Hi!
I have SEVERE period cramps to the point I’ve had to go to the hospital multiple times due to the pain. Doctors have told me that my body is undergoing contractions the same as seen in childbirth - just to push out blood. When I bleed it is never just normal blood, it is always giant clots, and passing them causes vomiting & fainting. I have to wear the thickest sanitary towels and I still have to change every hour. I tried the pill years ago and it made me suicidal so I had to come off of it. Both my mum and auntie have adenymyosis. I waited over 10 years to be seen by gynaecology and had an investigative laparoscopy, during which they said there were lesions all over my ovaries yet did not take a sample and biopsy it…. Then discharged me telling me it was PCOS. (Despite me having LOW TESTOSTERONE, having no issues with my weight or excess hair.) My own GP & other doctors I have seen completely disagree with a PCOS diagnosis because I don’t have any of the symptoms or blood work to prove it.
I have got into trouble at every job I have ever had due to me taking time off sick every single month. I have been out of work for a while and am desperate to get back into it and have recently picked up the volunteer role of my dreams. However it is completely outside (think of a farm) and the toilet is very makeshift, essentially a tiny cupboard with no period pad bin. I don’t know how to manage my period while working here and I am getting so distressed if I lose another opportunity because of it. Does anyone have any ideas or advice on what to do? My shifts are 10 hours so I can’t keep a tampon in for that long.
I don’t have the money to go private. I can’t take the hormonal pill.
It is a 4+ year wait to be seen again by gynaecology.
I rang my doctors but it is 6 weeks until I can get an appointment and I’m due at work and on my period tomorrow. I would probably have been let go from my volunteer job for unreliability by the time I see a gp. I take mefenamic acid & tranexamic acid during my periods but the pain and bleeding is still horrific.
Anyone who has any ideas on how to manage such heavy periods while at a workplace like this, or what to do to get any further help with this please let me know. I feel like such a simple natural thing is ruining my life, and that no medical professionals are listening to me. I am so sick of being in constant pain with no real answer or explanation.
(Just to add for reference - I am based in UK if you couldn’t already tell from the appalling healthcare for women here 😭)