frightened ... female health related

Looking for some help calming down/resisting Dr. Google and maybe some advice about the problem at hand if anyone has any ideas.

An attempt at keeping the backstory short: I've been having some unusual menstrual symptoms for over a year now, which my primary care doctor warned were symptoms of gynecological cancer. She set me up with an OB/GYN and ordered several tests from her office - none of which did I ever go through with. Pretty much convinced myself that the symptoms weren't THAT bad, that my anxiety was encouraging me to make a bigger deal out of it than it was, etc. (And honestly, I didn't have the guts to face it.)

Fast forward - I've been bleeding since Feb. 12. There have been a couple days that my abdomen and legs were cramped so tightly when I woke up in the morning that I had to get my husband to help me stand up. (And trust me, if I asked for his help right now, I was DESPERATE.) I've been setting a clock and making sure not to sleep more than 3 hours at a time, so I wouldn't need his help anymore.

(Can't get into an OB quickly, since I haven't seen one in years. Can't afford to go to ER, would have to ask my husband who would get on his high horse about how much I spend on medical care.)

Anyone have any ideas of something NOT terrible that could be going on?
Any suggestions on calming down? Too cramped to breathe deep enough for my regular breathing exercises...

Aw, S.C. - I was looking for "no big deal, suck it up buttercup" haha

No, seriously, thank you for your kindness and for letting me know about your mom's issue and that it wasn't cancer. Sounds similar to mine - things are increasing instead of tapering. I'm not to the hemorrhaging stage, though. If it continues to increase this way, though, I will be soon... :/ boo. lol

Hi Joy, have been thinking about you for some weeks wondering how you are doing, and Christine as well
You are always in my Prayers.
Carol my wife bled like that for several years, she knew she had fibroids and some tissue that was on a
abnormal scale 3 or 4, ended up with a complete hist. no cancer only thing different is her beard. lolololo

Larry Mandrell QGYN-------------------------------------------------------"Quack Gynecologist"

Hey there,

You sound a bit like me, making appointments and then rationalizing "it is nothing " and canceling appointments.

Great input from all and here is the rule I learned:

Women with heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding typically have one or more of the following:

Soak through a pad or tampon every one or three hours on the heaviest days of the period

Have bleeding for more than seven days

Need to use both pads and tampons at the same time due to heavy bleeding

Need to change pads or tampons during the night

Pass blood clots larger than 1 inch (about 2.5 centimeters)

Iron deficiency anemia

If you soak through two pads or tampons in one hour for two hours in a row, call your healthcare provider or go to the emergency department. Bleeding this heavily can be serious or even life threatening.

A few weeks after I had our youngest I start to bleed heavily - would sit in the bathroom with an old measuring cub and would fill it with blood and clots in a few minutes.  My hubby called my OB/GYN who was 45 minutes away and we were instructed to come straight to ER.  When we walked in the door they took me to a cart immediately and were surprised to see I was passing baseball size clots and was fully dilated.  A simply D & C did the trick however they kept me over night.  My Dr. who had been in the ER when we called left because it was taking so long for us to get there.  My husband had a few words with him..........

So, moral of story, you need to be seen and all things are not cancer but that does not mean it is not serious.   We care for you and want you to be safe.

Keeping you in my prayers.

Kindly,

Kitt