# Bleeding won't stop. Help!



## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

Hey mamas,

After 95 days with no period I finally got it. But it was still going 33 days later! heavy, clotty, yuck. Doc gave me progestin tablets (norethindrone) and it stopped for a few days then came back same as before and with cramps! She told me to triple up on my progestin pills so now I'm taking 3 times the original dosage and it's not stopping.

She says cryoablation or a hysterectomy are the only other things that will stop this bleeding. Of course my iron is super low so I'm having to take supplements.

Has anyone gone through this and stopped it naturally? Or has anyone had the cryoablation and if so what were your results? I really want to save my uterus. I'm only 38 here. But I can't very well go on bleeding forever.


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## Solose (May 10, 2008)

If you are not trying to conceive, why don't you try a combination (estrogen/progesterone) birth control pill? I have crazy cycles and sometimes wont get my period for months and then get a very long one, so for a while I was on the pill so i would have regular light periods. if you are trying to conceive right now, at least for me, whenever I have been on the pill for a while and go off, I usually have regular cycles for a at least a few months afterwards ( in fact, that was how I conceived







)


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## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

I'm not trying to conceive.

I asked her about going on birth control pills and she said my body is making too much estrogen (that's the problem) so she put me on a progesterone only pill (strongest one they make she said). So she said the pill will not be stronger than what I'm on.


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## Barbee (Nov 27, 2004)

hmmm.. what do you think accounts for your hormonal change? has there been any changes like a pregnancy or breastfeeding changes? if so, i would just give it time. i tend to think doctors can be a little drastic. also, instead of taking a supplement for iron, i would get floradix as it absorbs much better than a vitamin. 33 days is a long time to bleed. i recently weaned my son and had a 20 day period. i can't imagine one more day of bleeding. good luck with everything.


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## pumpkin (Apr 8, 2003)

have you had any imaging tests?

Ultrasound, hystosonogram, etc?


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## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

I haven't been pregnant for 5 years.

Here's an update. After 33 days of bleeding it stopped for like 6 days then started up again when I missed a pill. It was heavy and I got cramps too. She told me to increase my dosage of the pill I'm on, tripling it if necessary. Now I'm on 3x the original amount and get this.... I bleed from 6am to 11am and then no bleeding the rest of the day and night! But the friggin bleeding comes back again in the morning.

I'm taking my pills exactly 8 hours apart to keep the dosage steady.

I've had ultrasounds. No fibroids. I had a biopsy, no cancer. I'll be seeing her again in a few weeks.


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## steffanie3 (Mar 17, 2002)

I am there right now. I posted a while ago, when it happened for the first time for me and didn't get much response either, guess know one knows for sure. I am going to an OB on June 27th, that was the soonest she could get me in since I decided to call last week. I need to keep better track of days, I know this time is over a month though.

From what little I could find online I might as for an ultrasound if my OB doesn't have much advice, I hope she does and we can figure this out.


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## mama2noah (Oct 31, 2007)

i had the same thing a while back, went for all the above mentioned tests, ended in a biopsy and everything was normal.....it stopped on it's own , now all I have is occasionally heavy periods from time to time.....the thing I changed the most was trying very hard to not stress about...this is very difficult as i'm ttc but i did notice a change when i was able to calm down a litt


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## mama2noah (Oct 31, 2007)

sorry , not that I'm suggesting your freaking out or anything (even if you were it would be normal to) I'm just saying my experience and what helped me...hth


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

I had a friend go through this, it eventually worked it's self out. much love you'll get through this! don't let them give you a hysterectomy unless it's what YOU want!


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## spmamma (Sep 2, 2007)

Ask your doctor about adenomyosis. I was diagnosed with it a few years back after bleeding for an entire month. They did several tests for it, including an ultrasound and uterine biopsy.

Ultimately, doctors can only give a 100% diagnosis after doing a hysterectomy (they examine the uterus for adenomyosis post-removal) so I'll never know for sure if that's truly what I have since I'm not planning to have one. But, it's about as close as I could get to figuring out what the problem was.

Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info.


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## steffanie3 (Mar 17, 2002)

Any updates?


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## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

Still having the bleeding with cramping every day. It's been 2.5 months straight. I'm seeing her again tomorrow. I know she wants to do an ablation but we haven't ruled out having another child so I don't want to kill the uterus just yet. She said also that a D&C might stop the bleeding.

What I am wondering, though, is that I started a new medication for PCOS (metformin) and I started all the lovely bleeding at the same time I started the meds. Other women online said the same thing happened to them and that when they went off the meds the period finally stopped too. But both my OB and my Primary don't think this drug can cause bleeding. I want to go off the metformin to see. I'm going to talk to her about that tomorrow.


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## captain crunchy (Mar 29, 2005)

mama -- I have been bleeding for about 20 days so far... it sure is a huge drag. I hope we both get answers soon.


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## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

One thing to watch out for is the iron loss. Mine has gotten so low that they are trying to convince me to go in for an iron drip via IV. I've heard the side effects are horrific though so I'm wanting to avoid it as long as possible. I'll know this week if I have to go in for the drip.


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## captain crunchy (Mar 29, 2005)

Thanks for the head's up -- my multi vitamin is 200% iron and I take it with extra vitamin C, and also I cook everything in my cast iron pan... do you think that is enough to keep the levels up?

