Heavy Menstrual Bleeding

People who menstruate often have a problem called menorrhagia, which means big periods. When you bleed more than usual during your period or for more than seven days, this is called prolonged bleeding. If having heavy periods hurts your quality of life, talk to your doctor about treatment choices.

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.

Menorrhagia, or heavy menstrual bleeding, could be the case if you:

Have periods that last more than seven days.
You have to change your pad or tampon every hour for several hours straight.
Need to wear more than one pad at a time to keep blood from leaking out.
In the middle of the night, switch pads.
Several times a day, pass blood clots that are at least a quarter-sized.
When you have your period, you can't do the things you normally do.

Symptoms and Causes 

What are some signs that your period is making you lose too much blood?

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.

What are some signs that your period is heavy?

Heavy blood during your period makes your life harder. A lot of people who have heavy periods think that periods are supposed to be painful and unpleasant. They may have seen people in their family deal with heavy periods without getting help, so they did the same. But periods should never make you limit what you can do or put up with trouble.

Once a month, you should be able to:

Leave on a regular pad or tampon for three to four hours without taking it off.
At no point should you have to wear two pads or tampons at the same time. Instead, wear a single period product.
At night, wear a single sleeping pad.
You don't need to bring extra bags of pads or clothes changes when you leave your house.
Do what you normally would and don't miss work, avoid going out in public, or skip things you enjoy.

Causes

Sometimes, the cause of heavy menstrual flow is not known. But big periods can be caused by a number of health problems. Among them are:

Not having the right amount of hormones. When a woman has her period, the chemicals oestrogen and progesterone are in balance. This keeps the lining of the uterus from getting too thick. What's inside the uterus is called the endometrium. During your period, this covering falls off. When hormones are out of whack, the lining gets too thick and sheds through heavy periods or bleeding that comes on without warning between periods.

Hormone changes can be caused by a number of things. Some of these are being overweight, not responding well to insulin, having thyroid issues, and polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS.

Problems with the ovaries: During a period, the ovaries don't always release an egg. This is also called anovulation. The body doesn't make as much of the hormone progesterone as it does when a woman is menstruating. This disrupts hormones, causing heavy periods or unexpected bleeding. 

Uterine fibroids: These tumours appear in women who are able to have children. For them to be safe, that means they are not cancerous. Fibroids in the uterus can make periods bleed more heavily or for lengthier periods of time.

Polyps: The lining of the uterus may get these small growths, which can make periods heavy or last a long time. They might make you bleed between periods. Polyps can also make you bleed or spot after menopause. There is no cancer in the growths.

Adenomyosis: In this disease, glands that are on the inside of the uterus grow into the wall of the uterus. This could lead to heavy periods that hurt.

Also known as an IUD, this is an intrauterine device. One common negative effect of using a hormone-free IUD for reproductive control is heavy periods. Talk to your doctor about other ways to stop having children. Using an IUD with progestin may help with heavy periods.

Pregnancy complications: A miscarriage could be the cause of a single, heavy period a few days late. The placenta, which feeds the baby and gets rid of waste, is sometimes placed in an odd place during pregnancy, which can also cause heavy bleeding. It's possible for the placenta to be too low or lying over the opening of the uterus, which is called the cervix. You may also hear this called placenta previa.

Cancer: Uterine or cervical cancer can cause heavy or irregular bleeding. These cancers can happen at any time, even before or after age 50. Women who have had a Pap test that wasn't normal in the past are more likely to get cervical cancer.

Genetic bleeding disorders: Periods that bleed a lot can be caused by bleeding disorders that run in families. One of these is von Willebrand's disease, which makes the blood not clot properly.

Medicines: Some drugs can make your periods heavy or last a long time. Hormonal drugs, like birth control pills that contain oestrogen and progestin, are one example. Usually, these drugs help lessen the bleeding during your period, but sometimes they cause bleeding between periods that you didn't expect. Some medicines that keep blood from clotting can also make your periods very heavy. Some of these are rivaroxaban (Xarelto), enoxaparin (Lovenox), warfarin (Jantoven), and apixaban (Eliquis).

Other medical conditions: Heavy monthly bleeding can also be caused by a number of other health problems. Some of them are thyroid, liver, and kidney problems.

When you should see a doctor

Before your next test, you should see a doctor if you have:

How old you were when you got your first period.
How many days your period lasts.
How many days your period is heavy.
It's so heavy that at least one pad or tampon gets wet every hour for more than two hours straight.
blood between periods or vaginal blood that doesn't seem normal.
Bleeding in the uterus after menopause.

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.

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.

Complications

Excessive menstrual bleeding or prolonged duration may result in additional medical complications. These comprise:

Anemia: Heavy menstrual flow can lead to anaemia because of the loss of blood. An individual with anaemia lacks sufficient red blood cells to transport oxygen to their organs. Haemoglobin tells us how many red blood cells there are. Red blood cells possess a protein known as haemoglobin, which transports oxygen to all of the body's organs.

The body tries to make up for lost red blood cells, which can lead to iron deficiency anaemia. So that tissues can get enough oxygen, the body makes more haemoglobin from iron stores. If you have heavy periods, your iron levels may be too low. This could lead to iron shortage anaemia.

Headaches and being tired are two signs. Iron deficiency anaemia can be caused by what you eat, but big periods make the problem worse.

Severe pain: Not only might you have heavy blood, but you might also have painful cramps. This is also called dysmenorrhea. If your cramps make it hard to do the things you need to do, you should see a doctor.