Menstration and ESRD

[apetty]

Okay... it's Sunday and I have officially freaked myself out...

I am having a problem that may have to do with ESRD and may not have a thing to do with it and what better place to see if this is a common problem? 

Tuesday morning I started my period as usual... by Wednesday evening I was bleeding through a tampon like every ten minutes... this went on all Tuesday night... my bathroom looked like a crime scene.  This is gross so I am sorry if any one is squeamish about these things, you have been warned. 

So since Wednesday night I have been having huge clots (bigger than my hand) and it is Sunday and the clots are a little smaller, but I am still bleeding through a tampon like every two hours... Also to note that last Monday night, my nose started bleeding, not a lot but out of both nostrils which I thought strange.  That symptom is not present anymore... 

Just my luck I see my surgeon to talk about trying to do the PD catheter thing again, this is either going to be a good thing, two birds with one stone, or something that precludes me from getting on PD... 

any thoughts would be appreciated thanks!

[kickingandscreaming]

Are you on any blood thinners? Have you had your thyroid checked?

[Charlie B53]

Since I am a 'Guy' I haven't had your particular problem.  However I used to have bleeding problems.  Caused by my thinning blood refusing to clot.  This was caused by my regular use of aspirin and fish oil.  I was taking the aspirin to reduce flushing niacin caused.  I finally just gave up and quit taking niacin, aspirin, and the fish oil.  It took a couplde of weeks(?) more than a few days, but I clot normal again.  I was seriously worried about bleeding out if ever injured in an accident.   That stress is now gone.

There are things in our diet that can reduce clotting.  You would have to look into it. 

[Fabkiwi06]

Actually... funny you should bring this up.

Last summer - pre kidney failure - I had similar problems. Strange nose bleeds, only one side. Big clots too... not like a normal nose bleed. I just shook it off to allergies being worse than usual.

I haven't had my period since last January. Thanks to the kidney failure, my testosterone is quite high. We're still working on resolving that. But, before that all stopped, I do remember my flow being quite heavier than usual. Again, I just shook it off to stress.

What my OBGYN and Neph seem to conclude is that it is probably all kidney related. Since your kidney's regulate all sorts of things hormonal, the ESRD throws all systems out of sync.

I'd mention it to your doctors. They're gonna check your hemoglobin and all those other things anyway, so as long as that is in an ok range I think you'll be ok.

[Rerun]

You might go see your obgyn and tell her/him to talk with your nephrologist.  Most the time with the progression of ESRD you will stop your period.  When you get a transplant, it comes back of you are young enough.

You are losing a lot of blood. 

[beckums70]

I'm going on three years and still have regular periods.  I have, from time to time, also had some freakishly heavy periods with clotting.  They were worse before I started dialysis and have gradually gotten lighter although they last MUCH longer than they used to.

A few things that could be at the root of it are, thyroid issues, female hormones out of whack and even your iron levels.  My periods started getting easier after I got a few iron injections early on.  Many people with ESRD also have some pretty major thyroid issues, so it's worth asking your neph for a TSH screening the next time you get labs drawn.  You could also see your gyno and ask to have your progesterone and estrogen levels tested to see if you have too much of one or the other.  Sometimes a low-dose birth control pill will solve the problem entirely.

I think what you're experiencing is pretty par-for the course with ESRD.

[Riki]

I've never had the nose bleeds, but I have had excessive bleeding, during 2 marathon periods.. one lasted 46 days, and the next lasted 48 days, and there was a 3 week respite between them, where I had my gallbladder taken out.. *LOL*

I've never really been given any real answers by anyone as to why I was bleeding so much and for so long.. my hemoglobin did drop.. I was put on a birth control pill and I was on it for a few months.. I was taken off the pill after I developed an acute case of pulmonary hypertension, in case the pills were causing that... it turned out that the cause was the low hemoglobin and excess fluid... I had lost a lot of weight right after the gallbladder was removed, and the doctor wasn't able to keep up with dry weight orders as my weight plummeted..  I went from 101kg down to 88kg in a matter of months... that was 3 years ago.. I've since gained the weight back... damnit all.. *L*

[kickingandscreaming]

Has anyone checked out your thyroid during all of this?  That can often cause "marathon" periods.  As can fibroids.

[Riki]

Has anyone checked out your thyroid during all of this?  That can often cause "marathon" periods.  As can fibroids.

If I remember right, I was on synthroid at the time... I'd gone about 4 months without a period before that, so I thought that maybe *finally* they were going to stop.... I don't know why I thought they'd stop because I was on dialysis... the damn thing started when I was on dialysis at 13...

[apetty]

Just an update on this thread... my period did finally stop that time... but around my birthday in September I started having heavy bleeding again... two weeks later I was still bleeding... anyway by boyfriend finally conviced me to go to the ER.  When I walked, yes I was able to still walk barely somehow, I had a hemoglobin of 4.3... I almost bled to death because I was stupid and ignored what my body was telling me... thanks for the replies

[Fabkiwi06]

Oh no! I'm glad you're doing better now! Did they figure out what was going on?