Does anyone know what a Blood Disorder is?

Hi there! I'm sorry your mother has a blood disorder. The previous poster is correct, that there are many diff. blood disorders. I had a blood disorder myself, known as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) and my cousin had one known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). I suspect that others in my family also have diff. bleeding disorders, but they are undiagnosed.

I could tell you what happened to me when I had TTP, but my story is not only very diff. than those of others with TTP, it's EXTREMELY different than the stories of people who have totally different blood disorders! Different blood disorders affect people differently.

I believe what your mother has is really heavy, prolonged menstrual periods. I have family members who have the same problem. If the doctors have not found the cause of it, there may be more tests to pinpoint what's causing it. It's possible that this bleeding symptom/disorder is caused by an underlying clotting or bleeding disorder of another name. In the case of my family members it seems to be caused by cysts on their ovaries (not sure if they have polycystic ovarian syndrome or not), rather than a bleeding or clotting disorder, though in the case of at least one of them, I think it's a combination of a bleeding disorder and ovarian cysts, since she's a pretty free bleeder. At least I assume ovarian cysts are to blame. While most ovarian cysts apparently do not bother women, four of my cousins experience very painful, heavy periods, and at least one of them has extremely prolonged periods (but they are also very irregular so she may not bleed for months, although she is not pregnant and tests negative for pregnancy, and then bleed for over a month). All of these women, except for one, have shown to have ovarian cysts, and I am not sure if the other one was even checked for cysts. Also, the one who didn't bleed for months and then started bleeding for months (this is NOT an exaggeration- she has bled for at least over a month and it only stopped then due to a heavy dose of hormones recieved at the doctors) did show polyps, and the doctors seemed satisfied for this as the cause of her issues.

The cousin who bled for over a month has had to have blood transfusions twice due to prolonged and heavy menstruation (her case reminds me a lot of the lady who posted above me- bleeding up to a month, ovarian cysts, and anemia), so if your mother bleeds badly enough, she may eventually require the same, but I do not know the extent of her bleeding and am not a dr. Therefore, I couldn't say for sure. That cousin also takes iron pills, and an extremely heavy dose of bc (I dunno if they said 2 or if they said 4 times as much as the usual dose) to balance out her hormone levels enough to allow her not to bleed this much. Another takes the pills to ease the pain. Your mother may or may not wish to take them, but if she does, likely the dose would depend on her own hormone levels. Also, iron pills may be suggested if she has heavy bleeding.

Besides the ovarian cysts, there's also endometriosis as a possible cause, as well as bleeding and clotting disorders like VWD. VWD is something I've read about before called von willebrand disease. I just did a web search for your mother's issue and came across an article concerning the top 10 causes of heavy menstrual bleeding. The first listed was hormonal imbalance. PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome, by the way, involves hormonal imbalance), but isn't mentioned in the article. Instead, the article talks about women during their adolescent years, and during menopause, may have heavier bleeding than at other times. You do not mention your mother's age, but if she's nearing menopause (peri-menopausal) she may be having some hormonal fluctuations that are to blame. The article also mentions uterine fibroids, cervial polyps, endometrial polyps, Lupus, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), cervical cancer (don't freak out- cervical cancer is pretty rare, from what I've heard), Endometrial cancer, IUDs or intrauterine birth control devices, and bleeding disorders. It also mentions that VWD is the most likely culprit if it is a bleeding disorder.

http://womenshealth.about.com/od/abnormalbleeding/...

Okay, ironically, I was looking up endometriosis and heavy bleeding because I was pretty sure it was a symptom of it- and it is- when I came across a site that said injectable contraception (depo provera) can cause heavy or prolonged bleeding, which makes me question the ability and competancy of my one cousin's doctors, since they are giving her depo provera shots to prevent this very thing.

Anyway, this other page lists these causes: Unexplained (it says about half the cases have unexplained causes), contraceptive coil (IUD), injectable contraceptive (depo provera), pelvic disorders- ex. listed are fibroids, polyps, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), endometriosis, Endometrial hyperplasia (thickening of uterine lining), endometrial cancer, hormonal imbalance, hypothyroidism, blood clotting disorders, and anticoagulant drugs.

Here's the link: http://www.womenshealthlondon.org.uk/leaflets/blee...

I also found out that vitamin K deficiancy can even be a culprit. See here. http://www.womentowomen.com/menstruation/menorrhag...

This article also mentions the importance of iron supplements and hormonal support.

This bleeding disorder I had- TTP- can cause heavy menstrual bleeding as well as spotting and alternatively, it can cause less bleeding due to intense clotting/ Yet, it is highly unlikely your mother has this disease. It's rare, and the doctors would prob. have noticed it during her blood work up.

The heavy and prolonged menstrual bleeding is a bleeding condition which may or may not have a bleeding disorder as the underlying cause. Your mother will likely need to take iron supplements, she may be given medicines to help deal with her hormones if they are found to be the problem, and she could opt for a hysterectomy, BUT that carries with it, its own issues, and your mother may not want to go that route. I'd personally want to avoid that if I could, but it's an individual choice, based on individual situations. Your mother's treatment will also be based on the root cause of her heavy, prolonged bleeding.

Hemophilia mean anything to you? That is the blood's inability to clot normally, a person with this disorder would bleed longer than normal if they received a wound. These people also bruise very easily.

Some people just have really bad periods - which is what menorrhagia is. A number of causes can attribute to it. Hormones, abnormal clotting, and infection are at the top of the list of possible causes.

I've had my own experience with bleeding for 12days up to a month long with spotting or a heavy period that lasted 7 days and 5 more days of light spotting. I was prescribed birth control pills as the first means of controlling the bleeding - later on it was found that I was also bleeding more due to ovarian cysts. I was also diagnosed as being anemic due to all the blood loss.

I still am anemic now due to iron deficiency - I'm taking OTC iron supplements to take care of that.

There are many forms of anemia that are genetic as well.

Aids is not a blood disorder like the first poster mentioned as it's caused by the hiv virus - that is a blood disease. However it does affect a person's immune system - it means that it shut down completely due to the viral onset.

ok,first things first..have you ever heard of anemia,hemophilia,leukemia,sepsis,aids,or such? well all of those are a kind of blood disorders..they are called that cause they mess with your blood..

and what your mom has is a kind of disorder connected with menstrual period..in a normal menstrual period bleeding lasts an average of 5 days and total blood flow between 25 and 80 mL. A blood loss of greater than 80 ml or lasting longer than 7 days constitutes menorrhagia...

the final human beings to tell you would be the folk at those blood donor clinics. tell your pal to flow alongside to between the donor training and fill interior the questionaire. the staff at those donors will then examine in the event that they might or can't supply blood.