What's your flow like on your heaviest day(s)?

Curious what your heaviest flow is on your heavy flow days. I see all sorts of articles about anything over say 80ml being a heavy flow and to speak with your doctor. I've never considered myself as having a super heavy flow, though as I've gotten older it has gotten heavier on day 2 and 3. I'm 43 so I'm sure it's probably perimenopausal changes. I use a size 2 Diva on my heavy days and I have to empty it every 1-2hrs. Today, for example, is day 2. I woke up at 5:30am, full cup at 15ml, emptied at 6:30am full (15ml), emptied at 7:30 full (15ml), emptied at 9:30am almost full (probably 10-12 ml), and emptied at 12:30pm full (15ml). Not including the 5:30am which was from overnight, I've emptied approx 55ml in 6 hours. Yesterday, day 1, I think I only emptied it once or twice. Tomorrow will probably still be heavy but not as much as today. Then by day 4 it'll go down to almost nothing and continue to be scant for another few days. I also have a few days of spotting of dark brown a few days before my flow starts. So all told, I have some sort of spotting or flow for 7 or 8 days. My cycle is pretty regular at 28-30 days.

So for the 2 days, I'm guessing I've already exceeded the 80ml "average" and today is only half over. This isn't new, though when I used to use tampons (switched about 2 years ago to a cup) I don't recall having to change a tampon quite that often.

Does this seem too heavy to you?

Spotting before is most likely due to hormone imbalance. When my progesterone was low I spotted before. Wouldn’t hurt to get your levels tested. I also used the Diva cup for 6 years and used to have super heavy days. It has gotten a little lighter. I just switched to the Femmy cup and I love it. Holds more than the Diva and i wasn’t emptying it nearly as much. On my heaviest day i was emptying the diva at least every 2 hours. With the Femmy I was able to go several more.


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on my worst days it is 2 ultra OB tampons not lasting an hour. I have not had success with cups as I easily over fill a diva in an hour and it does not fit me as well as I wish it did.

I usually have one heavy day. Super tampon (not super plus/ultra) every 2-3 hours. That only lasts for 8-10 hours then it slows down.

One heavy super tampon day - every 3-4 hours for most of the day. Then 4 days of progressively lighter flow. 5 to 5.5 days total. I do not have any spotting at the beginning.

I always had heavy flow, but not daily. Like you, it’s always day 2 and 3 that is my most heaviest since my mid 20’s. My cycle is long too with 7 days, but really light for last 2 days though.

I’ve tried many different versions of tampons, pads, and even pretty woman brand cup. I hated the diva brand. It just doesn’t work for me, so I can’t really judge whether your flow is heavy consistently.


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Thanks ladies. Sounds like I'm not totally outside the "normal" for heavy flow. I've been tracking today (have never written it down before) and I've emptied my cup every 2 hours all day long today. Since 5:30 (so my overnight "collection") I've emptied over 100ml of fluid from my cup. I've read that a super tampon holds 10ml so that would be at least 10 super tampons in about 14hrs.

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Originally Posted by georgiegirl

I usually have one heavy day. Super tampon (not super plus/ultra) every 2-3 hours. That only lasts for 8-10 hours then it slows down.

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This sounds just like mine.

OPs sounds very heavy to me, but I’ve always thought of myself as pretty luck in this department. I wear supers for one day, regulars for another, and really don’t have to wear anything on days past that (unless I’m not going to have easy access to a bathroom, then I’d wear something just in case).


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Perimenopause really screws with your cycle. I've always had a heavy cycle, and just finished one and my cycle is even more screwed up now. Usually it's 6 days, with days 2-3.5 being my really awful heavy day. This time, it was a 4 day cycle, with day one being absolutely horrible (I am so lucky I was at home when it started), and day two was almost as horrible, then day 3 was normal and today, day 4 it's basically on pink if I wipe. I'm 45 and I do keep my cycles on an app. I noticed that in the past year, my cycle has gone from 28 days to 26 days, which SUCKS, but I heard that sometimes cycles get shorter before they start to spread out. I'm hoping that I will bounce toward longer cycles soon, which to me would indicate that I'm getting closer to actual menopause. This perimenopause thing sucks, I feel like a teenager who doesn't know WTH is going on with my cycle or body.

Mine is pretty similar to OP. It's really just that Day 2 that has me changing out very frequently.

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Originally Posted by hillview

on my worst days it is 2 ultra OB tampons not lasting an hour. I have not had success with cups as I easily over fill a diva in an hour and it does not fit me as well as I wish it did.

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I think we're part of the low iron crew and my periods were similar. On my heaviest days I'd bleed through a super plus tampon in less than an hour, which is why I never used tampons much unless I had to, like while on a beach vacation. I also never liked my Diva cup because I'd overflow it quickly. My family doctor recommended I see a GYN and I ended up having surgery to remove a blood filled cyst on my ovary that wouldn't shrink with meds. While she was in there she removed a large fibroid and 2 smaller ones. She thought the large one could definitely be contributing to my super heavy periods and she was right. My periods got lighter over several months after the surgery. And now with my hyperthyroidism, my periods are super light and I have no more heavy days, which is a symptom.

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I’ll chime in, even though it’s not really similar to your experience. Day 2 is my heaviest, but even then, after 12 hours with my Diva cup in, it is usually about 3/4 diva cup full.

At my worst I can go through a super plus tampon in two hours; this was fairly common from about age 18 until the last year. Prior to starting wearing tampons at 16 I would go through a heavy pad at least once during the day during my cycle. I have never been iron deficient. I haven’t had more than one tampon full at 2 hours during this cycle yet as I am on day 3. Sometimes it happens and other times it doesn’t. I just started having to buy the mixed box of super and regular tampons to keep at home because I am not needing the super plus ones all of the time. I do keep the super plus at work just in case, and a few in the car or my purse. About 3 years ago I started wearing pads at home in the evenings when I get home from work and I feel like most months it has shortened the duration of my periods. I have always worn pads at night though.

I am on day 3 now and am probably done with the regular flow and may just have spotting now.


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