too frequent periods since 13!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-18-2004
too frequent periods since 13!!
2
Sun, 01-18-2004 - 8:46pm
Hi! basically since I started my periods when I was 13 they have been extremely heavy and too frequent.at 14 I was put on the pill and the at 17 had two rounds of the injection,it did not agree with me so Idid not have it any more.Since then(NOW 18)I am not using hormonal contraceptive and feel better within myself for this but now once again my periods are heavy,painful and too frequent. for example- came on the 8th dec(finishing the 16th)then came on again 24 dec (finishing the 29th)and came on today again(18 jan!)thats 3 periods in 5 weeks!went doctors and just came out with pain killers and told to return in march.She seemed to half blame it on the injection even though I told her it couldnt be as I only had two lots,the last one was about april 2003 and my periods were the same before any hormonal contraception!if anyone can help I would be very grateful.
iVillage Member
Registered: 10-08-2003
Sun, 01-18-2004 - 9:42pm
I dont know what else it could be but it definatly COULD be the depo-- that crap stays in your system a LONG time after you stop-- I had TWO shots starting in fall 2000 after the birth of my son and it took me until feb 2003 to start ovulating again. a long time i know and i wasnt on any other bc after that! before i got preggers with my son i would have 2 maybe 3 periods a year. they were heavy lasting 7 days but i never cramped with them-- didnt know when they would come until after they were here. talk about ughhh. anyway after i had my son and finally got the depo out of my system it took us until august 2003 to get preggers again! Im due in April 04 with a girl. anyway i digres. the depo can and will mess with your system for months even a year or two after you get your last shot-- its a side effect the drs dont normally tell you about. Good luck finding out what is wrong if its not the depo.

Amity

DS 9.12.00

EDD 4.26.04 DD

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-15-2003
Sun, 01-18-2004 - 10:09pm
Since you were having problems BEFORE the shots, you might try seeing an endocrinologist. I'm assuming you've been seeing an OB-GYN and that there's nothing detected by a physical exam...like polycystic ovaries or endometriosis or something, both can cause heavy-duty long periods. So if there's nothing physically wrong, then it could a hormonal imbalance that the shots just made worse.

An endocrinologist specializes in hormones and would know what questions to ask and what things to look for. It's probably important to stress to the dr that you had problems BEFORE the shots and stress the amount of blood loss, because many drs will be likely to zoom in on the shots because it is VERY common for the shots to mess you up..... I could be wrong here, but from what I've heard, they usually mess you up by causing light spotting instead of periods or you skip periods altogether...I haven't heard too many women complain about VERY HEAVY LONG periods with very short intervals inbetween. But I could be wrong on that...

You should definitely have your hemoglobin monitored right now though. They'll just prick your finger for a drop of blood to see what the iron content of your red blood cells is. It sounds like you're bleeding a lot and you could be losing iron. If you start feeling tired, no energy, have a hard time concentrating, etc then see a dr because you could be low on iron. Hope you feel better soon!

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