Menstruation

CAUTION

Discussion of menstrual cycles, blood, along with mention of an eating disorder and other medical issues. This is pretty in-depth and personal, I won't be offended if you don't read it.

My Menstruation Story

Writing on the 12th December 2025.

Isn't it fun. Once a month, we shed the lining of our uterus and plop out some blood and stuff.

Well, that's the "normal" cycle. For me, it's different, and has been my entire adolescent and adult life so far. I started my periods at 13 and after being boldly told by my science teachers that it was a teaspoon of blood every month, I was quickly traumatised by the torrent of red that suddenly appeared one day.

Since that first period, things have been fraught with chaos, uncertainty, panic, and in most cases, utter misery.

I have never been regular, not since day one. My "cycle" fluctuated anywhere from 30 days to 50 within the first year, and progressively got more irregular as time went on.

To the Doctor!

By 16, I was being investigated for Polycistic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). The doctor I had was generally dismissive - a man in the mid-00s. When I asked for a female doctor to discuss my situation and carry out my tests, he was offended that I would do such a thing and told me to come to him next time. Then promptly told me my PCOS test came back negative, and told me to lose weight. Naturally, I never returned about this issue. Yes, I was obese at the time, but without any support I was left unguided, adrift, and generally feeling extremely low.

This sent me into a spiral of disordered eating. Unfortunately, the type that can make you put on weight - binge eating. Unrecognised as an actual disorder at the time, and also unbeknownst to me. This caused the biggest increase of weight I'd experienced in my life, and I soon ballooned to an insane weight. During this time, I was berating myself for not helping with my irregular menstruation, my self-confidence was dwindling, and my personal relationship at the time had become extremely toxic.

By my 20s, I had lengths of 6+ months without menstruating, and then suddenly it would arrive with gusto. Being unable to predict when the bleeding would return was some of the most miserable months of my life.

My late 20s had another shift - I began just bleeding. All the time, every day, for months. Sometimes only little bits, an extremely light flow. Other times it was like Moses was visiting with the Red Sea. (I'm secular, I just like the imagery.) Occasionally I would have a month or so of relief, not having to wear pads, not having to worry about bleeding through my underwear or sheets at night. But it wouldn't be long until the bleeding returned.

Back to the Doctor

I began to try investigating this again in my late 20s. I went for a vaginal ultrasound, this came back clean. I was then told to lose weight, and was given Orlistat - a pill that helps you absorb less fat. This compounded my negative self-image and I was sent in yet another spiral. My weight ballooned even more.

Covid

Covid hit, and it was honestly one of the best times I'd had. I realise that hits hard for a lot of people, but for me it was incredible. People legally having to keep a distance from me, not having to leave the house for anything except for a daily walk around the block, and seeing the impact on the world as everything ground to a halt. The dolphins returning in Venice! I will always remember that.

The only negative that happened during that time for me was the passing of my grandmother, although she was very elderly and in a nursing home at the time - it wasn't Covid-related, she had developed cancer and it progressed quickly. I do often think about her even now, nearly 6 years later.

I don't remember much about my menstruation during this time. I think I was overwhelmed with work (self-inflicted) and I tried to push most of what was happening with me medically to the back of my mind.

ADHD

A couple of years after Covid I began to learn about ADHD, turns out, I have it. Probably a bunch of other co-morbidities as well that have been left undiagnosed, but at least I got the ADHD diagnosis. This suddenly put the eating disorder into a fresh light, and I began to seek help for that too. ADHD people are more prone to having difficulties with food, addiction, and a whole host of other things.

Group therapy for eating disorders is very good, by the way. I may delve into that in another article at some point.

Back to the Doctor Pt. 2

I decided that I needed to get this sorted once and for all. I booked another appointment to see the doctor, they sent me for another vaginal ultrasound.

This one came back with a polyp, just a small growth in my uterus. Nothing else. They suggested this might be causing the excess bleeding (but it wasn't there before? I've been "excessively" bleeding for years...)

