If you’re like most women, the thought of heavy bleeding during perimenopause is downright scary. You’re not alone in feeling this way—many women experience heavy bleeding during this time in their lives. While it can be frustrating and inconvenient, there are steps you can take to overcome it. In this post, we’ll discuss what may cause heavy bleeding during perimenopause. Find out how manageable it is. Stay strong, girl—you can do this!
Hormone imbalance causes heavy bleeding.
Many women notice, as they get into their forties and beyond, that their periods change. It could either be the timing, how frequently they come around, how long they last, or how heavy the bleeding is that changes. If the bleeding gets significantly worse and is very heavy.
Sometimes women tell me it’s not only heavy bleeding. There’s clotting and they find they’re leaking all over the place. Needless to say, it’s uncomfortable. Some of them would prefer to be housebound. They have to cancel work and other social events because they’re just barely able to function. They have really low energy because of the heavy bleeding, and they just don’t know what to do about it.
There is something you can do about it.
She tried (almost) everything.
While the process is not without its challenges, I’ve seen some really impressive results in one of my clients who’s been able to overcome heavy bleeding and move forward.
Initially, she went to her conventional health practitioner to ask what could be done. The first thing they did was try an IUD that has some hormones in it. Many of you may be familiar with Mirena as this is something used commonly, not necessarily just for birth control, but it’s often used to help with heavy bleeding.
This worked for this client in the short term. It slowed down her bleeding. She had some spotting and then she just had a very light period. But over time, the bleeding came back even though she was on the IUD, and it got worse again. So, this solution was very temporary for her. She decided to take it out because she wasn’t using it for birth control, anyway.
The next solution they tried was oral birth control. She tried to take it continuously to stop the bleeding from coming. Sadly, this didn’t work at all. The bleeding didn’t stop, so she decided to discontinue.
They then tried bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. This involved using progesterone, which helped to lighten and slow down the flow. This worked for a short period of time. The woman only bled for two cycles after this, but then the bleeding came back with a vengeance. It was heavier than it had ever been before and lasted for 3–4 days each month. Her period lasted seven or eight days. So she said she just couldn’t manage.
At this point. she didn’t know what to do.
Meeting me for another option.
The next option for her was to have a hysterectomy. She didn’t want a hysterectomy, and that’s why she came to me.
We looked at what her options were, and the first thing we decided to do was to do a Dutch hormone test. This is a test that looks at how all your hormones are being used. It also looks at several other hormones and other factors that could be contributing to the problem.
After that, we started to understand what was happening to her. We found she had a very common symptom for women in this period of life as the hormones are shifting and changing on the way to and towards menopause. She had estrogen dominance. She had too much estrogen and the body just had no way to process and keep up with it. This caused her endometrial lining to get thicker throughout the month, and then she would have a heavy bleed.
Estrogen Dominance
Estrogen dominance was the main problem for her. And this is often the case.
The body’s estrogen production is not the problem. It’s actually the opposite, especially as you get closer to menopause. The liver and gut aren’t working as well to help the body move this estrogen through detox and get rid of the excess.
We had some strategies that could help with her liver and gut to detoxify estrogen. It involved some lifestyle strategies. It involved changing her diet as well. She had to eat more of what we would call an anti-inflammatory food plan. She was eating a lot more fish, a lot less meat, a lot more vegetables, and she was eating less sugar and fewer carbohydrates. This, combined with the proper supplements to help with her liver and gut to support these detox pathways, helped her periods to lighten more each cycle.
Four cycles later, she was having what she would’ve considered a normal period, something she would’ve experienced before all this started happening. Indeed, this was a solution for her.
This often is a solution for many.
Understand your Hormones
I find many women don’t understand why there is the potential to have access to lab testing to understand why their hormones might be out of balance as one of the possible causes of heavy bleeding. Looking at the whole body as a way of providing and finding a solution is something that could change your health and life in many ways.
My client is finally free from her heavy bleeding and can go back to living life as it was before. She won’t have the burden of carrying around a heavy abdomen all day and needing to stay indoors. The best part? Surgery was no longer thought of as an option for her.
Reach out, there is someone who wants to listen to you.
Are you struggling with your health? Are there moments when it feels overwhelming and unclear on what to do next, or who can help out in those hard times? I’m here for one thing—helping women like us find relief by bringing their well-being into focus through functional medicine practices. I’ve worked in the area of women’s health both as a conventional practitioner and also as a functional practitioner for many years.
If this sounds good please reach out through my website. You can also find some mini-courses that you can join if you go through and look.
Healing is possible! There are other ways for you to connect as well. By becoming a member of my Facebook group where I provide helpful information and insight, some things were handed out here today will be available there too – with more detail on how they can help support your journey towards hormonal balance in the long term. Join us now so we may support each other through this exciting transformation process together
You’re not alone if you are experiencing heavy bleeding during this transition period into menopause. We have solutions for your symptoms and can get them under control fast with our natural treatments! I’d be happy to schedule a discovery call with you. During this call, we can discuss your symptoms in more detail and come up with a plan tailored specifically for you.
If you haven’t joined our Private Facebook Group, please go HERE.
DISCLAIMER: The information in this email is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All content is for general informational purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional
