Women on Coumadin....

[mmcbroom]

have any of you noticed that your menstrual cycles changed once your body became adjusted to Coumadin?

I have had several episodes in the last 18months of severe bleeding during menses that required blood transfusions. I have been on Coumadin since 5/00 with a stable dose and INR. Even during these occasions while in the hospital for bleeding, my INR was good if not a little low. My daily dose is 3mg with INR usually between 2.5 and 3.0. The only time is drops is when I take other meds for pain or sickness.

Any others in my situation?

 

[Guest]

Usually the blood flow is not much heavier. This is because menstrual flow is not bleeding in the same sense as a cut would be. It is the shedding of the old lining of the uterus after new tissue underlying it has been replaced. It looks like bleeding but it is really blood-rich tissue.

That said, it would be hard to say that it is not related in your case. Any time that you need a transfusion, it would have triggered studies by your gynecologist as to the cause. You didn't mention any cause that was found, so I assume none was. Any large group of people will have a bell-shaped curve with the majority having no problems in this case. But you are the outlier who is way over to the right on the edge of the bell.

 

[McCln]

Monica

Monica

I had to go on depo-prevera shots due to extra flow and no clotting, from the warafin. We put me on it from getting anemic. You should talk to your gyn doctor about alternatives. I will be talking to mine later this year about surgery. I am not worried about the surgery because we can't have children due to the warafin anway. So go to the doctor and talk about what you are experiencing and talk about alternatives. Good luck and hang in there. Men have no idea what we women have to go through.

Caroline
09-13-01
Aortic valve replacement
St. Jude's valve

 

[mmcbroom]

Having children is not impossible while on Coumadin. European women are doing with no, or very few, complications. I am not quite ready to have surgery. Still trying to have a child, but my menstrual cycles seem to be working against this.

I had the problem of heavy clotting and a never ending flow.

 

[Karlynn]

I'm wondering if you have other issues that Coumadin then magnifies. Has your OB/GYN done testing to rule out other things being the culprit to your problems, which then Coumadin would have an effect on. I'm thinking something like fibroids or endometriosis?

With 12 years of Coumadin behind me (starting at the age of 32) I never had any issues that you speak of. Now that I'm getting into the "life is changing" age I do experience heavier flow issues, but my PCP told me that was age (cough cough) related and not Coumadin related.

 

[Guest]

I'll second that about it being possible to have children while on warfarin.

However, it is weeks 6 to 12 that are the worst for the development of the baby. So you should not get pregnant with having a plan with a doctor skilled in managing warfarin for women with valves.

That said, there is at least one woman on this site who had a child while on warfarin and the child is normal.

The problem is both time and dose related.

 

[mmcbroom]

I have gone through just about every women's test that there is. Everything from day 3 hormone testing, dye through the tubes and uterus, multiple sonograms, an MRI. The only thing that was found was the posiblility of Adenomyosis. This is where the endometrial lining gets in between the indivudual muscle fibers in the walls of the uterus. Same thing as endometriosis except that is in the uterus and not outside. But the only way to truely diagnose this is through a hysterectomy. The clinics refuse to even think of doing a laporoscopy to check for endo because I am on coumadin. no cysts, fibroids, hormones in check, I am what is called unexplained. Therefore the Gyn says that it has to be the Coumadin and the cardio says that is has to be physiological. So I am back to square one!

Thanks for the response.

 

[Guest]

You are what used to be referred to as a GORK.

That stood for God Only Really Knows.

I guess it ain't PC to say that no more.

 

[LDS4EVER]

to monica

to monica

Hi Monica I am so glad you wrote about this becasue i too have that problem and i think many women do too im 47 and i too was on 3mg daily and then the dr reajusted to 1and a half and this month i didnt have a period and my periods are always on time of course i think i have started the change my sister only had missed perods never had a hot flash so im hoping im the same anyway i had really bad ones too loss of blood i had one time in the hospt in sept i had 5 pints of blood transfusion too high of a level it ws bad i had bruses all over my body and i am now just getting a normal range i changed drs im in san bernadino ca at loma linda well take care chris

 

[Lisa in Katy]

According to my OB/GYN, the average age to start menopause is 51 and it can continue for a few years after that.

I had my surgery at age 36 and I had the severe bleeding problem with menstruation as well - very heavy bleeding for two or more weeks at a time - causing anemia. I had never had this type of problem before and it started within a few months of my surgery. The hematologist that my doctor consulted with felt that this problem resulted from Coumadin and increased INR. Even though this blood is somewhat different that the blood that you get when you cut yourself, the fact that many women become borderline anemic during their periods proves that it does affect the total blood supply in the body. I was put in the hospital to stop the bleeding on two different occasions, and they finally decided that a hysterectomy was in my best interest (about 2 years and 3 months after the valve replacement). According to the Path report, my uterus was perfectly normal, so even more reason to believe it was caused by Coumadin - just too much coincidence otherwise. This, of course, would cause childbirth to be impossible, but for those of you who are past all that, as I was, it's an option that I recommend. The doctor did not think that the balloon ablation was a good option for me because many people still have light periods with this procedure and I might have had the same problems with continued bleeding.

 

[mmcbroom]

Talk about good replys...

Talk about good replys...

Thanks everyone!

I to have looked and partial hysterectomy. But not quite to that point yet.

As for "THE CHANGE", I sure hope I haven't reached that point yet. I am only 30, but I am sure stranger things have happened.

Thanks again everyone!
Monica

 

[Guest]

I worked with a woman who was told that she was going through menopause at age 30. She finally had a hysterectomy and was told that her uterus looked like it came from a woman of 50. This was shortly after she woke up after surgery. She started laughing so hard that she almost ripped the stitches. She thought it was hilarious that her husband was 15 years older than her but her organs seemed older. She repeated the story to everyone over the next several months.

It was also about the time that copiers were coming out but companies usually had only one or two in a central area. I saw her in the hall and asked where she was going. "To the reproduction room and that is a pretty good place after what I've been through."

 

[joy]

I take coumadin , and I am 26 years old. I found out about my Stenotic mitral valve when i was 5 months pregnant with my son. I had to wait for 3 months after I had my son and then I had my MVR. I've been on coumadin for a little over a year due to a TIA I had, and my menses are very heavy and off. It has to do with stress and the coumadin for me. Hope this helps!

 

[LoraW30]

hmm, I've taken coumadin for 17 years, keeping my inr pretty stable. Just this year I switched to warfarin to save a little money. Right after I switched, I noticed just the opposite. My periods were getting lighter by the month, and now I'm lucky if I have a period.


I started taking coumadin when I was 13, before I started having periods, and was told by my doctors that I would probably have heavier than normal flows.