Super long periods
ohheythatgirl
Posts: 34 Member
Hey ladies! So, because I'm nursing, no one wants to order blood work for my hormone levels because even if they're out of whack, I won't "take medicine" for them. I have asked because I want to know where I'm at... and while I might not take things for them, certainly I can do other things to help.
Anyway, before I had my son, when I did get my period it was pretty normal. About 5-7 days. Since I've gotten my cycle back after having my son, it comes a lot more often but it's super, super long. Sometimes it's like 18 days. I'm currently on day 10. Every once in awhile it will shock me and only last for 7/8 days... but it's almost always longer than 10.
Anyone know which hormones are lacking/which hormones are dominant to cause that? In the past I was always testosterone dominant and my FSH/LH levels were way out of sync which meant no ovulation... but I haven't had a look at my hormone levels for ~3 years now.
I recently started taking inositol again because I have like 3 bottles of it, and I take 4 pills a day (it's the Now brand) - at first I definitely felt more energized but I don't get that anymore. Surprisingly though my period did come way earlier (which is better - the time between periods was getting to be super long) which is nice but so far, like I said, it's just long (and heavy till the end. Not horrifyingly heavy, just normal heavy).
Anyway, before I had my son, when I did get my period it was pretty normal. About 5-7 days. Since I've gotten my cycle back after having my son, it comes a lot more often but it's super, super long. Sometimes it's like 18 days. I'm currently on day 10. Every once in awhile it will shock me and only last for 7/8 days... but it's almost always longer than 10.
Anyone know which hormones are lacking/which hormones are dominant to cause that? In the past I was always testosterone dominant and my FSH/LH levels were way out of sync which meant no ovulation... but I haven't had a look at my hormone levels for ~3 years now.
I recently started taking inositol again because I have like 3 bottles of it, and I take 4 pills a day (it's the Now brand) - at first I definitely felt more energized but I don't get that anymore. Surprisingly though my period did come way earlier (which is better - the time between periods was getting to be super long) which is nice but so far, like I said, it's just long (and heavy till the end. Not horrifyingly heavy, just normal heavy).
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I just had a thought... maybe because I lost almost 15 lbs in a month, and fat releases estrogen... maybe this time around it's because things are estrogen dominant? It is clottier than usual. TMI I know, but is there really TMI in a group about PCOS? Ha.0
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Before I started LCHF, Inositol and Met, i had the worst periods. Heavy, like overflowed 2-3 overnight pads a day, running down my legs heavy. They were very clotty, from small sunflower seed size to bigger plum sized ones. They ran 8-11 days, hurt so bad I was on 800mg motrin 3x a day plus a heating pad and sometimes tylenol also and Id still be hurting so bad, like someone was sawing me in half while pulling my uterus out thru my cervix bad.
I have estrogen dominant PCOS and once I got my insulin under better control with the LCHF, Met and Inositol, things got much much better. Now I am about 5 days, havent overflowed anything, dont even need overnight pads anymore, not even at night, no clots and seriously no pain, minor discomfort once in awhile but the kind you can ignore. My estrogen has also balanced better because of getting my insulin under better control. Then I added vitex to help balance my estrogen/progesterone better and that's helped some too, but no where near what getting my insulin more under control has done.
Have you gotten your insulin checked recently? That would be my first suggestion and you can get that checked even while breastfeeding. Met can be taken while pregnant, at least for a lot of the pregnancy but I am not sure on how they feel about it while breastfeeding. But getting your insulin under control has more to do with preventing diabetes, heart disease, etc than just getting your hormones under control.
ETA: I dont think there is a TMI on a PCOS board either! The stuff we go thru, ugh!0 -
Haha no I don't think any of this is TMI since so many PCOS sufferers have irregular periods.
I used to use Dianette for control of my periods and PCOS. It was working brilliantly, but I gained so much weight in the process (I wasn't careful about what I ate) that my doctors deemed it unsafe and took me off it. I've now had my period every single day (no exaggeration) since last November
I know there are other pills that you take for a month with a seven day break which helps control periods but are safer than dianette that maybe you should query about, I'm hoping to have lost enough weight to be able to go on a safer pill. From what my doctors have said it's mostly about hormones in relation to periods. I've been taking met 3 times a day since January which has helped with losing weight, but not my period. 0 -
My insulin is fine and we check it often because diabetes runs in the family! I am taking metformin though, have been for some time for the PCOS. I'm not sure how it helps me exactly... the only thing I notice is that my nails grow stronger and longer. So while my insulin levels are fine perhaps there is something going on that though the standard level might be okay, my body is more sensitive to it. Not sure.
My periods are not painful, and the clots are not big. Just clottier than I remember it being before... it always was occasionally, but this time around particularly it's like okay am I just shedding all of my uterus?!!
Day 12... I think it's finally letting up. I don't overflow anything... About the 4th/5th day in it gets really heavy for a couple of days where I need to change my tampon more often, but then it goes back to "normal heavy." I wish it were more abnormal so I knew what was going on. I also spot a lot between periods when I'm losing weight but that's normal.
I will not go on any birth control because it made my PCOS worse once I stopped taking it
I'd rather get it under control naturally.
I will have to try LCHF sometime in the future to see if it changes things at all!
Melorastar.... every day since last Nov!?! Girl... and I thought I had it bad. That has to be expensive as all get out with the feminine products (unless you use mooncup or whatever or 'mommacloth').0 -
When my periods started to go from 7 to 10 days, I got worried. Then they went from 10 to 14, and finally a few years later, I was bleeding almost the whole month.
Found out I had fibroids in my uterus. Scheduled a hysterectomy, and it was fabulous! Totally got rid of the anemia, no more periods and pain, and a bonus, NO MIGRAINES!
I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I will never again have to worry about bleeding through my clothes at the grocery store, or carry fresh jeans in the car just in case.
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Make sure it isn't something else too. I ignored my very heavy periods for a while because i was like "eh, PCOS" but my dr just told me I have fibroids (AAAHHHHHH)0
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ravenstar25 wrote: »Make sure it isn't something else too. I ignored my very heavy periods for a while because i was like "eh, PCOS" but my dr just told me I have fibroids (AAAHHHHHH)
I also said 'eh PCOS' and the doctor was worried I had fibroids also. But after multiple ultrasounds both before and after my miscarriage, we found none. And with getting my estrogen and insulin under control, they are down to a reasonable 5-6 days and not heavy. I have found, if i eat more carbs than my keto level, i notice a heavier and longer period the next month.0
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