11 days heavy bleeding,bright red blood with large clots, what is going on?

I just got my period 11 days ago and it is always very heavy in the beginning and slows down, i always have my period about 5 days. I am on day 11. i have never had a period so heavy and long, i am passing clots in length the size of my middle finger and width of two of my fingers together. However, it was strange, my period before this one was extremely weird, I have a very light light light light period ( which i have never had) and only saw blood when i wiped. It lasted for about 10-15 days, cant remember ( again way too long) and literally about a week later, same thing but for two days. then it went away, and now two weeks later, i have it again but this bleeding is bright red in color with clots. It is not slowing down and it is VERY VERY heavy. I am not on any birth control. I thought, hmm implantation bleeding or something. I am an open mind at this point.

this is a first for me! all within the past month or two.

I am 22 years old and a little scared.

However, dont let this determine your answer but my mom just had surgery for fibroids and cysts and has always had bad periods.


But this just isn't how my periods have been for the past 10 years. what can i do?
any ideas. It really sucks im going to puerto rico in two days thought it would be gone by now. I was wrong! just my luck. but this is literally driving me crazy. I am bleeding so much.


thanks

whtiney

[Machelle Seibel, MD]

Heavy periods can be a real nuisance. They can be caused by many things from fibroids, such as your mom has (there is a genetic component to them), to adenomyosis (a condition where the uterine lining invades the muscle of the uterus so the muscle can't squeeze the blood vessels to stop them from bleeding. It can also be caused by hormonal problems or from anemia and too little iron.

The best thing to do is to see your doctor for an exam. Depending on the findings, he/she might want to order an ultrasound of the uterus and ovaries to see if there is a problem. They might also want to order blood tests such as a pregnancy test (you can get one over the counter in the meantime which is a good idea), FSH, LH, estadiol and serum iron test. They might also want to check your thyroid hormone levels.

If you don't have time to go before your trip, at least start taking a daily vitamin and on over the counter iron tablet such as Ferrous Sequals two or three times daily. They might turn your stool dark and occasionally can make a person constipated.

With a little more information, an exam and some testing it should be possible for your doctor to identify the problem and correct it for you.
Machelle M. Seibel, MD

[whitneytara]

And now I just realized this is a menapause forum! i got confused.. if anyone can help anyway that would be great. sorry

[whitneytara]

thanks I appreciate your help. Unfortunately I can't make it to the doctor before my trip.. So who knows i may keep bleeding for another week. i took a pregnancy test... negative.

And it stopped for a few hours last night. i was so excited.. then kicked right back in this morning. Miserable.


I appreciate the advice.. don't know what I'm going to do while im in Puerto Rico.

[lorijunebug]

I know you are still very young to be having these type of problems with bleeding heavily and very large clots but please ask your dr. about checking you for endometriosis. I began having the very same symptoms that you are having in my middle thirties and told my gynocologist on every annual visit . She always told me that it was nothing to worry about and that it was normal. Well I knew that blood clots as large as my fist falling out of my underwear and the excruciating pain was not normal. So I eventually changed Drs. and again she wasnt too concerned but eventually agreed to run more extensive test on me.including a vaginal probe ulrasound and a uteral byopsy. She called me a week later and announced to me unfortunately over the phone that I had uterine cancer. I later found out that I had had endometiosis and by it going undetected had eventually turned into cancer. I was sent right away to an oncologist who performed a complete hysterectomy on me. I was fortunate that the cancer was only in 1st stage but I have to be checked every six months to make sure it doesnt return. So please dont settle for the typical answer of "everythings o.k" because if I had been taken seriously by my dr, when I first told her of my symptoms then maybe I wouldnt have developed cancer and wouldnt be going thru early menopause due to the radical hysterectomy. Good Luck