Periods

[Dougella]

Originally Posted by Hylian

You can't use this excuse anymore. The politically correct opinion is that it's not only women who menstruate. Actually, it's menstruators who menstruate, and you are oppressing menstruators who don't menstruate according to your gender dogma if you disagree.

I will change my wording to people who menstruate if you prefer, but my point still stands. It's a load of annoying crap.

[Consolida]

^ Only a person who has never menstruated in their life could joke about such horrors

At the moment I'd swap places with people of non-menstruating tendency any day of the week!

[blancmange]

TMI

I just had my very own Carrie moment. I thought I was dying
Thank you Mother Nature

I feel your pain Biscuits

I need ice cream.

[blancmange]

Yay us?

[newbs16]

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[Mo34]

This is not the weather for PMT, I feel like a blimp with feet

[Consolida]

I have a Doctors appointment tomorrow which I am dreading. Well, actually it will be an appointment with one of the horrid Nurses because you can't see a GP for love nor money.

After they treated me so badly the last time round (insisting I didn't have a throat ulcer when a Private Doctor proved that I did!) I shall probably have to plead for a blood test.

The thing is, my periods have been erratic and extremely prolonged lately (a common occurrence at my age) but I've also been feeling SO tired. Even on the odd occasion when I do get a good nights sleep I wake up feeling exhausted. Sometimes I wonder how much longer I can go on feeling so awful. I can't think continuous blood loss (sorry it's a bit gross) is helping matters and am wondering if I've become Anaemic

I have absolutely no faith in my Surgery when it comes to picking up on something and know the test results will come back normal as they always do. In fact that don't even bother phoning to let me know what they are.

Someone mentioned to me about using the well woman online medi checks website where you can send a finger prick of blood for analysis. It's over £100 but would be well worth it if they are thorough.

Has anyone else used medi checks, not necessarily for women's issues, but for gaining a diagnosis that they didn't receive from their GP? I guess I'd have nothing to lose - apart from over 100 quid

[Dougella]

^ It seems a sensible guess that you could well be anaemic from the symptoms you've been having. I still find it unbelievable that some people can't get an appointment to see a GP! I'm so lucky that where I am they have a system where you can make an appointment for the next day or two, or you can phone up early in the morning and get an appointment that day between 8.30-9.30am. It seems to work very well. But it should be like that for everyone, not just for some lucky people who happen to live near enough to a good surgery.

[Dougella]

The US women's football team have been improving their performance by paying attention to their menstrual cycles and adjusting their training accordingly, it seemed to be successful.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-cu...y4HxGo9WNxHiFo

[newbs16]

^ Sounds good

[Consolida]

Originally Posted by Dougella

^ It seems a sensible guess that you could well be anaemic from the symptoms you've been having. I still find it unbelievable that some people can't get an appointment to see a GP! I'm so lucky that where I am they have a system where you can make an appointment for the next day or two, or you can phone up early in the morning and get an appointment that day between 8.30-9.30am. It seems to work very well. But it should be like that for everyone, not just for some lucky people who happen to live near enough to a good surgery.

Yep, things are pretty bad in my area. In fact our surgery has been given a year to improve or it could face closure. What will happen to the ever increasing thousands of patients, if that should occur, god only knows


However, my efforts to getting an online blood test with Medi-checks is proving to be a bit of a headache also

I was led to believe that pricking my own finger would be enough but no, I was told to attend a Superdrug store where a Nurse on site would take my blood which I could then send off for testing. She poked and prodded my arm for 20 minutes searching for a vein before plunging the needle in and then withdrawing it because she couldn't draw up any blood into the syringe. Any more attempts were aborted (thank god) and I was told to take myself and my badly bruised arm elsewhere - accept the nearest Superdrug store with a Nurse is miles away!

By the way, Medi-checks has got £174 of my money for this test! They have since said that they are able to arrange a Nurse to come to the house for another £16. However, when we phoned to chase them up on this they said that they were finding it difficult to find an available Nurse to call out.

I'm starting to think I would have been no worse off taking my chances with our useless GP surgery

Meanwhile I'm relieved to say that my wretched period has stopped, for now at least, but I am still feeling incredibly run down and fatigued

[Dougella]

^ Maybe a good multivitamin, like a well woman type one, might be a good idea in the mean time? Could help you feel a little better. I used to be really sceptical about taking vitamins, but since I learned that it's pretty difficult to cover everything even if you have a good diet and I started taking one (just a cheap one) I've found I actually feel better overall.


Your surgery sounds absolutely woeful

[Consolida]

^ I have got a box of Sainsbury's own brand womens multi-vitamins (vitamin B6 to regulate hormonal activity apparently?) but after a couple of days I ended up with awful constipation. I'm not taking them at the moment because I didn't want them to distort the results of the blood test in any way....but seeing as I can't get a blood test maybe I should give them another try

Meanwhile, Medi-checks phoned again today to say they can't find a Nurse to take a blood test and that's that. Has it been worth £190? Hell no


Btw, thank you for your advice Dougella. I'm glad that your multi-vitamins have made you feel better overall

[choirgirl]

^ That is unbelievably terrible. I'll vote for whatever keeps the NHS going as long as possible.

[Dougella]

^^ Oh no! I know iron supplements can have that effect. Maybe it'd be worth trying a different kind.


Is there some sort of shortage of Nurses, what's going on! I think you should get your money back.

Thanks I hope you can find some ways to feel better, eventually.

[Dougella]

^ Ugh, period bloating is awful, I pretty much always get it. I think I remember reading that during our periods our uterus gets quite a bit bigger.....but I may have that wrong. Along with water retention and digestive issues it just adds up to a load of crappiness.

Hope you feel better and don't have any more pain!

