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Old 01-21-2012, 02:31 AM   #1  
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Default Menorrhagia anyone? A TMI Thread...

If you're a dude this will definitely be a TMI for you, so I suggest heading to a different thread now.

I have battled with Cervical Cancer for the past couple years and just recently won round three. Unfortunately I have some new health issues due to a bunch of different reasons. One of the main reasons is my weight. I have yet to have any children and hope to be able to have kids some day, which limits the treatments for my menorrhagia. Today was officially one of the worse days I have had. Running to the bathroom 1-2 times/hour to hopefully hit the toilet before the next gush of blood came on. If I didn't get there, my pad would overload and I would have a big mess. Basically, no work for me today. I'm not sure how I would explain to my 7th & 8th grade students why I have to run to the bathroom every 30-40 minutes, and if I didn't make it, why I'm suddenly covered in blood from the waist down. I apologize for the TMI, but damn, it is bad. Last night I didn't make it in time and ended up soaking through my sweats and then having blood dripping down my legs. Needless to say, I have no energy, am anemic, and looking at hormone therapy. Side effects for hormone therapy include weight gain, hair loss, nausea, headaches, bloating and depression. Awesome! Since being overweight is a main cause of this, how do I avoid the weight gain from hormone therapy? Has anyone received any treatment for menorrhagia? Do you have any suggestions?
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Old 01-23-2012, 06:58 PM   #2  
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Have you ever been checked for a blood clotting disorder? I has the exact same problem but mine is from type 1 Von willebrand disease.
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Old 01-23-2012, 08:14 PM   #3  
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I don't have any experience with what you have, but definitely offer you hugs of support! I hope you have a good doctor that is working with you on the issue?
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Old 01-23-2012, 08:37 PM   #4  
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Hi i am rosey from alaska im 63 and have had that trouble and more all my life. my gyn said fats cells make and store estrogen which makes your body think its on a permanent period or very heavy prolonged periods. he perscribed provera,its the male hormone which i take a 10 mg tablets the ist 15 days of the month. i have been on this for many yrs and it stopped the problem . i didnt have any weird symptoms, or voice change or hair growth in weird places. it balanced me out and i did not have any of the side affects you list.since u want children it might be an answer for you. if you sre not wanting children you can have uterine ablation which is an alternative to ahysterectomy. talk to your gyn and maybe this will work for you. hope this helps you rosey

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Old 01-27-2012, 10:33 AM   #5  
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Kim: I hope your job includes good benefits so you can see a good gynecologist, but even a family doc should be helpful.
Being one of the few people I know who has never taken hormones, (never used the pill, or depo, or HRT for menopause) you can think of me as anti-hormone. But I am not totally against it. This may be the best thing for you. I never needed hormones because I managed any problems and symptoms without, but I was never at the "worst" end of symptoms. You are!! you need
A good talk with your doctor about which hormone therapy is right for you, that will not trigger a new round of cancer, will control the menorrhagia, and will protect your fertility, yet not cause weight gain. Thats a tall order, and one only a qualified professional can deal with. Even then, miracles might not occur.
Many people find that taking the hormones for the short term will help for a couple of years. My daughter was on depo for 2 years, (no weight gain probs) and went off to protect her bones (can cause osteoporosis over time) and fertility, (may cause infertility if taken long term). She found it was over 2 years before her periods got really heavy again. She now uses the nuvaring and likes it a lot, keeps the periods lighter and regular without other side effects of the pill or patch. (the higher estrogen makes her vomit).
On another note, not knowing anything about the cancer and the treatments you have taken, is that I read an article about the HPV vaccine being useful for cancers caused by HPV. Ask your doctor about that if its appropriate.
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Old 02-02-2012, 10:17 PM   #6  
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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.

Last edited by LuLuO; 02-02-2012 at 10:20 PM.
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