What Heavy Menstrual Bleeding Means for Your Health

Menstrual bleeding can change from month to month, sometimes being heavier or lighter. Menorrhagia is the term for heavy bleeding during your period, and it can be worrisome, but should you be concerned?

In the Lake Mary, Florida, area, Dr. Christopher Quinsey and our experienced team can diagnose problems with menstrual irregularities or other reproductive issues and provide solutions.

To help you learn more, let’s look at what is considered heavy menstrual bleeding, its causes, and when you should talk to your doctor about it.

What is considered heavy menstrual bleeding?

When you have heavy bleeding during your period, you may experience:

• Periods longer than a week
• Using multiple pads at once
• Changing pads frequently (sometimes every hour)
• Passing quarter-sized blood clots
• Limiting the ability to perform normal daily activities for fear of excess bleeding

You may not experience all of these symptoms, but heavy bleeding is common enough that 27-54% of women deal with it at some point in their lives.

What causes heavy bleeding?

Changes in menstrual cycles are more common during puberty, but many other factors can increase your risk of this problem.

Hormonal changes

Imbalances in your hormone levels can cause a thicker uterine lining than normal, which leads to more bleeding when menstruating. Not ovulating can also affect how much menstrual blood your body releases.

Uterine growths

Polyps and fibroids can form in your uterus, which can increase bleeding and make your periods last longer.

Intrauterine device (IUD)

This form of birth control is highly effective, but if it doesn’t use hormones to keep you from getting pregnant, it can lead to heavy bleeding.

Pregnancy complications

Miscarriages can cause menorrhagia, as well as a condition known as ectopic pregnancy, which is when the sperm and egg start developing in cells outside of the uterus.

Bleeding disorders

Some rare bleeding conditions can also make bleeding harder to stop. One such condition is von Willebrand’s disease, a genetic issue that runs in families.

Reproductive cancers

Cancer in the ovaries, cervix, or uterus can cause excess bleeding.

Some diseases

Reproductive illnesses like pelvic inflammatory disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, and other conditions like liver and kidney disease, obesity, and insulin resistance can also affect menstrual bleeding. 

Some medications

Some drugs can cause blood to thin or otherwise affect blood flow, like some hormonal medications (including birth control pills), warfarin, apixaban, and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

When should you get medical help?

In general, heavy bleeding during your cycle isn’t serious, but you may experience problems like:

• Anemia (low iron), which causes weakness, lightheadedness, chest pain, and shortness of breath from low iron 
• Sleep disruption
• Intense abdominal pain
• Hypovolemia from excessive loss of blood, which affects your blood pressure and heart rate

Heavy menstrual bleeding is a common issue, and in most cases is not a major health risk. But if you show any of the other symptoms mentioned here, make an appointment with Dr. Quinsey and our team as soon as possible.