Menorrhagia
Introduction
Heavy Periods (Menorrhagia)
Every woman's periods are different, and it can be difficult to assess whether or not your bleeding is heavier than it should be. Periods are obviously a personal subject, and most of us have no way of knowing if our bleeding is the same as that of our friends or anyone else. How do specialists gauge it? Well, thanks to a number of women who sent their sanitary towels and tampons to a lab for analysis, we now know what is considered to be 'normal'.
On average, we lose about 6-8 teaspoons (35ml), or about half an eggcup, over the course of a period. Some women lose more and others less, but this figure acts as a benchmark for an average woman in an average cycle.
Are your periods heavy?
The easiest way to gauge whether your periods are unusually heavy is
to work out how often you are changing whatever form of protection you
are using. For example, if you have to change your tampon or pad every
hour or sooner, or if you frequently leak in the night, chances are
your periods are abnormally heavy.
For some women, symptoms are so extreme that they will actually flood to the point of haemorrhaging. I have had women describe flooding through their clothes and all over the car seat while driving. The blood may also contain clots that look like pieces of liver, which can be alarming. Some women have said that their flow has become so unpredictable and intense that they cannot stray far from a toilet. Many women reach the point where their lives are being planned around their periods.
When your period begins to affect the quality of your life and your ability to work, it's undoubtedly something that must be addressed.
Are there other symptoms?
Depending upon the cause of the heavy periods (also called menorrhagia),
you may experience cramping or other symptoms. Heavy periods that cannot
be medically explained often have no other symptoms.
What
are your choices?
for many women with heavy periods, there is nothing wrong from a gynaecological
point of view, except for the fact that there is excess bleeding. You
may be building up more womb lining than necessary, which needs to be
shed every month. Furthermore, your womb, which functions as a muscle,
may be poorly toned, causing more bleeding than normal.
One of the aims of the natural approach to heavy periods is to ensure that your hormones are balanced. If you have excess oestrogen, your womb lining can build up. Not only is what you eat important but supplements are added to make the dietary changes more effective in a shorter period of time. Some are recommended because they have definitely been found to be deficient in women who have heavy periods and others have been recommended because they can work on balancing hormones and hormone-like substances in your body, which may be causing the heavy bleeding.
Supplements
The supplements recommended below have been studied in clinical trials
and have been found to be effective in connection with heavy periods.
For best results you should take them over a period of three months,
at the end of which you should be reassessed in order to monitor improvement
and changes and then adjust the supplement programme according to your
new condition.
Multivitamin and Mineral
A good quality multivitamin and mineral would form the foundation of
your supplement programme to make sure that you are getting a 'little
bit of everything'. You then add in those nutrients in slightly higher
amounts which are known to be helpful for heavy periods.
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is an antioxidant that generally helps to protect your cells
against damage. It helps cells reproduce normally and is also needed
for red blood cell production. Vitamin A deficiency has been found in
women with heavy periods. One study showed that 92 percent of women
prescribed supplemental vitamin A found that their heavy bleeding was
either cured or alleviated.
B vitamins
The B vitamins are particularly important for heavy periods for a number
of reasons. First and foremost, they are needed by the liver to convert
excess oestrogen into weaker and less dangerous forms. One of the B
vitamins, B6, is needed for the production of beneficial prostaglandins
which help reduce abnormal blood clotting.
The B vitamins are also crucial for the conversion of linoleic acid to GLA (gamma linolenic acid) which is necessary to produce these beneficial prostaglandins. The B vitamins are required to convert Omega 6 oils into a form that can be used by the body to produce the 'good' type prostaglandins. Without this conversion, your body will produce more of the 'bad' prostaglandins which will increase the amount of bleeding at each period.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C and bioflavonoids (see page 00) help to strengthen the capillaries
in the body, which can reduce heavy bleeding. Taken as a supplement,
vitamin C has also produced excellent results for many women with heavy
periods. One study showed that taking 200mg of vitamin C with bioflavonoids,
three times daily, reduced bleeding in 87 percent of the women tested.
Zinc
This mineral is vital for the healthy functioning of the reproductive
system and for hormone balance.
Iron
If you are bleeding very heavily, you may run the risk of becoming anaemic.
Common symptoms of anaemia include fatigue, loss of appetite, constipation,
irritability and pallor, among other things. If these symptoms seem
familiar, see your doctor who will arrange tests. When you are tested
for anaemia, the lab measures the level of iron available in your red
blood cells (haemoglobin). However, iron is also stored as ferritin
in other parts of the body, such as the spleen and liver. When your
doctor orders tests, make sure that both your haemoglobin and ferritin
are checked, as it is possible to be iron deficient even if your haemoglobin
levels are normal.
Iron deficiency is a bit of a double-edged sword. If you bleed heavily throughout your periods, you will be more likely to be iron deficient. However, one of the symptoms of iron deficiency is also an increased risk of heavy bleeding. Iron helps the blood vessels to contract, which is need to slow down the flow during your periods.
If tests suggest that you are iron-deficient, take extra iron (as amino acid chelate or citrate) at 14mg per day. Vitamin C is essential for the body to absorb iron, so for maximum absorption take 1000mg (1 gram) of vitamin C with your iron supplement ON AN EMPTY STOMACH. Avoid taking iron and vitamin C alongside any other supplements you may be taking.
Avoid taking iron in the form of ferrous sulphate (also called iron sulphate), which is less easily absorbed by the body. Only 2 to 10 percent of the iron from this type of iron supplement is actually absorbed by your body, and even then, half is eliminated, causing blackening of your stools and constipation.
