Lynette, a 39-year-old woman, thought she had found a solution to regulate her menstrual cycles with the birth control pills, as she had always had irregular periods since her teenage years but always managed them with a pill that the doctor would give her once in a while.
As she was approaching her 37th birthday, one day, she was at work and got a strange feel, and on rushing to the washroom, she realized a clot of blood had dropped on her knicker. She immediately changed her pad, but the flow was so heavy that she could change pads after every 20 minutes.
In the evening, she passed by a clinic where they gave her an injection to reduce the flow or even stop the bleeding. Two days later, she was still bleeding, and she decided to go and consult her gynecologist, who ordered a scan to be done on her to rule out fibroids and other issues, which scan was done and the results came out negative.
Upon realizing that it was the issue of regulating her periods, the doctor prescribed pills she was supposed to take every day so as to be able to manage her periods (reduce on the heavy flow and also have fewer menstrual days, 3-5 days).
However, after two years, she decided to stop taking them without consulting her doctor because she thought that her body was now normal since she was nearing her perimenopause.
One fateful morning, she woke up to a terrifying scene; her bed was soaked in blood. The sudden and severe bleeding was a stark reminder of the importance of proper menstrual management.
“I was shocked and scared. I didn’t know what was happening. I immediately got out of bed and entered the bathroom, but the flow was too much. I waited for sunrise and went to see my gynecologist, who was disappointed in me for having stopped my medication without consulting with him. He put me on a drip and restarted me on my pills and urged me never to stop my medication without consulting with a doctor,” Lynette said.
Lynette’s experience highlights the potential risks of stopping hormonal medications without medical guidance because it results in uncontrolled bleeding, hormonal imbalance, and an increased risk of anemia.
