When To See A Doctor For Heavy Periods
You should see your GP urgently if youre nearing menopause and have irregular, heavy periods or are past menopause and have vaginal bleeding.
If you arent near or past menopause and notice that your periods have been significantly heavier than usual for one or two months, see your GP.
Signs that your periods are heavy include:
- Bleeding lasting for more than seven days
- Having large clots in your menstrual blood clots may be about the size of a 10p coin or bigger
- Needing to use two sanitary products at the same time
- Needing to change your sanitary product in the middle of the night
- Soaking through your sanitary product in an hour
As heavy periods can also cause anaemia, look out for signs such as extremetiredness , shortness of breath and pale skin. These are all signs that you have lost more blood than your body can cope with and youll need treatment.
Your GP will work with you to put together a treatment plan that fits with your lifestyle and reduces your symptoms as much as possible.
Evaluation By A Gynecologist
Your physician will talk with you about the bleeding you are having: the timing, duration and pattern are all important. They may also perform an exam.
Your physician may want to perform blood tests to learn if you are anemic or have a low blood count. They may also want to look at thyroid function as these hormones can regulate periods much as they regulate other normal functions.
Lastly, your physician may want to have you undergo some imaging, most likely a pelvic ultrasound.
Do I Need Any Tests If I Have Heavy Periods
See your doctor if your periods change and become heavier than previously. For most women, the cause is unclear and there is no abnormality of the womb or hormones. However, it is very important to get it checked out properly.
A doctor may want to do an internal examination to examine your neck of the womb and also to assess the size and shape of your womb. However, an examination is not always necessary, especially in younger women who do not have any symptoms to suggest anything other than dysfunctional uterine bleeding.A blood test to check for anaemia may be performed. If you bleed heavily each month then you may not take in enough iron in your diet, needed to replace the blood that you lose. This can lead to anaemia which can cause tiredness and other symptoms. Up to 2 in 3 women with recurring heavy periods develop anaemia.If the vaginal examination is normal and there are no other associated symptoms, no further tests may be needed. The diagnosis is usually dysfunctional uterine bleeding and treatment may be started if required. Further tests may be advised for some women, especially if there is concern that there may be a cause for the heavy periods other than dysfunctional uterine bleeding. For example, if you:
If tests are advised then they may include one or more of the following:
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Does Getting Your Tubes Tied Stop Period Permanently
Tubal ligation or tubal sterilization is a type of birth control which helps ensure that you will not become pregnant. In tubal ligation, your fallopian tubes will be tied, thereby closing them. Once closed, your eggs and male sperm will not be able to interact, which means that you cannot become pregnant after this surgical procedure.
It takes a few days to recover from this procedure, after which you should be able to go back to your daily tasks with ease.
Contrary to what some women believe, having your tubes tied does not stop your periods permanently. Therefore, you can expect to continue having your periods even after having a tubal ligation.
Heat Application Or Pain Medication
If painful periods caused by cramping is an associated symptom with your heavy menses, your can use a heating pad on your abdomen or back to relieve the discomfort. You can also relax in a hot bath or take a long, hot shower to relax your tense muscles.
Its also possible to find an assortment of pain relieving medications at a local drugstore to decrease the pain that may not be cured by the heat therapy. Most women find relief with the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen.
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Period Problems You Shouldnt Ignore
As basically anyone who menstruates knows, certain period problems are just an unfortunate fact of life, like pain radiating through your midsection, a shorter fuse than usual , and bleeding more than you would like to be bleeding from your vagina.
On the flip side, some menstrual cycle problems are a clear sign that you should chat about whats going on with your doctorjust in casebecause they fall outside the bounds of what’s normally expected during menstruation. Here are some period problems that are worth discussing with a medical expert.
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.
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Two Books That Changed My Premenopausal Life
I have read two books that have completely opened my eyes to what goes on during premenopause and how to help your body change naturallyno uterus burning required. The first is the one recommended by my doctor that I mentioned above. Both of these books have changed my life!
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause: Balance Your Hormones and Your Life from Thirty to Fiftyby Dr. John R. Lee
The Hormone Cure: Reclaim Balance, Sleep and Sex Driveby Dr. Sara Gottfried
ALL TOO OFTEN WOMEN ARE TOLD that feeling moody, asexual, tapped out, dried up, stressed out, and sleep deprived is just a part of being female. Or theyre led to believe that the answer can be found only at the bottom of a bottle of prescription pills. Dr. Sara Gottfried, a Harvard-educated physician and nationally recognized, board-certified gynecologist, refuses to accept that being a woman means feeling overwhelmed or that popping pills is the new normal.
In The Hormone Cure, she shares the unique hormone-balancing program that she has used to help thousands of women reclaim wellness, verve, and optimal health. The Hormone Cure is a groundbreaking book that demonstrates how balancing your hormones can cure underlying health issues and result in restored sleep, greater energy, improved mood, easy weight loss, increased productivity, and many more benefits. Dr. Sara Gottfrieds The Hormone Cure will transform your life.
