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[swlondonmum]

Hi all

I'm not sure where to start as I am new to all this but I have just been to see my GP on an emergency appointment because I have been heavily bleeding since Thurs (ie through tampons plus pads in an hour all day and night for 5 days type of bleeding with lots of big clots!). Anyway she was lovely and spent plenty of time discussing it all and gave me tranexamic acid to stop the bleeding and said to get iron tablets to help with the fatigue from blood loss.

I asked her if it was first signs of perimenopause because although I have a 5 year old son, fertility tests before and after I had him (at 35) showed my FSH levels were high for my age and the doc/fertility specialists said my fertility was low. And we weren't able to have another child after him (I am now 40). She said that's a possibility but that it could also be fibroids - she felt my abdomen for them but couldnt find anything. She recommended a Mirena coil to help control my blood flow.

Anyway she said to ask my mum - and she said she had fibroids and cyst and also was sterilised at 32 as she had major problems with the pill and coil - I guess there were also less options in those days and old male doctors weren't that sympathetic! So I guess she doesn';t know when her fertility started to decline (plus she was mid 20s when she had me and my brother) but she said her actual menopause wasn't until 50 but she did have symptoms for a few years before that - also heavy bleeding but no hot flushes/sweats etc. She had HRT for 5 yrs and only recently had a hysterectomy in her 60s.

That's it I guess - I feel like it's all a bit unknown at the moment - I will go to my GP for a follow up esp now I know about my  mum's fibroids/other history.

So...if anyone here has any comments or advice or has experienced a similar situation then it would be lovely to hear from you!

 

[pansypotter]

 :)Hello swlondonmum,
welcome to the site. I'm sure that you will have other people comment and maybe even some with similar things happening, although because of your young age, perhaps less so.The GP feeling the area [for fibroids] doesn't mean they are not there, just not of a sufficient size, but if there is a family history of them then you should 'push' your GP on this to have a proper test done.It's not good enough to leave you in the dark about this, if the symptoms continue go back and 'have your say'.The present state of the NHS  means that docs don't act as fast as they used to.

[KimmyH]

Hi swlondonmum

I'm a newbie too, this is my first post! We have such a similar story I wanted to reply...

I had severe pain from endometriosis for 20 years (I'm now 44), and later developed fibroids and very heavy bleeding.  The endometriosis was adhered to my bladder so I've had bladder issues for year too 

I've had 3 laparoscopies to reduce the endo over the years, I was also on tranaxemic acid for a while, then my gynae suggested an endometrial ablation to address the bleeding.  The ablation was brilliant, no more bleeding, at all, but unfortunately it didn't help with the pain.  I found out my mum also had the same symptoms but wasn't diagnosed back then, she had a hysterectomy in her early 40s as that was the only solution back then.  I eventually opted for a hysterectomy in 2010, I've never had or wanted children (I've been with my partner for 11 years and he also didn't want children), so I thought it was an obvious choice for me to finally solve all my problems.

Sadly that wasn't the end of my story as my gynae prescribed the wrong HRT which reactivated the endo in my bladder, and I ended up in more pain than before the surgery.  I'm now off HRT and in full blown menopause, although I think I'm getting off lighter than many women I've read about on here. I'm currently trying acupuncture for the hot flushes.

I agree with pansypotter, you can't tell if you have fibroids by feeling your stomach, you need an ultrasound scan.  Definitely go back, and ask about endometriosis, it is SO common yet so often overlooked by GPs.  There are lots of things they can try for you, I've tried them all  , hopefully they'll find a solution that works well for you. 

Good luck

Kim