Bleeding More Than Usual On My Period

Treatment For Abnormal Uterine Bleeding

Treatment will depend on the cause, but may include:

• medication such as prostaglandin inhibitors, hormone replacement therapy or antibiotics
• dilatation and curettage involving dilation and gentle scraping of the cervix and the lining of the uterus
• change of contraception it may be necessary to explore methods of contraception other than the IUD or hormones
• surgery to remove tumours, polyps or fibroids or to treat ectopic pregnancy
• treatment of underlying disorders such as hypothyroidism or a bleeding disorder
• hysterectomy the removal of the entire uterus is a drastic last resort, generally only considered for treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding when a serious disease, such as cancer, is also present.

What Are Heavy Periods

The amount of blood lost during a period varies a lot between women. This makes it difficult to give a general description of heavy periods. The amount of blood lost can also vary at different times in your life, including if you have had surgery or take medication. However, most women have a good idea of how much bleeding is normal for them during their period and can tell when this changes.

Heavy periods can lead to low iron levels and anaemia. These can cause you to feel tired more easily, feel weak or dizzy, be short of breath or have chest pains.

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Uterine Polyps Or Cervical Polyps

Uterine polyps can be the cause of your prolonged menstrual flow. These are masses attached to the wall of the uterus and can sometimes extend down into the cervix. They cause irregular spotting between periods and can be visualized with a hysteroscope or ultrasound.

Uterine polyps are a common cause of bleeding after menopause. If you are below 4o years, then you may have pain and prolonged periods.

If your doctor finds uterine polyps as the cause of your prolonged periods, a D& C will be advised.

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Symptoms Of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding

Symptoms include:

• bleeding for more than eight days
• heavy blood loss during the menstrual period for example, soaking through one or more sanitary pads or tampons every hour for several hours in a row
• needing to change your pad or tampon during the night
• have to change or restrict your daily activities due to your heavy bleeding
• bleeding or spotting between periods
• cramping and pain in the lower abdomen
• any vaginal bleeding after menopause.

If you think you may be experiencing heavy menstrual bleeding, you may find it useful to keep a pictorial blood loss assessment chart this can help you give your doctor an idea of how heavy your period is.

How Is Menorrhagia Diagnosed

Diagnosing menorrhagia has two parts: confirming that your bleeding is unusually heavy, and identifying the underlying cause.

For the first part, your doctor will ask you questions about your medical and menstrual histories. For the second part, one or more tests may be used. Examples include:

• A blood test to check hormone levels and look for signs of anemia or clotting issues.
• A Pap test, where cells from your cervix are examined for signs of infection, inflammation or other unusual changes.
• An endometrial biopsy, which involves taking samples from your uterine lining. The samples are looked at to see if any unusual or cancerous cells are present.
• An ultrasound, which uses sound waves to check for dysfunction in the pelvic organs, as well as blood flow issues.
• A sonohysterogram, another kind of ultrasound thats done while your uterus is filled with liquid to get a better look at the uterine lining.
• A hysteroscopy, where a very small, flexible camera is used to examine the uterus for fibroids, polyps and other possible causes of bleeding issues.

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How Do I Know If My Periods Are Heavy

Heavy periods refers to heavy or prolonged blood loss that interferes with your quality of life. This could mean any of the following:

• you need to change your tampon or sanitary pad every hour
• blood leaks through to your clothes and bedding
• you need to change a pad overnight
• you pass blood clots larger than a 50 cent coin
• you bleed for more than 7 to 8 days
• the amount of blood loss causes you to stay home, affects your daily activities or makes you feel stressed

If heavy periods are affecting your everyday life, you can speak to your doctor about it. Your doctor can arrange tests to check for any health conditions that may be causing your heavy bleeding.

What Underlying Conditions May Cause Prolonged Menstrual Bleeding

A visit with your gynecologist or other healthcare professional is the first step in determining the cause of your prolonged menstrual bleeding. Your doctor will make a diagnosis after performing a series of tests.

Depending on your age and other symptoms, your doctor may test your blood for pregnancy, hormone levels, and thyroid function. Other diagnostic tests may include Pap smears, endometrial biopsies, ultrasounds, laparoscopic surgery, or other procedures.

A wide range of medical conditions can be the cause of abnormal menstrual bleeding. These include:

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What Is A Menstrual Cycle

The menstrual cycle is a term to describe the sequence of events that occur in your body as it prepares for the possibility of pregnancy each month. Your menstrual cycle is the time from the first day of your menstrual period until the first day of your next menstrual period. Every persons cycle is slightly different, but the process is the same.

