[pinkprincess86]

update

So, my hormone levels were fine, I wasn't pg so she put me on (I can't remember the name of it) some meds to stop it...it stopped after about two weeks...

...although it came back I have anaemia from the blood loss, so been on iron tablets..

...she said it was probably 'one of those things' and to keep an eye on it...

...anyway, my period stopped, came back this month, has been here for 3 weeks now..

..I have to go back to the docs for the results of my blood test for my anaemia so I am going to mention this again, there is definitely something wrong with me!

Grr (

[2morrow]

My heart goes out to you. Having irregular, prolonged bleeding is upsetting, worrisome, and such a nuisance. I think so many women, have problems with them, that doctors just don't seem too concerned. I know that diet, stress, and weight does play a big factor in it. Just know that there are many many women out there who understand what you are going thru. You are definitely not alone.

[DaraVose]

I was fortunate enough to have an ultrasound at my first doctor's appointment when I had been bleeding for a month solid (I bled for nearly three months straight, by the end of things). I was also "lucky" enough to get into my appointment immediately, since I was also having a miscarriage at the time (had just gotten the positive pregnancy test the night before, when trying to self-diagnose my bleeding/hormonal imbalances, hadn't thought to do it before since my problem was with having an exceptionally long period, not a missed one).

For a while, things seemed to be regulating themselves pretty normally. I had one more occurrence of a cyst, which resulted in a period that lasted two and a half weeks.

Now, starting one week after my last period, I'm bleeding again, and have been for almost two weeks now.

I can definitely understand the struggles you others are going through. The hormonal/emotional/pain issues are really eating at me. I miss a lot of my favorite activities because it's a struggle just to get the things I "have" to get done on some days, with the pain. The second cyst was accompanied by "moderately heavy" cramping, which I would compare to really bad period cramps. However, the cyst accompanied by miscarriage and the current situation have left me pretty much wasted - the pain has been so bad that I'll get hunger pains but still be unable to eat because the pressure of the food in my stomach leaves me retching.

At work, I'm the only female who is regularly in the building, with a shared restroom for all. With the consistency that I've been passing clots and tissue, I live in constant fear that I will forget to check to see that everything has flushed and end up in a terribly embarassing situation. My husband is as understanding as he can be, but in truth, a man can't understand the full emotional weight this puts on a woman and her fears, both rational and irrattional. Just as I know there are things that affect men that we women will never completely understand.

I hope that the others of you who are going through similar symptoms will find some comfort, somehow ...

[calliebrooke]

Driving me crazy.

I started my period when I was in the eighth grade. I had irregular periods for a year or so, and then I stopped having periods at all. I hated having them, so when they stopped, I didn't really care. I was quite obese, by the way. In May, I decided to have gastric bypass. I started losing weight before the surgery, and my period came back in June. It would be really really heavy, bleeding through any kind of tampon I put in rather quickly. If I stood up from a sitting or laying down position, it would flood. It was a regular color, but with lots of clots. The main problem was that it didn't stop. It would start to taper off a little, sometimes even going into the "brown blood" stage, but then it would come back. It got worse after I had the surgery in July. I've lost almost a hundred pounds now, and I'm still bleeding. My doctor put me on Lybrel, to stop having a period completely, and it didn't stop it. It made it a lot lighter, and kind of regulated it. I would bleed heavier at the same time every month, but it didn't stop after that. I was on lybrel for six months, and near the time I stopped taking it, I upped the dosage myself to two pills a day. And it stopped. I couldn't keep doing that though, and as soon as I went back down to one pill a day, it started again. That week or two of no period was heaven. I switched from Lybrel to Loestrin 1.5/30, and the bleeding is heavier now. Plus, on lybrel I didn't have cramping or pain. Now I do. The pill I'm on makes me irritable and angry. I also feel depressed on it, and I have no sex drive. I'm turning 21 in April. I'm getting so desperate, because I just want it to stop. I'm going to keep taking the Loestrin for another month after this month is over, to see if it regulates it, and if it doesn't, I don't know what I'll do. If I could have kept taking two lybrel a day, I would have. There are two reasons to take birth control. 1 is to regulate your period, and 2 is to keep you from getting pregnant. My period is constant, so that isn't working, and I can't even have sex because of it, so I don't have to worry about getting pregnant. It's ridiculous. I shouldn't have to keep dealing with this, and my doctor doesn't seem to understand what it's like. I'm on iron supplements, but I'm anemic anyway because of the blood loss. I've learned to live with it. No one I know realizes what it's like to bleed for that long. It affects your whole life. I've been bleeding non-stop since June. It's February now. I just want this to be over, you know?

