Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding?

HakunaMatata · 04-11-2008, 02:01 PM

Has anyone experienced Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding, or "DUB?" I started Metformin 500 MG twice daily on April 1st.

April 1st - Began Metformin
April 3rd - Heavy bleeding for about 20 minutes, no clots
April 4th - Heavy bleeding for about 20 minutes, this time with one clot the size of an orange! (and it was organ-like)
April 5th - Passed a few more clots, nothing big
April 6th - Extremely heavy bleeding, to the point of feeling lightheaded and weak. Passed 8 or 9 gigantic clots, with blood gushing before and after each clot to the point of dripping through clothes, down the legs, onto the floor as I made my way to the bathroom.

DH called an ambulance due to the ridiculous amount of blood I lost, and they said it was DUB, due to a change in hormone levels. I feel like it was a good way of saying "We don't have a freakin' clue."

AF is usually pretty tame, nothing too heavy, nothing too long... and has been on time the last 8 months.

My OB/GYN has prescribed Provera to counter-act the Metformin? I am to take it for 10 days a month for the next 3 months.

Question is... has anyone else experienced this after starting Metformin? If so, what was the treatment? When did it get better? Will this happen again next month?

CaribbeanB · 04-11-2008, 10:46 PM

Oh, I know exactly what you're going through. I've been there, done that. The doctor said my unusual bleeding was due to PCOS though, not metformin. Dysfunctional bleeding has been a part of my life even before I was put on the met.

Alyssa0815 · 04-12-2008, 03:18 PM

Oh, my. How scarry! I've been on met since november, but I have never experienced anything like this. I hope it was only a one time thing and it doesn't happen again next month.
Hang in there!

HakunaMatata · 04-12-2008, 04:09 PM

CarribeanB - When I told the doctor about the Metformin AND the PCOS he was like "So, you're a diabetic then?" Grrrrrrr! After telling him that I got all of the tests done to make sure I wasn't diabetic, he said Met causes hormone changes and hormone changes cause DUB. Basically, talking in circles! =[

HakunaMatata · 04-12-2008, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alyssa0815

Oh, my. How scarry! I've been on met since november, but I have never experienced anything like this. I hope it was only a one time thing and it doesn't happen again next month.
Hang in there!

Thanks! I will let you know next month! It was the period from h*ll!

CaribbeanB · 04-15-2008, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evabear

CarribeanB - When I told the doctor about the Metformin AND the PCOS he was like "So, you're a diabetic then?" Grrrrrrr! After telling him that I got all of the tests done to make sure I wasn't diabetic, he said Met causes hormone changes and hormone changes cause DUB. Basically, talking in circles! =[

How strange! Your doctor wasn't familiar with the use of metformin in the treatment of PCOS?

I wasn't aware that met causes hormone changes that can affect menstrual flow.

Purple_monkfish · 04-16-2008, 02:01 PM

My god, that sounds horrific! and I thought my post met afs were hellish.

Nope, my periods have been fairly light on met (least when I got periods.. grrrr) at least compared to the flooding I used to get.

Metformin doesn't cause hormone changes, it changes the way your body deals with the hormones (or something) so it's possible it could cause a problem if it's helping your body to absorb hormones more "efficiently" and thus causing an inbalance to what your body is used to. I dunno.

Hope you feel better soon and it was a one time thing! heavy bleeding always sucks and clots.. *shudder*

PurpleTwilite824 · 04-19-2008, 03:11 AM

Oh my, I can SO relate. It was me in the hospital last month due to DUB. I had an IUD in place and had been having heavy DUB for about 3 months and then last month it was like the flood gates had opened. At one point, and sorry if tmi, but I lost a clot so large that I poked it with the toilet brush to make sure it wasn't alive or something important falling out of me. It seriously looked like an organ had just fallen out. My gyn put me on lo ovral for 2 weeks which immediately stopped the DUB and I haven't bled for 3 weeks. I got the met and provera yesterday and am now taking the met. I want to start the Provera in about a week but want to give the bcps a chance to come out of my system.
I am one of those who although am anovulatory, I have chronic bleeding which I am hoping the Met will control. I just got it but I hope it works. I'm sorry you went through what you did. Let's hope this all gets straightened out soon. I'm glad you're ok- and that I am too for that matter. This DUB is for the birds.

