A question about heavy periods.

Ask your GYN about this, a change of this nature could be due to a number of things. Really, call your doctor. I don’t want to scare you, but some nasty stuff could be happening, better to rule out those possibilities. For me, the change in bloodflow was about having cervical cancer, so I’m a little nuts on the subject. Probably not that for you, but I’m not unbiased here…

I just got a smear done and everything was fine. She also examined my ovaries as well.
So i don’t know how much that tells you?
x thank you for your response.

Oh, good! Now I can stop worrying. I’m such a mom

no @JilltheTooth it’s great thank you so much, it’s good to know sometimes the things it could ‘be’ and work backwards from there.

A friend of mine had fibroids and had heavy bleeding steadily for the first few days of her period. And that’s all I know about that. Changes worry me though.

yeah especially when you’ve been so regular your whole life and now you have some weird flow of blood for an hour then it goes back to normal… could it be because I am lying down for 8 hours and it builds up?

@tan235 I had that but it was all my period life. It’s the change your doctor needs to know about.

yeah you’re right @faye i was just at my doctors getting all my bloods and everything done!
She’ll think i’m a hypochondriac ( which i am) so she wont be wrong.
I’ll go in next monday and ask her, she’ll probably just tell me to monitor it.
I’m not getting intense pain or anything, but better to safe.

I’m sure that it is different for everyone, but I have fibroids.. and heavy lasts longer than an hour. It is also miserable, excruciating pain for the entire duration of my period. I actually have 2 prescriptions for pain specifically for my period.
Your OB-GYN should check for an enlarged uterus and/or fibroids during a routine exam, so I would imagine that s/he would have mentioned if they noticed any changes like that. If you are unsure or worried, you should always check with your doctor. Always better safe than sorry.
@tan235 I was going to ask if you were lying for a long time before you notice this “hour” of heavy flow… that is a possibility. Gravity. But I would say that if this is something new, you should discuss it with your doctor just to be on the safe side.

Well the first time I noticed it was about 4 years ago – so is that new?
I“m just remembering now to it being on and off, re : sometimes I wont notice it for 3 months then one period will be like that so it’s not always consistent.
Anyway you lovely ladies are right I should just ask my doctor x

I wouldn’t consider 4 years new, unless you haven’t seen your OB-GYN in the last 4 years. Do you go to your annual appointment? (Or more frequently, if that is what is recommended for you)

Could it be that you’ve sort of stored up the fluid overnight (because you’re lying down), and then when you stand up it sort of swooshes out for a little while? Heh, that sounds weird. I hope you get what I’m trying to say!

edti: Oh, sorry… I see you suggested that earlier. So I guess I concur that that could be the reason. Probably still good to ask your doctor, though. :)

hey @ANef_is_Enuf I actually just went for one, I was 3 years overdue.
But the doctor did an external and she said everything felt fine, I told her I had been having some pain but not bleeding as I didn’t think about it and the smear test came back fine… maybe it’s getting older?

Does it only happen when you get out of bed?
I don’t think it is unrealistic to think that it really is from lying down for a long time.. and then gravity does its thing. But, honestly, if it worries you just ask the doc. No harm in asking.

well it wakes me up out of bed as it’s so heavy…. it’s always like this the first day and then it’s normal and only upon waking!
x

Hi @tan235 – speaking as someone who just had a hysterectomy due to (LARGE) fibroids I’d tell you the following:

- Having fibroids is, in and of itself, not a big problem unless your flow becomes so extreme that you’re losing too much blood.

-Bear in mind individual periods are different for everyone – I have family members who thought my heavy bleeding for years was “normal”...but it wasn’t for me.
Periods in excess of 7 days and bleeding through your pads in the rate of several per hour for the duration of your period would be excessive. My periods were quite a bit heavier than that…and in fact towards the end were un-ending. (no break, just constant bleeding)

- Usually fibroids cannot be detected without an ultrasound (and it’s not an external ultrasound..it’s one that um, goes where a cervical exam goes)
– If your OB was concerned about fibroids they would likely have you make an ultrasound appointment (most OB/GYN have these in their office)..but if you period is only 2 days in duration total..they probably consider you to be on the “light” spectrum for periods. And, again, without showing signs of anemia (lower red blood cell count) you wouldn’t be indicated as having a problem with excessive menstrual bleeding due to fibroids.

So – in summary, if you remain concerned you can always as your OB/GYN for an ultrasound.
There are lots of options for excessive bleeding at periods (including taking the pill, a procedure called Novasure – which is ablation for the uterine walls, etc.)—but if your period is only 2 days long, consider yourself blessed!