★★★☆☆
WORKED TEMPORARILY
I have had heavy periods with huge clots almost my entire life starting when I was 9. I've had to live with it all this time, except for when I managed to get on "the Pill" when I was in my 20's and then Provera shots when I was in my late 20's - 30's. When I lost my job and stopped being able to afford the shots and didn't want to go to "birth control clinics" to get them because they were overpriced even there, I just gradually started bleeding and clotting again. The few times I've been able to even GET Tranexamic acid the way it would work is that it would shorten my cycle and make the periods last about 6 days instead of 7. By now I can't use Shepherd's Purse because I'm over 40 and with high blood pressure and that has an "estrogenic" effect which is contraindicated for older women and women with high blood pressure. Anything progestin-based would not be, nor would tranexamic acid be. However, I am in a part of a country where those things aren't readily available without a doctor's prescription and that costs money and frankly, doctors are the reason why I went to law school in the first damned place. In the States you have state-by-state lack of health care and it's controversial; I'm covered by MassHealth as I'm Massachusetts resident but currently out of state, but I'm covered out of state in emergency room situations only. The American medical profession being what it is, no Emergency Room doctor will give anything for either the high blood pressure or heavy bleeding when you're "from out of state" and not on THAT state's "Medicaid." (Like I said, the medical profession is the reason why I went to law school in the first place). End result: I suffer. Medications that the US thinks require a prescription (I put it that way because tranexamic acid is available over the counter in the UK - you can just walk into Boots or ASDA and buy it right next to the Midol) I have to sit by the mailbox and wait for the postman to deliver it to me from either the UK or Mexico. I have to be extra-careful of what herbal concoctions I take because of being "elderly" and with high blood pressure. I can only say I hope this BlackStrap Molasses stuff doesn't require a damn PRESCRIPTION in the United States!! And that it WORKS. I can't even get anything else without sending to the UK for it (Tranexamic acid is covered by MassHealth but isn't readily available even in Massachusetts).
My legal opinion is that progestin-only pills should be available over the counter. I mean, come on, USA, the "morning after" pill is starting to be offered "behind" the counter.
I found that extremely high doses of Cayenne Pepper (160,000HU) worked a little bit at lightening the flow but at that heat level it's a little hard to keep down. If I put it into empty capsules and try to take it that way, it won't work as well, I don't think. That also works on high blood pressure, like I said, if I can get and keep it down. Last night I tried a spoonful of it right in my mouth and I almost vomited it back up, but I managed to keep some of it down; I have to because of my blood pressure and the fact that I don't want to flood and clot up someone else's sheets and floor. Yeah, I need a Hysterectomy. But I'm thousands of miles away from where it's COVERED and that's what it's all about, folks, here in the US of A. Money. Being able to pay for medical care.