P.J. · 04-19-2008, 09:13 PM

I had a very similar experience. A few weeks before the DUB event, I had this really odd "full" feeling in my abdomen. Not like gas or cramps, I know what that feels like. It wasn't painful, just odd. I made a mental note of it and about a week later I was sitting at my desk surfing the internet, and all of the sudden...GUSH. No warning. No cramps or anything at all...I was feeling fine and then just all of the sudden there was blood everywhere. I ran into the bathroom and there were strawberry sized clots just gushing out and blood running down my legs. This continued for a few hours. I went to the ER thinking that maybe by some freakish twist of fate Miss Infertile USA (me) had managed to actually become pregnant and was now having the inevitable miscarriage. (tests ruled out pregnancy) I was bleeding so badly that after giving me 2 maxi pads, they finally just had me sit on a big "blanket" that looked a lot like what you would use to housebreak a puppy. ...and all throughout the event, no cramping. It was bizarre and incredibly scary. About a month later, I had a "period" that was very similar and then after that, back to no periods again.

PurpleTwilite824 · 04-21-2008, 05:14 PM

EvaBear.. are you ok? Did the bleeding stop?

Maybe the Met helped flush out your system and now you are on a clean slate. If all of that blood was just sitting in there, maybe the met triggered a "spring cleaning" and that will be the one and only time you get something like that.

But are you ok now?

beautyfromwithin · 04-21-2008, 05:25 PM

i have definitely been there...part of my DUB was because of uterine fibroids (which i still have, surgery date pending)...the clots were absolutely scary. i hated even lying down because i knew that once i sat up, the flood gates would open. in addition to met, i also take BCP daily...if i dont take them, i bleed daily. right now my treatment is counterproductive....i take met to regulate my cycle in hopes of getting a BFP, but i have to take BCP in order not to bleed...

jody1981 · 04-22-2008, 02:03 PM

I had this happen while just on BCP. For three days I was bleeding through a super absorbancy tampon and my clothes every half an hour. I went to the Emergency Department where they did a physical and some blood work and told me that it was ABnormal Uterine Bleeding caused by my birth control being too weak. I was told to keep taking it as my body needed to adjust to the hormones. That was the first and only time that bleeding like that had happened to me. But, this was also before I was diagnosed with PCOS so yeah it is probably normal for you.

HakunaMatata · 04-22-2008, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaribbeanB

How strange! Your doctor wasn't familiar with the use of metformin in the treatment of PCOS?

I wasn't aware that met causes hormone changes that can affect menstrual flow.

He was aware, he was just trying to trick me. He thought I was hiding diabetes... "Everybody lies." - Dr. House

...he was kind of House-like too, LOL, but nicer.

HakunaMatata · 04-22-2008, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by P.J.

I had a very similar experience. A few weeks before the DUB event, I had this really odd "full" feeling in my abdomen. Not like gas or cramps, I know what that feels like. It wasn't painful, just odd. I made a mental note of it and about a week later I was sitting at my desk surfing the internet, and all of the sudden...GUSH. No warning. No cramps or anything at all...I was feeling fine and then just all of the sudden there was blood everywhere. I ran into the bathroom and there were strawberry sized clots just gushing out and blood running down my legs. This continued for a few hours. I went to the ER thinking that maybe by some freakish twist of fate Miss Infertile USA (me) had managed to actually become pregnant and was now having the inevitable miscarriage. (tests ruled out pregnancy) I was bleeding so badly that after giving me 2 maxi pads, they finally just had me sit on a big "blanket" that looked a lot like what you would use to housebreak a puppy. ...and all throughout the event, no cramping. It was bizarre and incredibly scary. About a month later, I had a "period" that was very similar and then after that, back to no periods again.

That's what I thought for a while - when the first one came out. I actually cried on-and-off all night, because I thought that maybe I managed to get pregnant, then with the Metformin (just a change in medication) that I screwed it up somehow. Even DH was sad (but supportive). When the rest of them came the next day and the day after that, we knew that wasn't it. Preggo tests came back negative, they did an ultrasound, etc... so as twisted as it is, I'm happier that it was DUB - rather than a miscarriage.

HakunaMatata · 04-22-2008, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PurpleTwilite824

EvaBear.. are you ok? Did the bleeding stop?

Maybe the Met helped flush out your system and now you are on a clean slate. If all of that blood was just sitting in there, maybe the met triggered a "spring cleaning" and that will be the one and only time you get something like that.

But are you ok now?

Purple,

Not sure yet. After the "big flood," I didn't bleed anymore, at all. I asked my OB/GYN if he expected it to happen again when AF came around again, and he didn't have an answer for me. It's possible that it was a spring cleaning type of situation, but then again, it could be the way it is going to be for a while. Right now I am starting to worry a little bit, because AF is getting ready to visit (hopefully? hopefully not?) and I've got that full feeling in my stomach... like there's a big rock in there. It's not the same as an "I just had a big, juicy steak" kind of full... it's much different. And I'm trying to recall how I felt right before this all happened last month.

I'll post here as soon as I know. OB/GYN put me on Provera 10 days a month for 3 months to level out the hormones so that my body can get into a rythm. I was supposed to start the Provera on Sunday but I completely forgot and didn't drop off the prescription until last night!!