29 Jun Why Heavy Bleeding In Periods?
Are you struggling with some heavy bleeding in periods? We’re going to peel back the layers and figure out what’s going on with a functional medicine mindset. Because it’s more than just taking birth control to “solve” the problem. It’s more than just acknowledging some women have heavy cycles. It’s time for us women to finally take back our cycles and understand why there is heavy bleeding in periods.
Let’s get some definitions defined before we get into the details:
- Cycle = First day of bleed to the day before your next bleed
- Period = Days of actual bleeding
What Is Considered Heavy Bleeding in Periods?
If you are losing over 80 mL of blood in a period or you are having to change your pad, tampon, or cup less than every 2 hours, this would be considered heavy bleeding. Most women who are having heavy bleeding in periods tend to have this cycle after cycle. It’s not as much of a concern if it doesn’t happen frequently. If this every single cycle you have, then it’s time to understand what could be going on.
Reasons for Heavy Bleeding in Periods
Reasons why heavy bleeding could be happening in periods are:
- Estrogen dominance {Having too much estrogen in general or having too much estrogen in relation to progesterone in the 2nd half of your cycle. Remember, progesterone is the queen in the luteal phase of your cycle. Estrogen comes in 2nd.}
- Thyroid issues {Here comes thyroid again…always sneaking in affecting your health in every way! 🙂 }
- Copper IUD’s {Copper IUD’s increase prostaglandins, which produce inflammation, and increases formation of new blood vessels in the endometrium, which leads to that heavy bleeding!}
- Endometriosis {To truly diagnose endometriosis, it’s a pretty invasive procedure, but can give a lot of answers to symptoms. But, even with endometriosis there is more to the story -estrogen dominance has been connected to this condition too!}
- Polyps/Fibroids {This will need to be ruled out by your OBGYN!}
Functional Medicine to Heavy Bleeding in Periods
So, instead of just stopping there with exploring and trying to choose the pharmaceutical that will reduce the symptom. We go one more layer in depth. Let’s use estrogen dominance for an example. What could be influencing your body to have too much estrogen?
- Sluggish liver {that’s where all hormones are taken to get processed and moved out of the body}
- Are there problems with ovulation? Therefore, progesterone levels will be poor.
- Gut imbalances {The gut can reabsorb estrogen trying to leave the body}
- Exposure to xenoestrogens {environmental toxins talk starts here!}
- Are you overweight and holding onto more adipose tissue? Excess body fat can secrete more estrogen too!
Let’s use another example: thyroid issues that could be impacting your cycle. What are some factors that could be causing thyroid imbalances.
- Liver issues
- Micronutrient deficiencies
- Stress
- Gut issues
See, what I mean when I say there are layers deep on exploration and it’s not always a straight obvious answer to why there is heavy bleeding in periods. So, where the heck do you start?
We’d love to chat with you on a free intro call with our team. This 15 minute call helps us understand your unique situation and gives us more information if we can help! Because if we can, we’d love to and be added to your healthcare team. It takes a team effort! 🙂 This intro call is completely free with no pressure on buying, but we do want to make sure that you’re taken care of with your health.
Schedule your intro call here + learn more about how we work at that link as well!
