The Impact of Menstrual Bleeding on Your Health

For some women, their periods are heavy or last longer than a few days. Back in the day, this disease was known as menorrhagia. A usual worry is heavy menstrual bleeding. Most women, though, don't lose enough blood for it to be called heavy monthly bleeding.

Some women bleed throughout the month or before or after their period, which is not normal. People who have this kind of bleeding are said to have abnormal uterine bleeding or irregular monthly bleeding.

When you have heavy periods, the pain and blood flow make it harder to do the things you normally do. If you fear getting your period because you bleed a lot, you should talk to your doctor. It is possible to get help in many ways.

Symptoms

Some signs of heavy menstrual flow are:

Changing tampons or sanitary pads every hour for several hours.
Having to wear two sets of pants to control your period.
Getting up in the middle of the night to change tampons or pads.
It's been bleeding for a week.
Larger blood clots that are moving through the body.
Having trouble doing normal things because of heavy periods.
Feeling tired, exhausted or short of breath as the result of blood loss.

Diagnosis and Tests

How is menorrhagia found?

Several questions regarding your health history and period will help your doctor diagnose menorrhagia. A physical exam and a pelvic check will also be done.

This is what your source might enquire about:

How old you were when you got your first period.
How many days your period lasts.
How many days your period is heavy.
People in the family who have had big periods in the past.
Your past pregnancies and the birth control methods you use now.
List the medicines you are currently taking, even over-the-counter (OTC) ones.
You should also be ready to talk about your quality of life. Your doctor needs to know if you've been using more menstrual products, skipping activities, or putting limits on your life in any other way because of your periods.

What tests will be done to find out if someone has menorrhagia?

A pelvic scan is the most common way for doctors to find out if someone is having menorrhagia. Depending on your age and how bad your symptoms are, you may have more tests. Some other tests might be:

A blood test to see if there are any signs of anaemia, problems with blood clotting, or thyroid disease.
a transvaginal ultrasound to see how the organs and tissues in your pelvis look.
When an ultrasound doesn't give enough information, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan may be used to look for strange shapes inside your uterus.
A Pap smear checks cells from your cervix for changes that could mean you have cancer.
A sample of the cervix to look for an infection.
An endometrial biopsy is done to look for cancer cells or other problems in the vaginal tissue.

The following tests can also help your doctor figure out what's causing your bleeding:

In this test, the lining of your uterus is looked at to see if there are any problems. With a sonohysterogram, your doctor can look inside your uterus while it's full of water.

A hysteroscopy to look inside your uterus for polyps, tumours, or other lumps of tissue that don't look right. With hysteroscopy, your doctor can look inside your uterus, cervix, and vagina. During a hysteroscopy, your doctor can remove growths like fibroids or polyps that may be causing your bleeding.

What makes periods so heavy?

When your hormones change, the lining of your uterus may grow faster than normal. This can lead to heavy periods. It makes a heavy period when the lining drops.

Some other popular reasons why women have heavy periods are

Having endometriosis, uterine polyps, or endometrial hyperplasia
adenomyosis tumour growths.
People with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) often have periods that come and go. If the lining of your uterus thickens, you may also get heavy cycles.

Prevention

How can heavy period blood be stopped?

You can't stop all of the things that can cause big periods. Speaking with your doctor to get a diagnosis and treatment can help you control your bleeding so it doesn't get in the way of your daily life.

FAQ

If you lose so much blood that you start to show signs of anaemia, heavy monthly bleeding can be dangerous. Without care, anaemia can be very dangerous to your life. Also, some health problems that can cause big periods, like cancer, need to be treated right away by a doctor. Talk to your doctor about any risks that might come up because you are bleeding during your period.

Some women bleed a lot when they have their period. This can make you lose a lot of blood and feel bad. Taking a course of norethisterone or medroxyprogesterone tablets is one way to treat an emergency. Both of these are pills that help with pregnancy. Progestogens control the growth of cells that line the uterus, just like the body's own progesterone chemicals.

Most people start having periods when they are 12 years old. You can start having periods as early as 8 years old or as late as 16 years old. Most people start having periods a few years after getting breasts and pubic hair. At about age 51, a woman goes through menopause and stops having periods. You stop making eggs (ovulating) when you reach menopause. If you haven't had your period in a year, you've hit menopause.

Period, which is short for "menstruation," is when women bleed every month. Your body gets rid of the monthly buildup on the lining of your uterus (womb) when you menstruate. During your period, blood and tissue leave your body through your vagina after going through the small hole in your cervix. The lining of the uterus gets stronger to get ready for pregnancy during the monthly cycle. Hormone amounts of oestrogen and progesterone start to drop if you don't get pregnant. When you have very little oestrogen and progesterone in your body, it tells you to start menstruating.

The chemical changes that a woman's body goes through every month to get ready for pregnancy are called her menstrual cycle. Your period cycle starts on the first day of your period and ends on the first day of your next period. During your period, your hormone levels change, which can make your menstrual complaints worse.

The ovary produces an egg so that it can be fertilised by a sperm. This is called ovulation. If a woman has sex without birth control in the three days before and up to the day of ovulation, she is most likely to get pregnant. This is because the sperm are already there and ready to fertilise the egg as soon as it is released. When a woman ovulates, her egg only has 12 to 24 hours to live, but a man's sperm can stay in her reproductive systems for 3 to 5 days. The time between ovulation and the first day of a woman's period can be different for each woman. It can be anywhere from seven days to more than twenty days.