5 Causes of Heavy Bleeding

You’re jealous of friends whose periods come and go quietly with little disruption to their lives. Yours, on the other hand, make themselves known in the form of heavy bleeding, and the issue is having no small impact on your quality of life.

You’re certainly in good company if you’re struggling with heavy bleeding. The condition affects about 10 million women in the United States, which represents about 1 in 5 women.

As medical providers who help women through every stage of their reproductive lives, the team here at Capital Women’s Care is all too familiar with this type of abnormal bleeding. 

So, if you’re dealing with heavy bleeding, education is a great step toward finding solutions, which is why we’re taking a closer look at this common issue here.

Defining heavy bleeding

Let’s start with what we consider to be heavy bleeding. We find the guidelines put forth by the Americans College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to be comprehensive. 

Heavy bleeding is:

• Bleeding that soaks through tampons or pads every few hours
• A heavy flow that requires doubling up on period protection — using pads with tampons or using two pads
• Bleeding that soaks through tampons and pads at night
• A flow that lasts for 7 days or more
• Blood clots that are quarter-sized or larger

In extreme cases, heavy bleeding can lead to anemia, which is a low number of red blood cells in your body.

If one of more of these descriptions fits your menstrual cycles, read on to explore potential causes of your heavy bleeding.

Common culprits behind heavy bleeding

Now let’s get into some of the issues that we often find behind heavy bleeding, including:

1. Uterine fibroids

Fibroids are noncancerous growths on the walls of the uterus, and they’re one of the primary drivers of heavy bleeding. Uterine fibroids are common and affect 20-80% of women by age 50. Not all fibroids are symptomatic, but when they are, heavy bleeding is a commonly reported complaint.

2. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)

PCOS affects 7% to 10% of women in their childbearing years and occurs when there’s a reproductive hormone imbalance. More specifically, the ovaries produce too much androgen hormones.

With PCOS, many women have very irregular periods and, when they do come, they can be heavy.

3. Sexually transmitted infections and pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)

If you have a sexually transmitted infection, such as gonorrhea or chlamydia, it can lead to heavy bleeding. As well, if the infection goes untreated and you develop PID, heavy bleeding can be one of the side effects.

4. Reproductive cancers

Heavy bleeding can be a sign of cervical or uterine cancer. Or it may signal a precancerous condition.

5. Certain medications

If you’re on blood thinners or you’re taking hormonal medications, you can experience heavy bleeding.

Aside from the above, women with blood disorders can experience heavy menstrual bleeding. As well, we want to point out that your periods may become heavier as you start to enter perimenopause, but this will resolve with menopause.

Please also note that we’re excluding heavy bleeding during a pregnancy, which isn’t really related to your menstrual cycles.

Getting to the bottom of your heavy bleeding

As you can see by the list above, it’s a good idea to have us investigate your heavy bleeding. Understanding what’s behind the issue can help guide us moving forward, especially if there's an underlying problem that we need to treat.

For answers for your heavy bleeding, please contact one of our three conveniently located offices in Frederick and Mount Airy, Maryland, to schedule an appointment with one of our reproductive health experts.