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CHAPTER 5

Heavy periods and other period-related frustrations

‘I hate leaving the house on the first few days of my period because I’m so scared of leaking through my clothes.’

If you skipped the introduction to this book you need to go right back there and read the story here, which illustrates how horrendous periods can be and the dramatic impact they can have on women’s lives.

I’m sure you know someone who has terrible periods, but they may not talk to you about it, and, as a result, many of us don’t know what other people’s periods are like, or even whether our own are ‘normal’. As a result, many women feel ashamed, and so they suffer in silence, not leaving the house for the first few days due to pain or needing to change their pads constantly, or through fear of leaking.

There are a lot of things that can be done to improve the situation, but your doctor has to actually know that you are having problems, so don’t be afraid to go and talk to them about it. As doctors, we’re not fazed by things you wouldn’t dare tell anyone else, nor do we expect you to use any complex medical lingo. I can usually tell when a patient is shy and embarrassed, and try and use all the awkward words in my first few questions, just to prove to them that it really is safe to say whatever they want to.

My advice is to keep it simple by giving a basic explanation of what’s going on in language that you feel comfortable using and your doctor will use their expertise to ask you for more info.

Heavy periods

One in five women will experience heavy periods, also known as menorrhagia – literally, raging periods. Let’s look at what this means.

How heavy is heavy?

The textbooks state that anything over 80ml blood loss is classified as heavy. But what does that even mean? No one sits over a jug and measures it, and it’s incredibly difficult to quantify the amount on a sanitary pad or tampon. A more helpful way of classifying a heavy period would be any of the following:

 Changing pads/tampons at least every hour for several hours in a row

 Needing to use a pad and a tampon at the same time