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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Have Irregular And Heavy Periods. Feeling Light Headed, Shaky, Dizzy, Tight Stomach. What Are The Complications?

I am 54 years old, and I have uneven periods each month. Sometimes, I ve skipped them altogether. For the last 2 days, my period has been bright red and heavy. Today, since about 10 this morning, I ve felt light headed, shakey, and there s kind of a gnawing, tight feeling down below my sternum--I m thinking it s coming from my stomach area. When I walk around, I m not quite dizzy, but I feel as though I could faint.
posted on Wed, 21 Mar 2012
Twitter Thu, 22 Mar 2012 Answered on
Twitter Sat, 30 Jun 2012 Last reviewed on
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Emergency Medicine Specialist,  's  Response
Hi:

Thanks for your question.
If you have not had a pap smear in 12 months, you need to get in and talk to your doctor about this. You are in perimenopause when the hormone levels which were steadily decreasing over the years, now become erratic causing erratic bleeding.

Since you are so symptomatic with the lightheadedness, I would strongly suggest you get into an Emergency Department so they can do a CBC and see if you are anemic from the blood loss. If you are, they may prescribe hormones to stop the period. But in your age group, one always has to be cautious that the irregular bleeding is not due to endometrial cancer. So you must follow up with your OB/GYN doctor soon to do the complete exam. The ER visit is to see how anemic you are and what needs to be done now for that.

Hope this helps.

Carol Rogala D.O.
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Have Irregular And Heavy Periods. Feeling Light Headed, Shaky, Dizzy, Tight Stomach. What Are The Complications?

Hi: Thanks for your question. If you have not had a pap smear in 12 months, you need to get in and talk to your doctor about this. You are in perimenopause when the hormone levels which were steadily decreasing over the years, now become erratic causing erratic bleeding. Since you are so symptomatic with the lightheadedness, I would strongly suggest you get into an Emergency Department so they can do a CBC and see if you are anemic from the blood loss. If you are, they may prescribe hormones to stop the period. But in your age group, one always has to be cautious that the irregular bleeding is not due to endometrial cancer. So you must follow up with your OB/GYN doctor soon to do the complete exam. The ER visit is to see how anemic you are and what needs to be done now for that. Hope this helps. Carol Rogala D.O.