menorrhagia - extreme bleeding during menstruation

[somewoman]

Just thought I'd throw in a quick thread about my own recent experiences (in case someone else is going through this and wondering what it could be).

A little background:
I've been breastfeeding my child since her birth, and she is now 19 months old. I didn't get my period until about 5 months ago, and it was extremely light. The following month was a little heavier, but still pretty light on.

Three months ago, it sped up. I bled an insane amount, and it kept going for ten days. By insane amount, I was filling a large ladycup (34ml) AND soaking completely through a maternity pad within 30-60 mins, non stop. Even overnight (yeah, that meant NO sleep!!). Doc thought it might be a missed miscarriage, and wait until next month.

Next month was exactly the same. Might be hormonal (return of period after breastfeeding, etc), but here's a request for an ultrasound. Wait until your next period. If it is still heavy next month go in and see what is happening.

It started again Friday 26th Feb, and is just slowing down now. My ultrasound showed that I still have quite a bit of debris left over from birthing my little girl, and it is causing all sorts of problems. It was never brought to light before this as I hadn't had a period until recently, although have been feeling bloaty and uncomfortable for quite some time (apparently, this is also highly likely from the same problem). So now I need to go for a D&C and then wait for my next period to see if that really was the cause of the problem. D&C seems such a simple solution in comparison with some - especially given that the ultrasound technician told me that my ovaries looked perfect, so that rules out possible ovarian cancer!! I also felt incredibly brainless and weak from blood loss and sleep deprivation, and am apparently at risk of anemia, so blood tests to follow this week.

I should also add in here that natural therapies didn't help.

Not looking for pity or anything, just putting this out there in case someone else is going through similar problems and wondering what all of the possibilities may be. This is just one of those possibilities, but something else to add to the list! Obviously, I'd have to recommend going to a doctor, especially if symptoms are ongoing.

Does anyone else have/had similar symptoms with different resolutions to add to this? I know that some people have reported heavy bleeding after breastfeeding with acupuncture providing a lot of relief (probable hormonal imbalance in these situations?). Any other causes and related treatments that people have experienced? I think I would have felt a lot more empowered going into this armed with more possibilities in my mind than miscarriage, hormones or something far too scary to seriously contemplate...

Sorry for the novel... I believe that knowledge is power, and if my experiences can help someone else to feel a little better about their own situation then I'd like to do all I can to help. I'd never claim to know it all, I just know what I've been through.

[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.

[Cassius2]

hi there! thanks for sharing your story!

i too suffered from severe bleeding (to the point where i would fill a super tampon in the time it took to put my knickers back on). in the end i would wear a super pad with tampon on the less heavy days, and on the really heavy days (and nights!) i would not be able to leave the house as all of a sudden i could have a major bleed and it would be EVERYWHERE. once had this happen at 2am when sleeping at a friends house. complete nightmare. i still shudder when i remember how mortifying that was. gosh.

my situation was slightly different in that i had a miscarriage (8 weeks) that was not dealt with appropriately (OB told me to just let it pass naturally...big mistake, it never really did). so from that time on it just got worse and worse, to the point where i had endometria growing across ovaries and the cervix.

i had some treatment done (in this case it was homeopathically treated in Italy by a fertility specialist there) and i fell pg about 6 weeks later and thankfully, it never returned. i would still have one very heavy day,but nothing in comparison. i am just that it stays that way after this bubba is born...

[butterfly_warrior]

This is something I have dealt with on and off. As my periods are also quite irregular, my doctors tend to like to keep me on the pill. I find that themore time between periods the better.

Things were ok in my first 12 months off the pill while TTC. But after that and during IVF things were just dreadful. At the worst I was flooding through super tampons in about half an hour so was using them in conjunction with pads - couldn't leave the house and was just about passing out each time I stood up.

My FS gave me a drug to treat it - cyklokapron. I don't know how much of an issue it would be while breastfeeding, but it could well be worth checking out. It seems that not many doctors know about it. The first time I had it I had to go to an after hours medical centre to get the prescription on the instructions of my FS as he was out of town. The GP I saw had never heard of it and needed to look it up in MIMS in order to be able to prescribe it to me. I still have some stocks of it left - I really only use it now on the heavy days when I have to go out - just for a little bit of extra confidence.

BW

[somewoman]

Thanks ladies for sharing your stories! Hopefully this will be a good place for people to look to when wondering what is happening to themselves and what others have been through and done about it.

Acacia - OMG, I can't believe you have had to deal with that for so long! It puts my three months into perspective - at least (I hope) this should only be temporary for me. How awful! And what a woman!! *hugs*

I'm glad that Cassius2 and BW have it under control now - I am sure that it will give some hope to others going through it in future.

[christy]

I had issues after DD2. At my 6 week post check they put me on antibiotics incase my excessive bleeding was retained placenta. I was on antibiotics for 4 weeks, and didn't have a period. When DD2 was 18 months old and weaned, I got my AF 2 weeks later. It was excessive and lasted 8-10 days and then I would have a 10 day break and then it would start again. I went to the GP who said it could continue like this for 12 months or so. I then went to my acupuncturist who helped me tremendously with breastfeeding and hormonal issues post birth. She gave me some chinese herbs and 2 days after I started them, I had an even bigger period which lasted for 2 weeks and had rather *TMI* brown chunks come out as well. After that "clean out", I went back to 4-5 day periods every 30 days or so. We called it the big clean out in my house as I went through a maternity pad every hour for the first 4 days and then it started slowing. I wasn't able to wear tampons because she told me not too in order to keep everything clean.