Reducing Or Stopping Your Period
Youve already had a rundown on birth control. Now its time to talk about menstrual suppression. Hormonal options may reduce menstrual bleeding or stop it completely.
This may be particularly important if youre living with bleeding disorders such asvon Willebrand disease and thrombocytopenia. Hormonal options are also a common intervention for those with uterine fibroids,endometriosis, or naturally heavy menstrual flows.
Heres what you need to know.
Can Pads Or Tampons Make Your Period End Faster
Some people might feel like their periods end faster when they use tampons, while others say that using pads seemingly shortens their period length because pads do not hamper period flow. However, there is no scientific evidence that either tampons or pads can make your period end faster.
If youre worried about the hassle of having your period during a trip or important event, you could also consider using different period products, such as a menstrual cup. Specific period products wont make your period end faster, but they can help you feel more comfortable during your period and prevent leaks.
Home Remedies To Prevent Excessive Menstrual Bleeding
Are you exhausted of changing your tampon or sanitary pads after every 2 hours during your menstruation period? Excessive bleeding, also known as Menorrhagia, is a very common problem faced by most women. Excessive bleeding leads to numerous complications, including anemia. There are several causes that lead to heavy bleeding, like disorders of the endometrial lining of uterus, hormonal imbalance, uterine fibroids, adenomyosis, pregnancy complications, thyroid or endometrial cancer, weight gain or loss, polyps, pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, usage of an intrauterine device for birth control, changes in diet or exercise, and certain medications, like anticoagulants, steroids, and blood thinners.
Some signs and symptoms which are experienced during heavy menstruation periods are prolonged menses, anemia, weakness, laziness or lethargy, tiredness, headache, mood swings, soreness in breasts, severe cramps with heavy blood flow, shortness of breath and nausea.
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Keeping A Menstrual Diary
It may be worth keeping a diary for a few periods . Your doctor may give you a period blood loss chart which you can fill in. Basically, you record the number of sanitary towels or tampons that you need each day and the number of days of bleeding.
A diary is useful for both patient and doctor to see:
- How bad symptoms are and whether treatment is needed.
- If treatment is started, whether it is helping. Some treatments take a few menstrual cycles to work fully. If you keep a diary it helps you to remember exactly how things are going.
Q: How Do You Know Which Option Is Best For A Special Event
A: The options might vary, depending on how far in advance the patient consults us.
If patients contact us a couple of months ahead of an event, birth control is likely their best chance to reliably delay a period. If they ask for help a week or two in advance, a high dose of progesterone can delay their period for a week or so.
But remember: Everybody is different. Some women can skip periods for a whole year, and have no bleeding, on certain treatments. Some can only delay periods for two to three weeks, and then will start to get breakthrough bleeding.
For others, we cant ever completely stop their periods, but we can slow or delay them.
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How Are They Diagnosed
Your doctor will ask about your menstrual periods and do a pelvic examination. During the examination, your doctor will check for signs of disease, infection, and abnormal growths.
If needed, your doctor may also do one or more tests to find out what’s causing heavy periods. These tests may include:
- A Pap test. This can look for signs of infection and changes in the cells of your cervix.
- Blood tests. These can check for anemia, a bleeding disorder, or other problems.
- A pelvic ultrasound. This test can look for any problems in the pelvic area.
- An endometrial biopsy. It can check for abnormal cell changes in the lining of the uterus .
- A hysteroscopy. This can check the lining of your uterus to look for the cause of bleeding, such as fibroids.
Is It Safe To Stop Or Shorten Your Period
In most cases, using these strategies to help stop or shorten your period every now and then is safe. But if your periods are heavy and you experience other uncomfortable symptoms such as painful cramps its probably a good idea to visit a health care provider.
There are certain underlying health conditions that could cause longer periods, and its important to receive a medical evaluation so these conditions can be ruled out.
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Massage With Essential Oil
Simply massaging your abdominal muscles relaxes the uterine contractions. This may help divert blood away from the uterus. Doing this repeatedly may help stop your flow early and fast. This procedure will also help relieve some of the symptoms accompanying your period, such as cramps and bloating.
