Menopause and heavy bleeding

During perimenopause, ovulation can become less predictable. Periods may arrive closer together or further apart, and the flow may be lighter or heavier. Heavy bleeding can also have causes unrelated to menopause, including fibroids, polyps, changes in the womb lining, thyroid conditions, medicines, or pregnancy-related problems.

Write down when bleeding begins and ends, how often you need to change protection, whether clots occur, and whether you feel tired, dizzy, breathless, or faint. Bleeding after a full year without periods is not treated as a routine period and should be checked.

Book a medical appointment for new heavy bleeding, repeated flooding, bleeding between periods, or bleeding after sex. Bring your bleeding record and medication list. A clinician may ask about pregnancy possibility, examine you, and arrange blood tests or pelvic assessment based on your history.

Read more about [Menopause](/conditions/menopause/) and [Periods Stopped](/symptoms/periods-stopped/). [Vaginal Dryness](/symptoms/vaginal-dryness/) can also cause bleeding after sex and deserves a separate discussion.

Seek urgent help if bleeding is soaking through protection repeatedly, you feel faint or weak, you have severe pelvic pain, or you are short of breath. Emergency assessment is also needed for heavy bleeding with possible pregnancy. Do not drive yourself if you feel faint.

Ask what may be causing the pattern, whether anaemia or another problem should be checked, and which treatment options fit your health history. Ask when bleeding should prompt urgent contact and how to monitor it at home.