - down my bottom onto the bed :'(. AND THE PAIN :-\ :'(. for the 1st two days. Then I would have 10 days without bleeding B4 it began again. I would move and clots would leave my body to the point that I didn't dare move in case it leaked. For 2-3 years until I went on The Pill.
Then the PMT began :-\
28 day cycle. Someone once told me that a lady's period loss was no more than a tablespoon ful. I never measured mine but know that my loss was a lot more. I was never anaemic as we had a balanced diet whilst I was growing up with lots of exercise and home grown foods.
How many pads do you use? How thick do you require?
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Thanks for your reply CLKD, I really appreciate it, as am feeling low today.
I'm basing my guesstimated loss on the last time I used tampons for the whole period. On the 2-3 heaviest days a super sized - orange - tampon (I'm basing it on that, since even though it s a while since I used them I don't think the flow has changed to currently) lasts about 1 and 1/2 - 1 and 3/4 hours.
I do apologise for the type of information I'm putting here, but I guess you guys are used to it. :( Without wishing to be - err - too personal - Since changing to pads I don't seem to lose vaginally without going to the toilet or when I make a physical movement that causes the positional change and 'whoosh'. I'm not sure what that is, always been the same and a bit 'vaccum sealed' internally ;D. So, during the night with a pad nothing comes out, but its all backed up and floods first thing.
Tablespoon, yeah right LOL That's 15 mls only. I don't remember that little even from being a teenager.
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Nowt is too much info on here ::). Been there, done it.
That 'whoosh' covers it completely 4 me! I would bleed 24/7 until the period stopped. I could never use tampons as my vagina is too short, it was pads ........ initially via a belt: remember those :-\ :-X : then as in the pants-type pads arrived, I tried most. The more modern protection hadn't yet been developed so they were quite bulky. Sometimes I needed to stick one on top of the other ......... and the leakage round the edges proved that they were designed by someone not familiar with the Female Form :poke2:
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I used to worry on a period, thought i was going to bleed to death most months and would panic. At night I would have to use 2 tampons side by side and a sanitary towel and still have to rush to the toilet 2 or 3 times. During the day I would have to plan where the toilets were if going out ready for the hourly change and holidays were planned around my periods! I was very regular so could usually do this within a day or two. Also the more stress I had in my life always made it worse.
The only time I noticed lighter periods was when I was taking ibuprofen for about a year with a frozen shoulder.
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Dierdre! Thanks so much. Thats how I feel right now, like my period is ruling my activity, life and daily events. Its not even like I can guarantee which day its going to affect. I guess you never did bleed to death though ;) We went on a cruise in the summer, and day 2 came on the day we were on a big off-shore visit in Russia. It was a nightmare, I can't even describe how terrible it was, I flooded a toilet, had it on my clothes and everything. The whole day was hideous.
I honestly can't believe you said that about Ibruprofen, I was literally just thinking that I'd heard it can significantly reduce bleeding and was coming back on to ask if anyone had tried it during heavy bleed days !
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I can't tell you how much better I feel having had this on-line interaction with you guys. Its not something people talk about IRL. I tried with my mother as shes the only person I felt I could ask, and she clammed up on it.
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I could never go on holiday around that time :-\. I would have required a suitcase to carry the pads and towels in ;D
Being a woman sucks :-X
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It really does suck. I used to laugh when people said 'being a woman is crap' at times.....I never really knew how crap until the last year or so of crap.
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It certainly does CLKD :-\
Charys the day I went to
See my menopause guru I had to stand with my legs crossed because it was literally running down my legs :o
My husband asked my if I wanted him to carry me!!!
I had to go into the library and stuff that blue hand towel in my knickers!!
When we got to the hospital they had cream leather seats ::)
You can imagine my reaction to that!!
My super plus tampon would only last an hour too, it's truly horrid. Since I've started HRT they last 4/5 days instead of 8/10 and for the first time ever I can use regular tampons :D
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i can also relate to all this , i went to an event last june i had been really looking foward to and there i had my first flood , lucky i was wearing black trousers , then i missed a period and i thought it was the end of my periods but then the nightmare started and was bleeding continuosly but lightly for 2 months , and when had period had to use tampon plus pad, i was sent to gynae for further investigation and ended up with scan and then biopsy , in december i was told i had hyperplasia and given prog treatment for three months first month was fine , second month started bleeding like a light period and then the first 2 weeks of 3rd month a nightmare , sores between legs whatever pads i used ,bleeding would stop and then suddenly at night i would flood with big clots , 2 mornings when i got to work about an hour after getting up i had floods so bads had to rinse my trousers and dry them at work , now i have had 8 days of only very very light bleeding so i hope it's sorting it's self out ???
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How awful :(
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Ladies I seriously don't know how you cope with that I'm so blood phobic best thing I ever did was have that hysterectomy,I so admire you for taking it in your stride the way you do I just couldn't it wrecked me mentally.I still hate blood I wish I could change the colour of it lol.good luck everyone xx
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I used to feel really ill if I heard the siren of an Ambulance but that stopped once I worked in a Hospital ::). Blood can do 'strange' things to people, I've seen the tallest rugby players faint.
Is it the warning red colour I wonder?
It's human sick I don't do :-X - :scottie: :cat48: OK with, human :-X :-X.
