Problems with menstrual cycle

I have been on my period for about 3 months now. It was light at first, but for the past week, has been very heavy and will not stop. I feel tired all the time and am concerned that my iron levels may be low. I've been to the clinic for this before and put on birth control, but it never fixed the problem. Last time my period just went away on its own, but im not sure what i should do. Any suggestions?

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
If you were my patient, I would want to do an ultrasound.  I would want to make sure that there were no abnormalities within the lining of the uterus.  The wall could be thickened (hyperplasia) or there could be polyps.  If the ultrasound looked abnormal, I would consider D&C/hysteroscopy.  If the scan was OK, I would probably put you on birth control too!
What is happening is that you are not ovulating. In a normal cycle, every month the ovaries produce first estrogen--this causes the lining of the uterus to grow thicker, then at midcycle ovulation occurs and the cyst that forms where the egg was released produces progesterone.  Progesterone causes the lining to stop growing and prepare for pregnancy.  If no pregnancy occurs, then menstruation occurs.  In your case, you are not ovulating regularly due to a hormone imbalance ( commonly known as PCOS) and the lining just keeps growing because there is no progesterone to stop it.  Eventually it gets so thick that it collapses and you bleed heavily and/or continually.
Since you are not trying to conceive (the vasectomy) Birth control pills are the best way to stop the vicious cycle.
IF the cycle continues for many years, it can eventually lead to cancer of the uterus.  So go and get checked!
Good luck!
Dr B

[lovekitteh88]

I am 23 years old, married, and i know it isn't anything to do with a pregnancy because my husban had a vasectomy over a year ago

[crimson_glory]

Wow. this post answered some of my questions as well.

I'm 31. My periods have been VERY irregular. I've gone 6 months straight before bleeding...and I've experienced the extreme opposite. I've gone 8 months now without a period. I am not pregnant. I do have PCOS, and my last endometrial biopsy came back abnormal. I guess that explains why.

I had similar experience as lovekitteh88 with b/c pills. Initially years ago, when they diagnosed me with PCOS - they put me on Demulen 30 and Aldactone. It worked for a couple of months, than "poof!" It was just as if I was taking nothing. Periods became very irregular again.

Presently, I'm awaiting the results of another transvaginal U/S to watch the status of a single cyst that I had been diagnosed with on my right ovary (previously 4.3cm in September)