menorrhagia - extreme bleeding during menstruation

[Acacia]

Hi somewoman.

Thank you for sharing your story.

I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties you've been experiencing with your cycle. I hope that the D&C is able to fix the issues with the menorrhagia and that you see a return to something much more manageable, and that it doesn't relate to miscarriage. I would be surprised if you weren't suffering from some form of iron deficiency due to the blood loss to some extent by the sound of your symptoms, so I hope the blood test can clarify what's going on and that a simple round of iron tablets will help you feel much better also.

I just thought I'd share with you my situation so you can compare your own to what one of my doctors referred to as a "classic case" of menorrhagia. I've suffered from it since I was a teenager - within a few years of starting to menstruate, but it was never as extreme as what you've been going through. I often had iron deficiency problems (anaemia several times) and was on iron tablets more often than not. I would regularly "flood" through multiple pads and tampons and would sleep very badly during my period due to being up to change so frequently. I was often worried about "accidents" in public and would often have to excuse myself whilst doing my job (teaching) to deal with my situation. I tried various forms of the pill to help the problem, but they honestly did squat, except for giving me really bad hormone symptoms, which were bad enough as it was. I had a Mirena IUD inserted to help eventually in my twenties and it did a lot to make my period much lighter... for a time. Eventually after about a year I was gradually having more and more heavy periods and so much pain again (I also suffered from quite bad dysmenorrhea) - even more pain than before I had the IUD inserted. so I had it taken out. It had moved out of position in my uterus quite drastically, so perhaps that relates to why everything was so painful and heavy again. I quickly went back to even heavier bleeding, but at least the pain was a lot more manageable. Natural therapies and diet have never made a difference for me.

I started TTC as soon as the IUD was removed in any case, so I put up with the problem again for the sake of trying to get pregnant, until we needed to use IVF to conceive. During IVF treatment my AF varied, as all of my cycles were medically manipulated in a slightly different way each time trying to get pregnant. I can't tell you how wonderful it was not to deal with AF when I was finally pregnant. I was expecting to have a good break from her when my DD was born due to breastfeeding, but unfortunately AF returned exactly 28 days after my lochia stopped. I have been since been told that for someone that has had menorrhagia, this is not that atypical. In the first few months my AF varied quite a bit - sometimes it was light, other times it was quite a bit heavier, varied in length but it has progressively got more and more heavy and painful (and regular) as time has gone on since giving birth, despite demand BF. Perhaps part of that has been to do with starting solids and my body producing less and less milk and changing hormonally due to this.

We're currently TTC our 2nd baby at the moment (we will start IVF treatment again in a few months if we are unsuccessful naturally) and I am putting up with very heavy, painful periods again, although I can say (please excuse the TMI) that I experience somewhat less clotting than I did before I was pregnant. I don't know if this is because of having been pregnant or whether it's because of BF still. I don't know if or when I will ever have any way of dealing with my menorrhagia in the long term until I go through menopause (short of being pregnant!)

My experience of menorrhagia is quite a bit different from yours, so I'm hoping from what you're experiencing and going through that it is totally related to your retained products from your birth, I certainly hope it's not anything at all too difficult to contemplate, and not a state that your body is naturally functioning in at this time (as it seems mine does). Thanks for sharing what has happened to you - I'm sorry that it's taken all this time since your daughter's birth to establish that there was a problem post birth. I hope that your AF following the D&C returns normal, and I would really like to hear how things resolve for you - I am hoping for the best.

Please excuse my novel also - I agree with you about knowledge being power, and I hope my experience is useful for you, and anyone else reading, even though I can't offer any treatments or solutions that have worked in the long term for me.