Managing Menorrhagia

Help for Heavy Periods

By Teri Brown

The female body often performs like clockwork. Menstruation starts in puberty and comes just about every month until menopause. Most women consider their periods to be a minor inconvenience that hardly disrupts their daily lives. But one in five women aren't so lucky. They suffer from menorrhagia, a condition that is characterized by painful cramps, heavy bleeding and longer than normal menses. Sue Shackles, a 44-year-old woman from Buckley, Wash., is one of those women.

"I have always had terrible cramps during the first day of my periods, dating back, I guess, to when they first regulated themselves when I was around 10 years old," says Shackles. "Unfortunately, my mother was one of the old school 'stiff upper lip' women who wouldn't acknowledge that periods could actually be anything more than an inconvenience. Whether hers were painful or not, I have no idea. All I know is that school on those days was absolute torment, and I spent all my free time curled around a hot water bottle or with my stomach planted against a radiator, which seemed to ease the pain somewhat."

The pain eased off tremendously when Shackles began taking birth control pills and remained manageable while she started her family. Unfortunately, the menorrhagia seems to be back.

"I have noticed over the past year or so, however, that they are becoming increasingly heavy again, and also the pain has returned with a vengeance," says Shackles. "I find I'm swallowing four or six Advil every four hours on that agonizing first day."

According to Aboutheavyperiods.com, a woman's period may be considered heavy if it lasts more than seven days, double protection is needed (such as using both a tampon and a pad), the bleeding affects your everyday life or you need to change your protection every two hours.

Barbara Dehn is a women's health nurse practitioner and a lecturer at San Jose State and Stanford University. She says there are several symptoms of menorrhagia.

Want to see more?

• Understanding the Uterus: A Main Player During Pregnancy and Beyond
• The Painful Truth: Living With Endometriosis
• The Mysteries of Menses: What Your Mother Never Told You About Your Period
• Talk about it!