My daughter has long heavy periods & gets so sick. Her period will last 9 to 12 days, all heavy days with lots of huge clots. She has fevers & a flare of many Lyme symptoms.
This can't be normal.
How does Lyme change the menstrual cycle?
I noticed some women have different problems...such as less frequent or more frequent periods.
[ 20. November 2007, 09:01 PM: Message edited by: hshbmom ]
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Sounds like she has hypercoagulation from the inflammation Lyme causes. You may want to run this by her LLMD or GYN.
I bled like that for years and finally had to go the surgical route. [I was 39, not 15!!]
Didn't know I had Lyme and hypercoagulation until 10 yrs later.
Posted by cjnelson (Member # 12928) on :
My dr, recently diagnosed as well, 16, has terrible hard and extremely heavy periods too!!! I mean very heavy and gets so sisck as well....I hate it for her!
Posted by tdtid (Member # 10276) on :
This is an extremely intersting topic only because my daughter was going through things very similar.
Had no clue about lyme at the time and the gyno just put her on birth control and said that would regulate the flow, the long lasting periods and the extra pain.
Years later, even though she has no reason to believe she was "sick" per se, things just weren't adding up, so being parnoid after all I went through, I got her tested.
She did test positive through Igenex, so whether the two are related or not, I can't say, but it gives hope that perhaps she can get on treatment and settle some of this mess down???????
Good luck to your daughter as well. Mines college age now, but was having the beginning troubles back in high school as well. Not FUN!
Cathy
Posted by hiker53 (Member # 6046) on :
I bled heavy for 6 months straight and no hormones could stop it, so ended up with a hysterectomy. Also had a fibroid tumor which might have contributed, but I was absolutely regular until Lyme. Hiker53
Posted by FuzzySlippers (Member # 13658) on :
I know Lyme can effect periods. But I just thought I'd also add that uterine fibroids and uterine polyps can also cause the symptoms that you mention. I've had both problems. A transvaginal sonogram can diagnose either condition.
I started seeing a new holistic Gyn last year. He told me to use the herb Shepherd's Purse if my periods got heavy again. He recommended the tincture by the company GAIA. This stuff works!! It will reduce bleeding and also can stop it.
I don't know how this herb would interact with any Lyme treatment medications or herbs.
He also recommended by GAIA, the herbal tincture Yarrow and the herbal tincture Red Raspberry. He told me to follow the instructions on the bottles and begin taking those two herbs about two weeks before my period and to continue taking them until the period ends. These two herbs tonify the reproductive organs, and also help with heavy bleeding.
I was told to use the Shepherd's Purse only to slow down heavy bleeding, or to stop a long period.
Hope this helps.
Fuzzy
Posted by Geneal (Member # 10375) on :
I had extremely heavy periods with huge clots prior to and when treating babesia.
I mean really heavy. I think my periods were anywhere from 15 to 21 days apart.
I have always been a 30 day cycle. Before first pregnancy and after.
It was while breast feeding my second baby (around month 5) that I started with these
Horrible, painful, periods.
I think I contracted Lyme the month I got pregnant with him.
When I finished my second round of babesia treatment,
My periods started ranging from 24 to 30 days.
Although I usually have a heavy day (about 24 hours),
It is nothing like what I had prior to and during treatment of babs.
Not sure if this may be a link for you or your daughter.
I know when I was 17, I had to go on oral contraceptives to help control
Endometriosis. It did help.
Hope she is doing better soon.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I began to have painful periods about 5 yrs after I began menstruating as a teen. I went on BC pills about 3 yrs later and continued on them until my hysterectomy, believe it or not!!
By the time I had to have surgery I had fibroid tumors and endometriosis of rather long standing.
When I was younger, every time I would consider going off the pills, I would think of the pain I was going to endure and it would make me change my mind!
I believe I've had Lyme since about age 8.
Read my story below.
Posted by CaliforniaLyme (Member # 7136) on :
Mine was been SO weird for years-
from 12-19 I had regular periods with HORRIBLE CRAMPS and then they thought I had lupus at 19-20 and my periods almost stopped from that point on even after the "lupus went away"
I was down to a teaspoonful of blood for a WHOLE period- just light spotting basically- I didn't mind that part so much= for years- but had multiple miscarriages- (5) and had this weird hting where I would get a high fever and faint right before my period came- with terrible cramps but basically no blood!
then LYME and I got my period EVERY 12-15 DAYS for 5 days- it was HECK!!!
AND PMS which I had NEVER had!!!
and huge clots, yup, gross and scary-
and that was NOT AFFECTED by IV rocephin AT ALL_ it was another one of my "residual Lyme symptoms" that resolved completely and went back to normal with treatment for
Babesiosis & Bartonella~!!
Not Lyme at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is now completely normal, back to how I was as a teenager, with ONE exception. Pre Lyme and pre weirdness menstrually I always got TERRIBLE agonizing cramps.
Now I don't!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So when I say I feel better post-Lyme than I did pre official diagnosis, I mean it- in so many ways!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by disturbedme (Member # 12346) on :
I don't have a heavy period, but I do know how much worse lyme and co-infection symptoms get while on periods. I usually feel extremely ill and just wiped out.
During high school, I usually had very painful periods, to the point where I'd have to come home and lay down and put heat on my tummy otherwise I got very weak, had hot flashes, and felt like I was going to puke. My cramps are still pretty bad, but I take midol to help. Sometimes I noticed it doesn't help as much as I'd like. Thankfully, most times it does.
