Women's Health Community

?Life threatening? Well, eventually (if this continues) you're going to become weak from all the blood loss and will likely end up in the ER so yes, this could be life threatening.

No one on an internet board can tell you why this is happening but this certain isn't normal and needs to be looked into. Now.

Gail

When I had this bleeding problem, my Gyn put me on Provera pills to stop the bleeding until a uterine ablation could be scheduled. There are two types of uterine ablations, one is with heat, which "burns" the uterine walls and creates scar tissue. The other is a freezing method. AT the time, the heat method was the only one available. I had that done as an outpatient in the hospital, under MAC anesthesia, woke in recovery feeling like I was in labor. I was given medication for the pain, and when stable, I was released to go home. The pains subsided by the end of the day. I did however, end up with a bad infection in my uterus, which requried 2 strong oral antibiotics. At first I really regreted having the procedure because of the pain the infection caused, but after it cleared up, I felt much better. My periods after that, were maybe 3 days long, and much lighter in comparison to what I had dealt with. This procedure was in 2005. Since then, I may have had 5 times that I spotted, but nothing that I could actually call a period. 7 years later, I have no period or spotting. It was the best choice I have ever made. A couple of friends of mine had the same done, but had the "freeze" method done (which can be done in the Dr. office). They continued to have periods and eventually ended with a hysterectomy. I have only heard this happening with the 'freeze' method, not the burn method. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I would check with your Gyn about Provera (which is short term), and having the ablation.

Dear An: Both Karrie and Gail have spoken correctly. What Karrie has described is treatment for prolonged/heavy periods. What Gail has referred to is the need for you to get an accurate diagnosis--that is, a reason, for your current bleeding before trying to treat it.

There are two major reasons for very prolonged/heavy periods: hormonal and what I call "structural". "Structural" means when excessive bleeding is due to actual problems within the cavity or walls of the uterus. Some examples of this would include fibroids of the uterus, endometriosis of the muscular wall of the uterus ("adenomyosis"), infections of the lining of the uterus, polyps of the uterine lining, or even uterine cancer. Most structural reasons tend to reoccur every month, and are more common in women over thirty.

Hormonal causes are usually linked to missed or erratic ovulations. As you may know, in a normal cycle, estrogen is produced all month. Estrogen is responsible for building up the lining of your uterus so you have something to shed each month. In a normal cycle, progesterone production increases following ovulation. Progesterone "stabilizes" the uterine lining in preparation for a possible implantation of a new pregnancy. If you are not pregnant that month the levels of estrogen and progesterone fall, triggering the release of the uterine lining—your period.

So, if you do not ovulate, the estrogen build up of the lining continues, but without the usual ovulation associated progesterone. Thus, the hormone levels don't decline, and the lining stays up inside the uterus—your missed/late period. Alternatively the lining can begin to shed under its own weight producing prolonged bleeding.

Causes for not ovulating are multifold: thyroid problems, pituitary problems, ovarian cysts, physical stressors (eg sudden increases in exercise, crash dieting), emotional stressors (problems with parents or boyfriends/girlfriends, finances), increased body weight, anorexia, rotating shifts at work, etc.

Given that your heavy bleed was an abrupt thing, my best GUESS is that it as a hormonal cause. Thus Karrie's suggestion about a hormonal treatment ("Provera") MIGHT be what your GYN suggests.

Bottom line, rule out an undetected pregnancy first then see a GYN or your local county family planning clinic. They can do the additional evaluation to give you the most "for sure" diagnosis and appropriate treatment to get your bleed to stop.

Yours,
Jane

It sounds like this is your first episode of heavy bleeding. As Jane said, it's more likely to be hormonal and a medication may be all that's needed. In light of your age and no prior bleeding issues, I doubt you're even considering ablation suggested by the one poster.

Ablation has a higher rate of causing problems in younger women and if you're wanting to conceive again, a pregnancy is rarely viable after ablation. If it does occur, it can cause serious complications. So it's recommended that contraception be used after ablation.