Heavy Periods (Menorrhagia): PCOS and Extreme Weightloss

[dsdesigna 143]

Nearly three weeks ago I woke one morning to find that I was having what I thought at the time was a very, very heavy period. I've had PCOS for years before I had WLS on July 8th, so I was somewhat familiar with this. But this was different. I was bleeding more than I had ever remembered before and to make things worse my body was expelling large baseball sized clots at first and reduced to the size of a ping pong ball every time I stood up. I was in the bathroom every hour on the hour or more and changing pads that frequently. I went through more than 22 pads in just 3 days. I went to two ERs, the first one was not staffed to handle Gyno issues, and the second one was less than helpful. After 7 hours of waiting in the ER bleeding like I had been stabbed the ER Doc said there wasn't anything he could do for me and basically sent me on my way, he did the most ridiculous pelvic exam and then gave me a sheet and told me to talk to my doc.

The next morning I got a call from my doctor's nurse telling me to get down to their walk in clinic immediately. I saw a nurse practitioner who gave me a proper pelvic and sent me almost immediately for a pelvic ultrasound to rule out a fibroid. I left a crime scene in the ultra sound room with the amount of blood I was losing. They sent me home and wanted me to see an actual gynecologist the next day for an endometrial biopsy to rule out uterine cancer. Meanwhile they were talking about hysterectomies, ablations, and D&Cs, none of which I wanted since I still have the delusion that I might get to have a child one day.

The next day I had the most painful experience with the biopsy I have ever had. The doc gave me a shot of depo provera and gave me some birth control Patches since with the DS we don't absorb birth control pills correctly.

The good news is all of the tests were normal except that now my Vitamin K levels are terrible.

Also this is a common occurrence for people who lose a large amount of weight, and more likely for those who had heavy periods prior to surgery. I wanted to share my story because it was very, very scary. Also because you are not alone, and because it really is serious and don't let anyone tell you differently. The second ER doc could have halted the bleeding by giving me a depo provera shot on that first day, but because he was completely unethical and a jerk he didn't. He instead gave me a prescription for birth control which I told him I couldn't take because of my DS.

[Beni 1,484]

I had a similar experience about 10 years ago. I had such heavy bleeding I thought I was going to die. I would describe it exactly as you did. The ER was worthless ended up in the Gynecologist's office the following morning. I had to have uterine ablation ASAP. But of course I was not planning on having any more children. Scary stuff. It was not related to WLS though

[Sleeve_Sistah85 193]

Sorry you're having a tough time with periods...and yes, it's probably cuz of the extreme weight loss and hormonal regulations. The depo is good...or any progesterone only contraception will help.

[Miss Mac 6,261]

Please get well soon.

[toastedink 115]

I know I'm super late with this (I just signed up to this forum) but have you thought about the Nuvaring? This was my birth control before my surgery and I loved it. Low dose of hormones and not any weight gain.

[BLERDgirl 6,417]

nevermind

Edited December 25, 2014 by BLERDgirl