Ferrous sulphate is classed as an inorganic iron. Organic irons are much more easily absorbed and do not affect the bowels in same way. Look for iron in the form of ascorbates, malates or amino acid chelates (it will say this on the label); otherwise, iron-rich herbal formulas such as Floradix can be purchased from your healthfood shop.
Try to avoid drinking Indian or regular black tea with your meals, which blocks the uptake of iron from your food. Similarly, phosphates, found in fizzy soft drinks, will prevent iron from being absorbed by the body. Herb teas and fruit juices are fine.
Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)
EFAs are an important means of controlling heavy bleeding during periods.
One of the drugs used for menorrhagia, mefanamic acid, works by controlling 'BAD' prostaglandins, which can increase the flow of blood. It is possible to mimic the effects of this drug by making changes to your diet - in particular, to your intake of EFAs.
Both red meat and dairy produce contain something called arachidonic acid. This substance encourages the production of an 'BAD' type of prostaglandin (called PGE2) that leads to increased blood flow, and a reduced blood-clotting ability. The result? Heavier periods. In fact, research has shown that women with menorrhagia have higher levels of arachidonic acid, causing more PGE2 to be made.
What this means in practice, is that women with heavy periods should ideally consume less arachidonic acid, which is found mainly in animal-based foods. The other goal is to increase levels of essential fatty acids, which create the 'GOOD' type of prostaglandins. Beneficial prostaglandins help to reduce abnormal blood clotting, and they are produced from certain unsaturated fats, called essential fatty acids. EFAs are found in nuts, seeds, some oils (linseed/flaxseed, for example) and oily fish (including mackerel and salmon).
Tests are extremely useful, in that they can tell you what deficiencies you have at the moment and then for you to know what supplements would be useful to take to correct those deficiencies. You would then be re-tested after three to four months to monitor your progress and to adjust the supplement programme accordingly.
Mineral Analysis Test
with Supplement and Nutritional Assessment Programme
This test measures the deficiency and excess levels of 7 different minerals
and 5 heavy toxic metals that may be present in your body.
Online Personalised
Supplement Assessment Programme
The analysis of this comprehensive questionnaire will give you a three
monthly supplement programme to help balance any vitamin and mineral
deficiencies you may have.
After three months you would then have a re-test in order to monitor your progress and adjust your supplement programme according to your new condition.
If you need help in obtaining any of the supplements, herbs or tests mentioned above, click, The Natural Health Practice. They can supply all of them for you online or if you prefer to talk to somebody first you can also order by mail order on the telephone. The products supplied by this company are always of the highest quality.
Plan of ActionNutrition
Ensure you are getting the right nutrition:
Follow dietary recommendations outlined on the Foundation
of Health page.
And for more information on the special dietary recommendations for
heavy periods, see the rest of the chapter on Heavy Periods (Menorrhaiga) e-book at The Natural Health Practice
The supplement programme below should be taken for at least three months in order to achieve best results
Your supplement plan
- A good multivitamin and mineral tablet
- Vitamin A as beta-carotene, not retinol (10,000iu per day)*
- Vitamin C with bioflavonoids (1000mg per day)
- Vitamin B-complex (providing 50mg of each B vitamin)
- Zinc citrate (15mg) per day
* High doses of vitamin A are only a problem if you are planning a pregnancy. However, this caution applies only to vitamin A as retinol. Vitamin A as beta-carotene is safe.
At the end of three months you should reassess your condition and adjust your supplement programme accordingly.
The tests below have been specially selected to be the most helpful if you are concerned about heavy periods.
Mineral Analysis Test with Supplement and Nutritional Assessment Programme
Online Personalised
Supplement Assessment Programme
After three months you would then have a re-test in order to monitor your progress and adjust your supplement programme according to your new condition.
If you need help in obtaining any of the supplements, herbs or tests mentioned above, click, The Natural Health Practice. They can supply all of them for you online or if you prefer to talk to somebody first you can also order by mail order on the telephone. The products supplied by this company are always of the highest quality.
The section above forms part of a larger 11 page chapter on Heavy Periods taken from my book,. In the rest of the chapter you will learn what the medical approaches to heavy periods are and how to combine them with the natural approach. This is called Integrated Medicine and is the way that healthier of the future is moving towards. You will also learn what medical tests will give you an accurate diagnosis of your condition and if you really need to have them. The medical treatments for heavy periods are then examined which can include looking at either drugs or surgery. Each treatment is then discussed and the pros and cons of the options explained. The Integrated Approach to heavy periods is considered in some detail so that if appropriate you can know how to combine the best of both conventional and natural medicine.
At the end of the chapter is a practical step by step summary of what you can do to help yourself.
If you would like to read the rest of this chapter click, Heavy Periods (Menorrhaiga) e-book at The Natural Health Practice . and you will be given details of how you can download the whole chapter.
The contents of this site are for information only and are intended to assist readers in identifying symptoms and conditions they may be experiencing. This site is not intended to be a substitute for taking proper medical advice and should not be relied upon in this way. Always consult a qualified doctor or health practitioner, especially if you are pregnant, taking the pill or on any medication. Your situation will need to be looked at individually and you should not attempt to self treat. The author and publisher cannot accept responsibility for illness arising out of the failure to seek medical advice from a doctor.
The views expressed by third parties placing material on these pages are not representative of the views of the author or publisher. The Author and Publisher cannot monitor the content not produced by us and has not reviewed all the third party material published on this site and the Author and Publisher accept no liability whatsoever in relation to the content of third party material placed on these pages.
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