This is what you need to do:
- Mix some amounts of lavender oil and sage oil
- Into the mixture, add three some amount of warm almond oil
- Use the oil to massage the abdominal and pelvic area
- Do this twice or thrice to stop your period
How Heavy Is Too Heavy
If youve just come off the Pill, or have a newly inserted intrauterine device, your first few periods may be heavier as your hormone levels readjust. The same can happen after youve given birth. If youve neither had a baby nor started taking hormonal contraception, and heavy menstrual bleeding comes on suddenly after years of a lighter flow, it could be triggered by a hormonal disruption, such as endometriosis or fibroids. So if your period feels abnormally heavy to you, and youre in serious pain, dont wait to speak to your doctor.
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How Can I Stop Prolonged Periods Naturally
Heavy periods may be a sign of some underlying health condition. You must consult your doctor if you get prolonged or heavy periods or if there is a sudden increase in blood loss during your periods. Quite often, heavy and prolonged periods may be a result of nutritional deficiencies. There are a few home remedies for a heavy period. However, you should consult with your doctor before trying any of these remedies. Most of these remedies lack medical or scientific evidence. Some home remedies for managing prolonged periods include
How Is Heavy Bleeding Diagnosed
After a thorough history and clinical examination including a cervical screening test and swabs your doctor might order blood tests and/or a pelvic ultrasound to eliminate some of the possible causes listed previously. The gold standard is to perform a hysteroscopy and curette in all women over 35 years of age to rule out endometrial hyperplasia or cancer. This is where the lining of the womb is viewed with a telescope the hysteroscope and is then lightly scraped away and a biopsy taken for examination.
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Get The Right Nutrients
Certain micronutrients, such as B vitamins, are essential to your overall health. Certain nutrients can even ease up your periods while alleviating PMS symptoms.
Vitamin B6 is one of the nutrients that can affect your periods. Its found naturally in foods such as eggs, fish, and poultry. Vitamin
One study found that zinc, an essential mineral, was helpful in alleviating painful period cramps . Its thought that zinc has similar effects as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , such as ibuprofen.
Study participants reported relief from cramps when they took 30 mg doses of zinc up to three times per day. You can also make sure to get enough zinc-rich foods in your diet, such as meat, legumes, and dairy.
Magnesium is another mineral that can potentially help alleviate long, painful periods because of its anti-cramping effects. One study found that a combination of magnesium and vitamin B6 was helpful in alleviating symptoms of PMS.
Talk to your doctor before taking any supplements to treat your periods. In the meantime, make sure you get enough magnesium in your diet via nuts, seeds, greens, and fish.
How Otc Medications Can Help
Some OTC pain relievers can help reduce blood loss during your periods. This includes nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like Advil, Motrin, or aspirin.
NSAIDs dont lighten bleeding as well as prescription drugs, but you can combine them with other medications for better relief. These drugs may also help relieve painful cramps.
High doses or long-term use of NSAIDs can lead to unwanted side effects. You should always have your doctor monitor your dose, and never take NSAIDs if youre allergic or have been told not to.
If you see your doctor about your heavy periods, theyll likely start by prescribing one of the following medications:
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Surgery For Heavy Periods
If youve tried medication for your heavy periods and it isnt effective, your doctor may discuss surgical options with you. They will consider how severe your symptoms are, whether you plan on having children and if there is an underlying cause for your heavy periods. If there is an underlying cause, such as fibroids in your womb or endometriosis, treatment for this condition will ease or stop your heavy periods.
Surgery for fibroids in your womb
If your heavy periods are caused by fibroids in your womb, treatment may be non-invasive, using focused ultrasound to shrink your fibroids. However, in cases where this isnt appropriate, your doctor may recommend one of the following surgical procedures:
- Myomectomy your surgeon will remove your fibroids either via your vagina or through several small cuts or one large cut made into your abdomen
- Uterine fibroid embolisation your surgeon will insert a thin tube called a catheter into an artery in your thigh they will guide the catheter into the arteries in your womb and inject tiny beads into the blood vessels supplying your fibroids, which will make your fibroids shrink
Other types of surgery
If your heavy periods are not caused by fibroids in your womb, your doctor may recommend one of the following surgical procedures:
When Is A Heavy Period Too Heavy
It is difficult to measure blood loss accurately. Some medical definitions of blood loss during a period are:
- A normal period is a blood loss between 30 and 40 ml per month. Bleeding can last up to eight days but bleeding for five days is average.
