I am 48 and 1/2 years old, and have been posting on here about "on again, off again" periods for the past couple of months, but, man, last night scared the wits out of me. Thank God for these boards, because without them, I would have been at the ER, thinking my insides were pouring out of me! It was 11:15 and I was just getting ready to go to bed when I felt the gush. In a matter of minutes I had soaked through a Super Plus tampon, a mini pad, and my jeans! I ran to the bathroom and sat on the toilet while the biggest clot I have ever passed (not as big as some described here but big for me!) came falling out. I couldn't get up for about 5 minutes, what with what was dripping out of me! I stayed up until 1:00 after that, changing a Super Plus tampon every 15 - 30 minutes for that hour and a half. I went to bed with 2 Super Plus tampons in and an overnight pad. Of course, I tossed and turned, thinking I was going to flood the bed, which, thank God, I didn't. I woke up at 3, changed both tampons,but hadn't leaked through. Got up again at 6:30 and did the same, but this time they didn't seem quite so saturated. At this point, I seem to have slowed down a bit, but I have dull cramping, which I have not had for a while now. I am thinking that this is the first REAL period I have had since December 1st. I have had spotting, and a couple days here or there where I have had some heavy bleeding for a few hours, but then nothing. For the past 5 days, though, this has been steady - not the floodgates I had last night, but definitely enough to call it a period.

Sorry to vent. I just feel so lousy. I wanted to go shopping today, but I'm scared stiff to do that since the episode last night came on out of the blue with no warning. With my luck, I will be in line at the register at Wal Mart and have the same thing happen again!

My question to all of you who have had this flooding, how much is too much? I read about anemia, but I am wondering when it's time to get to the doctor's ASAP? I have an appointment with my OB/GYN on Tuesday, and up until last night, the bleeding has been "normal" for me. I do seem to have slowed down now. I have had a tampon in since 7:30 and still no leakage, so that is okay, right?

One more thing - my sister and mom both had fibroids and ended up with hysterectomies in their mid forties. Do fibroids tend to run in families?

Thanks for listening. I say it every time I post - I don't know what I would do without this board and all the support. :)