When Is A Heavy Period Too Heavy

• By Claire McCarthy, MD, Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

Its common for girls and their parents to wonder if the bleeding with their periods is too often or too much. Especially in the first few years of having a period, any bleeding can feel like too much. Usually, its not but sometimes it is, and its important for parents to know what to watch for, and when to call the doctor.

In the first couple of years after periods begin, its really normal for periods to be irregular and for some of them to be heavy. At the beginning, periods arent associated with ovulation, and the hormones and hormonal patterns that help regulate periods havent fallen into place yet. If its just the occasional period that is heavy, thats usually nothing to worry about.

Its not always easy to know what counts as a heavy period. As I said, for some girls anything is too much. And while we doctors often ask how often the girl changes her pad or tampon, thats very subjective and dependent on personal preference. Some girls change as soon as there is any blood present or every time they use the bathroom. Others wait until they are completely soaked.

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When Should You See A Healthcare Professional For A Long Menstrual Period

If you have a long period for only one month, theres probably no need to worry. But if you notice a change for two or three cycles, thats the time to seek out your doctor, Thielen says.

Any significant bleeding between periods without an explanation such as a recently placed IUD should be evaluated. And a woman past menopause should have no bleeding at all and so should see her doctor immediately if she does.

Can Excessive Menstruation Be Treated

If your doctor finds stress or birth control pills as the cause of your excessive menstruation, you will be advised or other contraceptive methods used. Also, vaginal infections and other causes will require further testing. Vaginal infections gonorrhea and chlamydia, can be treated with antibiotics. If your bleeding is due to a polyp, a curettage or polyp forceps is used with good success rate.

Also, vaginal infections and other causes will require further testing. Vaginal infections gonorrhea and chlamydia, can be treated with antibiotics. If your bleeding is due to a polyp, a curettage or polyp forceps is used with good success rate.

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How To Treat A Long Period

Treatment methods for a long period can vary. Your doctor will treat the underlying cause. They may also recommend a treatment to reduce your current bleeding, regulate your period, or relieve any discomfort.

Hormonal birth control may regulate your period and shorten it in the future. This medication can be administered as:

Your doctor also may advise you to take medication that reduces pain or discomfort you experience from the prolonged period. These medications may include over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories, such as Advil or Motrin.

In some cases, your doctor may recommend a surgical procedure to alleviate long periods.

Dilation and curettage can thin the layer of your uterus and reduce how much you bleed during your period.

If youre no longer considering having children, you may undergo endometrial ablation, resection, or a hysterectomy. These procedures can relieve the long periods, but they may also eliminate the possibility of getting pregnant.

Light Period: What Constitutes A Light Flow

If the amount of blood you shed during your period does vary from month to month, dont worry. As a general rule, menstrual blood volume varies from person to person and even cycle to cycle, explains Harvard Medical School-affiliated OB-GYN Dr. Jenna Flanagan.

First things first, its important to understand what, exactly, constitutes a regular amount of period blood. According to Dr. Jane Van Dis, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester, a typical bleed can be different for each of us depending on our age, hormonal status, and medication. On average, its somewhere between 5 and 80 ml, but the majority of women lose between 30 and 40 ml, she explains. Thats about three to four tablespoons, for reference.

According to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, a light bleed is anything less than 5 ml, which is less than a tablespoon. Light bleeding is also generally associated with a shorter duration of 1 to 2 days.

Of course, we know that this is difficult to measure. But there are other ways to establish whether or not your period is light this month, explains OB-GYN and assistant professor at Washington University School of Medicine Dr. Marta Perez. I dont typically tell my patients a specific amount of milliliters or ounces, she explains. Rather, Id ask them how many products they used that month or if the amount of blood they shed impacted their quality of life.

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You Had An Early Miscarriage

Early miscarriages are much more common than you may realize. Up to half of all pregnancies end in miscarriage, often before the woman even realizes she was pregnant, according to the .

Sometimes the only sign is an extra-heavy or long period. Your menstrual cycle length should return to normal within one to two cycles if it stays abnormally long after three cycles, call your doctor, Dr. Toth says.

About one in 100 women suffer from repeat miscarriages, so it’s important to rule out a condition that affects fertility, like endometriosis.

How Is Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Treated

Treatment depends on what’s causing your bleeding, how severe your bleeding is, your health, age and medical history. Also, treatment depends on your response to certain medicines and your preferences. For instance, you may not want to have a period at all, or you may want to reduce your bleeding. In addition, your plans to get pregnant will affect your treatment options.

