Hi Kim. I new here but wanted to jump right in and let you know that I have menorrhagia also. I also had one abnormal pap come back as "severe dysplasia" so, while not cancer, still something to watch for.
TMI: There are usually 2-3 days that I can't be away from the house more than 20 minutes. Sometimes I'm in the bathroom four or five times an hour. I use ultra tampons from Tampax and a super overnight pad and for those 2-3 days I soak through both of those in a half hour or less. Lots of clots. I also don't feel like I can get clean during those days and sometimes the bathroom ends up looking like someone was slaughtered in there. I also have irregular bleeding and periods that last 10 or more days. It is beyond awful. I am also anemic.
I saw my GYN for it specifically over a year ago. I had an ultrasound and they found the lining to be much too thick and I had a polyp. I had D&C done. It wasn't cancer thank goodness. The D&C did nothing to help the menorrhagia and my period returned the next month as bad as ever.
I tried the pill but that didn't work. A few months later, they did another biopsy in the office and again, no cancer. I opted for an ablation (I know that is not an option for you) but unfortunately about three weeks before my scheduled ablation, I found out I needed open heart surgery and my ablation has been put off indefinitely. My Cardiologist called it elective surgery, and while I know he is right, I told him that if he was bleeding like this every month I'm sure he wouldn't call it elective.
I will say though that I was on birth control for about 15 years before I had my first child and I did not have weight gain issues. Some of them made me quite moody though. My GYN suggested that losing weight can help, but I can't attest to that because I haven't lost any weight.
First, you need to rule out some things before getting on to hormonal therapy. Get your doc to do an ultrasound and in-office biopsy or D&C. Rule out fibroids, polyps, PCOS, etc.
Edit: I almost forgot, for a few months I took a drug called Lysteda. It is a clotting drug. It did help my periods a lot, but you have to be very careful about how you take it. Something to ask your doctor about.