22y/o multiple month long periods treatment options?
22 y/o with PCOS since 14, bleeding for MONTHS at a time. trying to figure out my options and kind of losing my mind
ok so I'm 22, got diagnosed with PCOS when I was 14, and for the last 2-3 years my periods have been really irregular. whenever I start losing weight I'll just bleed continuously for months. and it's not light, I'm bleeding through pads constantly and it does NOT stop. I've lost so much blood I'm pretty sure I'm anemic at this point. I get dizzy, weak, sick, and i started getting blue streaks in my eyes. I feel like garbage every single day. my period has been taking over every part of my life, i wakeup and its like flood gates, i feel weak, i cant enjoy my life the way im supposed to especially since im so young i shouldnt have to worry about my period ALL THE TIME.
also just to get it out of the way: I do NOT want kids. like at all, never have, the idea makes me uncomfortable. my partner doesn't want them either. so fertility is genuinely not something I care about keeping. i am 100% certain i will never want kids this will never change.
anyways, I went to the gyno and here's what she said to me:
hormonal IUD (her main rec): localized, but she said it takes about 6 months (to 12 months) to really see if it works. problem is I don't want to bleed like this for 6+ months for a maybe. AND every time I've been on hormonal BC (oral at least) I spiral mentally, get heart palpitations, the whole thing. I have borderline personality disorder among other mental disorders, but any slight changes can send me spiraling and increase my suicidal ideation. im weary about any hormonal stuff because of this. she said that it is mainly localized in the uterus with this iud but still will have some effect and im not really willing to take the risk if it means it will affect my mental.
the pill: she said I shouldn't even take because of my other meds
vaginal ring: she said was the only other option but it's got even more hormones, which is the exact thing I'm trying to avoid
uterine ablation: she recommended against bc I'm young and it can grow back, plus abnormal bleeding is a cancer sign so ablation makes it harder to catch. but like... I ALREADY bleed abnormally 24/7 so that second part kind of doesn't really make sense for me? not sure if im missing something but she said if i really wanted to get one i could but if anything goes wrong with it i might have to get a hysterectomy
hysterectomy: I straight up asked why I can't just skip all the trial and error and do this so it's actually fixed. she said it's major surgery with the usual risks and that they like to go least invasive first. she said the cons are my muscles around my uterus might get weak like my pelvic muscles and such but honestly that seems better to me then bleeding out constantly.
honestly, I don't think I can do the IUD because of how bad hormones mess me up, and I can't imagine waiting months for something that might not even work. part of me just wants the hysterectomy so I'm DONE and don't have to do the whole try this, wait, fail, try the next thing cycle. Especially since i feel like i have no use to keep my uterus since im dead set on never having kids.
so I guess my question is: how do you even figure out which path is right? has anyone who is younger here dealt with heavy/abnormal bleeding and tried any of these (IUD, ablation, hysterectomy, ring)? especially if you had bad reactions to hormones or ended up going for something more permanent. would really appreciate hearing your experience <3