Talk with your provider about your health concerns and your goals for treatment.

Medications used to treat heavy menstrual bleeding

• Iron supplements improve your iron stores.
• Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs like Ibuprofen® or Aspirin® can ease your cramps and reduce your bleeding.
• Birth control may help make your periods more regular and lighten your blood flow.
• Hormone therapy can help balance the amount of estrogen and progesterone in your body so that your menstrual flow isn’t as heavy. HT is often recommended for heavy menstrual bleeding associated with perimenopause but comes with risks that you should discuss with your provider.
• Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists can temporarily stop or reduce bleeding by preventing ovulation.
• Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonists can manage heavy period bleeding related to fibroids.
• Desmopressin nasal spray can stop bleeding associated with von Willebrand disease by helping your blood clot.
• Antifibrinolytic medicines, like tranexamic acid, prevent clots from breaking down and causing excessive bleeding.

Procedures used to treat heavy period bleeding

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Symptoms Of Painful Periods And Heavy Bleeding

Signs and symptoms of heavy menstrual bleeding include:

• Bleeding for more than seven days
• Bleeding that soaks through one or more tampons or pads every hour for several hours in a row
• Need to use multiple pads to control menstrual flow
• Need to change pads or tampons during the night
• Menstrual flow with blood clots larger than a quarter
• Flooding of clothing and bedsheets with menstrual bleeding
• Symptoms of anemia, such as fatigue and shortness of breath

Symptoms of menstrual pain include:

• Lower back pain
• Pain that starts a few days before the period, worsens during the period, and lasts two to three days after the period ends
• Throbbing or cramping pain in the lower abdomen that can be intense
• Lower back pain during menses

Patients should see their doctors if:

• Their periods stop for more than 60 days
• Their periods become erratic
• They have any vaginal bleeding after menopause
• They suddenly get a fever and feel sick after using tampons

How Are Heavy Periods Treated

There are several options available to treat heavy periods. Your doctor will recommend options that are right for you based on your age, your medical history and whether you would like to be pregnant in the future.

Some medicines may lighten blood loss. These include anti-inflammatory medicines, tranexamic acid and the oral contraceptive pill . A hormonal intrauterine device placed in the uterus may also lighten bleeding.

Sometimes heavy periods are treated with surgery, for example to remove a fibroid or to reduce the lining of the uterus. The uterus can be removed in an operation known as a hysterectomy.

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Can I Figure Out How Much Im Bleeding

The easiest way, knowing that one soaked, normal-sized sanitary product holds about a teaspoon of blood loss. Keeping the Menstrual Cycle Diary or Daily Perimenopause Diary is a convenient way to assess the amount and timing of flow using either a count of soaked regular sized sanitary products or a measuring menstrual cup. . To accurately record the number of soaked sanitary products each day you need to recall the number you changed that were half full and multiply that to give the number of fully soaked ones. A maxi or super tampon or pad holds about two teaspoons or 10ml of bloodtherefore record each larger soaked sanitary product as a 2. In addition, record your best judgment about the amount of flow where a 1 is spotting, 2 means normal flow, 3 is slightly heavy and 4 is very heavy with flooding and/or clots. If the number of soaked sanitary products totals 16 or more or if you are recording 4s you have very heavy flow. To measure your flow using a menstrual cup with measurements, just add up the approximate amounts from each time you emptied it and record on the “# of pads/tampons” line.

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Yes, this includes infections of the sexually transmitted variety. Gonorrhea, chlamydia, or any infection on the lining of the uterus can cause heavy bleeding, Wysocki says. So if you have been having unprotected sex and are noticing unusual menstruation, its a good idea to see a doctor ASAP. If you do have an STD, there are many medications that can help you out.

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When To Seek Help

Dont ignore a long period. Its important to see your doctor to discuss why you might be experiencing this symptom. Delaying your diagnosis and treatment could lead to a worsening of the underlying condition responsible for the extended bleeding.

You may want to seek immediate care with a long period if you spike a fever or are losing an abnormally heavy amount of blood or large blood clots. A sign that youre losing a lot of blood is if you need to change a pad or tampon one to two times per hour for several hours. You may also begin to feel lightheaded if youre losing a lot of blood.

There are many causes for a long period, so your doctor will likely begin your appointment by asking you some questions. These may include:

• when your period started
• how many pads and tampons youve used in the last day
• your sexual activity