period problems - girls please

[lindajane1971]

Hi All,

I have 2 worries regarding periods..........the first is my daughter, (15) who started her period a year ago has for the second time had large clots at the start, by large i mean slightly smaller than a ping pong ball!! I know its gross but ive had a poke at them and they look like lumps of liver to me and are smooth. I did take her to the nurse the first time it happened last year and she said nothing to worry about, but she panics when she gets one of these like im sure anyone would. Has anyone had these type of clots regularly?? Could they be genetic, my mum used to always have horrendious periods and i think she used to say she always had clotts.


Period problem 2 is my own.......my anxiety includes medication and i stopped taking the pill in january, my periods since then have been "off" can come every 2 weeks or have a 4 week gap, i always had irregular periods and was given the pill at 16 to regulate them and have been on it ever since (im now 38) but they now take ages to stop, i have light periods now which can last for weeks, i got my last one on the 15th october and its still on, it is light and its just annoying!!!! I also get small stringy clots through it which worry me.
as the pill regulated my periods for so long im all anxious about these periods, there is no extra pain or anything its just like a looooooooooong period and its getting me a bit down now.

my smears are up to date and have always been ok
Any advice much appreciated.

[Lissy43]

I have heavyish periods, for the first 3 days I have clots, 50p size sometimes, and the first 3 days I always have stringy clots, infact that is all that comes from me. When I go to the loo I wait for it to come from me before i can wipe (sorry).

I think that is normal as the lining of the womb is thick mucus, and that is what we shed.

[lisa12]

yes all normal i lose huge clots every month even went a&e once coz they were that bad ...and they said its just a period and all though clots can look big they are mostely made up of mucus which is natural

[Rachel W]

I also get clots and have done for years. The anticoagulant that turns the uterus into runny blood sometimes can't keep up with the loss and therefore sometimes more solid pieces are lost.

In terms of the second issue. I have also read that the pill takes away the body's sense of self-regulating so maybe it will just take a while for your own hormones to get back to self-regulation. Stress can also cause longer, but light periods. I had a time when I was in my early 20s that I had spotting for a few months and eventually went on the pill to regulate them. It was all down to stress.
If it doesn't settle and you don't want to go back on the pill then maybe ask the doctor if there are any supplements that may help.

Take Care.

[lindajane1971]

thanks for all your replies, it was starting to panic me and i was finding it hard to not show any worry regarding my daughter, a big phew that she is not alone, thanks again guys
x

[Marbleslost]

Hi Linda,

I get clots and flooding bleeding because I have endometriosis and pcos. Basically my body is nearly there on what to do with its hormones, but not quite balanced!

Doesn't do any real harm, but is quite manky! I think the hormonal stuff also explains the anxiety for me...

It did go through a phase of normal(ish) periods and then 20 days of spotting after. Not good but was also part of the endometriosis.

After the pill it does take your body ages to self-regulate.

[blueangel]

Sounds like I was quite lucky when I came off the pill; it only seemed to take a couple of months for my body to get back to normal. When I was a young woman though, I used to have horrendously heavy periods with loads of blood clots, and the only thing that seemed to sort it out was going on the pill.