[Consolida]

^ Periods suck! Feel better soon Biscuits

Originally Posted by Dougella

^^ Oh no! I know iron supplements can have that effect. Maybe it'd be worth trying a different kind.


Is there some sort of shortage of Nurses, what's going on! I think you should get your money back.

Thanks I hope you can find some ways to feel better, eventually.

I have a Medi-checks Nurse coming to the house today
I just hope this one can find a vein! I'm also hoping the test reveals why I'm feeling absolutely exhausted every day

[Schmosby]

That's what I need to find out too.

I really should go to the doctor to work mine out, but it's hardly an emergency situation + SA.

Maybe I can find a test online.

I'm referring to my exhaustion, not my periods.

[Dougella]

^ We should all be able to get these tests through our GP but unfortunately in a lot of areas getting an appointment in the first place is almost impossible!



There is a condition that some people have, I believe, where they need regular B12 injections ( no matter what kind of diet they have) so getting that tested always seems like a good idea along with Vitamin D which can cause similar symptoms aswell it seems.



I'm glad to see that men are reading this thread, hope you're learning a thing or two

[Dougella]

Originally Posted by Schmosby

That's what I need to find out too.

I really should go to the doctor to work mine out, but it's hardly an emergency situation + SA.

Maybe I can find a test online.

I'm referring to my exhaustion, not my periods.

Does SA completely stop you from seeing a doctor?

[Consolida]

Originally Posted by Dougella

We should all be able to get these tests through our GP but unfortunately in a lot of areas getting an appointment in the first place is almost impossible!

Long gone are the days when you could just call into the Doctors for a check up and a little peace of mind. I can't remember when I last saw a GP, in fact I've never seen my own GP in the 20 plus years he's been practising. It does seem to be particularly bad in parts of the South-East


The Nurse arrived, and I thought I was going to pass out as she drew blood from both of my hands, but it's now posted (it feels weird dropping my blood in the same post box that people post birthday cards in) and is on it's way to the Medi-checks lab. If everything comes back normal then I honestly don't know how I'm going to deal with the prospect of waking up every day feeling like death

It's interesting how many people here, male and female, are suffering with feelings of tiredness and exhaustion. Is this the toll that living for years with SA and Depression have on the body Someone mentioned 'ME' but from what I can gather treating something like that seems as hit and mostly miss as treating a mental health disorder

[Indigo_]

^ Yes, I think ME can be very difficult to diagnose. I'm sure I read a while back that there are some medical professionals who don't even believe it exists.

[Dougella]

^^ Yes I can't believe how bad it is in some areas. My Dad went through a whole thing with his doctors surgery where they let a private company take over the handling of appointments, didn't give any patients advanced warning and ofcourse it was a disaster and no-one could get appointments and some had to resort to going to A&E.



Anyway, good to hear you finally got your test done!



It is, I think that mental health problems take a huge toll on our physical health too. (I was diagnosed with ME as a teenager and the process was that they pretty much had to rule everything else out and then they might give you the diagnosis. There is more evidence now that it exists and it might be to do with the immune system, but it's still not clear. With me it was at the same time as my mental health problems were really starting to kick in, so I don't know how much of it might have been to do with that.)

[newbs16]

.

[Consolida]

I don't know if this is the right thread to keep on posting about this, but as getting my blood tested by Medi-checks was prompted by me suffering with prolonged and heavy periods and worrying that my severe tiredness may be a sign of Anemia I guess it's okay.

Well, after finally posting off 2 test tubes of my blood immediately after the Nurse visited on Friday I receive a text message today saying an error was found and the lab wasn't able to test my blood for what I've paid them nearly £200 to do!!

So, my husband calls Medi-checks and they confirm that although the blood reached them on Saturday it's not uncommon for blood to degrade over night making it impossible to accurately carry out certain tests. Honestly, how hard is it to find out if someone's iron levels are low or not??!!
And if it is as prone to difficulties as they make out then there's really no point in me saving myself nearly £200 by going to my crappy GP's surgery that has been placed into 'desperate measures' for providing such a woefully inadequate service

Although Medi-checks says they have been able to carry out a few tests which may or may not be ready by Wednesday they have agreed to send another Nurse out - sometime - to draw yet more blood. With the amount of bruises appearing on the back of my hands and arms my neighbours will start thinking I'm a junkie

The Medi-checks man obviously asked about my family's medical history as I heard my husband say 'She doesn't know, she's adopted', then was obviously questioned about any children I have. Well, I have a son, but to my knowledge he isn't menstruating! You really couldn't make it up!


Someone just kill me please, I've had enough

[Dougella]

^ I seriously think you should get your money back, just for the very poor service you've recieved!

[Consolida]

I finally received most of my test results and was quite impressed by how thorough they were. At the GP's surgery they tell you absolutely nothing.

While it surprisingly appears that I am not anaemic, it hasn't given me any peace of mind whatsoever because it has shown up other concerns.
Although I'm not hugely overweight and eat a relatively healthy diet my Cholesterol is higher than it should be. And I have low levels of Vitamin D. And a possibly very slightly inflamed liver perhaps due to prescription drugs. And my red blood cells are a little out of balance. Oh and my periods and hormones are erratic because I'm a woman of a certain age. Ha, no kidding!!
Other than all that my health is in tip top condition

[Mo34]

Bleugh. Stomach cramps galore and constipation. That and feeling utterly knackered and a bit weepy. Fun times.

[Dougella]

^^ It's good that you got some answers but I guess this is where seeing a doctor would be helpful to work out what you should be doing to help these things and hopefully feel better!

[newbs16]

Wonder if my period is going to fail to turn up this month, recently my period have been between 28 and 32 days, today is day 33. I'm off to see the doctor later this month, so I can mention that my periods are irregular again, bloody hormones.