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[TheWorstWitch]

Ummmm....hello? Good place to start I guess! Firstly having only found these forums on Saturday can I say I have already found SO much useful information here - it's made a real difference to where I'm at already.

To sum up briefly where I'm at then. I'm currently very nearly 45 - literally just a few weeks off. Always had very regular periods - could time pretty much to the hour when I'd come on and generally lasted 5 - 8 days. Occasional episodes of nasty period pains but nothing major, and never needed more than a "super" size tampon to cope. Two years ago I suddenly started getting a lot more pain, and then had a horrendously heavy period - flooding, the lot. Needless to say I was out and about at the time wearing light coloured clothes...so that's one "worst nightmare" ticked off, then...  went back to normal for a month or two then everything kicked back in again big time - often crippling pains and my new "normal" became it not being unusual to flood straight through a super-plus tampon plus heavy duty pad inside half an hour. Each time though this was only day 2 or 3 - I didn't generally go on for much longer than I had. Start of this year the heaviness started extending out into additional days and the whole thing stretching out to often 8 - 10 days, plus I was starting to get increasingly irregular - anywhere from 21 days to 31. Finally in MayI got by my utter conviction that I'd simply be told "it's natural, get on with it" and went to the doctors - my thinking being that I'd ask to get put back onto the contraceptive patch that suited me so well for years as that would hopefully regulate things down again. Finally got a Dr's appt in June, by which time I'd already done enough research to realise that this was almost certainly perimenopause kicking in. Doctor was remarkably unhelpful (you don't say) - first off wanted to send me for blood tests -  which I now know would have been pointless in any case - and has referred me for a scan (TV US - I've had the letter through now to ring for the appointment for that) and finally after I basically pleased with her gave me a three month prescription for the patch, and made it absolutely clear that she didn't want to see me back there until I'd had the scan... she also said that she thought I was probably anaemic, but again wasn't willing to do anything about that until the scan results.

The patch so far doesn't seem to be making the blindest bit of odds although in fairness I did realise that I probably needed to get through the first full cycle on it to properly tell - I'm now three weeks in and on my "patch free" week....I'm also on day 24 of my period now...no, not my cycle, my actual period. I reckon about 35% of that time I've been ludicrously heavy (My new record is overflowing a super-plus in 20 minutes), and I've had about two days in that timeframe where I've been light enough that I've thought maybe I was finishing... I'm also now suffering quite distinct anaemic symptoms - quite severe breathlessness and a total lack of energy a lot of the time, very pale (not anything that I'd ever have described myself as before) insides of eyelids pretty much white etc. I started taking Ibuprofen a few days ago - about 2 doses a day - not sure whether that's helping or not.

Apologies - I appreciate this is possibly TMI for a first post - but I am now feeling increasingly desperate and utterly fed up with not feeling like "me" any more. I'm meant to be staying at a friends place in just over a week - I'm in an utter panic at the idea of flooding overnight - bad enough at home, worse by miles away somewhere else. I'm starting to feel as though I've got to put my life on hold - even driving to work is becoming a problem as my commute is a bit over an hour and that's quite frequently too long for the defences to hold out!

I'm currently losing weight (conscious choice) and exercising - or rather trying to dependant on energy levels, it's getting tougher and tougher to be honest - as I know both of these should help. Also focusing on making sure I eat an iron rich diet and am taking "Wellwoman" capsules to try to give myself a bit of a boost. Just ordered Magnesium thanks to seeing advice on here too.

Sorry for the novel - I'll shut up now... 

[Mbrown001]

 

Oh you poor thing. I had much the same but a much more understanding GP.
You need to find yourself a different doctor as soon as you can. There really is no need to have to bleed like this.
The coil can sometimes really help with heavy bleeds and there is medication that will slow or stop this constant bleeding.
Meantime I would suggest that you get a good iron supplement and start taking it ASAP.

Someone else will be along to welcome you soon and with more ideas on how to help.

Please try and get another appointment to see a GP with half a brain.


Mrs Brown

[cubagirl]

 

Please try & find a sympathetic GP, they are worth their weight in gold. Still flabbergasted that they are so clueless in this day & age.

I had hysterectomy in my mid 30's due to constant bleeding & pain, not saying that's what you need, but my gynae suggested it as best solution for me.

[CLKD]

  from me too!

Your GP can prescribe a drug that will relieve such heavy bleeding and should have ordered a blood test for anaemia at once regardless of the other investigations ordered.  Is there a Practice Nurse?

Browse round. Make notes.  Some ladies find that keeping a mood/food/symptom diary useful.

Nothing is TMI or taboo on here  . 

