Why a Brisbane mum had surgery to stop her periods

Her menstrual cycle seriously impacted her wellbeing and her social life and she found herself wanting to stay home for weeks each month.

“It was so just so debilitating, it was really starting to ruin my life,” she said.

“You have no idea when you’re going to get (your period), so I was scared to go out and it just all come out everywhere”.

She wouldn’t go to the gym or for walks in the week before her period arrived, in fear of exercise inducing it.

But when it did arrive, she wasn’t able to do much either, as she tried to manage the heavy bleeding and deal with other side effects, such as headaches, bloating and diarrhoea.

“You can’t exercise because it’s so heavy and you can’t sleep because you’re up all night changing tampons,” she said.

D’Arcy found herself planning events around when her period could come, while her mental health suffered from staying at home and not exercising.

“When you’re getting to that point with it, that’s really affecting the quality of your life,” D’Arcy said.

The Brisbane woman had always had incredibly heavy flows, which caused her to miss school on the first day of each period, but contraceptive pills helped mask her symptoms through her 20s.

Once she started having children she couldn’t take contraception and her bleeding only became heavier.

D’Arcy took acid tablets to reduce her periods after the birth of her first child, but after her third, nothing would help.

A doctor gave her the option to have a hysterectomy or an ablation, both of which come with health risks and complications.

Having an ablation in her 30s, a procedure in which the lining of the uterus is destroyed to stop bleeding during periods, has completely changed her life.

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To her, the health risks of the surgery are worth it in return for being able to be active and be the involved, uninhibited mum and woman that she wants to be.

The surgery can make cancer more difficult to detect because of the scarring it causes, and can lead to infections and blood clots.

Her husband has told her she is like a different person since having the ablation.

D’Arcy said after the procedure she was so thrilled she told the surgeon, “I just want to go on TV and tell everyone about it”.

She is adamant periods need to be more widely talked about, making it easier for women to know their options and get help managing them.

“I’m really passionate about talking about it because there are options and people just put up with it,” she said.

The Brisbane mother, like many people who menstruate, did not feel comfortable talking about her period growing up.

Without that discussion, she had no way of knowing hers were extreme, and only got relief from the pill coincidentally when she was prescribed it for acne.

Gynaecologist Dr Talat Uppal said many women were not seeking help for heavy menstrual bleeding, “a problem with many solutions”.

“Heavy menstrual bleeding is underdiagnosed, due in some degree to the stigma relating to women’s health issues in general,” she said.

“There is a societal view that it’s something we should just get on with as (periods are) a fact of life for females.

“(But) it’s important that Australians can speak to their healthcare professional to find the right option for them.”

A medical definition of a normal amount of blood loss per period is about 30 to 40 millilitres of blood, which is equivalent to about six to eight teaspoons. A heavy period is defined as involving more than 80 millilitres.