Posted by hshbmom (Member # 9478) on :
Does she need to see a gynecologist? She's never been to one. I hope it's just something that will go away when Lyme or the coinfections are cleared up.
Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
I would recommend a gynecologist. Just to make sure there isn't something structurally wrong causing the longer bleeding. Maybe your LLMD or pediatrician would have recommendations.
I ended up going on the pill because my periods caused so much pain it would take 2 weeks to recover. I had to stop because of a clotting disorder, but I've found that my period is more regular and less painful since before I ever started the pill.
I was only on one year. And I've had the pain since I first had my period. I've had Lyme since before that.
Posted by TexasChaos (Member # 7465) on :
Having been in this same boat for a long time now, I did an anonymous survey on this last year and got about 40 responses from Lymies who also suffer from "Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding".
Although 40 seems like a small sample, they all said the exact same things about their periods. And a huge majority of them ended up getting either a hysterectomy or an endometrial ablation. Most of them reported that the surgical options did help alleviate the problem, though some wished that they had waited until they finished treating the Lyme completely to see if that helped. None of them regretted the surgery.
I have been thinking about this myself because three different gyns have recommended a surgical procedure for me. Also, my LLMD checked my hormones and found they were completely out of whack - "as low as those of a woman in menopause" - and I am only in my 30's.
So, YES, Lyme affects this part of the human body too!
Posted by cantgiveupyet (Member # 8165) on :
Perfect timing- Im suffering right now with my horrible period, I have felt like im dying for 48 hrs now.
In my teens I had NO cramps at all, some heavy flow but NO cramps.
In my early 20's I got cramps for the first time ever...and i felt real sick to my stomach. I found i could control the cramps if I didnt eat salt or chocolate a week before the period.
Fastforward to 2005- I was 29, and my periods made me so sick I had to take off a day from work atleast every two months, the flow was odd, more brown. I got terribly ill in Aug 05- not well since.
I didnt have a period for 9 months, and when i got it back I had NO cramps for atleast four months.
Now i have mega cramping and I feel like im dying. Im basically bedbound high on pamprin.
I really feel for your daughter at such a young age to be suffering. I would suggest going to a gyn and getting an ultrasound just to make sure everything is OK.
Posted by hshbmom (Member # 9478) on :
Thank you for all your responses.
It is sickening to hear of all the suffering here. This is one problem I don't have. But, I watch my daughter suffer each month.
Her "good" 2 weeks out of the month are relatively better, but still bad due to Lyme's effects on her other organs & tissue.
I don't want to have surgery; I don't want to put her on a birth control pill. I don't want her to be sick or in pain either.
Posted by cjnelson (Member # 12928) on :
Now that you mention this I had a continuous bleeding for 40 days in 01. I remember this because it seemed so "biblical"
I had the hysterectomy scheduled because the meds didnt help and then my insurance company denied it 24 hours prior!!!!
After the 40 day stent, they stopped for 6 weeks, then went on regular 30 day cycles with the first 2 days really heavy and painful but still nothing like my daughters.
After surgery, spinal fusion in 06, I went on a weird 3 week cycle, like clock work and heavier It lasted for 8-9 months then swithced again to 30 day cycles, but every 3rd month it seems to jump out of regularity. Weird stuff for sure!!
Posted by cjnelson (Member # 12928) on :
After thought
Wonder what are hormones are doing!?!?!? Can you imagine if they were tracked in a study!?!?!? We know Lyme can mess with endocrine system, like insulin resistance, thyroud, etc, wonder what it actually does to our homomal balance?
We also know it effects emotional aspects...wonder if anyone has studied this? And what the differences are psychologically for women vs men with Lyme because of our hormonal cycles.
I only found out in August that I have Lyme. Through this thread I recall my exhusband saying that something was wrong with me and that it was like clock work...when my periods came I became "someone else" and it was horrible according to him. He even insisted that I go to a doctor and see what was wrong with me. That was in '92!
Interesting!!!!!!!!!!! Posted by Aniek (Member # 5374) on :
Maybe you can find a doctor who can test her hormone levels who uses natural hormones? It might be possible that this can be fixed, or at least helped, with something natural.
I understand not wanting to put your daughter on the pill. Years ago, I had a high school intern who was on the pill because of her period pain. I'm not telling you to put your daughter on the pill. She is extremely young. But there are teenagers who go on the pill in order to help deal with this situation.
Personally, it would probably be a last resort. It was a last resort for me to decide to try the pill, and I was 31 at the time.
Posted by listenswithcare (Member # 10719) on :
I have had bad cycles with pain that felt like I was having a baby. Low grade fever, chills, heavy bleeding, but not for as long as some have posted here.
I can't explain what Lyme does to the menstrual cycle, but I know if affects it. Since my last round of IV Rocephin, my cycles have gotten much better.
I found while on Lyme, that 2 advils would actually make me stop bleeding - an undesirable side effect in my opinion (for me), but for some it might be good. I'm sure it would not have the same effect on all.
I have also used homeopathy - Belladonna 30C, 3 pellets and then another 3 pellets as soon as 15 minutes if the cramping has not subsided. This remedy has been great for me.
Some people do better on Pulsatilla 30c or Chamomille 30C taken in the same way.
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