Women are often told that periods are supposed to be uncomfortable, that pain and heavy bleeding are just part of being female, that we should simply endure what our bodies do. This messaging is so pervasive that many women suffer for years with symptoms that significantly impact their lives, never realising that what they’re experiencing isn’t normal and doesn’t have to be tolerated.
Your body communicates through symptoms, and when periods become disruptive, painful, or worrying, it’s asking for attention—not stoicism, but proper medical investigation and care.
What “Heavy” Actually Means
The term “heavy periods” gets used casually, but clinical definitions provide clearer boundaries. Menorrhagia—the medical term for heavy menstrual bleeding—means losing more than 80ml of blood per cycle or bleeding lasting longer than seven days.
Since measuring blood loss isn’t practical, practical indicators help identify genuinely heavy periods. Soaking through pads or tampons hourly, needing to change protection during the night, passing large clots (larger than a 50p coin), or bleeding that prevents normal activities all suggest blood loss exceeding normal ranges.
If you’re developing anaemia—fatigue, shortness of breath, pale skin, dizziness—your periods are definitely too heavy, regardless of specific measurements. Your body is losing blood faster than it can replace red blood cells, creating genuine health consequences beyond inconvenience.
Many women normalise heavy bleeding because it’s been their experience for years or because female relatives had similar patterns. But familial doesn’t mean normal, and longstanding doesn’t mean acceptable. Heavy periods warrant investigation regardless of how long they’ve occurred.
The Physical Toll
Living with heavy periods creates cascading impacts that extend far beyond the bleeding itself.
Anaemia causes profound fatigue that affects every aspect of life. You might struggle to concentrate at work, lack energy for exercise or social activities, and feel persistently exhausted regardless of sleep. Iron deficiency also affects mood, cognitive function, and immune response.
Planning life around periods becomes restrictive. Avoiding white clothing, declining invitations during periods, anxiety about leaking in public, needing bathroom access constantly—these accommodations reduce quality of life in ways that accumulate over time.
The financial cost is rarely discussed but significant. Constantly buying pads, tampons, or menstrual cups, ruined clothing and bedding, and potential lost work hours—heavy periods literally cost money beyond their health impacts.
Pain often accompanies heavy bleeding, though they’re distinct issues. Severe cramping, back pain, or pelvic discomfort that interferes with daily activities isn’t something to simply endure with paracetamol and a hot water bottle.
Common Underlying Causes
Heavy periods aren’t a diagnosis but a symptom. Various conditions cause excessive menstrual bleeding, and identifying the specific cause informs treatment options.
Fibroids
Fibroids are extremely common—benign growths in or on the uterus affecting up to 70% of women by age 50. They vary enormously in size and location, and their symptoms depend on these factors. Some fibroids cause no symptoms at all, whilst others trigger heavy bleeding, prolonged periods, pelvic pressure, or frequent urination. Fibroids treatment options range from medication managing symptoms to procedures removing or shrinking fibroids, with choices depending on size, location, symptoms, and whether you want to preserve fertility.
Adenomyosis
Adenomyosis occurs when tissue that normally lines the uterus grows into the muscular uterine wall, causing heavy bleeding, severe cramping, and often an enlarged, tender uterus. It’s frequently misdiagnosed or overlooked because symptoms overlap with other conditions, and definitive diagnosis often requires imaging or surgery.
Polyps
Polyps are growths protruding from the uterine lining, typically benign but potentially causing irregular bleeding, heavy periods, or bleeding between periods. They’re usually easily removed through hysteroscopy.
Endometriosis
Endometriosis involves tissue similar to the uterine lining growing outside the uterus, commonly causing severe pain, though it can also contribute to heavy bleeding. It affects roughly one in ten women but often takes years to diagnose due to symptom normalisation and dismissal.
Hormonal imbalances—particularly around perimenopause but possible at any age—can cause irregular heavy bleeding as oestrogen and progesterone levels fluctuate out of sync.
Blood clotting disorders, whilst less common, can cause heavy menstrual bleeding alongside other bleeding symptoms like easy bruising or prolonged bleeding from cuts.
Certain medications, IUDs, or thyroid problems may contribute to heavy periods as well.
Warning Signs Beyond Heavy Bleeding
Several symptoms that accompany or occur separately from heavy periods warrant prompt medical attention.
Bleeding between periods or after menopause isn’t normal and requires investigation. Whilst benign causes often exist, these patterns need to be evaluated to rule out more serious conditions.
Severe pelvic pain—beyond typical cramping—particularly if it’s one-sided, sudden, or accompanied by fever, could indicate ovarian cysts, infection, or other conditions requiring urgent care.
Pain during intercourse suggests conditions like endometriosis, adenomyosis, or fibroids and deserves investigation rather than acceptance as inevitable.
Persistent bloating, feeling full quickly, or changes in bowel or bladder habits that accompany menstrual symptoms can indicate various gynaecological conditions that warrant assessment.
Getting Taken Seriously
Unfortunately, women’s pain and menstrual concerns are frequently dismissed or minimised by healthcare providers. Advocating effectively for your health sometimes requires persistence and strategy.
Track symptoms specifically. “My periods are heavy” carries less weight than “I’m soaking through super-plus tampons hourly for the first three days, passing clots larger than golf balls, and my haemoglobin has dropped to 10.” Specific, measurable descriptions are harder to dismiss.
Document impacts on daily life. Missing work, cancelling activities, inability to exercise, or impacts on relationships demonstrate that symptoms are genuinely disruptive rather than mild inconveniences you’re being dramatic about.
If you’re told “periods are painful” or “this is just how women’s bodies work,” push back. Ask specifically what level of blood loss or pain would warrant investigation in their clinical opinion. Request that dismissals be documented in your notes—this sometimes motivates more thorough consideration.
If you’re not getting adequate support from your GP, request a referral to gynaecology. You’re entitled to specialist review if symptoms significantly impact your quality of life, regardless of whether your GP considers them sufficiently concerning.
Treatment Options Exist
Many women suffer unnecessarily because they don’t realise how many treatment options exist or assume surgery is the only solution.
Medication options include tranexamic acid (to reduce bleeding), hormonal treatments such as the pill or Mirena coil (to regulate periods and reduce flow), or iron supplementation (to address anaemia).
Minimally invasive procedures can remove fibroids, polyps, or endometriosis through laparoscopy or hysteroscopy, often as day cases with quick recovery.
Endometrial ablation destroys the uterine lining, dramatically reducing or eliminating periods for women who’ve completed their families.
Hysterectomy remains an option when other treatments haven’t worked or aren’t suitable, though it’s no longer the default first recommendation for heavy periods.
Newer options like uterine artery embolisation or focused ultrasound offer alternatives for specific conditions like fibroids.
The right treatment depends on underlying causes, symptom severity, whether you want future pregnancies, your age, and personal preferences. A comprehensive discussion with specialists helps navigate options aligned with your specific situation.
Reclaiming Quality of Life
You deserve to move through your menstrual cycle without debilitating symptoms, planning your life around bleeding, or simply enduring what feels unmanageable.
Heavy periods, severe pain, or other concerning symptoms aren’t character-building experiences to suffer through—they’re medical issues with treatable causes. Seeking help isn’t weakness or overreaction; it’s appropriate self-care.
Your body is communicating that something isn’t working optimally. Listen to those signals, trust your instincts when something feels wrong, and persist in seeking care until you receive adequate support.
Periods shouldn’t rule your life. When they do, it’s time to reclaim control—not through endurance, but through proper investigation, diagnosis, and treatment that restores the quality of life you absolutely deserve.
