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That sounds really awful. I’ve had irregular period problems for years, but different from what you have described, and I haven’t gotten to the bottom of what’s going on yet. I’ve always gone to a gyno though. Recently, my gyno suggested a hysteroscopy, but I am thinking about getting a second opinion from a different gyno since it sounds so invasive with general anesthesia. Maybe I’m being overly cautious about that though.

@Becksabee: I had the Mirena for about two years after my first daughter was born and I went from very painful heavy periods pre pregnancy to pretty much no periods after getting the iud. I am now 1 year post partum with my second daughter and my periods have just returned. They are not painful but are heavier than I’ve ever experienced. I’m thinking about getting Mirena again.

I’ve been going through a similar set of symptoms for about a year as well (ever since my period came back post baby no 2). Cramps aren’t bad but cycles are short and periods themselves are long and heavy. I’ve had a bunch of tests (saline sonogram, hysteroscopy, ultrasounds, D&C to biopsy lining), and general consensus is that I have some scar tissue from a postpartum D&C that caused uneven lining and affected my cycles. IUD and birth control have been the main suggested treatments for me too. I’ve been delaying making that decision (husband also has a vasectomy so I hate to go back on birth control) so I may wait a few months to see if there’s any improvement and if not, probably go back on the pill. Good luck!

@lamariniere: it’s generally more diagnostic (small camera inserted through cervix into uterus) but if they see a polyp or fibroid they can then also remove the growths more accurately. They can also do a biopsy of the lining and a D&C if needed. Depending on what they plan to do, they might put you under twilight sedation at the OR but if they are just planning on using it as a diagnostic tool, they can just do it while awake at the office. They thought based on the saline sonogram that I might have a polyp so they put me under for the hysteroscopy with the plan to remove the polyp and even out my lining with a D&C but once in there, they saw it was just a bunch of scar tissue. She did a little scraping to test the lining but didn’t do much else (scar tissue removal would have been more intense), so it was an easy recovery. The whole procedure was maybe 20 min, I woke up very soon after and went home less than an hour later and back to work the next day. So it’s not bad if you decide to do it.

@lamariniere: good luck! I was nervous about the anesthesia as well but the anesthesiologist was good about having the level be very light so other than feeling a little groggy for the rest of the day, and some crampiness, it was pretty easy.