I was scheduled a hysteroscopy. Naturally, as the appointment approached, TikTok fed me videos about how they tell you hysteroscopies are just a bit "uncomfortable" but for some women it can be the most painful thing in the world. This sent me back to a time when my mother had a hysteroscopy, she asked me to go into the room with her and reassure her.

She was in so much pain that I almost fainted. I felt terrible that I couldn't be there for my mother at a time when she needed me, but the entire experience was extremely traumatising for both of us.

The hysteroscopy came around, I went with my husband, and the thought of my mother having that experience kept playing in my head. I had a mild panic attack and couldn't go through with it. They tried to rebook me for a more experienced doctor to perform the procedure. Unfortunately, they booked it and gave me a day's notice. I panicked and didn't attend. More guilt - I'm wasting the NHS's time, right?

Hospital Visit No. 1

A few months after the failed hysteroscopy, I was taken to hospital for heavy menstrual bleeding. 10th December 2024, I was 35 at the time.

At the start of December 2024 I began bleeding heavily. Lots and lots of blood, clots the size of a finger or bigger. I swear at one point I had a clot that was roughly the size of my uterus itself.

On the 10th December it was particularly bad - it had been getting worse and worse, but on that day I spent two hours unable to leave the toilet due to the onslaught of bleeding. We called the non-emergency line and asked for advice, they attempted to send an ambulance out but were unable to get one to me fast enough. They then advised I double up on pads and make my own way to the hospital.

While I was there, I was given an ECG (normal) and several blood tests. They asked me if I was pregnant, I said there's no chance (there was no chance). They made me try to do a urine test anyway. I said it was impossible, there's too much blood. We went back and forth for a bit, until I managed to get some slightly red urine into a pot. They accepted it, took it away.

Surprisingly, I was not pregnant. /s

I was then put on a drip for dehydration and to get some medication into me to help relieve the bleeding. I was there for around 8 hours in total before we were released with additional medication to take home.

This whole trip was free, except for the prescription medication which cost £9.50. I love the NHS.

Back to the Doctor Pt. 3

After my hospital trip, it took me a little while to get up the courage again to see the doctor. I went in February 2025 - they referred me for a specialist gynaecology appointment, said it could take up to a year on the waiting list.

I finally got my appointment date through for the 13th December 2025. Excellent.

Hospital Visit No. 2 (Electric Boogaloo)

On the 10th of December 2025, I shit you not the exact same day, I was going through another episode of heavy bleeding. It had started several days prior, but after 2 full days of no sleep I decided to contact the non-emergency line again. They asked some questions, asked approximately how many mug-fulls of blood I'd lost in the past 2 hours (...I don't know, most of it went into the toilet?), and then called out an ambulance.

The paramedics were lovely, although I could tell they didn't fully understand why they were here. They asked me why I was unable to sleep, I explained that because of the amount and the frequency of blood I was losing, I would wake up every 20-30 minutes and have to run to the toilet, sometimes leaving a trail of blood behind me. It was just easier if I stayed awake, then I didn't have to rely on body cues to wake me up, and I didn't have to make a mess.

Obviously, this is unsustainable.

They ran an ECG, took my temperature, checked my blood sugar (yes, the weight gain led to diabetes type 2 - I'm working on it), and checked my vitals for anemia and dehydration.

They advised I then go into the urgent care unit at the hospital and try to see a doctor to ask for pills to help stop the bleeding.

Tranexamic Acid

My saviour. I have a box of 60 (well, 50 as of writing) sitting on my desk. The doctor I saw was lovely, fully understood what I was going through, reassured me that she had similar (though not quite as bad) bleeds, and shook her fist in anger at those who had perfectly regular, light flow periods. I love this woman and I only spoke to her for 15 minutes total.

She sent me away with the box of pills, and I have been able to SLEEP.

My Gynaecology Appointment

As of writing this, it's the 12th December 2025. My appointment is first thing tomorrow. I'm not at the end of this journey yet, it's been a long, and arduous one. But I am hopeful.

Hopeful that they'll yeet my uterus into the sun.