I just joined this site and have found it a life saver. I'mm 44 and yesterday, I started what I assumed was my normal cycle. It was 4 days early, but what scares the hell out of me is that it is so much haevier than my usual period. I hate to be gross but I'm passing big blood clots and although I usually pass some, never this big!
I went to the GYN after work yesterday, just droped in. The Nurse practioner explained that this is just the normal beginnings of perimenpause, and she doesn't think it is anything to worry about. But, shouldn't my periods be getting lighter not heavier during this period? I've been freaking out, thinking I'm going to bleed to death. Then the tears started, I think I scared my husband and kids to death.
Has anyone experienced this? I definitly need some reassurance that this could all be normal.
Sorry this is so long.

Eva

I think most of us have experienced this. I could literally feel the clots pass out of me. Of course, in my ignorance I just assumed this was just a part of who I was and didn't even associate this with peri.

Hi Eva and welcome:

What you experienced with your cycle is something that has happened to many of us here -- you might want to read through the posts under the "Bleeding" topic. You should make an appointment with your gyn to check out any irregular bleeding and set your mind at ease; but what you are describing is nothing out of the ordinary. I know exactly how you feel, because the heavy bleeding started happening to me about six months ago. I was absolutely convinced that I must have some horrible disease, but it happily turned out not to be the case. Welcome to the club. *s*

Witsend

Eva

I had the exact same thing happen to me. A few things that have helped me are Advil, Keeper menstrual cup, progesterone. If I am having heavy bleeding taking an extra large dose of Advil will help reduce the bleeding and cramping. I usually have to take 3-4 200 mg tabs to get the reduced bleeding effect from the Advil. A nurse practitioner told my friend to take Naproxen instead of Advil but I found that the Naproxen upsets my stomach. A "Keeper" menstrual cup (or Diva cup on Amazon) really seems to help the bleeding. I am not sure why it helps but you can read the testimonials on the sites that sell the cups. Finally, I found that using progesterone cream really helps reduce the amount of bleeding. I have used different amounts of progesterone but at first I used over the counter progesterone cream at the recommended dose on the tube and it helped so much. Dr. Lee's menopause and pre menopause books talks about why the progesterone cream helps. It may help you to read the books. I am not really a fan of Dr. Lee's opinion on estrogen but his advice on progesterone cream really helped my heavy bleeding. I no longer use the progesterone cream topically, I use it vaginally but I buy it from a compounding pharmacy. I do not know of any over the counter progesterone creams that you can use vaginally. It may take more than one month using progesterone cream per Dr. Lee's directions to notice reduced bleeding but I could tell a difference the first month.

Kathy

I also had this same thing for months-it got so bad that I was afraid to leave the house at times-I became anemic-I'd say that phase lasted a year-now I get very light periods but they seem to arrive every week! There are procedures to reduce the bleeding or even eliminate it-I was on the verge of having one when suddenly they changed-I'm just waiting to see what's next! Hang in there-you are certainly not alone.

I, too, passed huge bloodclots. I used to joke about how I just lost my liver through my uterus. It does ease off, but everyone is different on how long it will last. This is normal. I had to resort to buying incontinence pads instead of regular tampons plus pads. They are bigger and holds more than regular pad/tampons do. You might want to try this for nights or when you go out. Hang in there!