Women’s Health: Information You Should Know About Heavy Monthly Periods

Ladies, your health is important to me. We all deserve to have information available to us in order to make decisions regarding our bodies and any treatments that might be beneficial. I’m reaching out to you today about a fairly sensitive topic. (Which we know I rarely shy away from!)  Women have periods. It’s part of life. It’s part of the life cycle, so to speak, and we need to know what’s normal and what is not. We also need to stop being afraid to bring it up and talk about it!

I don’t quite know why discussing our menstrual cycles became taboo, but we need to be taking care of ourselves. Unfortunately, a lot of women do not know what a normal period is and may think theirs is normal when it is very heavy. Others feel they just have to suffer with heavy periods, but this is not the case!

One of the reasons I feel strongly about sharing this information with you is due to my own abnormal cycle. Mine doesn’t qualify as a heavy period, but I’ve suffered from excruciating cramps (comparable to my beginning labor pains!). They’ve been so bad as to interfere with my life – making it hard to get out of bed and requiring me to call in to work. I can’t even say I have a monthly period since it doesn’t come each month. I used to put on birth control pills just to have it regulated. Just last week it came for the second time since having my daughter. The first time was about two months ago. This one was borderline “heavy.”  It was certainly heavier than normal, but not qualifying as true heavy bleeding.

What is a heavy period and what causes it?

If you’ve always had a heavy period, it may not seem “heavy” to you – it seems normal. Here are some signs of a heavy period:

• Does your bleeding soak through one or more pads or tampons every hour for several hours?
• Do you need to change your sanitary protection during the night?
• Do you often double up sanitary protection to manage your heavy flow?
• Does your period make you miss school or work?
• Do you have to organize social, leisure and physical activities around your period?
• Does your heavy period limit your daily activities? If yes, how many days on average each month?

The cause of heavy monthly bleeding is not always known. It could be related to your body not clotting blood properly, a hormonal imbalance, certain medications, and other medical issues. To figure out what is causing them, you need to speak with your doctor.

Are there treatments available?

You do not have to just suffer through it! It’s important to consider a few questions before talking with your doctor about your options:

• Do you want contraception as part of reducing your heavy flow?
• Are you comfortable with taking a pill every day throughout the month or do you prefer to take medication only during your period?
• Do you prefer a hormonal or non-hormonal treatment option?
• Does your health care professional recommend hormone therapy for you? Do you know why or why not?
• Do you want to preserve your fertility?
• Are you willing to consider a surgical procedure?

Then as we were trying to conceive, obviously I couldn’t be taking birth control… but if it didn’t come like it *should* then I was supposed to call and take some other pill that would force my period to come…

Thankfully there are a variety of treatment options such as lifestyle remedies (i.e. vitamins), hormonal medication, nonhormonal medication, and surgical procedures.

So please, if you have questions about your menstrual cycle, talk with your health care provider. If your period is interfering with your daily life each time it comes around, consider finding a treatment that works for you that you are comfortable with.

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I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Ferring Pharmaceuticals and received a promotional item to facilitate my review. I will be compensated for my time in sharing this information with you. The thoughts, experiences, and opinions included are entirely my own and may differ from that of others. I am not liable for any issues you may incur from use of said product(s). Images used are owned by me or provided with the company’s permission unless otherwise sourced. See full disclosure information. If you have any questions you can contact me or leave a comment.

Darcy Zalewski

Darcy is the founder of “Life With Darcy and Brian,” where she combines her love for education, board games, and crafting to create engaging learning experiences for kids. Her creative projects and writing have been featured in outlets like The Toy Insider, CafeMom, Mom.com, Parents.com, Country Living, and The Pioneer Woman.