Procedures for heavy periods

buckeyegirl

Cathlete
Hey there ladies, TMI alert :eek:

Have any of you ever had any procedures for heavy/long periods? I am 43 and am done having children. Husband had a vasectomy in November. I'm sick of my heavy periods, sore breasts prior- they are still regular, just getting really inconvenient at times too. I looked forward into summer and I will be due to get my period when we are at the beach:mad:

I've been considering getting one of the procedures to help ablate the lining of the uterus but am looking for anyone who's had the experience - good, bad, ugly??
The one I was looking at is Novasure but have read some horror stories.

Any help would be appreciated - I don't want to be miserable dangit!!

Thanks!!
 
I've got a couple friends who had a uterine ablation. They both were very happy with it. I don't know if Novasure is the kind of ablation they had, though. I really think the key for any type of procedure is to make sure you have a great doctor. It's always good to ask how many ablations your doc has done and if not many, ask him/her to refer you to someone who does them a lot. From people I've heard about having this procedure, they have been really happy with it. HTH :)
 
I'm 48 and have heavy/long periods to the point where I become severely anemic. My doctor suggested progesterone and iron supplementation before I consider the ablation procedure. Apparently, for many women in their 40s, the heavy periods are due to hormone imbalance caused by too little progesterone in relation to estrogen. Even if you have the ablation procedure, your endocrine glands will still be producing the hormones that cause the pms symptoms, so you'll still have the tender breasts, water retentions, etc...

There are several reasons you could be having heavy periods-hypothyroid, fibroids, etc...whatever the reason, I believe you should attempt to fix this issue as well-

btw, I lost ten pounds when I started taking the progestone...:eek:
 
Light birth control helps with my periods. I don't know if that would help you. These days they have a form of birth control that you take and you don't have much of a period at all. Also, the progesterone will probably help and is less invasive. That said, the ablation procedure looks like a good idea.
 
i take a depo shot and havent had one for years. i am 40 yrs old. i know there has been a lot of negativity about it. my doc says not to worry about it. it supposedly can weaken muscles in the hip but because i workout it shoulnt be a prob. i get a bone density check every 3 yrs to make sure everythings ok.

laura
 
Thanks for all the insight. I wish I could do some form of birth control but it seems a tad silly since DH just had a vas but mostly I'm reluctanct d/t a family history of breast cancner AND the fact that I become virtually homicidal on hormones:eek: and have so much breakthrough bleeding....

Ugh - perhaps a call to be gyn is in order. Just wanted to see what others have experienced. Thanks!
 
off the subject some might want to look into a iud?????? I havent had a full period in 6 months since I got mine:D before that I was on a 90 day birth control pill and it made me have really really light periods ( I am very emotional also at that time but this certian type of b/c helped)
 
Here's another vote for IUD. I'm 47 and had to stop bc pills about 15 months ago. Dr. recommended Meridian IUD. I've had one or two periods since then; none for the last year. I love it.
 
If you have fibroids, changing your birth control won't help. You'll need surgical intervention. If it's due to hormones, it might. Maybe check w/ your doctor to see what the root cause is??
 
Thanks for all the insight. I wish I could do some form of birth control but it seems a tad silly since DH just had a vas but mostly I'm reluctanct d/t a family history of breast cancner AND the fact that I become virtually homicidal on hormones:eek: and have so much breakthrough bleeding....

Ugh - perhaps a call to be gyn is in order. Just wanted to see what others have experienced. Thanks!

Did you use natural hormone replacement? It's different and doesn't have the CA risk like the progesterin they use that isn't the same as what our bodies produce.
 
I will be 39 next month, have 3 kids and DH has a vasectomy. My periods are 23 days apart and last for 9-14days!! They are only heavy for 2-3days and I am not enemic. I can deal with all of that, what I CAN'T deal with is the PMS. It seems like I always have it and it's getting worse. My Dr suggested Mirena IUD or ablation. I would love some insight. Did anyone have relief from PMS with either? TIA :)
 
I finally conquered the heavy period issues with progesterone (kills the estrogen imbalance) and Vitamin A. I take Vit A throughout my cycle but on the 2nd day of my period, I up it to about 50,000 IU units. Believe it or not, the Vit A stops the heavy flow.