- A heavy period is a blood loss of 80 ml or more. This is about half a teacupful or more. However, it is difficult to measure the amount of blood that you lose during a period.
- For practical purposes, a period is probably heavy if it causes one or more of the following:
- Flooding through to clothes or bedding.
- You need frequent changes of sanitary towels or tampons.
- You need double sanitary protection .
- Soaking of bedclothes.
- You pass large blood clots.
- Restriction to your normal lifestyle because of heavy bleeding.
- Menorrhagia means heavy periods that recur each month. Also, that the blood loss interferes with your quality of life. For example, if it stops you doing normal activities such as going out, working or shopping. Menorrhagia can occur alone or in combination with other symptoms.
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How To Stop Your Periods Once It Starts
If you are just getting started with having your menstrual cycle or have an underlying medical condition that might interrupt your normal monthly cycle, then its possible to have your period unexpectedly. This can be very annoying and discomforting.
But can you really stop your periods once it starts? The answer is yes, you can. There are some ways that you can manipulate your body to stop your period. You can try the following to see if your menstrual flow will stop.
What Is The Normal Menstrual Flow
In a randomly selected group of premenopausal women, the most common amount of menstrual flow was about two tablespoons in a whole period . However the amount of flow was highly variableit ranged from a spot to over two cups in one period! Women who are taller, have had children and are in . That means it is normal to soak one to seven normal-sized pads or tampons in a whole period.
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How Can You Care For Yourself
If you have severe cramping during your periods, taking an NSAID such as ibuprofen or naproxen may help. An NSAID works best when you start taking it 1 to 2 days before you expect pain to start. If you don’t know when your period will start next, take your first dose as soon as bleeding or cramping starts.
Heavy periods can make you feel weak and run-down and can lead to anemia. Your doctor may suggest that you take an iron supplement if your iron levels are low. You may be able to prevent anemia if you increase the amount of iron in your diet. Foods rich in iron include red meat, shellfish, eggs, and beans.
How Do The Options Compare
Compared to the various other medications and hormonal treatments, hormonal IUDs are the most effective at reducing bleeding and the related problems. The effect of hormonal IUDs is comparable to that of surgery to remove the lining of the womb. There was no real difference between the two treatments in the studies.
Hysterectomies have the greatest benefits of the various surgical procedures: The less invasive procedures that involve removing or destroying the endometrium don’t reduce the problems associated with heavy periods as completely as a hysterectomy does. Those procedures may also have to be repeated if the lining grows back. But serious side effects and complications are much less common after endometrial ablation or resection than after hysterectomy.
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How To Stop Your Periods Cramps
Period cramps are one of the annoying symptoms that accompany your menstrual cycle. These cramps can be painful, annoying, and causes a lot of discomfort. For most people, this can be the reason for them to want to stop their period permanently.
Period or menstrual cramps can be felt as a painful sensation that affects a majority of menstruating women before and during their menstruation cycle.
The pain is medically known as dysmenorrhea. It ranges from dull and annoying to severe and extreme. For most women, the pain will occur in the lower abdomen and lower back. It will start a day or two before your period and last for about four days top.
Medically, when the pain is only related to menstruation, then it is described as primary dysmenorrhea. On the other hand, when the pain is due to other conditions such as fibroids, endometriosis, or pelvic inflammatory disease, the cramps are described as secondary dysmenorrhea.
The question now is, how do you stop your period cramps? Different options are available to help relieve and stop these painful cramps. For starters, there are some over the counter medication that can help treat most causes of menstrual cramps. If you are not sure what the best medication to use, have your health café provider prescribe one for you.
You could also use anti-prostaglandins to reduce cramping in uterus. This option will also help lighten the flow of menstrual blood and help relieve discomfort.