I have noticed since my second child wheras my periods had come at regular 30 day intervals
they have gone to 25 days between them and now....20 days. Imagine my suprise this am.
I know that period irregularities are part of Lyme, but has anyone's periods gotten closer and closer together?
Just saw my OB last week. Talked about Lyme (he wasn't interested), talked about heavy clotting, and periods getting closer.
Of course he wants to do a pelvic untrasound to rule out some type of thickened lining in my uterus
caused by C-Sections (I've had two). That was scheduled for tomorrow.
Obviously we wont be doing that tomorrow.
Just curious if anyone else has had this happen?
Also the clotting seems to be much worse while on babs treatment.
Before I go back to my Ob, I want to run these few things by my LLMD.
Any advice or information is greatly appreciated.
I did search this, but found only one posting of someone who was experiencing this.
BTW, I am only 41 years old and "girly" hormones were okay back in September.
Oh, and the Ob wants to do a D & C if I have thickened lining of my uterus.
I am definitely not up for this....also do not want to expose myself to any special "hospital" germs while on so many antibiotics.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posted by timaca (Member # 6911) on :
Hi Geneal~
Before I had lyme, my periods were anywhere from 28-35 days apart. And pretty heavy. I was anemic on and off so I'd take supplemental iron from time to time.
When the lyme hit (before I could identify what it was--but I was really sick)...I got severe PMS. From the time I ovulated, until the time my period came, I was in tears. So, I was put on low dose hormone therapy, which took care of the PMS. I have since weaned off that.
My periods also got very, very heavy during this time...and no matter how much iron I took, I kept getting more and more anemic. I ended up with a uterine ablation, which I needed. It took 2 years after the ablation for my iron levels to normalize (and this was with 200 mg elemental iron daily!)
My periods have gotten closer together...they are anywhere from 22 to 28 days apart now. I just keep track of them and know that that is my new pattern.
I think as we get older, they tend to come closer together.
I'm 48.
One thing you should look carefully at is your iron status since your periods are closer together and you have clotting. Ask for them to run a ferritin level on you too with your next blood draw. A healthy ferritin level is over 50, no matter what the reference range is for ferritin. You can do a search here on ferritin at lymenet and read some of my previous posts.
Good luck.....Timaca
Posted by HEATHERKISS (Member # 6789) on :
I have had the opposite. I'm 39.
My periods are farther apart and spotty. This month was normal but still late.
Fun fun fun.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I had that problem, but had fibroid tumors and endometriosis. I had to have a hysterectomy at age 39. I'm sure lyme caused all of those problems.
My periods came every two weeks and lasted 2 weeks, with heavy bleeding and pain. What fun!
Posted by cantgiveupyet (Member # 8165) on :
Mine used to be like that, then one day just stopped. They would start of brown and speckled like pepper. I went from June 06- Feb 07 without one, then my body decided it was time.
Now They are somewhat normal have been every 28 days, but I feel worse then I did pre lyme with them, and because of my bladder issues everything becomes "swollen" or that is what it feels like.
And not to be too graphic the flow feels like acid sometimes......anyone get this?
Posted by iceskater (Member # 8655) on :
I am 48. My periods were regular, lasted about 2 days, and 28 days apart before lyme. Now after a period last Sept just stopped without warning. No change since then.
Posted by savebabe (Member # 9847) on :
I am 32 and my periods are further apart.
I think lyme effects the pituatory gland worse than the docs think, and as a result all of our glands are irregular.
Posted by Beverly (Member # 1271) on :
Hi Geneal,
I have alwasy had very heavy periods with lots of clotting. The one thing that has helped was treatment for Babesia, although during treatment for Babesia I could have two periods in one month.
If I was off meds for a bit and started up again, my period would start next day.
Good luck.
Posted by Carol in PA (Member # 5338) on :
You might want to read "The Rhodiola Revolution."
The review at Amazon.com under the hardcover edition is very good.
My menstrual periods were becoming irregular, and when I began taking Rhodiola every day, they went back to normal timing, although sometimes still heavy.
Lyme seems to disregulate the HPA axis (hypothalamus - pituitary - adrenal glands.)
Rhodiola acts to help regulate the HPA axis.
The pituitary gland influences the reproductive hormones.
Carol
Posted by hiker53 (Member # 6046) on :
My periods kept getting closer and closer together until they never stopped. Hormones didn't help. The gynecologist tried to do a D & C and heat ablation to stop the bleeding, but the cervix was scarred shut--probably by Lyme.
Ended up having a hysterectomy a few months ago. I'm 44. If you don't want any children I would recommend the heat ablation. Several of my nonLyme friends had it and their periods totally stopped. It is an outpatient procedure.
Hiker
Posted by Hides1 (Member # 6348) on :
I was diagnosed with Lyme 5 years ago but didn't get the Babesia diagnosis until 2 years ago. My periods were bad. Very heavy and lots of clotting- very alarming to look at! As far as days it went from 26-32 during that time. I had lots of cysts also down there.
When I finally strted Babesia treatment the clotting lessened and the periods became more normal and manageable. They can still be heavy but no where near what they where. I am still in babs treatment.
Watch your iron and ferritin levels- I became anemic. Tokk iron supps for a while. The iron has a lot to do with the Babs.
I'm 39 now and I can get my period anywhere from 23-28 days. My gyno says thats normal as we age- it starts to get closer in days.
Posted by Vermont_Lymie (Member # 9780) on :
Hi Geneal:
Yes, I would hold off on the D&C. Is that really necessary? Be sure to get more opinions before doing that.
I am in my mid-40s, and my PMS has been much better since starting lyme treatment last summer. Also, before lyme treatment, I had very heavy blood clots, and now, while there may be a heavy flow, no more (or very few) blood clots. Big change.
But after I started babesia tx in February, my bad PMS came back. I took the suggestion to take malarone with food or fats too seriously, and gained 5 pounds in one month due to excess peanut butter consumption! So the quick weight gain and babs tx threw me off this month...
Posted by k-lyme (Member # 5574) on :
Geneal,
Lots of "fun" stuff can happen when it comes to how lyme affects female organs. I had a TWENTY day period (yes.....you read right). Sometimes I skip a month or two.
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