I'm sorry you're going through this! I am also taking Sabina, a homeopathic remedy, and it seems to help lighten the bleeding (it isn't too heavy though, thank God).


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## 123 (Jun 16, 2005)

I would suspect the metformin. My MIL, who is in her 70's, started it for blood sugar issues. Soon after she started spotting. It only lasted a week or so and then it went away, but this is in a woman who has been past menopause for quite some time.

On a side note, her first response to this situation was to threaten FIL's life if he'd gotten her pregnant again.


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## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

holy cow! In her 70's with spotting. Wow. Well that does it. I'm going to tell the doc tomorrow that I'm going off the metformin for a couple of weeks to see. Can't hurt


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## kriket (Nov 25, 2007)

thats the first time that I've heard of Met causing spotting. Totally stinks, I've heard really good things about met for PCOSers too. I brought my sugar down with hyponidd. Its suposta be an herbal met. I didn't have any bleeding, you may want to give it a try?


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## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

Researched the hyponidd, sounds very intriguing. I'd be totally open to trying something like that


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## captain crunchy (Mar 29, 2005)

How are you doing today? Still the same over here *sigh*. I have an appointment with my primary care doc on Friday -- hopefully he can refer me to a good gyno ( I don't have a regular one).

Any insight as to what tests I should have ordered? I am thinking a full thyroid panel, a full hormone panel (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone etc), iron and... what else?

I have had 3 people suggest it may be an early miscarriage but I have no clue -- it is certainly not *impossible* but since my cycles are wacky to begin with, I don't know. I wouldn't think I would bleed so long but who the heck knows anymore.


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## pumpkin (Apr 8, 2003)

One thing I would ask your doctors is just what would be bad about doing a test of stopping the metformin. I've been on metformin and off it. Frankly, it didn't really make much difference for me.

I can't speak for your case, but it may be that stopping it for a month or two will not do any harm. So even if the docs don't think it will help, if you think it could be correlated, it might be worth trying (as long as its safe for you).


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## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

My Ob/Gyn was surprisingly open to ending the metformin to see what happens. But she wants me to wean off over a 1 week period which is fine with me. I was actually tolerating the metformin really well so I was happy to stay on it but it's not doing much for me.

however, she also had results from my ultrasound which showed a 15mm lining! That is apparently really thick, which is horrible after 2.5 months of bleeding already. So she wants to have me stop taking the progestin pills, which she said will bring on a withdrawal bleed (the likes of which even God has never seen! she said) and then see if, after the bleed, I'm reset. Otherwise we might do a D&C.

I'm a little nervous about having a period from hell since I've already been bleeding so long but I want to see what happens.

Also my iron is really low. It's gotten lower and lower over time and there is a real concern here. But I've got iron pills I'll be taking to help me out.


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## captain crunchy (Mar 29, 2005)

Thanks for the update. I have been taking progesterone as well,...but natural... (hasn't stopped the bleeding though) and am set to stop on the 10th (per the directions of when/how long to take it) so your update helped a lot -- knowing I may get withdrawl bleeding that is bad.

My period, had this one not lasted like 20+ days (and still going) would have been set to begin around the 15th of this month so the withdrawl bleeding (I am praying!) should be around my normal period time.

I hope it doesn't come to a D&C for you, and that everything works itself out.


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## Hesperia (Sep 3, 2007)

Updates ladies?

I really like spatone iron. It's liquid and doesn't do anything to my digestive system. I take two during bleeding just incase.


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## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

I'm just having a real heavy period (not that I wasn't before but ...)

We're just waiting to see if after the lining sheds the bleeding will stop or if the bleeding will just keep right on going. If it ain't gone by next Friday I'll start to assume it's not going to stop since it will have been about 10 days of bleeding.

I'm on no drugs now which is good. I suppose.


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## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

Oh happy day, the bleeding is all but stopped now! Just a little spotting.

I wonder if I will ever ovulate again...


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## Mylie (Mar 15, 2004)

Any progress?

Last year I was having problems also..I had an ultrasound and my lining was 26 mm thick..They were very concerned and wanted me to have a D%C.I was scared to death and convinced my primary to give me provera to induce a bleed..I won't bother lying to ya..It was hell...The pain,I was sicker than a dog,It was the most painful thing I have ever gone through in my life...I actually felt my uterus contracting in gasms...I won't say orgasms cause they hurt like hell..I bled super heavy for about 11 days..Finally stopped..My uterus was so sore for a monthA week or two later went in for another ultrasound and my lining was down to 7 mm..Normal.My gyno was impressed that my body took care of it like it did..It will be rough if you do it..But worth it..Keep your heavy duty pain meds on hand ...

It regulated my periods for about 6 months and then wham they stopped again..I haven't had a period for about 4-5 months now..I am getting ready to go induce a bleed again cause there is no way in any hell I want to go thru that again...I hope you fair alot better than I did...Let us know how you are doing....


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## Erin Pavlina (Nov 11, 2001)

The bleeding stopped after I stopped taking Metformin. I've been free and clear for about 2 weeks. I'll have an ultrasound this week to check the lining. I am really hopeful this is all behind me now.


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