Lady business...

[ampt]

Hi ladies. Men, turn back now. You were warned!

I am wondering what kind of menstruation I can expect after my virgin DS. Yes, YMMV... In scientific papers, I have read that women that are anovulating, soon resume regular cycles after bariatric surgery. I am regular. No issue there, nearly 28 days from cycle to cycle, on the dot. I am reading on older boards about every other week, on one week, off two...

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[brooklyngirl]

I've read so many crazy things, just on Facebook yesterday I saw someone ask about having her period for the last 6 months, continuously. I thought that was insane and was about to comment to go to the damn hospital and then so many of the other comments were from women who experienced something similar. I went from having no period to having extremely heavy bleeding for 2 weeks at a time. It has finally (fingers crossed) gotten more normal at almost 8 months. If you are perfectly normal now, who knows what could happen, there's really no way to know. You might just stay that way, it might get worse, you might just turn super fertile or maybe it'll stop for a while. Fat loss, especially rapid fat loss, does crazy things to a woman's hormones.

 

[Terri]

I've read so many crazy things, just on Facebook yesterday I saw someone ask about having her period for the last 6 months, continuously. I thought that was insane and was about to comment to go to the damn hospital and then so many of the other comments were from women who experienced something similar. I went from having no period to having extremely heavy bleeding for 2 weeks at a time. It has finally (fingers crossed) gotten more normal at almost 8 months. If you are perfectly normal now, who knows what could happen, there's really no way to know. You might just stay that way, it might get worse, you might just turn super fertile or maybe it'll stop for a while. Fat loss, especially rapid fat loss, does crazy things to a woman's hormones.

I saw this too. I thought crazy. I have had ablation and haven't had a period in years. I will be pissed if they come back. Lol.

 

[hilary1617]

I have PCOS. So, periods prior to DS were infrequent, irregular (but usually super light and lasting only a few days, then one instance of bleeding for 2 months continuously) and usually medically-stimulated. (After that bleeding incident for which I needed a D&C, my ob/gyn gave me a prescription which I'd used 4x per year to induce menstruation.)

Flash forward to DS. A period spontaneously arrived while I was in hospital recovering. Ever since they have arrived monthly like clockwork. Perfectly normal in terms of volume - heavy for 2 days, tapers off for 3 more.

The irony is that when I wanted children, I struggled with anovulation, but now that I've had two children and had a tubal ligation during my second C-section, so there's no possibility of pregnancy, I'm fertile!

 

[ampt]

I had a tubal ligation when I had my son via c-section. So, no worries about being super fertile, getting pregnant, etc.

 

[huneypie]

Mirena coil here, so no periods. You really don't want to menstruate as a lot of us struggle with iron levels.

 

[ampt]

Mirena coil here, so no periods. You really don't want to menstruate as a lot of us struggle with iron levels.

Ha ha! I never WANT to...

 

[Sheanie]

Angie, you will be EXTREMELY fertile real quick after the DS. Weight loss does that. No warning, either. And pregnancy is not advised for AT LEAST the first year, or later. The birth control pill is fat soluble, so don't count on that working. Most bariatric surgeons insist on TWO FORMS of birth control for at least the first year.

Bleeding is a crap shoot. So many things come into play there: fibroids, hormones, age, parity, family history and IUD placement, the list goes on. The FORM of birth control can induce heavy bleeding as well.

Even if you "can't get pregnant", you will real quick. The weight loss forums are FULL of posts that start with versions of "I thought I couldn't get pregnant, BUT", during the first few months of DS life.

 

[ampt]

Tubal ligation = no eggs coming down the pipes (as DH put it). I will be get pregnant. I am just worried about the periods. No birth control. No need.

 

[Whit]

Menopause is a wonderful thing. Prior to surgery I had night seats and several hot flashes daily. After nothing! It's been over a year and my has been stable for a few months so hopefully they will not come back.

 

[huneypie]

Tubal ligation = no eggs coming down the pipes (as DH put it). I will be get pregnant. I am just worried about the periods. No birth control. No need.

I've used such measures even when single as I prefer not to menstruate.

 

[Sheanie]

An 88 year old woman once told me something I'll never forget. She said hot flashes are caused by eating sugar. At the time I was heavy and had horrendous night time sweating hot flashes. I stopped eating sugar after 6 pm and......no more middle of the night hot flashes. Fast forward to today, and I only get "power surges" when I eat sugar. I swear, this past winter with all that below zero BS? My hot flashes were the only thing keeping me warm!

 

[theRatQueen]

I woke up the morning after my DS with a full blown heavy period. *ugh* Since then it hasn't been a happy thing for me. 2 months after surgery, I got a mirena coil put in, after that I've had irregular periods since, they're finally starting to become 'normal'-But I'm still pretty heavy a few days to the point, at night I 'bleed over'. I'm hoping to level out soon enough. Also, past history-I do have PCOS.

 

[KathyF]

Menopause is a wonderful thing. Prior to surgery I had night seats and several hot flashes daily. After nothing! It's been over a year and my has been stable for a few months so hopefully they will not come back.

I had my ovaries out the same time as my DS, so I went into immediate menopause. I didn't have any hot flashes for a little over a year, apparently because of the estrogen dump from weight loss, so was able to put off the HRT for a while. Hopefully the hot flashes don't come back!