Has anybody ever died from a period?

Factual Questions
1

OK, I’m being a bit hyperbolic, but I wonder just how severe menstrual problems can get.

In my own case- last month, when Aunt Flo paid her monthly visit, I landed in the emergency room because the cramps got so severe I was vomiting, and vomiting, and vomiting… couldn’t even keep water down, much less ibuprofen, and wound up pretty severely dehydrated.

And then there’s the PMS stuff. I tend to get very tense, edgy, occasionally even have premenstrual panic attacks (not as frequent as years ago, but it can get pretty dicey sometimes), sensory hypersensitivity -the normal hubbub of day to day life just gets overwhelming. Picture a TV played at a fairly normal volume sounding like it’s blaring so loud you can feel the sound waves bouncing off your skin, multiply by everything in the world.

Oh, yeah, then there’s the sapped-out feeling-like-I’m-running on vapors thing. I just started a new job two weeks ago, and called off sick two days last week because I just flat out was tiiiiirrrrrrred, so tired I could barely stand. Or move, even. Getting out of bed to go to the bathroom was a chore. Usually, taking some extra B vitamins takes care of that, but with the extra stress I’ve had the last couple of months… I have to take a fairly potent B-complex every few hours, along with 1000 mg of vitamin C and a Centrum multivitamin twice a day just to be able to function.

I mean, OK, yeah, I understand my body needs some extra nutrition at that time of the month, but I’ve been eating like a horse for the past week (this is another one of my normal premenstrual things, compounded by extra stress) plus loading up on the extra vitamins.

And I’m not even going to mention the massive amounts of blood I seem to lose every month. OK, I did. Hell. Sometimes it gets scary.

The doctor at the ER recommended that I start with the ibuprofen, Tylenol, whatever, when I realize I’m getting my period, before the cramps set in. Tried it, seems to be working. But there’s still the intestinal cramping- feels like I need to take a dump every half-hour or so.

I know some women have problems with their periods, but this is pretty extreme. Is is possible for a woman to have potentially life-threatening problems with Aunt Flo?

2

This is not normal----get a better gyno and what’s your hemoglobin and hematacrit like? Women have hemmorhaged to death after childirth, but not from a normal period----yours, though, are not normal

3

From this site.

4

Sure-boyfriends and husbands from gunshot wounds, mostly.

budum-ching!

5

**Thea, ** it sounds like you may have endometriosis. I strongly suggest you get checked for it. Many doctors misdiagnose this ailment, out of not understanding it, or dismissing it as “all in your head.” Find one who understands it, and get treated. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER! I have endo myself, and my treatment has literally changed my life.

To answer your question, a friend of mine had endometriosis so bad that the symptoms mimicked ovarian cancer. Her “white cell” counts were wildly out-of-whack. She eventually had to have a hysterectomy. Her case was so bad that surgeons actually took pictures to use as teaching aids. I suppose eventually, it might have gotten bad enough to kill her, but hers was a very severe case.

6

I’ll agree with the consensus to get checked out properly. Vomiting to those extremes and landing in the ER is not normal, hon.

There’s a whole bunch of things that could be wrong that can be helped. I have zero period pain and little blood loss as a rule, but over a year mine started getting worse. Eventually I too was vomiting to the point where I was vomiting nothing and couldn’t even keep water down. Bad ovarian cysts (not that there’s good ones, but mine were particularly troublesome apparently) was my culprit, but there are several things that can cause this.

Get yourself checked out thoroughly, please.

7

:wink: [sup]An exclaimation mark almost did me in, once.[/sup]

8

Don’t be silly!

But I’ll bet people have died from having part of their colon removed. Killed by a semicolon.

9

There is a blood disorder called ITP - which means the person has a low platelet count (platelets help to clot your blood) there have been sevearl stories I’ve read of people suffering severe blood loss during their period from this condition .

I agree with what everyone else says, your situation doesn’t sound at all normal and there’s probably a reason for it, you need to find a doc who will help you work out what that is.

Doesn’t hurt to make sure your platelet count has been checked recently - just to rule out ITP - although ITP wouldn’t likely cause any of the symptoms except maybe the fatigue and the excess bleeding. If you ever get a red rash like thing - particularly on your legs - or if you have bad bruising, DEFINATELY get your platelet count checked.

Also…unless you’re planning on getting pregnant it might be worth going on the Pill and even skipping every second month…my doc recommended that when i was having very heavy bleeding.

10

Do you take birth control pills? I do and one time I switched pills and I bled like you wouldn’t believe (so bad I needed a diaper (but didn’t wear one)). The gyno just had me switch pills, take 2 a day for a few days or something, and it helped get me back to normal.

You really need to see a gyno about this, and maybe an endocronologist. No one should have to suffer that much.

11

Don’t make me laugh. I got sideswiped by a parenthesis. Damn thing put me in a comma.

… I’ll just show myself out now…

12

ooops. quoted the wrong damn post. sorry 'bout that.

13

Oh, I’m sure it happens, but it’s not like it’s common.

But I’d be surprised if it didn’t happen … periodically.

:smiley:

14

My monthlies are fairly heavy - to the point where I feel dizzy if I stand up too soon, and go through the super-duper tamps about every half hour.

My dr. did a full workup (I even got to be the victim for a group of doctors learning a new procedure, yay me - but it was all free, so that was a plus), and didn’t find anything unusual. He prescribed Naproxin, 500 mg a day, and it cut way way down on the blood loss. A plus for Naproxin - its generic form is Aleve, so it’s fairly easy to find - although, with my prescription plan, it’s cheaper to get the scrip than a bottle of Aleve.

He told me too, that birth control pills would help, as would a procedure called ablation (sp?) - basically he would go in with a laser and fry the uterine wall - no more getting preggo, no more periods, no hysterctomy so no hormones, but I’m not sure how good that is long-term.

STG

15

There is a new form of the pill that has just been approved, that is meant to be taken without the placebos and just gets rid of your period completely. Even regular pills can be prescribed this way. I would definitely ask your Dr. (unless you cannot be on the pill for some reason).

16

My endometriosis treatment includes Depro-Prevera injections, which has eliminated monthly periods entirely, except for the occasional light spotting. Every woman is different, of course. Some may continue menstruating as normal, some may have longer cycles, skipping months, and some may stop all together as I did.

For me, the Depo shot had no side effects, other than positive ones. No more PMS, for example, and absolutely NO cramping. (Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad!) I gained two pounds, but it seemed to be mostly water gain, and it left almost as soon as it came.

The drawback for some is that if you want to become pregnant, it may take up to a year for the drug to completely leave your system.

17

Jeez, I frantically scrolled down to make a comma joke and kevsnyde beat me to it.

You people are quicker with the punctuation jokes than, um…

Kelsey Grammer?:rolleyes:

18

I bet there have been numerous suicides during bad periods.

19

hijack/
How do women with hemophilia survive their periods?
/hijack

20

Well, there aren’t very many women with hemophilia, since it’s a sex-linked disorder. They’d have to have hemophiliac fathers and mothers who were carriers for it - not too likely. But as a WAG, they’d probably deal with it the same way hemophiliacs who need surgery would, by dosing themselves up with clotting factor to the point that their blood clots normally, until the factor is passed from their systems.