There is a study from the 1950's on how Vit A stops the flow of heavy periods and that is the study my doctor gave to me to read. The following is taken from another website:


Vitamin A
Vitamin A is an antioxidant that generally helps to protect your cells against damage. It helps cells reproduce normally and is also needed for red blood cell production. Vitamin A deficiency has been found in women with heavy periods. One study showed that 92 percent of women prescribed supplemental vitamin A found that their heavy bleeding was either cured or alleviated.
 
I had an ablation about 4 years ago. I have had great results! No periods at all and my PMS symptoms have all but disappeared. I highly recommend it. It changed my life!
 
Hey there ladies, TMI alert :eek:

Have any of you ever had any procedures for heavy/long periods? I am 43 and am done having children. Husband had a vasectomy in November. I'm sick of my heavy periods, sore breasts prior- they are still regular, just getting really inconvenient at times too. I looked forward into summer and I will be due to get my period when we are at the beach:mad:

I've been considering getting one of the procedures to help ablate the lining of the uterus but am looking for anyone who's had the experience - good, bad, ugly??
The one I was looking at is Novasure but have read some horror stories.

Any help would be appreciated - I don't want to be miserable dangit!!

Thanks!!

I had the Novasure procedure done a year ago August...I am the the 1% where it did absolutly NOTHING to lessen my flow. (Damn...) But i have a friend who had it done and it worked wonders for her! Go figure. Good luck with what you decide, Kay
 
I finally conquered the heavy period issues with progesterone (kills the estrogen imbalance) and Vitamin A. I take Vit A throughout my cycle but on the 2nd day of my period, I up it to about 50,000 IU units. Believe it or not, the Vit A stops the heavy flow.

There is a study from the 1950's on how Vit A stops the flow of heavy periods and that is the study my doctor gave to me to read. The following is taken from another website:


Vitamin A
Vitamin A is an antioxidant that generally helps to protect your cells against damage. It helps cells reproduce normally and is also needed for red blood cell production. Vitamin A deficiency has been found in women with heavy periods. One study showed that 92 percent of women prescribed supplemental vitamin A found that their heavy bleeding was either cured or alleviated.

I am going to try this! THanks
 
I had an ablation about 4 years ago. I have had great results! No periods at all and my PMS symptoms have all but disappeared. I highly recommend it. It changed my life!


This is exactly what I wanted to hear! I couldn't find anything that said it would help with the PMS. I feel like a prisoner in my own body! This really helped me. Thank you!
 
How does an ablation fix PMS issues? I thought it was the hormones that cause PMS... Does the ablation stop the hormones from cycling?

Regarding the vitamin A issue, that is very interesting. I'd never heard anything like that before but will certainly look into it! Thanks!
 
I really have no idea how the procedure helped with PMS, but it did. I used to be grumpy, emotional, bloaty, crampy....starting the week before and had horrible, long, heavy periods. I notice a little bit of a breakout once in a while and think "it must be that time" but the moodyness and other physical issues I don't even notice at all. I used to have to schedule everything around my periods, from vacations to going to the grocery store, and forget trying to work out for an hour..... I am very glad I did it. I have several friends who have done it and had great results as well. I think it is kind of like when you are nursing a baby and your body doesn't produce the same volume of hormones to trigger a period, because it isn't needed. I don't know, I just know it worked for me!
 
2 words of caution....

1. Too much vitamin A can be toxic and bad...do your homework on what is too much and what signs and symptoms of toxicity are.

2. The Mirena IUD is a HORMONAL iud and I've seen folks who had problems with the pill have problems with Mirena. They do make IUDs without hormones but I don't if they would effect your flow.
 

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