If anyone has ever told you that you're probably exaggerating about how bad periods can be, just point them in the direction of this poor, poor woman.
Ronny Maye from North Carolina was rushed to the emergency room in 2018 after experiencing a period that went on for 83 days straight.
Yes, that's three whole months of blood, cramps, and unbalanced hormones, that eventually led to her needing blood transfusions and a D&C - a procedure to remove tissue from inside the uterus - to finally stop the bleeding.
Telling her story in a piece for Insider, writer Ronny explained that she was first diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) back in 2015.
The condition can cause irregular periods, excess androgen (male hormones), and polycystic ovaries.
But things got unimaginably worse three years later, when she had a period so heavy at work that it felt like her 'water breaking'.
Ronny quickly cleaned up the 'small pool of blood' she had found herself sitting in and tried to control her flow with a tampon and a few pads but it was so heavy that, within the space of an hour, she had gone through a 'box of tampons and a pack of pads.'
It was obvious that something was wrong with Ronny, so she sought medical attention as soon as possible.
It was only the second time she reached out that she was rushed to the emergency room in an ambulance.
As if the whole experience couldn't get any worse, Ronny was greeted by a male doctor who didn't exactly give her the care she was expecting.
"Are you sure you're bleeding as much as you say you are?" she remembers him asking.
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Little did the doctor know that, by the time he had visited Ronny, she had had her bedding changed multiple times, she was put on an IV drip for dehydration, given a blood transfusion, and a dose of tranexamic acid to control the bleeding.
"As a Black woman, I'm often not believed by doctors," she said.
The doctor was certain that Ronny was well enough to head home, but Ronny refused, knowing that if she left without tranexamic acid, she 'would have been going home to possibly die.'
Thankfully, she was bold enough to demand an overnight stay for observation - which quickly turned into a weekend stay after several panic attacks, a drop in blood pressure, and a sudden anaemia diagnosis.
All in all, Ronny didn't stop bleeding for a shocking 83 days - and eventually required her to get a dilation and curettage (D&C) to clear out her uterine lining and stop the bleeding, before she was given an IUD to regulate her periods.
After the nightmare period, the main takeaway that Ronny took with her was that 'advocating for myself saved my life'.
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