Why Are My Periods So Heavy?

You’re envious of friends who cycle through their periods without batting an eye while you’re stuck with heavy bleeding that’s more than a minor inconvenience. If heavy periods hijack your life every month, it’s time to investigate further.

At Advanced Endometriosis Center, Dr. Ulas Bozdogan and our team understand the many conditions that can lead to irregular periods and abnormal bleeding, which affect up to one-third of women at some point in their lives.

Here, we take a look at common drivers of heavy bleeding, which falls under the category of abnormal bleeding.

Defining heavy bleeding

We first want to spend some time discussing what is commonly considered heavy uterine bleeding during the menstrual cycle.

Heavy bleeding often has the following characteristics:

• You soak through tampons or pads every hour
• You soak through tampons and pads at night
• You need to double up on protection (two pads or a tampon and a pad)
• Bleeding that lasts for more than 7 days
• There are blood clots that are quarter-sized or larger

In extreme cases of heavy bleeding, you can develop anemia, which means there aren’t enough healthy red blood cells in your body. When this happens, your heavy bleeding becomes an even bigger quality-of-life issue as you can feel fatigued and weak.

Common causes of heavy bleeding during your periods

If you’re experiencing heavy bleeding, it can be caused by any number of issues that range from certain gynecological conditions to your reproductive stage in life. Heavy bleeding isn’t normal and is often a sign of a more serious underlying problem that can benefit from medical attention. 

When it comes to gynecological conditions that can lead to heavy periods, the following can be included on the list of possibilities:

• Endometriosis
• Uterine fibroids or polyps
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• Adenomyosis
• Pelvic inflammatory disease

When we say that your reproductive stage can influence your periods, we’re referring to heavy periods that occur during times when your ovulation might be irregular, such as during puberty or perimenopause.

There are also nonreproductive issues that can lead to heavy bleeding, such as a general bleeding disorder, hypothyroidism, or even taking certain medications, such as blood thinners.

Abnormal bleeding can also occur because of pregnancy issues, but these are events rather than chronic issues.

As you can see, the list of possible suspects for heavy bleeding is quite large, which is why it makes good sense to seek the help of an expert, such as those here at our practice. 

If you want to find out why you’re experiencing heavy bleeding and how the problem can be remedied, we urge you to book an appointment online or over the phone with Advanced Endometriosis Center today. We have locations in New York City and Hackensack, New Jersey.