Women In Their Teens 20s And 30s
A common cause of abnormal bleeding in young women and teenagers is pregnancy. Many women have abnormal bleeding in the first few months of a normal pregnancy. Some birth control pills or the intrauterine device can also cause abnormal bleeding.
Some young women who have abnormal uterine bleeding do not release an egg from their ovaries during their menstrual cycle. This is common for teenagers who have just started getting their periods. This causes a hormone imbalance where the estrogen in your body makes the lining of your uterus grow until it gets too thick. When your body gets rid of this lining during your period, the bleeding will be very heavy. A hormone imbalance may also cause your body not to know when to shed the lining. This can cause irregular bleeding between your periods.
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You Bleed Through A Pad Or Tampon In An Hour Or Less Your Period Lasts Longer Than Seven Days Or Both
The medical term for an exceedingly heavy or long period is menorrhagia. Menorrhagia affects more than 10 million American women each year, or about one in five, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
These are basically periods that would fit right into a scary movie, but some people dont even realize this kind of bleeding isnt normal. One of the biggest problems is someone being so used to heavy bleeding that she underplays the amount, Lauren Streicher, M.D., an associate professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, tells SELF. Shell come in and say her periods arent too bad, then say she has to change her tampon every hour.
One huge sign you may be dealing with menorrhagia: Passing period clots larger than a quarter, according to the CDC. While thats technically a good sign that your bodys clotting mechanism is trying to prevent you from losing too much blood, it also indicates that youre still passing much more blood than you should, as SELF previously reported. Even if your clots arent that big, soaking through a tampon or pad in an hour or less is a tip-off that your bleeding is too heavy and intense. Bleeding for more than seven days is another period problem that points at menorrhagia, the CDC notes.
What Causes Heavy Periods
Knowing the cause of your heavy periods is the first step to acquiring a solution. Heavy periods could also be painful. So, what causes heavy periods? There are quite a number of possible causes of heavy menstrual bleeding. Look closely at the following:
- Fibroids enlargements of muscle in the wall of the womb
- Endometrial polyps benign outgrowths of the lining of the womb
- Diabetes as it progresses, diabetes can cause long, irregular menstrual cycles, and heavy periods. Better understand and know how to manage diabetes.
- Perimenopause During this transition before menopause, you may experience hormonal changes and unusually heavy bleeding during your period. Menobalance Cream is one of the best natural remedies of perimenopause.
- Childbirth recovery After you have a baby, heavy periods are common and could be a permanent thing.
- Adenomyosis a condition where the uterus muscle is encroached by endometrial tissue, causing thickening of the uterine wall and increased pain and bleeding.
- Stopping contraceptive pills it may appear that your menstrual periods have become heavier when they are really just going back to what is normal for you.
These major and obvious symptoms can help you tell if youre having menorrhagia or heavy periods. They include :
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Key Points About Heavy Period Bleeding
Umwhat A Permanently Scarred Uterus
I first heard about this months ago at a dinner party. I overheard a woman talking about a friend of a friend who had this procedure done. Normally, when I am part of conversations about health and wellness that I don’t fully agree with , I either zone out, smile and nod or walk away and find another conversation to be a part of. Everyone is entitled to their opinions and what they think is best for themselves and their families. Getting into debates isn’t generally appropriate in most circumstances.
However, when this person mentioned ablation, it was the first I had ever heard about it. I basically spit out my wine and said That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.’...OUT LOUD. It was one of those moments where you think you said something in your mind but, nope, you didn’t and you can almost see the words in a talk bubble floating in the air. Oops!
I let it go at that thinking maybe this person had some sort of extreme circumstance, some rare experience that required ablation to be performed. None of my business.
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Youre Spotting A Ton Between Periods
The weird thing about spotting is that its one of those period problems that can actually be totally normalto a certain extent. For example, spotting isnt necessarily worrisome if youve just started a new type of birth control, or are pregnant , Dr. Minkin says. But if nothing in your life has changed and you start spotting between periods, its time to check in with your doctor.
Oftentimes, something thats ultimately pretty harmless is causing this menstrual cycle problem, like a benign uterine or cervical polyp thats prompting you to bleed between periods. But spotting is also a common sign of pelvic inflammatory disease , which happens when sexually transmitted bacteria from infections like chlamydia and gonorrhea spreads to reproductive organs like your uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. In addition, pelvic inflammatory disease can cause issues like fever, strange vaginal discharge that smells bad, and burning when you pee.
If you have PID, your doctor will first address the STI in question with antibiotics, says the CDC, then treat your partner for an STI if necessary. Pelvic inflammatory disease is a leading cause of chronic pelvic pain and infertility in women, so if you suspect you have it, getting quick treatment is of the essence.