{"id":96126,"date":"2025-08-27T10:45:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-27T10:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/96126\/"},"modified":"2025-08-27T10:45:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-27T10:45:18","slug":"periods-limited-my-life-for-years-then-i-noticed-something-on-a-train","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/96126\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Periods limited my life for years – then I noticed something on a train’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fran Steyn’s period were so heavy that she had to put her life on hold<\/p>\n

08:07, 26 Aug 2025Updated 08:09, 26 Aug 2025<\/p>\n

\"FranFran Steyn was often left having to cancel plans(Image: Fran Steyn\/Evana)<\/p>\n

For years, Fran Steyn battled life-limiting periods, being bounced around the NHS<\/a> with no real solution\u2014 until a chance glance at a Tube advert helped her reclaim control. At 41, with two young children and a busy job as a women\u2019s health fertility nurse, Fran\u2019s life was derailed by increasingly heavy, painful periods that left her physically and emotionally drained.<\/p>\n

For more than two years, she endured a silent struggle: monthly cycles that were so heavy that they stopped her from working, exercising, socialising – even leaving the house. As a women\u2019s health and fertility nurse, Fran, from Swansea<\/a>, is no stranger to the realities of female health.<\/p>\n

But nothing prepared her for the spiral her own periods would take in her late 30s. \u201cAfter my second child, everything changed. My periods became so heavy and painful that I couldn\u2019t leave the house – sometimes I couldn\u2019t even go to work. Every hour I was bleeding through tampons, pads and period pants. I was anaemic, exhausted and ratty all the time. It was relentless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite her professional experience and knowledge of the healthcare system, Fran found herself caught in a frustrating loop of delays and dead ends.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI knew my symptoms weren\u2019t normal. But every time I sought help, I was passed from department to department. I\u2019d go to the GP, and they\u2019d refer me for a hormonal coil to help. But the referral never went through.<\/p>\n

“When I chased it, they said I\u2019d need to go through sexual health to be fitted with the coil – but sexual health then rejected me because I wasn\u2019t seeking contraception. By the time I got back to the GP, they\u2019d discharged me. I had to start all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

For two to three years Fran lived like this – battling through pain and blood loss without a solution, despite knowing her symptoms were far from normal. Then, one day on a trip to London, something caught her eye.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI was on the Tube heading to a meeting when I saw an ad for Evana. I stopped in my tracks. I didn\u2019t realise you could buy tranexamic acid (a non-hormonal treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding) over the counter. I\u2019d previously had it prescribed by the GP, but then they stopped and said I needed reassessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019d been years where I wasn\u2019t on anything to control the bleeding. I felt totally alone. Seeing that advert was like a lifeline.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FranFran Steyn had to limit what she could do(Image: Fran Steyn\/Evana)<\/p>\n

Fran went home, looked it up and bought Evana. She said the change was immediate.<\/p>\n

Fran said: \u201cIt sounds cheesy, but it\u2019s the truth – it changed my life. Within one cycle, the bleeding was manageable, the pain was dramatically reduced, and I could function like a normal person again. I could work. I didn\u2019t have to cancel plans. I could just be me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each tablet contains 500mg of tranexamic acid. This is an effective, proven treatment for heavy menstrual bleeding and can reduce menstrual blood loss (MBL) by up to 60%<\/a>. In a usage study<\/a>, tranexamic acid significantly improved both menstrual blood loss and health-related quality of life in women versus placebo.<\/p>\n

The silent impact of heavy periods<\/p>\n

Fran\u2019s experience is far from unique – and the silence around it, she says, is part of the problem. \u201cBefore all this, my periods had always been manageable. Maybe a little heavy, but nothing out of the ordinary. But after my second child, around age 35 or 36, everything changed. The pain was agony – I was bent over, constantly taking painkillers. But I was still no closer to finding the help I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FranFran said the discovery had been life-changing(Image: Fran Steyn\/Evana)<\/p>\n

The impact wasn\u2019t just physical. Emotionally and socially, it started taking over her life: \u201cI\u2019d plan holidays around my period. My husband would say, \u2018We can\u2019t go away that week, you\u2019ll bleed through\u2019. We cancelled things. I stopped booking events. It wasn\u2019t just a period – it was a looming threat every month.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the embarrassment was real. \u201cWe were coming home from holiday in April and my period came early. I bled through my clothes at the airport. My kids were with me. My daughter, who\u2019s only eight, was worried and scared. She didn\u2019t understand what was happening. It was so stressful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only recently, a gynaecologist colleague helped Fran identify the root cause: fibroids, a condition that can cause heavy and painful periods. She\u2019s now waiting for a formal referral to a gynaecologist, but having been warned that wait times could stretch up to 12 months till her appointment, she\u2019s grateful to have found Evana in the meantime.<\/p>\n

Fran said: \u201cI\u2019m still waiting for a formal appointment with the gynaecologist and then potentially surgery, which could take another year. But at least now I have something that helps. I order it online monthly – no more waiting weeks for GP call backs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FranFran Steyn(Image: Fran Steyn\/Evana)<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cBefore, I\u2019d circle the date in red on my calendar and plan my whole life around it. Now, I don\u2019t have to. I can go to work, to the gym, out with friends. I still get a bit of cramping, but it\u2019s nothing compared to before. And I don\u2019t have to fight for a GP appointment or explain myself – I can just order it when I need to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her experience has turned her into an advocate for better menstrual health support: \u201cI tell everyone about it (Evana). I even reached out on LinkedIn to thank them. I was like \u2014 people need to know this exists. There are women out there suffering who have no idea this option is available. I saw it on the tube, but I don’t think enough people know about it. If you\u2019re struggling – speak up. And don\u2019t stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fran\u2019s message to other women is clear. \u201cYou have to advocate for yourself. I work in women\u2019s health, I know the system, and even I was fobbed off and sent in circles. If you\u2019re suffering, keep pushing. It\u2019s not normal to have heavy bleeding. You don\u2019t have to live like that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fran Steyn’s period were so heavy that she had to put her life on hold 08:07, 26 Aug…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96127,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-96126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}