[TheWorstWitch]

Thank you all for being so welcoming! I actually feel better just for having "put it all out there" as it were - not exactly a conversation you can generally have, is it!

I KNOW this is ridiculous but a blood test is a real last resort for me as I'm incredibly phobic about needles. A finger-**** test I can cope with fine, but the full needle in the arm job - I'm feeling sick just thinking about it. Definitely won't be going the surgical route - I have some solid choices already made about that on various levels.

I'd already thought that when I go back to the GP I'm going to get an appintment with the nurse practitioner - not least as I can get a pre-arranged appointment with her rather than having to faff about with ringing at 8am while I'm driving to work and then not being able to get through anyway so thanks for suggesting that - confirms I may be on the right track there!

Found out over the weekend that our surgery is in the NHS equivalent of "special measures" at the moment - this may also be why they have such awful problems keeping staff. At the moment we have no female doctors at all which is remarkably unhelpful. Having said that the female doctor I did see who has now left was ALSO remarkably unhelpful so hey, ho!  Getting appointments at a time that actually suits a working person has always been tricky, but is now almost impossible - might be better is they didn't happily give away the first thing in the morning and last thing in the afternoon appointments to all the retired folk who can go at any old time!

[babyjane]

Hi, glad you joined  , it's the best menopause treatment available - support and cyber friendship from ladies who really 'get it'.

Floridix is a good iron supplement/tonic.

I also had a hysterectomy like cubagirl, when i was 38 for bleeding and pain so I got away with the worst of the bleeding side of menopause and I think it must be the worst.  I can still remember being tied to the calendar, unable to plan to go anywhere and being housebound for one week out of four every month.  I hated that standing up and feeling the 'glub glub' sensation (sorry, just wanted you to know it is not unusual at this time of life  )

That said I don't believe there is no way round it and this forum is full of different ladies, different opinions and different treatments.  Browse round, read the posts, join in.  Take what you find relevant and scroll past what you don't need.  Above all enjoy it, it really helps and check out the 'Funny side of menopause' section for some light relief 

[TheWorstWitch]

Aargh yes Babyjane that sensation is HORRIBLE!

Thanks for the recommendation on the iron supplement too.

Honestly - the more I read on here the more I find stuff and wonder whether it might all be  linked together - I've been suffering awful joint pain in my hip since last autumn - I'd put it down to arthritis that was diagnosed years ago -I know it's in both knees and was told at the time it would probably "travel" so had assumed that the hip was that too - I'm wondering, now! Also - restless legs, and random skin itches - I had NO idea that those could be symptoms of perimenopause too!

[babyjane]

Oh yes on all accounts.  It does run its course but it can be a bit of a bumpy ride until it does. Find out as much as you can about treatments and what you want to do before you go to the doctor again.  It will empower you.

[Hurdity]

Hi TheWorstWitch

from me too!

I second that re Floradix - I take the tonic ( only now and again and less than the dose) - just to keep my levels optimal because I still have a bleed in my 60's. It is very gentle. You are very likely anaemic if you are losing that much blood but if you take this - perhaps take the recommended dose at first and then as you feel better ease off a little - although in your case a blood tests might be helpful?

It sounds like you are in very early peri-menopause from your cycle length and the ones that are close together may be anovulatory bleeds ie due to excess oestrogen without the progesterone from ovulation so your lining could get thicker and shed erratically and heavily. A Mirena coil would definitely help - especially if you are used to synthetic progestogens ( from the patch - which one do you use?). Then if you start getting menopausal symptoms you can add in oestrogen ( as a patch if this is what you prefer). The patch free week probably doesn't suit women in peri-menopause because the crash is too big (both from progesterone withdrawal symptoms and the oestrogen dip - leading to mood swings!

There is also a contraceptive pill specially designed for peri-menopausal women - called QLAIRA which only has two tablet free days - buit a variable amount of oestrogen (and a progestogen) in tablet form.

There is information about this here:
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/contra2.php (scroll down)

and about bleeding treatments here:
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/periodtreatments.php

Hope this helps

Hurdity x

[Elizabethrose]

Hi Theworstwitch, welcome to the forum, lovely to have you join us!

I haven't experienced the very heavy bleeding you're having to manage but it may be a good idea to speak with nearly50 who has horrors to deal with on the bleeding front! She'll be able to offer you excellent advice re iron levels etc. She may not see this thread and you can't PM other members yet (think you have to have posted 10 times). Machair set up a thread for late peri women which discusses bleeds, mucus and spotting etc but we really talk about all sorts. nearly50 is a regular poster so pop along and have a chat with her. Just add what you want to the thread and she's bound to respond. x

This is the link
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,31902.msg584120.html#new

[CLKD]

I had heavy bleeding through most of my menstruating years  and DREADFUL pain.  Fortunately peri-meno got rid of that!

