How to help heavy periods?

Keep a record of bleeding, clots, pain, medicines, and missed activities. A clinician may assess your history, check for anaemia, and decide whether an examination or scan is appropriate.

Heavy menstrual bleeding can occur with uterine fibroids, adenomyosis, endometrial polyps, or changes in the womb lining. Hormonal changes around perimenopause and polycystic ovary syndrome can also disrupt bleeding patterns. Blood loss may contribute to iron deficiency anaemia, which can cause tiredness, breathlessness, headaches, or paleness. Heavy bleeding does not identify one cause by itself, so assessment matters.

Record when bleeding starts and ends, how often you change products, whether clots occur, and how symptoms affect work or sleep. Take prescribed medicines exactly as directed; do not start iron or hormone treatment without advice about the dose and cause. Eat regular iron-containing foods, and ask whether testing for anaemia is suitable. Discuss options such as medicines that reduce bleeding or hormonal treatment, especially if pregnancy is desired or contraception is relevant.

Seek urgent medical help if bleeding is soaking through protection repeatedly, you feel faint or unusually weak, or you have chest discomfort, breathlessness, severe pain, or a possible pregnancy. Arrange a clinical review for bleeding between periods, after sex, after menopause, or a clear change from your usual pattern. The symptom page on [Heavy Periods](/symptoms/heavy-periods/) can help you describe the pattern.

Ask whether you need blood tests for anaemia, an examination, or imaging. Discuss how fibroids, adenomyosis, polyps, the womb lining, perimenopause, or polycystic ovary syndrome might fit your symptoms. Ask how each treatment affects fertility, contraception, pain, and future bleeding.