Sunday, October 17, 2010

PostHeaderIcon Cara: Women Stuff

I warned you. So again, like I wrote in another post(almost one year to the day...creepy!)...if you are the faint of heart (a.k.a. male) check back on here another day.

So...Aunt Flo is here again. Two days early. I am still hating her as much as last year if not more.  After doing some research after seeing a commercial one day I have discovered I have what I think is HMB. Heavy Menstrual Bleeding (HMB) is a medical condition, also known as Menorrhagia. And until now I thought I had to live with it."About 3 million U.S. women each year see a health care professional because of heavy periods. But the number of women who have Heavy Monthly Bleeding (HMB) is thought to be much higher - as high as 22 million." Yikes. Maybe it's not just me.

Well, actually I know it's not because I have talked with other women about it before and it happens to them too. I was never really a complainer about my period. It would come and go with no drama, no cramps that would make me complain to everyone I meet.

But now it seems to affect what I do or where I go the first few days of it. Not to mention that I am a slug. I feel 10lbs heavier and tired and just plain yucky. But I really have to think about where I may be going and whether or not I want to. I can't go out dancing at a club with friends for example. I will be in the bathroom every 15 minutes and having to "take care of business" in a crowded, usually toilet paper challenged bar bathroom is not my idea of a fun night.

So I took this "quiz"on LighterPeriod.com

Needless to say I failed it. Now I am not sure what if any medication that website is promoting. I am not promoting any. I think it's a good place to start for someone who goes through what I do every month. I have never talked to my gynocologist about it, but when I go see her next month I definitely will. 

I thought I had to live with it. People said it happens when you are in the peri-menopause time of your life. Or when you are in your 40's. I was really not liking those answers. 

I of course googled treatments for HMB. Which as I had thought consisted of lots of ideas including a D&C, a hysterectomy and some estrogen/hormone drugs. None of the above really appeal to me thanks. Although if I am honest I do sometimes envy the uterus-less...now that I am really done with mine for all intensive purposes. 

One treatment they did mention was Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen. Although, they had to say it was recommended for women with HMB but has not been approved by the FDA to treat the condition. That's OK. Advil and I have always gotten along. 
I don't take it regularly. Once in awhile for headache maybe.

I decided to try it every six hours (or so usually I go more than six hours). I am happy to say I think it's working, especially at night. I am not completely sold that it is this easy. But if I can take Advil for 2 days and be able to go about my life then I will. Beats going under the knife or taking hormones which could make me more nuts then I am now. (s-cary!!!)

If this is something you deal with every month of course talk to your doctor. I still am...but now I will use a big word like menorrhagia and dazzle her with my self medicating skills. (yeah right) But it may be worth a shot for you.

We women/moms need to deal with enough stuff...maybe this will be one less thing for me to think about every month. It would be nice.

2 comments:

Marjory Skousen said...

I've had this problem for yrs. I was told to take vitamin K and it would help the blood flow to slow down. This seems to help me. But, my question is when do you start taking the Advil? The day you start or when? I never know when my is coming any more. Same thing as you pre-menapausale.

Cara said...

Marjory...I did read about the Vitamin K thing too. But they said you could end up taking too much of it. I am going to ask my doctor about that too. I started taking the Advil as soon as "it" arrived. I make sure I take it before I go to sleep and that has seemed to be the biggest improvement. Thanks for commenting!
~Cara

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