No you didn’t read that wrong. I am 22 and since July 2020 (21 years old) I haven’t had a period. In between, due to a medication change, I did have a few days in absolute bleeding hell, but other than that nothing.
So why stop them?
I started my periods when I was 11 years old and it was the beginning of an absolutely awful journey. My flow was extremely heavy, many fat clots, the pain was unbearable, to the point where it would take me over an hour to walk from my bed to the toilet then trying to get up from the toilet and going to the sink. No I don’t live in a mansion. My pain was so bad I couldn’t move and struggled to get up and I would punch walls, cupboards, the shower, literally anything near me. Nothing was working, i was given many medications for the flow and the pain with no relief. Overtime I learnt to live with the pain and attempted to function like everybody else. However, I started bleeding non stop. I had no actual breaks from bleeding. Maybe a day here and there but other than that, it was just constant bleeding.
I then went private and saw an Endometriosis specialist. Due to my medical history being a total mess, still not being fully diagnosed, having no proper treatments and the issue with my 1st surgery, nobody wanted to do laproscopic surgery on me as it was deemed as too big of a risk. This is when I was told we have to stop my periods because, obviously, constantly losing that much blood isn’t okay. Due to some stuff the dr said (overall he was quite knowledgable), I decided to find another gynaecologist. I am now under a terrific uro-gynaecologist who has done so much for me. He also agreed to this treatment plan and now that I have a good medical team, my lungs are stable, i’m on a treatment plan for all my conditions, we are looking to take surgical approaches!
Now to the point of this blog…
It is a little weird I guess, not having anymore periods, but I love not bleeding 24/7 and punching walls. There‘s not much out there research wise so all of this is personal opinion and experiences. It‘s known as menstrual suppression but some call it artificial menopause.
I do have some symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes. It is difficult to figure out which of my symptoms belong to which condition but hot flashes is something I’ve noticed as it’s more than what i experience with my PoTS.
I still get cramps and pain and soreness but it is a lot more bearable than what it used to be, which I am super grateful for.
Taking hormones isn’t fun. I’ve had to swap and try ‘better’ alternatives which didn’t end up working. I’ve had horrible side effects such as severe depression, uncontrollable crying, extremely bad cramps (due to 1 trial medication), messy emotions and acne that doesn’t want to leave.
I am hoping to get some answers from the scan and possible surgery and maybe have better treatment than stuffing myself with hormones constantly.
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