[calliebrooke]

adding to that...

I now weigh 155 lbs. I'm 5'7. So my weight is just about normal. The doctor who did my surgery said that for the first year after you get the surgery, most women become very very very fertile because of the weight loss. But he has never heard anything about a period like mine. He isn't the doctor I go to for my period problem, but I asked him anyway, since he would have heard about it if it was related to the weight loss.

[DaraVose]

Congrats on getting healthier, Callie. I hope they'll be able to find help for you soon.

I've been having a lousy day, with work and family issues, etc., and got to thinking. I just realized that by now I have bled for about half of the days in the past year. Blah!

[ladikaat69]

Period going on day 36!


OMG!!! this is so annoying, I am 27 and ever since january 1st, my period is still on!
I am so exausted of this, I am constantly changing my pad, I have no pain, just heavy bleeding?
As a matter of fact I have to buy more pads tomorrow..This has never happened to me before, I have no health insurance, and I have no job?
It's not a miscarriage because I am not having sex, I fear it may be cancer, my mother died of ovarian cancer in 2001.
I just don't know what to do?

[DaraVose]

LadiKaat, I can definitely understand your frustrations. I have no health insurance myself, and when I first started experiencing problems in March of last year, it was both frustrating and heartbreaking to undergo over $500 in testing (to rule out the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy) with the thought of a possible same-day emergency surgery on top of that, had it been an ectopic pregnancy.

However, with a family history of ovarian cancer, you MUST bite the bullet and find some healthcare. Public facilities are required to provide care regardless of ability to pay, and you can pay it out however you are able, even if it's just a few dollars a month. I completely understand how daunting it can be, and I wish you the best of luck.

[Lifeohlife]

on d same boat

I am 34, 5ft 4 and overweight and have been having long periods for almost the past 2 years. Prior to this, I had a happy life and my menstrual cycle has been normal. In 2003 I had an ovarian endometriosis cyst and got it removed surgically. Sometime in 2005, my period stopped and my dr put me on birth control pills to regulate my hormones and my cycle was back to normal. In May 2007 I went through a terrible time in my marriage where I was totally devastated and from that very day on, my period came non stop. It can last between 1 - 3 months and it stops for a few days and it comes back on and sometimes it stops for 2 weeks.
I also noticed that if I have sex, the flow comes back almost immediately.
My flow is sometimes light and sometimes very heavy with big clots. Sometimes it is so heavy it gushes and it's so embarassing. I have not seen a dr yet because I know the dr will say it's because I'm overweight or just put me on some birth control pills.
I am trying to bring down my weight now by eating healthfully & excercising.
I was wondering does this long bleeding only happen to heavier girls?

[DaraVose]

LifeOhLife - I never really associated it with my weight, but I, also, am overweight like many on this thread, and I can't discount that. I, too, am renewing my efforts to eat healthier, exercise and get back in shape. Actually, for me, the problems started a few months into the last effort I made to eat healthier and get back into shape - I think that my body was just slow adjusting to the new levels of hormones once I had started losing the weight. But this time I want to stick with it to see if there's an improvement at the end! If things start getting worse, stick in there ... I can't help but think there will be an improvement.

Also, I believe smoking plays a major role in it. I'm a smoker myself, but cutting back and hoping to quit sometime soon.