Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods
Causes of heavy periods or menorrhagia include thyroid disease, adenomyosis, coagulation disorders, and the unopposed estrogen of polycystic ovary syndrome. Natural treatments include a dairy-free diet and calcium-d-glucarate.
In a normal period, you should not lose more than about 80 mL of menstrual fluid over all the days of the bleed. That’s equivalent to about five tablespoons spread over all the days of the bleed.
In episode two of my podcast/YouTube video, I discuss heavy periods including the role of hormone imbalance, mast cell activation, and insulin resistance; simple period-lightening strategies such as iron, zinc, and a dairy-free diet; and using body-identical progesterone to lighten periods.
Body-identical or bioidentical progesterone is a viable treatment for women’s health conditions such as PCOS, PMDD, migraines, endometriosis, adenomyosis, and perimenopause.
Progesterone is called oral micronized progesterone and requires a doctor’s prescription. Brand names include PrometriumⓇ, UtrogestanⓇ, TevaⓇ, and FamenitaⓇ, depending on your country. Alternatively, progesterone cream is available over-the-counter in some countries and can help with mild symptoms but is generally not as effective as capsules.
Here’s what you need to know.
Perimenopause or “second puberty” is the two to ten years before the final period. It’s different from menopause, which is the life phase that begins one year after the final period. Symptoms, if they occur at all, occur mostly during perimenopause and are temporary.
The normal age for the final period is anywhere from 45 to 55 so the normal age for perimenopause is up to ten years before that—as young as 35. In other words, if you were born before 1984, you could be in perimenopause and yet still be relatively young. That’s why perimenopause is not about aging but is instead about an important (and unavoidable) recalibration of your hormonal system.
Successful treatment of heavy periods relies on identifying an underlying cause such as hormone imbalance (low progesterone), adenomyosis, or thyroid disease.
Treatment for heavy menstruation is to treat the cause as well as use general period-lightening strategies such as natural progesterone and a dairy-free diet.