7 Jun
41 and my periods have basically become a separate entity that I have to plan my entire life around. Last month I went through so much in two days I genuinely could not leave the house. The month before, barely anything. I have no idea what I'm working with from one cycle to the next and it is exhausting in a way that goes beyond the bleeding itself, like there's this low-level dread that just sits there all the time now. I've started writing things down because I want to actually go to my GP with something concrete rather than just sitting there saying "it's a lot" and getting sent away with leaflets. So I've been keeping a rough fatigue diary alongside the period stuff, just noting when I can barely get off the sofa versus when I feel more or less human. Curious whether my worst days track with the heaviest bleeding or whether the tiredness is doing its own thing. Anyone else been to the GP about this and managed to get bloodwork done? I want to ask specifically about iron and ferritin because I've read that ferritin in particular can be low even when standard iron looks fine, but I don't want to go in sounding like I've diagnosed myself off the internet. I just want to go in prepared. Any pointers on what actually got taken seriously would be really helpful x