Ready to Do Something About Periods

Another vote for Mirena. My husband also had the big V, but I was paranoid about getting pregnant (both kids we got pregnant the first month I was off the pill). I also hated getting periods. Mine lasted about 5-7 days, every 28. So annoying!

Mirena has been great! It took almost a year of lighter and lighter periods, but now I get pretty much nothing. I had zero side effects too. I love that I don't have to think about it at all. No daily pill for me anymore.

I highly recommend it! On a side note, I also had the Paraguard while breastfeeding, but hated it. I swear I could feel it. Bizarre, I know, but I like the Mirena so much better.

I'm in the same place. Please let us know what you end up doing! I'm going to the doctor soon to discuss my options!

If you haven't done so have your doctor check for fibriods. I had heavy bleeding too. I messed up pants and I had to get a new chair at work. Talk about embarrassing. We found out that I had clusters of fibroid tumors in different spots of my uterus. I was becoming anemic due to blood loss. I talked to my gynie and she suggested all of the treatments you talked about. I elected to have a hystectormy. I was 43 and knew I wasn't having children so that was the best option for me. It is so nice to walk past the sanitary isle and not have to stop to pick up products. I still have my ovaries so I will go through menapause but that was the best option for me. Good luck and hope you get to feeling better soon.

I'm on my 3rd Mirena. Love it! I haven't had a period since I was 35 - I'm 45. I will be 50 when this one is removed. This was one of the best things I did for myself. I have no side effects at all but some women do. Your doctor should steer you in the right direction of what's best for you. That's exactly how I came to the decision of the Mirena. I never could remember to take the pill so that wasn't an option. My doctor would not give the BC shots. I wasn't up for needing a hysterectomy or ablation or near menopause - so the Mirena it was.

I know I hated periods and didn't see the point of them once I had my kids. I am a much happier person now :)

Good luck!

I have had good luck with the Nuvaring. I used to bleed extremely heavy for 3 days, now I might use two pads, but usually only one. I don't get as moody and the headaches aren't so bad. I still have some though. It is lower in hormones, and you can decide to have a period or not. If you don't have a week off, then you won't even have a period. Perfectly safe was what my doc told me. So, I try to have a period every 2 or 3 months just to get things working.

If it is fibroids or something else going on, then the partial hysterectomy can be a god-send. I know it was for my mom.

Before you take meds or something as such, has anyone checked you for Fibroids? with the heavy bleeding each month and being Anemic, those can be signs of having them. I have them and beginning at about 42, began to experience a drop in Estrogen and with that Perimenopause... Then by my mid 40s, probably when I wasn't ovulated as much and therefore didn't have that rush of Progesterone into my system each month, and although my Estrogen had dropped, I became Estrogen dominant, again, not because I was producing more, but because I was producing LESS Progesterone, which then meant.. FIBROIDS... (one thing they thrive on are more Estrogen) that said, as they grew, my periods became much heavier and the flow was about 2 to 3 was EXTREMELY heavy, which can , although in my case did not, to anemia..
I would definitely have them check you for that..
As for the headaches, which I too would experience before my period (as you might know) your Progesterone drops right before the onset, so that can bring on a headache..
In my case, I've tracked my cycles and because of it, I have a better idea of when "problematic symptoms" may arise.. something about at least understanding what I was going through helped tremendously, even if the symptoms didn't go away.
at 50, my periods although at times still heavy for 2 days, they aren't as extreme, moreover, I still might get a headache or two, but for those, I give in and take Ibuprofen.. Also, exercise will help me a lot, granted, don't always feel like doing it, but when I do.. makes a world of difference..
as do things like drinking lots of water and at night, I have a glass of herbal tea, which when right before my period and I feel anxious, the tea has been helping me...

I don't know that you have Fibroids or are experiencing the sudden shifts in hormones (which most def can cause those headaches) but don't let the docs do anything drastic. it's been my exp that MOST don't really ever discuss much with women and like to medicate instead of educate..

there is lots of info on the net about your symptoms..in particular, I like Doctor Vliet.. <<< she's done a lot of work and studies on female hormones and their effects.. check her too.. it's good info..

wishing you the best

I had a lot of pain, both mid-cycle and pre/during my periods. The pain I had was so bad I used to have to call in to work, even 3 Advil couldn't deal with it. Suffice it to say, my quality of life was impacted about 50% of the time.

I started on the LoSeasonique birth control pill and have been extremely pleased with the results. It's a 3-month pack, and I should warn you, for the first year or so I experienced pretty heavy breakthrough bleeding, but the cramping was so much less, and after a while, while I still have light breakthrough bleeding, the pain aspect is significantly improved. I was to the point of looking into hysterectomy (husband is 'snipped', so it was purely for improving quality of life) when my doctor suggested this. I wish someone had warned me in advance about the breakthrough bleeding, but otherwise, I'm very happy with it.

Mirena. I love it for exactly the reasons you are thinking of getting it. I still do get monthly periods, but they are very short and light (hope this isn't TMI, but think 3-4 days, and never need more than a pantyliner). I have no side effects from it. When this one runs out next summer, without question I will get a new one, even though I don't need it for birth control anymore.

that is an awesome question, thank you for asking it.. I've ben having horrid period headaches. and tmi... sorry ....large clots. but not 2 week periods or 3 days of large clots.

The thought of NOT having a period seems like it would be messing w nature too much. so I worry about that, what are the long term effects of not having a period for 10 years? really nothing??

hven't checked into the other options but I may need to at some point so I will watch foryour responses.

I had an endometrial ablation, and my only regret is that I didn't do it sooner.

Right now, I am on the Nortrel birth control pill. My periods last two days and are very, very light. I didn't ever have horribly heavy or bad periods, but they were lasting 5-7 days with a couple days of moderately heavy bleeding before this pill.

Ask for an endometrial biopsy to make sure that you don't have any type of underlying problem. When the report comes back; ask for a personal copy to review yourself (doctors are not perfect). If everything is fine; an endometrial ablation is a really easy way to go. It won't do anything for PMS symptoms but the bleeding will totally stop.

Assuming there's no underlying issue, I highly recommend taking BCPs straight through (on your doctor's supervision). I've done that for 13 years now and it meant the end to getting sick during my period every month. Best advice I ever received from a doctor was skipping the placebo week! You don't even need to get special BCPs; any monophasic will work.

For the first decade or so, I could skip the placebo week all the time. Now that I'm in my 40s, I've found I can't do that or I end up with breakthrough bleeding. So, I just go every other month now with/without the fake period week. When I do have the fake period, it's nothing like I used to get. Much milder.

woowee i feel your agony..get a full hysterectomy-i tryd all the tricks your talking about-all epic fail-i finally had a full hysterectomy-best thing i ever did for myself-sounds like you have fibrostic tumors-the one they removed from me was the size of a football weighed in just over 9 lbs.the relief was immediate-i came out of surgery woke up-no pain,no bleeding-nothing.all was gone,headaches,nausea,bitchiness,bloating,cramps,sitting on the toilet all nite bleeding,my iron was at 4 ...get rid of it-you dont need it and the freedom from that mess is simply amazing..good luck

I personally would avoid going back onto hormonal BC and would ask for a partial hysterectomy.

I recently started taking the pill for the same reason. It has worked well for me. My period was much lighter the first month. There have been no side effects except for a slight decrease in in sex drive.

When your period affects your quality of life its time to do something about it.
I had an endometrial ablation 4.5 years ago. Because of my fibroids, I ended up with a partial hysterectomy 4 years ago.

I definitely wouldn't mess with birth control especially with not needing it for that. Go for the permanent plans to make it so you can live your life.