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Women please advise: tmi menstrual stuff

I've always had really terrible, heavy periods. Their only positive quality is that they have been regular, for the most part, every 26 days. But they are intense and I get migraines, indigestion, cramps, back pain, and extreme mood swings, not to mention severe acne. That has definitely been wearing on me. I haven't taken birth control pills since I was 23 since they made me kind of crazy and made me feel that I wasn't inhabiting my own body; I am also icked out by their environmental impact. But now I'm on my second trip through a 16-day menstrual cycle with five days of heavy bleeding in each. This means that for every 10 days that I feel okay, I have six of PMS and bleeding. Today I bled so heavily that I filled my menstrual cup in the course of a two-hour class and by the time I got to the bathroom I had soaked through my clothes. So I'm thinking about the pill and, if I can ever finally get my head around it and accept it, am wondering what ones any of you have had success with. I'd be looking for something with the lowest dose possible. Are there any other alternatives? My supervisor and a friend both recommended an IUD but they scare me. I take iron supplements for anaemia already.

I've made an appointment with a doctor for a few weeks from now (earliest appointment I can get), though I'm likely going to an emergency clinic this week to get a sick leave from work for this and other reasons (crazy periods plus flu plus depression), so I plan on mentioning it then. So ultimately I will seek a doctor's advice, but I know that one option he/she will suggest is the pill, and I want to check in with the hive mind about this, first.

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Comment by kommishoner on February 22, 2012 at 12:48pm: Holy crap, babe. I'm sorry that's happening. I HATE the heavy bleeding - I usually just use pads the first few days because otherwise I'm up every hour changing a tampon. I'm glad you're seeing a doctor, but don't have a lot of insights about the pill except that it also made me crazy when I took it at 19. That was approximately a frillion years ago now, though, and I think there have been some new advances that might be a little less invasive, hormonally speaking. Good luck.

Comment by Annaevilred on February 22, 2012 at 7:08pm: I just got the Mirena inplant today - its very low hormone so I wont go all killer crazy and should stop my period within a couple of months. Plus i dont have to remember to take a pill every day. Having it put in was a little...um.... not fun. BUT I wont have to worry about for 5 years unless my body decides to hate me.

Comment by mightyninjamom on February 23, 2012 at 6:50am: Ugh, god, I'm sorry this is happening to you! I don't have any advice, just sympathy. I can't take the pill - even the lowest dose ones made me throw up every morning. I have to treat my PMS/menstrual symptoms with herbs, which I won't recommend, since you aren't going in that direction. However, my holistic doc also started me on Calcium D-Glucarate, which if IIRC, helps the body dispose of hormones more quickly. I don't know if you'd be willing to try something like that until you can get to the doctor. That's all I got, from my corner. Keep us posted!

Comment by ks on February 23, 2012 at 9:19am: I love my pill. I'm on Ortho-tri-cyclen, the generic one, and I haven't had any problems whatsoever. It isn't a super low dose, but I have one or two days of spotting a month, with very mild cramping. I've been on the pill in some form or other since I was 18, with only a couple of breaks for having kids and when I tried the Mirena IUD for a year, which came highly recommended by several friends of mine who have it and love it. But I am apparently an outlier and I didn't do very well on it at all--it was fine for the first several months, but then I got acne and a period that ranged from heavy spotting to constant light flow for six straight months (literally--it didn't stop for 6 months). Plus, getting it in was a total bitch. I kept it for a year, hoping that it would work, but I eventually had to admit defeat and give up.

Last time I had an appointment, my doc recommended endometrial ablation. Apparently it is an outpatient procedure where they go in and blast off the uterine lining, so you end up sterile and with light to no periods. It is indicated for women in your situation who have had or don't want kids. But he says I should think about it, since I'm done having kids, I don't want to ever have another period if I don't have to, and I don't want to be on hormonal birth control until my mid-50s at least (my people go through menopause late).

Comment by Herasmus B. Dragon on February 23, 2012 at 9:56am: I had better luck with the Mirena than the Pill, but I have a clotting disorder so i don't think you should count my vote in that respect. But the Mirena has been good for me. It was about 2 days of uncomfortable cramping after having it put in, then once that went away there has been nothing but period-free bliss for 4 1/2 years (need to replace it soon). I was always a light bleeder, so again, that may not compare to you.

Whatever you choose, I hope it brings you some relief. That sounds major. I'd not heard of the ablation thing that KS talked about, but that sounds like a nice relief.

Comment by mcglory13 on February 23, 2012 at 7:57pm: I have a Mirena coil as well, I'm not allowed to take the pills because I have migraines. I did not enjoy getting that coil, not one bit, but it has been good since then for four + years. Light periods, when I get them.

Comment by Kiwi on February 23, 2012 at 8:16pm: I have a Mirena and I have an ultra short (2-3 days) light period once every three to four months. I've had it for three years. Without my Mirena I have ultra heavy periods because of bleeding disorder. I'd managed my periods previously with pills but I got tired of them. My Mirena experience has been good enough that I will get another after this one is removed.

Comment by DLBK on February 24, 2012 at 10:21am: Sorry you're going through this. I don't have much advice; when I tried birth control pills the side effects drove me crazy--no sex drive at all and lots of spotting (after the initial 3 months of constant bleeding). The doctor just advised trying different brands, but switching also caused the 3 months of constant bleeding, so I wasn't willing to try that too many times. Sorry.

Comment by guinnessgoddess on February 24, 2012 at 10:54am: Thanks, everyone, for your help. Wow, I never even really knew about Mirena. I'm still a bit scared about it but will consider it a possibility. I'm extremely unlikely to be a candidate for pills since they are contra-indicated for migraines with aura, which is a problem I have. The doctor says that I should wait it out for a couple months because she strongly suspects the problems are stress-related. On that note, please forgive my diminished facebook and Offsprung presence for the next few weeks: I'm doing a bit of a detox.

Comment by Andromeda on February 24, 2012 at 2:47pm: another thought, and it might be a moot point but i thought i would bring it up anyway, have you had your thyroid checked? I only mention it because a hypothyroid can cause all those symptoms- uber heavy bleeding, depression, mood swings. It's just a thought because it is something i went through. I used to have pretty heavy periods, then after D I went hyperthyroid and they got very short and light. then after Ro they got BAAAAAD. very very bad. like, going through 3 sets of clothes in a night bad for 2 weeks. plus depression (which also coincided with the baby blues. that was fun) I had my thyroid checked and it had gone hypo. Since straightening that out they have gotten a lot better. Anyway, It is just a thought.

Women please advise: tmi menstrual stuff

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