Heavy menstrual bleeding or menorrhagia: Main causes and symptoms
Have you ever experienced heavy bleeding during your menstrual cycle? This is something very common and worries many women. That’s why MedVisit wants to offer you all the answers you need to understand this phenomenon perfectly. Will you join us?
Why do I have a heavy and long-lasting period?
Do your menstrual cycles last a week and sometimes even longer? Are they accompanied by an increased amount of blood? Then you may be suffering from bleeding associated with menstruation. For a long time (and also today) it has been considered as an anonymous ailment, which medically was not studied or valued. This has a name: underrepresentation. Nowadays, however, there are diagnostic systems and a much better constructed medical explanation.
Although there is no fixed data, it is something that, many times, can affect one in three women. It is something that does not always have to happen, although in some cases it continues from the first bleeding until menopause. Sometimes it is seasonal and sometimes it is permanent.
The main problem, apart from the obvious discomfort, is that it can be bad for your health. An exaggerated loss of blood can weaken you and cause pain and, as a consequence, it can affect your social or work life, for example.
Therefore, it is important to know more about this syndrome so that it does not limit you in your daily life. Here are some things that will be of interest to you.
Symptoms of bleeding during menstruation
Let’s take a look at what are medically considered to be the most common manifestations.
1. A very heavy flow of blood
To give you an idea, in many of these cases you can get to completely soak a whole pad in less than an hour several times in one day. This is an exaggerated bleeding that can seriously damage your health if you do not take the appropriate measures.
2. Expulsion of blood clots
Although this is something that is always present during the menstrual cycle, in the most pronounced and exaggerated cases, clots of up to two and a half centimeters in diameter can be expelled.
3. Physical and psychological fatigue
Obviously, the expulsion of such a large quantity of blood involves not only hormonal but also physiological changes. In the latter case, it may be accompanied by excessive fatigue at the body and muscle level, and you may feel psychologically exhausted.
4. Belly pain and cramps
It can also be translated, in some cases, as bloating, just as it would happen with inflammation. These symptoms are also quite common and can be very uncomfortable and disabling. Hence, many women sometimes resort to anti-inflammatory drugs when they suffer from this type of discomfort.
5. Anemia
A disease caused by a lack of iron in the body. In this case, it would be caused by the massive loss of red blood cells and your body’s attempt to replace them. This can cause constant weakness and degenerate into many other disorders or diseases and end up becoming a very serious problem.
As we have seen, heavy bleeding gives rise to many other pathologies, symptoms or problems that hinder your daily life. In addition to the discomfort and discomfort, there is constant pain and fatigue. It is, therefore, a health problem that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. We have English speaking doctors in Barcelona who can treat you if it is more convenient for you.
Main causes
Why does this disorder occur in so many women? As mentioned above, sometimes it is chronic and sometimes it is simply a one-time occurrence. Among the main reasons for a heavy and long-lasting period are:
- Hormonal imbalances.
- Endometriosis.
- Benign tumors.
- Medications.
- Infections in the uterus.
-
Intrauterine contraceptives.
How to stop menstrual bleeding?
Due to the multiple causes that can cause heavy bleeding, there is no single treatment to remedy it. For example, in the case of a hormonal origin, the solution always involves pharmacology to correct this imbalance. In the case of an infection in the uterus, antibiotics should be used.
The most important thing is that you can identify it quickly and go to a specialist as soon as you detect it. Don’t treat it as something normal that you simply have to go through. It is a disorder that can endanger your health. That is why it is important that you go to professionals who can find out what the cause is and know how to treat it properly.
In short, heavy bleeding is an ailment that many women suffer throughout their lives and it is not always properly diagnosed. If you notice any of the symptoms we have described, please contact any of our english speaking doctors in Barcelona that you need so that they can help you to correct it. Sometimes the solution is much simpler than you think.
