Ok I don't know what else to do, I now as of April 23rd , have been having a heavy period for a year. I have been to doctor after doctor and they all tell me its stress and it will go away. They have done tests and such but can't get a good reading... I am beside myself I don't know what else to do! I don't know what it could be or how to even start to see another doctor. I usually have irregular periods but nothing ever like this! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!! They have tried birth control and other things but nothing ever helps:(

You have been bleeding for an entire year? Or do you mean for the last year your periods have been heavy?

Have you seen an OB/GYN or just your primary health care provider.

AN ENTIRE YEAR! I have seen 4 different gyn's. I am in the military and so is my husband, so we usually have to go to military hospitals. I finally went to a civilian doctor and he told me it was stress due to my husband being deployed, He has been home for a few months now. So I don't know! Im so tired of waiting for the appointments and then getting the same response...

I would be getting concerned about your RBC levels, if you have been bleeding this long you are almost sure to be anemic. I wonder too about your clotting factors. Is it possible you have a clotting disorder?

Oh I clot! That is the most annoying part about this, it is painful because they are so large. I have been taking vitamins with iron and eating a lot of greens just to try and keep my counts up, I try to do as much as I can, but when I don't know what is right and what is wrong its hard to help myself...

Have they done a D&C to see if this would help?

Dear Krissy,

I bled heavily for 4 months and was so exhausted from blood loss that I was beginning to have fainting spells. I can only imagine how you must be feeling. Bottom line, you need to be seen by an ob gyn who will take you seriously. What are the tests they did and what do you mean by not getting a "good reading"? They should do ultrasound imaging to look at the thickness of your uterine lining, look for fibroids or other causes. It sounds like you are young. This is not normal and not likely to be caused by stress. So you need to find out what's causing it. You need to find a better doctor. "Stress" is a silly answer to a year of bleeding. I don't believe he took you seriously.

I recommend that you MEASURE the amount of blood you are losing and report that to the next ob gyn you see. Typically, women lose 1 or 2 ounces per period. But when I measured my blood loss it was 12 ounces per week.

Here's how. Get a postage scale, a big box of tampons and a big package of pads. Take ten tampons and remove the packaging and the insertion device and weigh each one. Write down the average weight of ten dry, unused tampons--just the tampon itself. Do the same with the pads, so you have the average weight of a dry pad, not including any packaging or coverings.

Then use the rest normally. After use, weigh each wet tampon and write down the weight. Subtract the weight of a dry one to get the amount of blood. (Wet tampon minus dry tampon = blood in ounces). Do the same with the pads and add the total for each day all together. Make sure to change your tampons and pads frequently so you don't lose clots in the toilet bowel and the pads don't get a chance to dry out. Whatever comes out should be weighed. The weight of all paper products should be subtracted.

At the end of 7 to 10 days, add up all the blood lost on each day and then divide by the number of days to get the average blood loss per day (or per week). Whatever. Do this very carefully so that you can tell them how much and be confident. Don't let them brush you off.

My doctor took me seriously and eventually cauterized my uterus. It worked but I do not recommend this if you can avoid it. Among other things, it can make you sterile. So not a good option. But you should have had a D&C by now, as J-9 says. You need to find out what is causing this. Are you taking any drugs, prescription or otherwise?

Good luck! Please let us know how you are doing
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