As oestrogen levels drop off so muscles may become lax = aches and pains.  Also, the body may become dry - inside and out: nostrils, deep in the ears, vagina, skin    ............

[TheWorstWitch]

Elizabethrose thank you for the link - I'll take a look!

Hurdity The patch (Evra) is the only contraception I've ever used aside from the obvious condoms - I have a truly shocking memory and simply never trusted myself to remember the pill - another reason why I was massively relieved to note that HRT should I need it also comes in patch form! I don't even manage to remember to take supplements every day so the idea of something that I rely on so totally...errr no!  Thanks for your links too - more reading!

Babyjane I'm a firm believer in going to the Doctor's armed with the facts - when my surgery tried to withhold the Evra from me many years ago on various spurious excuses (but actually because they didn't like the cost) I tread everything I could find and wrote a complaint letter to the practise manager with all the reasons why what I'd been told was bunkum. Got a reply inside a week telling me to go and collect a prescription... 

CLKD that about the muscles makes sense - also explains why it's been helped by exercise!

[nearly50]

Welcome TheWorstWitch, I hope just posting here helps you realise you're not on your own, which I think is half the battle.

what a shame you've got such heavy periods, mine are pretty horrendous but don't sound as bad as yours. I had a 20 something day period recently and it just drains the life out of you, doesn't it? I've had 10 day periods for the past 2 and a half years and I know what you mean about the horror of a commute, mine is 1 hour 15 minutes and sometimes when someone catches me on the way in I want to scream as I know I'm running out of time! I can also empathise with putting your life on hold, it is rubbish but as I keep telling myself, it won't last forever.

Anyway, maybe the scan will find you have fibroids to explain the heavy bleed? If I had been more sensible, I probably would've got a Mirena fitted 2 years ago, but for various reasons haven't. I have friends who swear by it and have had no periods for years. Alternatively you could get transexamic acid to stem the flow? Options for me are waiting for them to shrink or hysterectomy, so I'm going with the wait and see option.

NHS seem happy with ferritin levels of over 15 but it seems you should be closer to 50-70 for optimal health. Mine was 10 when I was tested (had dropped 10 points in 6 months) and have steadily built it up to 50 something now. I take ferrous fumerate, don't think Floridix would've helped because my levels were so low. Worth getting that tested, as well as Vitamin D (might be cause of muscle pain) and thyroid too. I know you said you were phobic about needles though, so maybe that isn't an option for you.

As for worries about flooding at your friends, I now use a towel, a Boots maternity pad, and sometimes when things are pretty bad, Tena ladies' pants

Have you had any hot flushes/night sweats yet? Probably if you post any random symptom you've had into the search screen, you'll find someone who has had the same thing!

Sorry for the long post, please keep posting though.

[TheWorstWitch]

Thanks for the lovely reply Nearly50 - I was wondering about the fibroids thing myself - and yes hopefully the scan will show one way or the other although if it shows I have it may be that there's not a lot that can be done anyway other than as you say, "wait and see".

Honestly no idea if I can do the blood test thing or not - at the moment I'm swinging towards "not" but we'll see. Also wary of Mirena as I was told years ago it wasn't a good option for me - I already tend towards breast tenderness and struggle with my weight, and I've seen some reports of dreadful mood swings on it which make me incredibly cautious.

Question - have you tried ibuprofen for reducing the heaviness of the flow? If so how long did it take to kick in - I'm starting to think I *might* be able to see some improvement but just not sure if it's just another fluctuation that would have happened anyway!

Hot flushes - ha! Just commented to OH on the way home last night that we had a new symptom to add to the mix - it's not terrible yet but it's definitely there. Fabulous. Couldn't have started in winter when it might have been of some use, could it! 

[nearly50]

Hi TheWorstWitch,

I should've said, there are maybe other options if you do have fibroids, my doctor told me at my age my uterus was a "pointless void" but I'm sure others would be a bit more supportive. I'm happy to wait and see as I just prefer avoiding medical interventions in general!

I have tried ibuprofen but didn't find it made any difference really. As you say, hard to know if it would've happened anyway. My periods tend to stop and start now with no particular pattern, might have nothing all morning and then a flood in the afternoon, just to keep me on my toes.  I tried transexamic acid once but felt really ill but should try it again as it maybe wasn't the cause.

My hot flushes started in the winter and it was a real bonus for the old gas bill Does sound like you're well on the road to the magical day of the Final Menstrual Period, hopefully you'll start skipping periods soon.

If you do get manage to get a blood test, make sure they test for everything possible to avoid getting it done again!