Heavy Periods: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment

Heavy periods can be such a nightmare.

The term Menorrhagia is used to describe the condition where the period comes with more blood than normal. You can say that the period is heavy in this case. When one has a heavy period, it is difficult to keep up with the normal day-to-day activities. It is advisable to visit a doctor if you have this condition. 

SYMPTOMS OF HEAVY PERIODS 

1) Excessive Blood: You find out that you are using more pads than you usually do due to a lot of blood coming out from your vagina. 

2) Prolonged Bleeding: When you bleed more than a week (7 days) which is longer than normal. 

3) Larger Blood Clots: When suffering from menorrhagia, blood clots are larger than normal. 

4) Anaemia: You can start having symptoms of anaemia like tiredness and difficulty in breathing which is a clear sign that you have lost a lot of red blood cells. 

CAUSES OF HEAVY PERIODS

1) Through Inheritance: It could happen if your parent had the same problem when she was still able to bear children. This is usually due to a lack of an essential blood-clotting factor. 

2) Hormonal Imbalance: For a normal menstrual period, there must be a balance between the hormones estrogen and progesterone but when there is an imbalance in the level of the hormone it can lead to heavy bleeding. 

3) Uterine Fibroids: These are tumors (noncancerous) which can develop when a woman is still able to conceive. This fibroid can also cause prolong and heavy bleeding during menstruation. 

4) Pregnancy issues: When there was a case of miscarriage, it can be followed by one heavy bleeding during menstruation. 

5) Cancer: It could be as a result of uterine cancer or cervical cancer. That's why it is very important one visits a doctor when having menorrhagia. 

6) Medication: Some medications if taken during menstruation can cause a heavy period. Examples are anti-inflammatory and hormonal medication. 

TREATMENT FOR HEAVY PERIOD 

The choice of treatment of menorrhagia will depend on some factors like the level of severity, present health, medical history and the possible cause of menorrhagia. Also if you still want to conceive or not. 

Let's see some  available treatments for this condition: 

1) Antifibrinolytic medicine should be taken which will reduce bleeding. 

2) Iron supplements should be taken to increase the amount of iron in the blood. 

3) Some oral contraceptives besides using for birth control can help reduce the excessive bleeding during menstruation. 

4) Taking oral progesterone can help reverse the hormonal imbalance that's if that was the cause of menorrhagia. 

There are other menorrhagia treatments not listed here. If you are suspecting that your bleeding is excessive do well to go see a doctor. Also when suffering from this condition, you would want to always go out with extra sanitary pads and tissue that is if you must go out.

Until then, take care of yourself.