Once you start Peri-menopause , at some point your periods will become irregular and flow can become extremely heavy with heavy clotting. It may not happen to you that way, your flow may just gradually lighten and become sporadic and eventually stop all together. However, that was not my experience. I was the heavy flow girl. Actually, I went in over a year ago for that very reason, but decided to just "deal" with it for as long as I could. Over the summer though, things just continued to get worse. June I had no period at all, July it was very light but was longer than normal, 10 days I believe. About a week and half after I stopped my original period for July, I started to bleed again and never stopped until I finally went to the doctor 4 weeks later. That was the clincher for me. I could not continue to flow for months at a time, especially so heavily. I was so exhausted and often felt dizzy and I had absolutely no energy whatsoever! Not to mention, it was so stinkin' hot here this summer, I think you could have fried an egg on the sidewalk just about every single day. ( NOT my idea of fun). Luckily, I have not become anemic thus far.
I went to the doctor and they did a Trans-abdominal and a Trans-vaginal ultrasound. The results came back normal. While that is all well and good it doesn't fix the problem I've been having. The doctor decided to put me on a double dose of birth control daily to give me a major dose of hormones to stop the bleeding. Holy buckets, talk about raging hormones. Yikes. (My poor poor husband and children!) Once the bleeding stopped she told me to just take one pill a day from that point on.Fast forward a week into taking the pills, the bleeding had stopped so I dropped down to one a day and after 3 days of that, the bleeding started up again. Me = not a very happy camper.
I had an appointment this last week and discussed my options for getting a handle on the bleeding long term. I can't really be on birth control long term because I get migraines and BC can triggers migraines and I certainly don't need any help in that area. So, that really isn't an option for me. We did discuss, which is what I want to let women know, that there are quite a few options out there. We don't have to suffer through this unnecessarily. Many women choose to go about it the natural way, which is fine. But, for me, I do not want to suffer through this. I want to enjoy my life without having to worry about when,where or whom I will be with when my heavy flow starts unexpectedly. It would be just my luck to have something like that happen to me at the beach.Without a doubt it would happen to me.
A few of the options we discussed were, Bioidentical Hormone , Birth Control,Endometrial Ablation or a Hysterectomy. If you or someone you know is having problems with heavy bleeding, please read these articles and speak to an OBGYN. We decided that for me and my journey, a hysterectomy would be the best option for me. Removing my uterus but leaving the ovaries so I am not thrown directly into menopause and having to worry about hormone replacements. This is the best of both worlds for me. No more bleeding, but not being forced into full blown menopause.
I will keep everyone updated on the surgery, pre and post surgery symptoms or issues. Hopefully there will be none, but there is always some risk involved with any surgery.
Love and Blessings,
Becky
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