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Oh my goodness, some of these stories :o
So maybe I'm not as hideously bad as I thought compared to some, on the scale....further down towards pretty bad lol
It panics me as when it is really fast and sudden I can kind of imagine it not stopping and my body draining of blood - like haemorraghing. My husband has been logical with me and explained that in ml I lose about 0.32 of a pint each period - when you give blood they quite happily take a pint and people are ok. So, I'm losing a full pint in 3 months - to try and kind of give me some perspective on it. I get that, it does help and calms me a bit - but its the thought that I might just gush and not stop that really freaks me.
Trouble is if blood were green it would still freak phobic people, as we'd be used to green being the danger colour lol
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I had the same, one morning I actually passed out on the bathroom floor. Took myself off to a&e, only took 30 minutes to see the doc & leaked while talking to him never been so embarrassed.
I was examined & given a jab in the bum, no idea what it was, ;D my Ferritin level was bugger all. So was scripted iron supplements & put on primolut-Nor ( I'm in Spain) That sorted me out for a while, they found a polyp or something which I was told could have been the course.
But I'd had heavy periods for years before.
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One is unlikely to bleed to death from the womb. From a nose bleed maybe ........ it never crossed my mind that I would die as periods were 'normal'; apparently!
OH THE PAIN though :'(
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I thought periods were something of the past for me, been post meno 8 years but started Femseven Conti patches 3 weeks ago and woke up in the night with the old familiar period pains and a period. I know this is a common side effect and should settle within 6 months but the memories of awful periods came flooding back and panic. I'm going away in two weeks hope it's stopped by then.
Can I still take Vagifem on a period or will it just flush out and anyone on Femseven Conti please, does the bleeding settle and stop within the six months?
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Charys you are not alone in this! When I was 48 and in full peri stage I was having 3 bleeds a month with severe clotting and like you changing pads approx every half hour- it was awful and scary! Not surprisingly I became anaemic and then had issues with iron tablets making my IBS worse 😡 Periods stopped approx 18 months after that- which of course was a relief! Hang in there- it does get better and make sure you try and rest whenever possible xx
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What a kind reply lovesFlorida ! I also have IBS and issues with iron, but I have found the ferrous fumarate causes me the most manageable/least side effects. Can I ask another question of you - once your periods stopped finally - did they restart at anytime ? If they did restart was it even worse (the stray period) than ever?
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Hiyer Deirdre,
I'm sorry I don't know the answer to your question, I hope someone comes along who knows......Maybe if they don't on this thread, then another thread could be started about your femsevern conti issues.
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Maybe put the product name into the 'search' button ?
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Hi Charys! Once me periods stopped that was it- so haven't had a bleed for just under 4 years now-but have been put on HRT as have awful menpause symptoms and apparently some women have a bleed even on the conti one- so not looking forward to that. I will keep you posted xx
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Hi Charys
My sister went on the mini pill at your age with this problem and after a couple of months her periods stopped and never had one since, she's 55 now and post meno. The doctor took a blood test and said she was through the menopause and didn't need them anymore.
Lovesflorida, i've just had a really heavy period on a conti, took the patch off 2 days ago and now it's settling but i was so scared and panicked. Thinking of starting again as my VA is coming back with a vengance and i might of been a bit hasty. So if you do bleed try and stick it out, it might not happen again.
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Thanks for the heads up Dierdre- yes I intend to stick it out- although not looking forward to a bleed after all this time 😳
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Thanks Dierdre and IloveFlorida,
I can't have the mini pill unfortunately. :-\
What is VA Dierdre ?
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It's vaginal atrophy and I hope you never have it, not everyone does but if you do it's for life. It's manageable with local treatments, but as you get older some doctors are reluctant to carry on with full HRT and that is worrying as some of us need both.
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Freaking again ladies, give me your calmness and wisdom. :'( :)
So, this month totally different period again. Came at 21 days (earliest yet!) and was much lighter than usual.....half of the usual amount...but at 10 days still light bleeding. For days just pink spotting like the period tailing off and today a wee bit heavier. What the flip is going on ? Is this an expected thing ?
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My sister suffered badly with heavy periods (she also had endometriosis) and had a cervical ablation (day procedure) in the end. It's stopped her periods and she said it made her hormones calm down.
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Thanks Dangermouse, but this one isn't as heavy in my usual pattern, its just really early and going on for ages.....stopping and starting....
I'm sorry if I'm getting boring, but there is nobody 'in the real world' I can talk to about this and its driving my anxious mind to distraction.
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I've honestly lost track of what is normal and not (I'll be 50 this year) and I'm so hoping I'm close to this all ending. Without reading your sensible posts here, from those who have 'been there and done it', I just stress myself hugely.
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It's probably just your hormones darting about all over the place and anovulatory cycles.
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So, this is a situation that others recognise and have ?
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I'm afraid this is just part of menopause and periods do seem to get worse towards the end like there having a last fling. Then you suddenly start to go for months without one and then a few for a while until nothing. It's great then not having to plan your life around your periods.
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Thanks Dierdre.....oh please please let this be close.... :'(
Still spotting on Day 11 - 'think' I may have had similar about a year ago, but don't recall it that well. Its nuts this hormone thing. How did people manage many years ago, before all the information and medication and so on ?